Goodbye, Hank. We will miss you!

Our favorite and beloved animal at the Chattanooga Zoo has died.  Hank, a 42 yr. old chimp, was found dead this morning in his habitat where he died in his sleep.

I am so glad that the manager snuck Ryan in to work with Hank a few times last year, even tho he hadn't reach the level where it was allowed.  (The manager can make the exception and was with him.).  I remember how Ryan served Hank a tray of produce and that Hank wanted to share some of his lunch with Ryan.  AN ONION!!!  He forced it into Ryan's mouth and held it there until Ryan had finished it!

Hank would run and hug his caretakers when they would enter his habitat.  Ryan got a few of his hugs and said they could be painful.  lol 

Hank's birthday was celebrated by the zoo each year and people would bring him gifts.  He was afraid of the jack-in-the-box the first time it popped, but loved it after that.  He had a Little Tykes Coupe Car and would drive that around.  He was served cake and ice cream.  He had a CA King bed to sleep in at night and wanted the caretaker to tuck him in each night.  He was very spoiled!

Hank knew some sign language and would sign to you sometimes through the exhibit glass.  He would also pucker up and kiss you through the glass.

Oh, Hank, it won't be the same without you!

Photoshop Elements

You might remember that I received Photoshop Elements 9 for Christmas but it didn't work.  After going back & forth with Adobe about replacing it, finally Amazon.com replaced it for me.  I received my WORKING Elements on Saturday.

I haven't gotten into any serious editting yet, but have had fun fooling around with it and seeing what you can do.

I had fun messing with this picture of Ryan, which he thinks is a riot.  Besides distorting his face, I tried to make Rico look like he was being choked.

(This is the before shot)

I look forward to doing some serious work with it, but it probably won't be until the end of the week.  Tomorrow is filled with school, hair appt. and errands.

Wednesday I go to the CF clinic and that will take the entire day.

But maybe Thursday I can really get working with my new Photoshop!

MORE snow

When we moved to Georgia we imagined warmer winters.  No snow.  We sold our snowblower to a neighbor in Pennsylvania, figuring he would need it a lot more than us.  WE wouldn't need to be shoveling or snowblowing anymore.  WE were moving to the sunny South!

Ha!

Christmas Day we got 5 inches of snow, then yesterday we got another 6 inches.  Today it's snowing some more, altho I'm not sure if it will accumulate.

Rico loved the snow and raced around like a crazy dog.

He even tried to help Ryan with rolling some snow.

But I think they were working against each other!  :)

I tried to get Raini to go out so she could get some exercise.  I mean, Rico gets LOTS of exercise outside.

Well, Raini wouldn't go outside.  Finally I threw some animal crackers out the front door and she went out to get them.

Of course, once the goodies were all found and eaten she wanted to come back in.  No wonder she's so fat!

Thirsty or a slob?

This morning while I was using my Total Gym, I asked Ryan to round up all of his cups.  I've been seeing them all over the place, just left wherever he last drank from them.

This is what he rounded up:

7 cups!  I might think he's really thirsty, but I think he's mostly a teenage slob!  Guess we need to work on that some more.

Yummy Chicken Recipe

My mother gave me this recipe that my whole family really loves.  It's one that I try to make extra of, so that we can enjoy leftovers.

I guess you can't quite see the chicken in the picture, but it's there!

Italian Chicken in Envelopes

1 chicken - I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts that I cut into smaller portions.
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 med. onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced (or more if you like)
1 can stewed tomatoes
4 green olives, chopped or sliced
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 bay leaves

Cut 4- 10" pieces of foil.  Grease w/ olive oil, or spray veg. oil.
Place chicken in center of each piece of foil.
Combine onion, garlic, tomatoes, olives, basil, oregano, celery salt and pepper and mix well.
Spoon some sauce over each piece of chicken.  Add 1 bay leaf to each package.
Fold foil into neat sealed package and place on cookie sheet.
Bake 425degrees for 40 min.  Serve over pasta or no-yolk noodles.
Makes 4 servings.