A quick laugh at the expense of my dry clothes and cell phone.

SOOooo today...I accidentally fell into the Hudson river by the Beacon Long Dock .

I was receiving training to help out with an event called "Life in the day of the Hudson" (aka Snapshot Day). So I, along with other people who were getting trained for the October 7th event, spent most of the day learning about the program and the school groups we would be helping. The event involves a few hundred groups and 2,000+ children at different sites along the river, from the battery at the tip of Manhattan to the Federal Dam in Troy, NY. On October 7th all of thousands of school groups will go to the Hudson waters and collect river data. My job is to help these groups learn about the Hudson River while they take water quality, species accounts, temperature and etc. measurements. These measurements will be recorded and posted online for scientist and others to view. Essentially, this will "paint" an entire portrait of the Hudson River that day. This is a great program that has been running for years....ANYWAYS...

I fell into the river because I was sent out to wade in the water with waders on (yes, the overall plastic green pants that fly fisherman wear) in order to obtain a core sample of the river's sediment. - To make a long story short, I slipped on rocks, stepped onto a drop off and sank way past the height of my plastic, protective overalls....I walked out of the river, soaked with a liter of water in each pant leg. Needless to say, it made for a great experience and entertainment for those on shore as I splashed around.

I hope I made someone smile today. :-D

I am a bad blogger

Apparently, I stopped being bored up here and forgot to update my blog! I guess I am not as good of a blogger as I thought I would be. Regardless, here are some things that I have been up to since my last post when I got my lovely cat Sophie!

• I received training and certification in Wilderness First Aid and CPR.

(clockwise from top left: putting the lung in my dummy, checking a "patient's" c-spine, getting my "broken femur" braced with camping gear and performing the ABC's on a "patient" with a sucking chest wound )

• I have been ridiculously busy with supervising the TN area of my sorority. I even took a trip to Nashville a few weeks back to facilitate workshops and training with my board! I got to see my family and everything! :-D

**Forgot to take pictures though, it was busy blur of a weekend** :-(

• Moises came to visit me and we went hiking, toured the area and had a bonfire with some of my co-workers!

(Clockwise from top left: At the bonfire with Moises, hiking back down from Mt. Beacon, my mailbox, the Mt. Beacon fire tower at the top of the mountain and the view from the top of Mt. Beacon fire tower.)

• My mom turned 42 last week :-D Happy Birthday Mom!

• I spent 4 days with my fellow Americorp members camping and building a mile long trail in upstate New York.

• I taught 400+ 6th graders about trees and etc, over the course of 2 days. That was soooo tiring, but fun!

• and I've been working with local schools and after school programs to implement the After School Conservation Club curriculum. Today Jess and I are meeting with our last school and we begin classes on Tuesday! :-D

Until next time!

I rescued a cat from Jersey!!

I am now the proud owner of a beautiful tabby cat! :-D

Jess (my housemate) and I decided to adopt a cat from her hometown shelter in New Jersey. We initially only wanted one cat, BUT we got two and this one is mine! Both were abandoned by their owners and desperatley needed homes so they were free. Her name was Gabby, but I changed it to Sophie because Gabby just didn't fit. ;-P

She is lovely, keeps me company and kills all the bugs (moths, spider and etc) in our farmhouse! :-D

My First Trip to the City. . . (NYC) :-D

Last night my co-worker/housemate Jess, and I, took a trip to NYC! My first time ever!

We went for a networking event that was hosted by the Seven Sister Schools, within which her Alma Mater (Smith) is included. It was fun talking to so many different women with different backgrounds and professions.

Afterwards, we caught a ride from a girl we met at the event and went to the East Village, where we ate ourselves silly at a delicious Japanese Ramen House! :-D We proceeded to walk around NYC. I was able to catch my first glances of the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and Times Square!

Altogether, it was a nice and soft introduction to the city! I was strangely exhausted afterwards. lol Hopefully, I will be back soon!

Spider Program Pictures!

I have been working on this lesson plan for spiders and I thought I would show some of my favorite pictures!

From Top to Bottom: A Jumping Spider (My favorite!), A Crab Spider, An ideal flower for the Crab Spider to hide and a field full of Queen Anne's Lace (The fields here are full of them)

Pictures...FINALLY!

I have finally figured out a way to add pictures! . . . The process is lengthy, therefore, there will not be too many. HA! I will attempt to go in chronological order...lol Enjoy!

This is a view of Atlanta in the wee-hours of the morning from the my AEB's Westin Hotel Room! :-D July-18-2009










This is a view of the Monhonk (*sp) reserve from the SCA New Paltz office's back porch! SCA Orientation July-24-2009









This is my house! (Circa 1875)

To the left is a barn, equipped with chickens who provided my breakfast with eggs, as well as sheep and cows who like to make a lot of noise! :-P To the right is a pond.

(If you want to know what they look like...Well, you'll just have to visit) :-D



This is the view on my walk/ride to work. That house behind the tree's is the visitor center, aka "The Manor house"

I really like the view on my way to work!







The Manor House!

Includes exhibits (turtles, snakes and etc.), offices, library and a geothermal building is behind the house that serves as the Learning Center. School groups and etc go there for programs, events, workshops and etc.





This is just some of the animals in the barn! The farm
had nine lambs born this season and all four of the cows are pregnant and due.

The two pigs on the right are enjoying their last day at Stony Kill. Little did they know that the next day they would be sent off to the market!! lol




Well. . . maybe this one knew! lol He looked a little spooked ... They are gone now :-(

However, we should be getting new piglets in September to coincide with the new school groups that will be coming in!

That's all I've got for right now! lol These old Dell/Windows XP computers make it dificult to attach/upload pictures!

Until Next time...I've got a double date with jewel weed and calamine lotion!

:-D

Frogs, campfires, kids and pictures

So far, I love it here!

I get to work with kids in the morning teaching them about the environment and etc. Then in the afternoon I get to create lesson plans and activities for later classes and afterschool sessions! (This weekend I plan on going spider catching for a program I have coming up next week :D )

I live no less than 10 steps from a barn that has pigs, sheep, cattle and chickens. My roommate and I have already taken some eggs from the barn and made some yummy breakfasts! There is also a campfire area right across from the barn. Some of us, other SCA interns and some of the farm interns, have already had a campfire night with marshmellows and all!

Last night I was doing some research for another amphibean program and ran around the farm and pond catching frogs and toads. I plan on catching them in a few weeks and using them as display specimens for one of my classes! :-D

I have taken a BUNCH of pictures. This place is beautiful and hopefully I can get them up on the internet soon!

Poison Ivy

Today at about 6:34am I realized that I had my first encounter with poison ivy. I abrubtly woken by an itchy, painful frenzy circulating my ankles . . . I proceeded to itch them, but the itching only made it worse.

At that point I finally realized that the bumps all over my legs were not mosquito bites, but were instead a nice parting gift left by a poison ivy plant from a hike the day before. :( The welts/bumps have spread all over my legs from the knees down to my feet. Hopefully thiscalamine lotion will help. We shall see!

Here are some pics of it...but they do my pain no justice lol it's worse in real life!

My first job...My first blog!

About two and a half months after graduating from college I decided to take a 10 month journey to the land of environmental education and conservation via Wappingers Falls/Beacon, New York. This journey has physically removed me from those that I love. Therefore, the purpose of this blog is to bypass this disconnect and stay united with the people from which I am physically removed.

Pictures and etc will be coming soon. I have to figure out a way to make them all smaller. :-D Enjoy!