A-traveling we will go!

My niece Bronte will be graduating from high school June 9, so I'll be making a special trip to Texas for a week! I'll be there from June 7-12, and sister-pal Mary will be taking the week off too, so you can bet there will be LOTS of Texas birding to be done! I might see that Golden-Cheeked Warbler yet!

Before that, though, AB and I will be driving up to New Paltz, NY, to stay in a vacation rental home with her parents and her sister and brother-in-law on the weekend before I go to Texas, so there will be more out-of-PA birding to do there! AB's mom is a big hiker and wildflower lover, so I'm hoping to see lots of photo-worthy sights!

In the meantime, I'll be squeezing in some birding whenever I can.

This past weekend, I walked in a fundraising walk for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. My friend Amy's daughter Zoe was diagnosed before she turned 2, and another friend's son was diagnosed at age 5. I also have a friend named Molly whose daughter Lucy was diagnosed. All these kids were young and active, otherwise healthy, until suddenly they weren't anymore. Once doctors figured out what was wrong, their lives have been better, but they deal with daily "I've gotta check your sugar" requests, finger-sticks, insulin shots/pumps, and dietary control. So walking a couple of laps around Beaver Stadium and raising some money was the least I could do. Speaking of which...

Thank you, Susan of the blog Lake Life, one of the original Flock members! for your online donation! And to my old Domino's Pizza pal and Facebook friend Chris Stant for your online donation! (I worked at Domino's Pizza for a year before moving up to PA back in 2003.)

So--vacation plans are firming up, my new job at MegaCorp is going well (9 sales for the month so far, which is really good!), and life is sweet with Niblet and the kitties. By the way, think good thoughts for little Owen, who's spending the night at the vet in preparation for having his teeth cleaned and a bad tooth removed tomorrow. I know just how he feels.

Here's a pic of all three babies in happier times:That's Owen, looking cool for the camera in the gray, Maya on the left -- no doubt headed for the food bowl -- and Nib working on some fresh timothy in the back.