Buffalo Dreams or How My Husband Is Trying to Kill Me

I gave this as my icebreaker speech (#1) for Toastmasters in 2006.


You may know that I recently got married. What you might not know is that my husband may be, unintentionally, trying to kill me with the places he chooses for vacation. No matter where we go, there is always some deadly animal there for me to be afraid of.

I first became suspicious in August 2004. We decided to go on a California Adventure and our first stop was at Yosemite, where we met up with some of his friends. I was a little afraid of bears before we even started, but they had been several times and said they hadn’t seen one yet. As we drove to the park, I found out that on one of their more recent trips, they had in fact seen a bear. I started to get nervous again. That afternoon we went on what was probably a beautiful hike. Unfortunately, I spent the whole time examining every tree stump and limb that moved, thinking it was a bear. We checked into our campground, which was plastered with bear warning signs. I was very diligent in putting every little thing with a scent inside the bear locker. I actually had a pretty good evening, and only woke up a few times thinking, “Was that a bear?”

The next day, we went on another hike, which happened to be the same hike they had seen the bear on. This was no different than the previous day; the rest of the party was 100 feet ahead of me, and I was behind, huffing, puffing, and looking for bears.

From Yosemite, Scott and I headed to San Francisco. We decided to go to Muir Woods, a redwood forest north of San Francisco. I thought, “Surely there won’t be anything to worry about there. There are no bears in San Francisco.” But as soon as we walked through the gates, I saw a sign warning people of cougars. And as we got a little further in, we were warned of another danger, the rabid bat. That afternoon I had two animals to worry about.

After San Francisco, we headed south to LA. Except for a quick stop in Pinnacles National Monument, where I had to be on the lookout for rattlesnakes, the rest of the trip was uneventful.

Last summer Scott thought we should drive through the Dakotas, after I expressed interest in seeing Mount Rushmore. Our first National Park was Badlands National Park. As we drove through, we stopped to look at a prairie dog town. They were so cute, sticking up from their holes looking around. Then I read the signs. Apparently, prairie dogs have a flea which carries a disease similar to the bubonic plague. And as if that isn’t enough, black widow spiders like to live in the prairie dog homes. I couldn’t even trust them.

The closest encounter so far happened a few nights later. We went to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit. We set up our tent in the afternoon, picking a spot near the river. As we were setting up, we noticed some buffalo crossing the river. It was a very pretty, natural site. We went into town, and by the time we got back, it was very late, after dark, so we just got ready and went to bed. I’m not sure how long I had been asleep when I was awaken by a noise. I immediately knew what it was; I had heard it earlier that week when we drove through a herd of buffalo. It sounded very close, and I was sure that if I opened the window in the tent, I would see a big eye staring back at me. Naturally, I did what any good girlfriend/wife would do – I woke Scott up.

“Scott, do you hear that”

“Huh, oh cool. A buffalo.”

And he fell back asleep. It was a very long night. Every time I fell asleep, I would hear that noise. I was convinced that if I moved too much, the buffalo would get spooked and trample the tent, turning us into some sort of human nylon burrito. It only got worse as the night went on. Some time in the early morning, I had to go to the bathroom. There was no way I was leaving the tent in the dark, by myself, to walk to the bathroom, so I decided to tough it out. Every time I fell asleep, I dreamt about going to the bathroom, but as I got to the door, a buffalo would be lying across the threshold. I dreamt they were at the camp, in office buildings, with my mom, my friends. It was a very long night. When we finally got up in the morning, we could see buffalo in a campsite near by, but we’ll never know how close they really were that night.

While these experiences have been scary for me, thanks to my husband, I have gotten to see and experience a lot of things I might not otherwise experience. But if I ever don’t come back from vacation, you’ll know one of these creatures finally got me.

Why everyone should read Young Adult books

I gave this speech as my persuasive speech (#9) for Toastmasters. I'm sure I said a few different things during the actual speech, but this is the gist of it.

Books are available to cover every possible topic you can think of. There are books about vampires, secret societies, and knitting. There are mysteries, science fiction, historical fiction, romance, and many other genres. Who knows, there may even be vampire knitting books, but I haven't found those yet. There really are books available for every niche and interest you may have. However one genre often overlooked by adults is the Young Adult Fiction. And I believe everyone should read Young Adults books.

Now, you may be saying, "Stacey, I am not a teen. I haven't been a teen in a long time. Why would I want to read a book about teens?" Well, while the books may be geared towards teens, and are often set in high school, there are important lessons in YA books that even adults can relate to. I am very fond of John Green's books and think they have great lessons in them for people of all ages. In Paper Towns, a boy named Q is enthralled by his neighbor Margo Roth Spieglman. One night, she invites him on a revenge-filled mission with her, then disappears the next morning. Throughout the rest of the book, Q investigates her disappearance, and along the way, realizes that the Margo he had been pining after for years was not actually the person she was. He discovers that often we project onto other people how we want them to behave, instead of getting to know the actual person. This is something even adults can take to heart. How often do you want your spouse to behave in a certain way and are then disappointed when he or she doesn't? Do you get mad when someone isn't at work before 11, because you would never come in that late? Do you take the time to actually think about that person and imagine what his life is like? It's something I recognize doing myself, and something I actually wish I had been more aware of in high school. And it's something that I can apply to my life now to help me be more aware and tolerant of others. Young adult books show that some lessons are worth learning and relearning, regardless of your age.

Another benefit of YA books is that they are often easy to read. You don't have to disect the book to figure out that the author made it rain during the scene to symbolize the grief felt by the protagonist. No, it's just there. I mentioned the lessons in John Green's books, but don't think that it took me hours of careful analysis to figure that out. It's mentioned in the book. While this could be a bit much to always have everything laid out, oftentimes it is a nice treat to have something simple and easy to read. I like to read a book quickly and enjoy the plot. I also enjoy a good lesson, but I don't want to have to overanalyze everything in the book to find the lesson. And young adult books seem ideal for this.

Most young adult books are set in high school, and it's something everyone can related to, since we've all been there. Regardless of your background, you had to get through those teen years to make it to adulthood. And there are some universal things that we all experienced. Many adult books are set in situations we haven't experienced. They involve families, divorce, murder, CIA intrigue, and other situations that we might not know about. But we do all know about the awkwardness that comes with growing up and finding your place in the world. And hopefully we all have at least a few good memories about that time, be it school activities, first romance, or hanging out on Friday nights at the football game. When the daily grind of work and responsibility gets to be too much, it can be a stress reliever to escape back into that more carefree time for just a little bit.

There are some young adult books that are heavy on the young side, and may not be for everyone. But you may not like all books of an adult genre either. What is entertaining for one person may not be so for another. Don't discount the entire genre just because you think they are all kid's books and don't be embarrassed to read whatever you want. Next time you are in the library or bookstore, take a look in the YA section. If you see something interesting, hold your head up high, and get that book. You can always say it is for your niece or nephew.

Homemade Photo Ornaments

For years, my family has had an ornament exchange at Christmas. At the beginning, I tried to get ornaments that represented Scott and I. Then, for a few years, I made sure we got ornaments while on vacation each year stating where we had been. In 2007, I forgot to get them on vacation and decided to try something different. I had a few old family pictures that I thought were neat and decided to try to share them with the ornaments. After a lot of internet research, I found a site that I could order ornaments from. The first two I ordered turned out great, so I ordered more for gifts and even recommended the site to Tracey for presents she was purchasing. Unfortunately, the rest of the ones ordered were not great.

This year, I decided to figure out how to make the ornaments myself. In fact, the website that I ordered from last year didn't exist any more. I searched online and discovered water slide (or water slip) decals. Apparently this is what you use on model cars as well. I found a site to order a sample kit with everything I needed. I also ordered the rubber squeegee. (I did find some paper at Hobby Lobby, but it was not 8.5 x 11 and was more expensive. The sample kit was good to start with.)

My first step was finding the ornaments. I wanted a landscape rectangular and portrait oval, but this proved harder to find than I thought. I found a few websites that sold them in bulk. I also found a few on sites that would print for you. I emailed one and they did offer to sell me the blanks for around $5 each. Hobby Lobby had some circular, unfinished ornaments for 99 cents, so I decided to try those first. I purchased a few, along with some white paint, spray enamel, and brush on enamel. The paint was fine to help give the ornaments a finished look. Then I found circular ones at Michael's that already had a nice finish to them for only $1.49. I ended up using a lot of these.

Next I had to print out the pictures needed. In Photoshop Elements, I created a square canvas about 2 x 2 inches. Using the circle selector, I made a circle the size of the ornament. Then I selected the inverse and filled it in with white. Then I was able to put my pictures as a layer behind that one and could move it around and resize it.

I created another canvas that was 8.5 x 11 and I pasted the sized images into it. I was able to fit 4 ornaments per sheet, plus wording for the back of the ornaments. In a few cases, I had to do some photoshopping to extend the picture to fill the ornament.

After I printed out the pictures, I followed the instructions that came with the kit. First I had to seal the images. The bottle said to do it in a well ventilated area. I naturally ignored that the first time. I applied the sealer and left the sheet on the kitchen table. When we went to bed, we both noticed a smell. It was very permeating. I moved the sheet to the garage so we couldn't smell it. I let it dry for at least a day and then trimmed each round image.

I filled a small bowl with warm water and placed the first picture it in. While it soaked, I put the mounting fluid on the ornament and spread it around. Once the picture started coming up from the backing, I took the photo out of the water and placed it on the ornament. I used more mounting fluid on top of the photo and gently positioned the image. I used the squeegee to smooth out all the air bubbles and then let it dry.

The first two I did turned out really well. Then I made several for Tracey. I had more trouble with those, and I learned a few tips.

1. Make sure the fixative is applied over the entire picture. Even when I would spread it over the photo, when I looked sideways, I could see little spots that weren't covered. When soaked in water, those spots lost the image. It helped to apply the fixative liberally and look at it from all angles to make sure it was covered.

2. Don't let the fixative dry in too cool of a place. When I made the first two, it was still pretty warm out, so the garage wasn't that cold. When I made some of Tracey's, it was very cold outside and the cooler air in the garage seemed to have some effect on the pictures. They seemed cloudier.

3. Let the image soak long enough. The instructions say to leave it in for a minute, but I think I got impatient sometimes. When it didn't soak long enough, the image seemed likely to fold on itself (and it could be unfolded, but was a pain).

4. Use plenty of mounting fluid and don't pull on the image when using the squeegee. I ruined a few of the pictures because I tore it or stretched it.

All in all, they turned out pretty good. I think I will make some more for future Jung family Christmases. With two ornaments a year and 50 family members, I'm good for the next twenty years!

Book Collection

I've always been a big collector of books. During elementary school and junior high, that was my bribe for good grades. My parents and I had a complicated system worked out where each A equaled a book, being on the exceptional honor roll yielded two extras and so forth. I also got books at other times and could never wait for the library to get the latest Baby-Sitter's Club; I had to get a copy from the book store as soon as it was out. As I got older, I still tended to purchase books when Iw anted something to read. All of this has left me with quite the collection. (At least, quite a collection of pre-teen books.) I recently decided that I wanted to track the books I have in some sort of database, similar to the one Scott uses with his DVD collection. So I went in search of a program.

I had a few requirements:

• Ability to export to HTML. Scott's DVD list is available online and I want to be able to do something similar with my books.
• Ability to look up and download information about the books so I didn't have to type it all in.
• Nice-to-have - Books stored in a common format. I didn't want a program that stored books in some proprietary format.

I first went in search of freeware, but discovered that not much existed there. So I downloaded trials of several programs and evaluated them.

Library Express

• 39.99
• Stored in SQL. Up to date UI
• No export to HTML
• http://www.libraryexpress.net/download.html
  

BookCAT

• 39.95
• Look up by isbn. Data in access. Generates HTML pages. Very customizable. Export to HTML
• http://www.fnprg.com/bookcat/
  

BookCollector

• 49.95
• Export to HTML has a lot of options.
• Several clicks to import new books
• http://www.collectorz.com/book/
  

Book Tracker

• 14.95
• Doesn't look up by ISBN. All custom entered information
• http://www.ducksoftware.com/book-organizer.html
  

Libra

• Free
• Only exports to web view with links to Amazon and images of books
• http://www.bestvistadownloads.com/download/t-free-libra-download-mrwpeffl.html
  

Complete Home Library

• Free
• icky UI. No look up online
• http://www.pilibrary.com/
  

Libellus

• 14.95
• Kept giving an error
• http://www.tantillus.com/

I decided to go with BookCat, and so far I am happy. The customizable-ness is very nice. I've already made a few different views. I borrowed a scanner from work, but didn't have luck getting it to work. But I should be able to type in the ISBN numbers fairly quickly to import my books.

iTunes almost handles audiobooks

Since I started listening to some audiobooks on my iPod, I have been frustrated with how they are handled. (And it seems to be a common complaint, check the interweb.) If your audiobooks aren't in the iTunes recognized format (.m4b, I think) then they just appear as music files and don't show up under the Audiobook menu. That is, until iTunes 8. Last night, I discovered that the Get Info - Options screen for files now has an option for Media Kind. If you choose Audiobook there, the files now show up under the Audiobook menu and go away from the Music view. When viewing audiobooks, you can rate the entire book (which then puts the rating on each file.) This is nice, but can lead to other issues. I had to go back to my smart playlists for My 5 Stars, etc, and exclude files with the genre of Audiobook. I do have some issues with how the Audiobooks are being handled:

1. You can't sync the books individually. Once I chose to View Audiobooks, an Audiobooks option showed up under the Select Playlists view when my iPod was synced. If checked, then all the audiobooks load. If unchecked, none of them do. I would like to have it work like TV shows or Movies, where I can choose to only sync selected audiobooks. I just don't have enough space on my 16Gig Touch. I do have a work around for now. I already had my audiobooks in playlists. If I uncheck Audiobooks and then check the specific playlist, only that book loads. And it is still listed under the Audiobooks menu on the iPod.
2. When you listen to a file that you selected under the Audiobooks menu, it doesn't show which specific file is playing. Not the end of the world, but...
3. The iPod seems to have a mind of its own when labeling files. At least a little bit. I am quite picky and I like to have my audiobooks set up with one file per chapter, named after the chapter. None seem to come like this, so I have spent plenty of time editing mp3 files to get them saved like I like them. I just don't understand why they come in so many different formats, each named something cryptic like 01-Part 1. When I stop listening to an audiobook, I am much more likely to remember that I am in Chapter 4 than that I am in 01-Part12. This could be because I am not used to listening in the "real" audiobook format that remembers where you are. Anyway. I discovered that if the file has a track number, then the iPod shows that file as Part 1 of 28 instead of the chapter name. If I remove the track number, then it shows up as the chapter name. Not a big deal to work around, but a little weird. Still, I like having it by chapter name. I tend to relisten to my favorite chapters over and over, instead of relistening to an entire book.

All in all, this seems to be a step in the right direction.

Organic Food

Scott and I thought we would try out a home delivery of organic food. I happened to see the truck for Timber Creek Farms one day on my way to work, and it intrigued me. I called last week and ordered the Fruit and Vegetable box. Our first delivery arrived on Monday. We had to place a cooler on the porch in the morning, and when we got home that evening, it was filled with healthy goodness. I had thought that this would also be locally grown, and help with the whole 100 mile thing but you can see that isn't true by the things we received.

Of course, I don't see any where that they advertise locally grown, so I must have just made that up. It does seem like we got our money's worth with a lot of stuff. Unfortunately, most of it is stuff that Scott doesn't like, but he has been a good sport and tried it. So far, we have had:

Watermelon - I've had several pieces and Scott tried one

Romaine lettuce - We made a salad out of it one night, and then I cut up some for tacos the next.

Cucumber - I used part of this on a salad, and then ate the rest at work.

Spinach - We used the leaves on the salad.

The trick will be to use it all up before it goes bad. I looked up a recipe for the red chard, but haven't been brave enough to try it yet.

Florida 2008

We headed to Florida for a long weekend in March. It was three years after our last trip to Florida (the weekend we got engaged.) Scott's parents were staying in the condo, so we piggybacked onto their vacation.

Day 1
We arrived in Fort Lauderdale late Wednesday night and went to the condo. On Thursday, we got up, got ready, and headed south. Our first stop was Biscayne Bay National Park. We had been there before, and just needed to stop to get our picture in front of the sign since we hadn't done that the last time. We also looked around for a few minutes, but skipped the normal visitor center movie opportunity since we had watched that before. We left there and continued on. The drive through the Keys was okay. It was less exciting than I had thought. I don't have a desire to do that again. We stopped on Big Pine Key to go to the headquarters of the National Key Deer Refuge for a stamp. The Key Deer turned out to be smaller than regular deer, but not small enough to be extremely cute. We never saw any real ones, just the stuffed one in the visitor's center. We hadn't had lunch yet, and should have stopped when we had seen the fast food restaurants because our options became pretty sparse. We finally found a Burger King just outside of Key West and stopped. It was not the best meal I've even had, but it worked.

We arrived in Key West around 3. Most of the attractions closed at 5, so we skipped the hotel and went straight to the Hemingway Home. We found the house easily; parking was another matter. We drove around a bit and finally found a lot. (Drove past it first, then had to come back.) We parked there and significantly lessened the weight of my change purse, since it was a dime for 10 minutes. We put in enough change to take us to 5 and started walking. The Hemingway House was our first chance to experience the Key West tourist fee - $12 per person to enter. We listened in on part of the tour, which was interesting. We were also able to wander through the house and grounds on our own, which was a very nice feature. I also got to see my fill of cats. They were very friendly and cute. Only half of the 47 ones there have 6 toes and I think we found the one that has 7. From there we walked over to the lighthouse, but it closed at 5. We walked down Duvall Street and went back to the car. We drove to the Southernmost Point in the US and walked people line up to take their picture with it. We were a bit confused though, since other parts of the island did seem to be farther south. We checked into the fine Days Inn Key West and decided to drive back downtown for dinner. This time we found a garage at the Westin. It was more expensive ($4/hr) but easier than feeding the meter. Plus it was next to a giant American Gothic statue. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, checked out a few souvenir shops and then went back to the hotel.

Day 2
The darn roosters woke me up several times during the night. Apparently they don't really wait until the sun comes up. The spring break teens returning to their rooms at 5 a.m. also woke me up. (Seriously - what were they doing until 5 a.m.? I'm old.) We had to meet at the boat at 7:30 for our trip to Dry Tortugas National Park. We went on the Fast Cat. (My parents went on the Yankee Clipper a few years ago.) Our boat was smaller than theirs; it fit about 100 people. We were able to get seats inside and I had one of the best donuts ever. Unfortunately, they had the air conditioning on, and the windows were kind of fogged up, so it wasn't the most comfortable trip. We both listened to our iPods, and I took a few cat naps. The boat ride took about 2 hours and 20 minutes. We arrived around 10:30 and found a tree to put our stuff under. We had taken the optional snorkeling equipment with us just in case. The boat company gave a tour around the fort and the guide was pretty good. That lasted for 45 minutes. We didn't want to be in the crowd for lunch, so we went to the visitor's center to get our stamps and watch the video. After lunch on the boat, we got our sign picture and our souvenirs. Then we walked along the moat wall. The water was beautiful and everyone looked like they were having fun snorkeling. Then we put our feet in the water. It was quite chilly. We walked over to the other beach and waded for a few minutes. We just couldn't make ourselves get in the water. We spent the rest of the time walking around in the fort again. We were one of the last ones back on the boat, so there were no seats available inside. We had to sit on the back, which would have been okay if we had seat backs and if they didn't bring all the seasick people to the back. It was pretty gross. The extra 2 and a half hours in the sun didn't help my poor skin, and I ended up burned on the right side. We did a little more shopping when we got back to Key West and had dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise (not the Jimmy Buffet one.) Their schtick is 5-napkin cheeseburgers, and mine was definitely greasy and kind of gross.

Day 3
We didn't get started as early as we had hoped, but had several things we wanted to do before we left. We parked in the garage again, and walked down to the lighthouse, past the Mile 0 marker. Lighthouses have a stamp program like the National Parks, so we usually get them when we are near by. We paid the entrance fee ($10/person) and then walked up the light house. (I'm not a huge fan of those spiral metal staircases and am becoming more afraid of heights as I get older.) The view was pretty though. We went through the museum and back to the VC to ask for the stamp. At first the worker said they didn't have it, which was disappointing. But then he found it. We got to the Truman White House just as a group from a cruise ship arrived, so we waited for the next one. The tour was again a bit overpriced ($12/person - a theme this weekend) and was a little long. (There was a combo ticket with the Hemingway Home, but we didn't know about it ahead of time.) We also didn't really enjoy our tour guide. He said things like "That's the trouble with kids in America these days..." (My parents did this tour a few years ago and really enjoyed it, so it is hit or miss.) The downtown area was getting unbelievably crowded at this point, so we were ready to get out of town. It was a Saturday morning, and it seemed like the decision to be in Key West during the week was a good one. After a quick lunch at Taco Bell, we started north. The drive back was also not too exciting. We got to the first Everglades VC at 4. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to drive to the Flamingo VC, 38 miles away, since that one closed at 4:30. (Ironically, we did that hurried drive in 2005, only to find it closed then too. Maybe we will finally get there next time.) We rushed to get to Royal Palm, because we were told it closed at 4:30. Unfortunately, it actually closed at 4:15. We walked on the Anhinga Trail, where you can see a ton of alligators. Then we went back to Fort Lauderdale. Scott's parents bought us dinner at Damon's and we walked into Lauderdale-by-the-Seas for ice cream.

Day 4
On our last full day, we had several stops to make. We got to Shark Valley in the Everglades at 8:50; just in time for the 9 a.m. tram ride. It was the first one of the day, and I highly recommend getting there for that. It wasn't very hot, and the fog and dew hadn't completely burned off, so there were beautiful spider webs everywhere. We saw a ton of alligators. They just laid in the culverts every few feet and watched the tram go by. There were also a lot of birds, which were nice, but more exciting for someone who cares a lot about birds. The whole tram ride took 2 hours and was well worth the $15/person fee. We drove to Big Cypress National Recreational Area, taking the detour along the scenic drive. It was not scenic. The foliage along the road was overgrown, so you couldn't see very far on either side. There were alligators along the way, but after all the ones we saw in the Everglades, it just wasn't worth it. (There were also alligators along the road to Shark Valley, so you can easily see them without ever paying an entrance fee.) We stopped at the VC to get our stamp (more alligators there) and drove on to the Gulf Coast part of Everglades. By the time we got there, it was in the 90s. I was hot and burned from Key West. They did have boat rides, but one was leaving when we arrived and I just wasn't feeling it. We got our stamp there and then drove back to FL on the Alligator Alley. (Which is a complete misnomer - I didn't see any!) We had dinner with Scott's parents and then walked along the beach one more time before we had to go back to the cold of Chicago.

Here are some pictures from our adventure.