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For my birthday Michael and I got up early and went to Mountsberg Conservation Area. In addition to having wooded trails and a lake they have a Raptor Centre which provides permanent residence for close to 30 non-releasable birds of prey like eagles, falcons, turkey vultures and owls. These are birds who have been injured and/or imprinted on humans, and therefore would not survive being in the wild.

We we first got there we were walking around and I heard a noise coming from a garbage can so I crept over and peeked inside. Hello baby raccoon!! He was just hanging out playing with some trash and looking incredibly adorable. It was all I could do not to reach down and pet him! (Don’t worry, we told a staff member who later dumped him free.) We then walked down to a pond where there was a tiny duckling all by itself. Not sure where its family was – SAD! It was busy trying to eat a frog. I didn’t know ducks ate frogs but Google tells me they sometimes do. However I don’t think this little guy was gonna be swallowing the frog despite his determination.

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After checking out some of the birds that are kept in enclosures around the area (such as a couple adorable Snowy Owls and a non-shy Peregrine Falcon) we went to the Centre. For my birthday Michael had booked us a special tour where we would be shown the ‘behind the scenes’ of the Centre, meet a bunch of the birds and get to hold one of the birds. I was SO EXCITED!!!

Our guide was Lara who was super nice and did a great job telling us so much about the Centre and about the different species. It was interesting to see the inner workings of the Centre and I got to see a bunch of fine feathered friends up close including a sweet vocal Kestrel named Bean and an adorable Barred Owl named Teddy. However the icing on the cake was getting to hold a Screech Owl named Echo! She was so small and so crazy cute I almost couldn’t take it! Apparently Screech Owls are super common around here but I had never seen one in person before. Sure she looks cute in the photo but times that by a billion to know how cute they are in real life! As many of you might know I loooovvveee owls so getting so see a bunch of different ones and getting to HOLD ONE made for a pretty awesome time!

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After our tour we got to see Lara do 2 public bird shows, the first one featured Echo and another Screech Owl as well as a Turkey Vulture; and the second one showed the flying feats of Bean the Kestrel and a BARN OWL!!!

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The rest of the time at Mountsberg was spent walking around and checking out the nature life. It was a super beautiful day and there was hardly anyone around so it was like we had the place to ourselves! It was so nice there and look forward to visiting again!

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After Mountsberg we headed to my parents’ for dinner with them, my sister, brother-in-law and my niece (oh and my brother, Jake the dog!). Had a yummy BBQ dinner of veggie burger, potatoes and the first corn on the cob of the season while I told them all about the awesome day. I made sure to graphically explain how I saw one of the workers prepping the mice, rats and chicks for the birds. Getting in trouble for inappropriate dinner conversation FTW! For dessert we had cake AND pie – because that’s how we roll! Michael made me a chocolate cake (his first cake ever – it was super delish and iced perfectly) and my mom had bought the biggest pie I’ve ever seen (check that beast out!).

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It of course wouldn’t be a birthday without a custom card from Michael. Every year they get better and better and last year he also started the tradition of making one from the cats. Check them out – aren’t they amazing?! The one from Miso and Soya Sauce is hilarious – they are such rock stars! The one from Michael is so cute! We just watched the anime Ouran High School Host Club on Netflix so he used that as the inspiration for the card. In our case it is Pukesill Manor Host Club – he joking refers to our house as Pukesill Manor sometimes due to Miso’s knack of barfing on windowsills. Look how cute I look on the card (complete with the stuffed raccoon I’ve had since I was a baby) and look how studious Sauce looks with glasses!

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So yes, while I don’t particularly like getting older (especially turning 37), I had such a fun birthday! Thank you Michael! Oh and thank you to all the great Sick On Sin customers and fans – I came home to so many birthday wishes on Twitter/Facebook and tons of orders from people taking advantage of the sale!

]]> http://www.sickonsin.com/blog/2011/07/29/hooo-had-an-awesome-birthday/feed/ 4 http://www.sickonsin.com/blog/2009/06/28/happy-birthday-michael/ http://www.sickonsin.com/blog/2009/06/28/happy-birthday-michael/#comments Mon, 29 Jun 2009 03:53:37 +0000 jen http://www.sickonsin.com/blog/?p=99 Today is Michael’s 35th birthday – WOOHOO!! For those who don’t know – he’s the boy I managed to snag 12 years ago. He’s also the person who does all of Sick On Sin’s designs (I can’t draw at ALL so yay for hooking up with someone that is cursed with the inability to draw anything less than amazingly cute!). He’s also the guy who does the very awesome comic Orneryboy – which if you don’t read, you should be (especially if you like zombies and kitties and silliness and good old comedic violence!).

So this is just a little message to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL and to let him know how SUPERB I think he is! xoxox

This is also a message to let YOU all know that in celebration of his birthday, I’m offering 35% off all orders at Sick On Sin today only (June 29). All you need to do is enter the code 35BDAY in during checkout to save! So get yourself over to the store and score some cuteness!

BTW – for fans of Michael’s – he makes money from all the Orneryboy stuff sold at Sick On Sin so if you want to support him, buy a tee or button/magnet set! Please also share the link to Orneryboy with friends – the more fans the merrier!  Oh and you can wish him a personal happy birthday via Twitter!

Happy Holidays from the 2 Sick On Sin elves! They were eager to get back to work – hence the looks of anger and annoyance. Certainly wasn’t due to being dressed up in an absurd hat and collar and then had a camera shoved in their face.

Hope you are all enjoying the holidays in whichever way you celebrate them! Personally my Eve has been spent eating a yummy dinner (chickpea cutlets – a la Veganomicon, mashed potatoes, and salad with avocado dressing) and re-watching the very awesome Firefly. We recently tore through the 2 seasons of Californication (SO GOOD – I SO love David!) and with Dexter being done for the season, we were feeling in the mood to watch another series. Think The Tudors is next on the list of shows to check out…oh, and Buffy – which neither of us has ever watched.

K – back to Firefly. Sleep cozy little devils!

Anyway, figured I’d use this downtime to introduce you to the 2 furry employees of Sick On Sin – Soya Sauce and Miso. Those names will be familiar to those of you who read Orneryboy.

We adopted Soya Sauce (aka Sauce) 5.5 years ago. He had been at the Humane Society for a year. Poor kitty! He was described as very vocal and cranky, however whenever we went to see him he was quiet and well-behaved. Surprise surprise, it was all an act – he is sooooo vocal. He cries and bitches constantly! Most of the time he’s trying to get Michael’s attention, who he’s obsessed with. His other fave things include: carbs (esp pitas), chasing string, rolling around in dollar bills, sleeping in the sun, and having his chin scratched. His special skills include: opening cabinet doors (usually when he wants to spite us), cleaning up Miso’s barf, and organizing the papers on my desk by pushing them all to the floor.

We adopted Miso on Feb 14 2004. We had been talking about grey kitties and happened to stop by the Humane Society and there he was. He had been hit by a car and had suffered head trauma and had one of his top canine teeth broke off. He was still one of the prettiest cats I’d ever seen. Miso is super kooky…when he’s not off sleeping, he is running around with SUCH beans. He’s also very dog-like in the way he plays. His fave things include sitting in boxes, watching my newts, sleeping on the windowsills, and practicing stealth attacks on unsuspecting toy mice. His special skills include: vomiting (often of the projectile variety), beating Sauce in their wrestling matches, and his unrelentless desire to get up into the rafters in the laundry room so he can go exploring in the basement ceiling (which happened once – not fun).