Mwako’s visit was this week! He spent from Sunday to Wednesday with us. We looked at toys in many stores and even bought some, had some nice meals, and went to the zoo which was amazing. Other than that we just hung out though unfortunately I was really busy a lot of the time.

I also started applying to jobs again, and got one! I should be starting next week. I also took a pretty serious decision: to close commissions permanently. And we went to the Phillip & Patricia Frost Museum of Science, where I got to see an incredible dinosaur exhibit! So, all in all, it was a pretty eventful week. Let me tell you about it.

OH YEAH: CW for lotsa snakies and a spooder. 🐍

🌈 Monday 🌈

On Monday Mwako and I went to the zoo. I’ve been to Zoo Miami lots of times, so, at this point, I tend not to take photos. But it had been a while I’d been in the daytime, a whole five years (last time, in December of last year, was at night). I had no idea how much the zoo had changed, how the enclosures had been made so much nicer. You feel like the animals are closer somehow.

Not only that, but I’d never seen the animals look so energetic and sociable. This has always been a great zoo, but it’s clear that it has improved even more, and for good reason it is called one of the best in the country these days. It was a huge treat –here’s photos and video!

Wombat…

Tree kangaroo!

Southern cassowary… I think?

Warthogs!

Buru babirusa (I think).

A turtle –not sure what kind.

Lots of lovely snakies!

Got a bunch of videos too –they were active!

Patch had his picture taken with one!

Green and black poison dart frogs:

No idea about this guy, sorry! But he was cute.

I’m guessing a tarantula?

Red-eyed tree frogs, sleeping peacefully…

Amusingly (and worryingly) Steve was nowhere to be seen:

This guy was there, though. Possible a Baja blue rock lizard, but not sure.

Northern caiman lizards, just chillin’:

Southern screamer! These things have detachable wing-daggers, it’s nuts! We got to see it, too.

Just a gator. He’s not real, but he’s still a good boy.

Crocodile monitor (I think).

Plumed basilisk!! A cheerful lad.

I really tried to look it up but cannot remember or figure out exactly which type of (bull)frogs these are. They were very cute potatoes though.

This indoor aquarium was amazing! Some redtail catfish…

Ocellate river stingray:

Blue poison dart frog:

The Mold-A-Matic looked like fun!

In this one, you could make a little otter.

I decided to give it a try!

✨ Ta-daa~! ✨

I think this beauty was a harpy eagle:

A blue-billed curassow!

Four-eyed fish:

Four-eyed fish, or Anableps anableps, do not actually have four eyes. They are surface dwellers and have eyes adapted for seeing both above and below the water surface. The eyes are on top of the head, and each is divided into two parts, an upper half for vision in air, and a lower half for vision in water; hence, the common name.

An anole, maybe?

Mission golden-eyed tree frogs:

I’m not sure if we caught them chilling, or in an amorous moment, but it was very cute.

Black spider monkey:

African bush elephant:

Gulf fritillary butterfly:

This is part of the wildlife that just roams the zoo, and, I’m pretty sure, even my neighborhood. It certainly liked to pose.

Addaxes:

Adorable dholes!

And some Bactrian camels:

Playful and alert African wild dogs!

Watch the whole thing to see one of them jump in the water:

These spectacled bear were having a blast being cuddly with each other:

🌈🐘 That was it for the zoo! 🐘🌈

We were EXHAUSTED by the time we were done. From there we had a really nice lunch at Five Guys and then headed home.

After Christopher got home, we three played LEGO together! Unfortunately our partner was out working. I built LEGO Ray the Castaway 40566:

…and LEGO Creator Panda Bear 30641:

Christopher built yet another train and Mwako built a few different things but unfortunately I didn’t take pics of those before they were put away.

🌈 Tuesday 🌈

On Tuesday Mwako and I went out again. At the craft store they had this ✨ BIG ✨ boy for just $10! He was so well made and so massive. I originally left him behind, but on the way home I just had to stop by again and grab him. He is the cuddliest thing.

Look how big! I still can’t believe it was so cheap.

We went to Buenos Aires Bakery for lunch, it was a big treat. I also got my yearly Argentinean Easter egg. Will have to start decorating that basket soon.

We went to Nami Sushi for dinner and I brought Robito, one of my oldest toys, along. I wasn’t very hungry and Christopher was feeling down, which made me fret a lot. But we went for a walk and still had a pretty pleasant evening on Mwako’s last day with us.

🌈 Wednesday 🌈

On Wednesday, we still had a bit of time before Mwako left, so we went out one more time. We went to Barnes and Noble, Petsmart, and Five Below. I took an outfit selfie for the first time in a LONG time, and took Sugar Lump with me:

I actually felt cute for the first time in a while. I haven’t been taking that many photos of myself compared to before.

But first we got our pals safely strapped in:

At Barnes and Noble I came across this book. I’ll be buying it on Amazon down the road. It is absolutely massive (over 700 pages) and a beauty to hold –just look at this amazing cover! The inside pages did this cover justice, I’ll tell you that much.

At one point I went to the restroom and someone had left this little positive message in the stall:

Mwako treated me to lunch at The Pub. I had bangers and mash and we shared a scotch egg. Everything was incredibly delicious and we wound down talking about all sorts of things.

Then we went home and soon it was time to say goodbye, until we meet again. When we parted, Mwako entrusted me with Tiny Tina, AKA Tina the Tiny T. rex. I’ll take very good care of my new palm-sized Tyrannosaurid!

Christopher was a little down in the evening again (both times it was a side effect of medication) so while he slept it off, I proposed to our partner that we go pick up Pollo Tropical, since I know Christopher’s usual, and it would be nice to wake him up with something he likes. While we were in the drive-thru doing just that, we saw this car’s helpful little skeleton man!!

He just looked so happy. You couldn’t help but smile back!

🌈 Thursday – Friday 🌈

Thursday was a very busy day catching up on all the housework. I also had a phone interview with the place I sent my resume to, and they scheduled me for an in-person interview on Friday. It went well –I was hired, and start on Monday! I haven’t worked retail in a few years, so I hope I can get back into that groove without too much trouble.

It’s also near the house and it is part-time, so it shouldn’t get too overwhelming.

After the interview I went grocery shopping for dinner. I made salmon! It was really good.

I happened to notice my roman snails mating for the first time in many months! So I immediately put the dish they picked for their date in the little tank (AKA “The Love Shack” AKA, later on, “The Nursery”). I hope they’ll lay eggs in it!

🌈 Saturday 🌈

On Saturday we went to the Phillip & Patricia Frost Museum of Science! I’d wanted to come again for a few years. The only time I was here was during one of the worst times of my life. It was such an unhappy day. So it was really nice to be able to push those bad memories away with good ones.

The reason we came was to see the Ultimate Dinosaurs: Meet a New Breed of Beast exhibit. First though, we had lunch at Panera Bread:

The dinosaur exhibit was only one part of the museum, but it was really wonderful. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. If you know me, you know what sort of reaction I had in a place like this!

Look at the size of these!!

Little toy dioramas…

Loved this display at the entrance.

Waterbear!!

These things are freaking ADORABLE! Tardigrades, also known as “water bears” or “moss piglets” are a “phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals (Wikipedia).” Tardigrades are among the most resilient animals known. They can live almost anywhere! They have even survived exposure to outer space.

If you’ve never heard of these guys, please watch this:

Some fishies:

And a bit of video:

“Feathers To The Stars” Exhibit:

Psittacosaurus model:

Amazing Yutyrannus model:

Sinornithosaurus and Bambiraptor models:

Space exploration display:

Mammoths: Ice Age Giants Exhibit

Adorable Eastern screech owls:

The view at the top of the museum:

Dogs and Cats Walkway Sculpture Garden:

For a souvenir, our partner got me this little pteradon plushie. It’s the cutest thing!

We had dinner at Tijuana Flats and then hung out together at the house watching TV and watching Christopher play video games. It was a really tiring but extremely enjoyable day.

🌈 Sunday 🌈

Sunday was, at least, productive. All the laundry got done and put away, snail tank cleaned, did dishes like three times, did the grocery shopping, filed the paperwork for the new job, and just did a whole bunch of chores. So as far as getting stuff done –I did.

But come 9:30pm, I found myself pretty frustrated and upset, having done nothing I really wanted to do, knowing I am due to orientation at my job tomorrow, and honestly, really nervous about working retail again. I have no idea what this will be like compared to prior experiences and can’t really plan my week since I don’t have a schedule yet.

Though I spent my day running up and down, I wasn’t able to go on my walk. I haven’t been able to do anything toward my writing goals in like two or three weeks now which is super demoralizing but it truly was due to simply too much going on, rather than moments of “I could write right now, but I don’t feel like it.”

So before bed I made some tea and at the very least met my writing goal. It’s something. Maybe tomorrow I can somehow squeeze some more in. It was a really good week, but everything feels off until I settle into my new routine. We’ll see what it looks like by next Sunday!