Why is everybody talking turkey?

We've had a lot of pictures and conversations in the newsroom about wild turkeys recently. Editor Jon Jimison has never seen one in person.
I can only shake my head in dismay. I grew up in the country (my backyard faced a cow pasture and crickets were the only real noise at night.) So I have to say, I'm scratching my head over the fascination with turkeys.
My son, Nathan, who is two years and 10 days old has seen wild turkeys in person. We see at least one or more a week on our trips to and from daycare. We've seen them on one stretch of road so many times that as soon as we turn onto it Nathan says "Turkeys." (We've also seen deer and bunnies, so we look out for those now too.)
Let's just hope my brother-in-law, David, doesn't get wind of the turkeys. He's an avid hunter and has already offered to take care of the deer eating my grandparents' garden.

Turtle trivia

In the Thursday, May 29, edition of The Star, I wrote a column about my recent visit to the South Carolina Aquarium.
Part of that visit included seeing the Sea Turtle Hospital at the aquarium. The loggerhead turtle, the state reptile for South Carolina, is what is most frequently seen at the hospital. The turtles are endangered and the hospital director, Kelly, told me about a Web site, www.seaturtle.org,.
On the site you can adopt a sea turtle, which I'd really like to do. The turtle I'm interested in is named Edisto, and was picked up last May 21. He's since been returned to the ocean. He's being tracked by the S.C. Aquarium. He's been along the North and South Carolina coastline, swimming away.
Here are some facts about sea turtles:
- Sea turtles have survived more than 110 million years of evolution and geological change.
- The nesting season for sea turtles along the South Carolina coast is from May to October. During that time, homeowners are asked to turn their lights out. While at the aquarium, I asked why this was and the answer is that mother sea turtles use the moon to guide them and could be confused by artificial light. And when the babies hatch, they too use the moon to guide them back to sea.

How I spent my vacation

I've returned from Edisto Beach, S.C., where I spent a week with my family and in-laws.
If you're not familiar with Edisto, it's about 45 minutes south of Charleston.
If you like having something to do, Edisto is not the place for you. There is only one grocery store. There is no Walmart. There is no Wings. There is no amusement park.
There is peace and quiet. And lots of beach. And seashells.
I spent the better portion of my trip on the beach, building sand castles and playing with my son, Nathan. (I've decided the newsroom would be a much happier place if we all had sand, buckets and shovels to take out our frustrations throughout the day.)
We also ventured into Charleston. I'll be sharing some of the new things to see and do at the South Carolina Aquarium in an upcoming edition of The Star.
I'll also be writing about a new personal mission of my family, saving the Loggerhead Sea Turtles, in this blog.
Check back for more!

Reduced to be reused

I witnessed a travesty today.
I rode with my husband to our local convenience center (i.e., the dump) to throw away the trash and recycleables. There is a shed there called the Swap Shop. Since we've grown tired of our Hoover Floor Mate (which never worked good in seven years), I decided to donate it to the Swap Shop and see what I could find.
There was a box of paperback books that included Kay Hooper, Mary Higgins Clark, Tami Hoag .... and Nathaniel Hawthorne.
My soul hurts that someone would trash "The Scarlet Letter." It's a classic and required reading in many high school and college courses.
I, of course, rescued it and screamed across the parking lot to my husband that it was an abomination to throw it away. (It should be noted I minored in literature, thus my love for books.)
I plan to read it on vacation. For fun. Not because I have to.
Yeah, I'm a nerd, I know.

I've got the right stuff

My friend, Leah, from college, sent me a link to a New Kids on the Block fans quiz on People Magazine's Web site.
I got five out of eight questions correct. I probably would have aced it, but after 20 years, I've got other random information in my brain that overrides it. (Such as, did I add laundry detergent to the load of clothes that just washed?)
Here's the quiz. Good luck!
http://www.people.com/people/quiz/0,,20182320,00.html

Another generation of Mr. Bubble

I went grocery shopping tonight. Nathan loves to go shopping, and since I want to spend Mother's Day weekend actually doing what I want to do (as opposed to what has to be done, like grocery shopping), off we went.
I've been promising to let Nathan start taking bubble baths. Since he's no longer drinking bath water on a regular basis, I figured it was a good time to buy some Mr. Bubble.
I loved Mr. Bubble as a kid. That pink, thick liquid and the yummy smell.
However ... Nathan has fairly sensitive skin. We stopped using the typical baby wash on him when he was around six months old because he kept breaking out into a rash.
Alas, we had bubbles, but no fantastic delicious smell.
He loved it just the same and used the bubbles to draw on the shower walls.

Magic mouthwash and numerous trips to the doctor later ....

Nathan came home from daycare last Thursday because of a fever and throwing up. Since he was acting really lethargic and I had "mommy intuition," I took him to the doctor.
First they checked his urine. And might I say, for a toddler who is still learning to go potty, Nathan peed in a cup like a champ.
Next they drew blood. His white cell count was 25,000 (normally it should be no more than 10,000). So the doctor's moved on to a strep test. Which was negative.
We next headed to Rutherford Hospital for a chest x-ray and another blood test. You do not know hell until you've tried to explain to a 2-year-old why people he's never seen before are trying to stick a sharp object into his arm to draw blood. He cried, I cried.
We then went back to the doctor's office for antibiotic shots.
Friday we headed back to the doctor for results. Chest x-ray was clear, so was the blood panel. So more antibiotic shots and another blood test. We were instructed to come back on Saturday to check levels again.
Somewhere between Friday and Saturday's doctor's office visits, Nathan began to drool quite a bit and I noticed he wouldn't swallow. Long story short, it turns out he has a sore throat.
So the doctor mixed up a "magic mouthwash." After doing research on this, it is no more than Benadryl, Motrin and Maalox mixed in equal parts. But boy did it work like a charm.
I'm happy to report Nathan is back to his usual self (which includes frequent use of the word "no" these days.) I'd rather have him telling me no any day than have him feeling as bad as he did last week.