Last night I nearly pulled an all-nighter to clean the house. You heard me correctly... CLEAN THE HOUSE. I don't know what came over me; I looked around and realized how messy everything was (and how long it's been that way) and I decided I'd seen it like that long enough. I cleaned from 10pm-ish to about 6am-ish (so, roughly 8 hours) doing all kinds of stuff. I cleaned out half my bedroom (which looked like it had been shaken upside-down several times; maybe 2 out of the 120 sq feet of carpet was visible) which took up most of my time, I cleaned out the vacuum cleaner and then vacuumed the house, I did a load of laundry, I took out 2 large bags of trash between my bedroom, the kitchen, the bathroom, and other areas scattered throughout the house, and I sprayed the house with a 3-month cycle insecticide. Oh yeah, and I spent probably an hour washing walls and baseboards. I went through a whole box of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers in about 20 minutes, the rest was done with a wet rag. I also did a little bit of essential shopping at Wal-Mart; we now have new 'energy-saving' light bulbs in most of the rooms of the house, a new air filter for the furnace/air-conditioner, a new mop, and a bulk of toilet paper. When I get home from work today, I plan to mow the lawn, mop the kitchen floor, do yet MOAR laundry (there's probably 8 loads at least that can be done including rugs and bedding) and hopefully I'll finish my bedroom. The next major project will be cleaning out the garage, but I need to pursuade my dad into junking the broken-down '91 Saturn that's been sitting in there for the past 4 years.

So, continuing on the subject of psychopathy, I came into work this morning to find our assistant supervisor at her desk with a young heron in her shirt. Now, at first, I really thought I was hallucinating, but she actually had a bird in her shirt. She explained she found it in the parking lot when she came in this morning and it was apparently injured. It's still just a baby so it hasn't yet learned how to hunt or fend for itself, and it's potential ability to do so is now severely hindered in its condition. So here's Christy at her desk with the bird (now on her desk in a towel) feeding it water through a straw. I'm amazed our supervisor Araina has allowed any of this to take place. Christy and Sandi (another co-worker of mine) have been calling local animal rescue and wildlife establishments all morning in an attempt to find someone to rehabilitate it. I'm adding 2 pictures of the heron in my gallery. It really is heart-tugging to see the little guy all weak and helpless. I'm hoping I can get to the supermarket during my lunch break today to get some fish or something for it; I'll do my research before I go.

Work is going well: I feel my job is secure, I love the people I work with, and I get a decent paycheck. I am very content working for the college. My car could be running better- I need to replace the throttle position sensor AGAIN (I really need to replace the throttle body that's causing the TPS to go bad), I think I have a bad wheel bearing (I hear an abnormally loud hum coming from the rear right side of the car, it's pitch consistent with my speed), my brake pads need replacing and I need to change/fill the fluids again.

***Update: The heron didn't make it. Jeeze it's been less than 2 hours since I came into work and the poor thing already passed away. I suppose it didn't really have a chance. I am sad about its death, but in another light, I'm happy that it died the way it did. During its last couple hours it was given love and tender care. It wasn't left outside in the parking lot, in the direct sun and heat on the pavement waiting to be run over by an oncoming vehicle. It was nice and cozy inside, receiving plenty of attention and nurturing. At least it knew it was loved.***

Moving on from sentimentality, I bought a new cell phone. I'm going to use the same sim card so my number and service provider will stay as is. The phone is an i-Mate Ultimate 8150. It's an unlocked smart-phone/pocket PC that runs Windows Mobile 6.1 and it's LOADED with features! Retail price $599, I paid: $199 on Amazon.com. A newer model has been released so this one was placed on clearance. Cha-Ching! I can't wait until it arrives; it's current ETA is this Friday. Fingers crossed!

My major goals for the rest of the year so far are: get a passing grade on the classes I registered for this semester, convince my dad to get rid of the car in the garage, complete a substantial change/renovation on the house, get a new pair of glasses, and visit my family and friends in Chicago for Christmas. Maybe next year I'll worry about a new car...