Star-Struck

I started the day dreading going to work, not that I don't enjoy the job, I just really didn't feel up to working for seven straight hours. My mood quickly changed when I was getting customers that were asking me about a signing by some football players. I was completely clueless as to what they were talking about until I saw a burly man at a signing table with hats, pictures, footballs and football helmets engulfing him, only 20 feet from my register! You can say the next two hours until my lunch break went excruciatingly slow, I couldn't wait to walk over and meet this guy and possibly get an autograph. I was lucky enough to encounter this burly man, also known as Jeff Barnes and another one, Jerry Robinson; both are retired NFL players that played for the Raiders. Not only was I able to meet them, but get an autograph and a picture from both of them. You can say I'm quite star-struck right now, I practically feel as if I'm floating on clouds. When I shook their hands and introduced myself I was practically stuttering from my excitement. I was especially surprised by how nice they were, Jerry Robinson even called me tall when I stood next to him to take a picture, obviously a joke as I'm two feet shorter than him! Jeff Barnes was kind enough to charge me $5 dollars less for his autograph even though I offered to pay full price. See? Totally awesome guys (excuse my informal language).

I first bumped into Jeff's wife when she was purchasing some Raider's footballs and didn't even realize until she told me so, she was also an amazing person. I only found out she was Jeff's wife when I commented that she must be a big Raiders fan to buy five Raiders footballs and that she should get them signed today, she replied with an "oh I am a big fan, in fact that one's my husband" (those weren't her exact words, but it was along those same lines). You can imagine my surprise when she told me this, even meeting her gave me butterflies. She was enthused to know that I was looking forward to meeting him and getting his autograph on my lunch break.

I, being the awesome little sister I am, decided to not only get myself an autograph from Jeff Barnes, but also to get one of Jerry Robinson's pictures signed for my brother as a present when he graduates from Naval Boot Camp; since I won't be there to witness it. My brother's favorite team happens to be the Raiders, so you can say that this was my lucky day. The Raiders were also the only team my brother and I have witnessed play live, so I was enthused to meet them. Jerry signed "Right on with Boot Camp", so I hope my brother loves it. This day definitely turned out to be an unexpected one, but I'm ecstatic that I was able to cover this shift so I could work today.

Feathers, Feathers and oh so many more Feathers

An ideal day for the average teenager might be going to a party or spending the day with their boyfriend/girlfriend, I guess you can say that my friends and I aren't the average teenager. Today, myself as well as Jay Lion and Kingsley decided to explore Sparks by wandering around various pet stores in search of entertainment. What did we find as the most entertaining? Well that would be the abundance of birds and parrots we found. I think I made Kingsley become a bird enthusiast during our great adventure. The parakeets were especially engrossing due to their vibrant colors and misshaped clipped wings.

Now rewind, earlier this same day, before the brilliant idea of exploring the pet stores took place, we were hanging out with my own birds: Molly or as Kingsley and Jay Lion call her "Grudge Bird" (only because she refuses to accept them as "friends"), and Brandy the one Kingsley especially adores. Both of my birds are very timid and therefore don't accept strangers right away. I like to think I taught them to not speak to strangers (bird version, of course) quite successfully. Molly even went as far as protecting herself from Kingsley by laying siege on her hand when offered a deadly Honey Nut Cheerio, no blood was bled in this ill-fated battle.  I know this won't be the last battle fought between the two, but I have great confidence that Kingsley and maybe even Jay Lion will earn her trust and possibly become friends as well.