Puddle Jumping in DC
Oh that "never the two shall meet" . . .
His name is Spike II (We already had a betta named Spike but it is a good name and I wasn't feeling particularly creative the day a got Spike II.) Bug is very interested in his tank. Spike is very interested in Bug. When she wanders around his tank, he struts his stuff and flairs his fins. This is as close as they should ever get.
which is what I set out to do this morning.
It was kind of a soft goal. I set it at the 2-mile marker when I crossed at 20:13.
Unfortunately, I didn't really pick up the pace (at all) in the next two miles and crossed the 4-mile marker at 40:26.
With a little less than 20 minutes remaining to meet my goal, I picked up the pace and managed to run the fifth mile in 9:26 - still not quite fast enough - I was going to have to run the sixth mile in about 8:30 in order to get that .2 of the 6.2 race in under the 1 hour mark.
I didn't pull it off. My sixth mile was 9:00 even and my final time was 1:00:25. So close.
Doesn't really need words but aren't they cute?
Bug has many toys. Unfortunately, I think some of her toys are mine. 
We had a conflict over this pen 
which bug felt should be shaken to bits and I felt should be used to make macro-economics notes.
And when she wasn't satisfied being cute on the play stand
I did something I do every few days . . . I made her more toys.
In the wild, parrots would spend a lot of time foraging for food. In my house, Bug's food is served in stainless steel dishes so I make her foraging toys to spice things up.
Under Bug's watchful eye, 
I put a few sunflower seeds in a treat cup, covered them with pistachio shells (washed and dried, of course). I put a few hot peppers in another, and covered them with scraps of paper. Then, I put a nutraberries treat in a third cup.
Then I hid the treats under strips of paper (tape on the back, out of the way of beak). Ta DAH! A toy with food inside!
But then . . . the mail came with a package of food and toys from Choppers Toys!
The jelly bracelet (w/almonds) and cellophane balls are clearly a hit. (We also got a big bag of sunflower seeds but I hid that.)