We had a fantastic Easter, cooked like fiends. It was wonderful to be with all of our family. Here we are.

I love this Easter bunny photo that Janice McPherson sent us.

Owen and Mzee

Here is a picture of Owen and Mzee. I love the story of Owen, the baby hippo separated from his family by a tsunami in December 2004, and Mzee, a 130 year-old Aldabra tortoise. They became best friends and are now quite a tourist attraction at Haller Park in Kenya. Turtles and tortoises are amazing for many reasons. They are slow, gentle, vegetarians, and these tortoises live to be very old, averaging about 200 years old--some even older.

Things 8 and 9

It's only Monday, and I have already learned about RSS feeds and subscribed to 6 different feeds including PPLD's and 4 of my coworkers. Maybe I'll subscribe to more later, but I only like to read about good news so I'm very picky about the news I subscribe to. Maybe I'll even find some sites that actually pertain to my job!

Tristan and Ian

I just received a new picture of the brothers. They are so cute!

Thing 11

A little out of order. I went on LibraryThing, created an account, and added all of the books I could think of that I've read. I'd like to add more info to it and do reviews, etc. I have been wanting to find a way to keep track of the books I've read. This is great! I like the flexibility of it. I'd like to find out how to put my "Library" on my blog. Haven't gotten that far yet, though.

Sea Turtles in Cancun and Hawaii

We have been so fortunate to visit both Cancun and Hawaii. Of course, whenever I am in a place where there are turtles, I have to seek them out.

In Cancun, we were walking back to our hotel along the beach at night when we saw a group of people gathered with flashlights. We stopped to find that they were watching a giant sea turtle laying her eggs in the sand. This had been one of my dreams! We stayed for a long time and just watched. Apparently, the turtle when laying her eggs, gets into a trance and is not disturbed by visitors. After she lays her eggs and goes back to sea, the area is protected until the eggs hatch. Sometimes the eggs are moved a little closer inland so they are not so vulnerable to disturbance by visitors.

In Hawaii, we were snorkeling close to shore but were out far enough that we were able to swim with the sea turtles. What a thrill! The wildlife is not to be touched, but it was so exciting to be out in the water close enough to touch them.

Norway Fjord

On another trip with my family, we took a working cruise through Norwegian fjords. One of the most beautiful sites I've seen. Another photo from flickr.

Switzerland

In 1981, I visited Switzerland with a friend. We took a boat trip across the two lakes at Interlaken, Tun and Brienz. Here is a photo from flickr of the area of Tunersee.

Thing 7

flickr is time-absorbing! I could spend hours on it. I would like to set up an account so I can share my photos. I love the fact that I can type in almost any subject and find photos on it. I found some fun dogs and some beautiful newborn sets. I don't even pretend to be this good at taking art photographs. Mine are mostly family shots and a few of our favorite places to visit.

Fritz and Cinco

Here is a photo of our dog and cat in one of their favorite hangouts, on the back of the couch where the sun shines in and they can look out the front window. This day they just happened to be there at the same time.
Cinco is an almost 19-year-old calico of unknown origin good at giving the evil eye to match her personality (the "Don't-touch-me-if-you-know-what's-good-for-you look"). Our kids' friends used to call her "Psycho."
Fritz is a 6-year-old dachshund/chihuahua mix. He is usually a gentle sort except when his "sister cat" tries to take the spotlight. Notice the look of dejection.

The Cabin

This is a cabin where we like to go to find peace and quiet. One time we were there trying to do as little as possible, and it started snowing. We captured the awe in this photo.

Thing 6

Well, I explored Mappr, mashups, librarian trading cards, APIs. Seems like there are a lot of things to do, but I'm not sure how or why I would use them.

Quote from The Dalai Lama

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."
Dalai Lama

The Grandsons

Tristan (Ian's big brother), Andrew and Tyler (brothers) and little Ian

Thing 5

flickr is fabulous! I could spend hours looking at the photos. I looked at ppld's flickr photos and like those of Palmer Lake with the flowering trees and the Carnegie at night. Very arty!

Thing 4

Did this. Easy.

Thing 3

Yep. I did all of the exercises for wikis so I can claim to know all about them. I did learn about one perhaps useful wiki for info on services for older adults. Here is the link to Squidoo, Computers, Gadgets, and Tech--Technology Training for the Older Population. Hopefully, this will work. There is the option to get RSS Feeds from this site, but I need to explore this a little more first.