you were only waiting for this moment to arise

I haven’t had a month like this for a looooooong time. And by “like this,” I mean completely awesome and exciting. On May 1, I began my wildlife rehabilitation training at the raptor center - something I’d been working toward for a year and a half. It is 100% rewarding and fulfilling and scary and important and wonderful. Each week, I look forward to Thursday so I can go train again, as well as see all the other birds who live there; especially my little sweetie Petra.

On May 10, I got my third tattoo: an owl that my friend Chrissy designed for me a year or so ago. I realized that the tattoo coincided with the beginning of my rehab training, which was not something I planned but appreciate the good timing I had in subconsciously choosing this month to get the tattoo. I posted several photos on my Flickr page  that Ryan took while I was getting inked, but here are a few teasers:

Pretending like it doesn’t hurt.

Pretending like it hurts more than it does.

Messy, inky beginning stages.

Ta da! The finished product.

I had a lot of fun getting the tat done yesterday, and had a good time chatting with my pal Reverend Matthew T. Cooper, the owner of Nemesis Tattoo, who dug up some Scooby Doo on his computer for me to watch while he worked. If you live in Iowa City and want some body art done, go see him. He’s top notch!

To add to the awesomeness of May, I will be receiving my Reiki Level 1 and 2 certification next week, on the 20th/21st.  Reiki is a Japanese healing techinique that uses universal energy - rei means “divine” and ki means “force or energy.”  The woman offering certification is the same woman who hosted the wildlife rehabilitation workshop I took a few weeks ago, and uses Reiki to supplement her rehabbing.  She thought it would be beneficial for me to learn since I’m working with raptors, and I have been interested in Reiki in general for a few years anyway.  It is beneficial to both humans and animals and the price was right so I figured, “What the hay?” 

Side note of unawesomeness: Yesterday (Sunday) morning started off much less cool than Saturday. Ryan awoke at 7am in a puddle of cat urine, so we had to strip the bed and finish sleeping on the living room floor. We’re not sure who the culprit was, but we’re kind of leaning toward Clementine. She may look sweet, but can be a brat when she wants to. Luckily (?), I’ve had my bed peed on before so I knew some tricks on how to remove the mess from the mattress. It worked, and last night’s sleep was pee-free!

I am beginning to think she is harboring some behavioral issues that might be leading to her inappropriate elimination, as she also displays “oral indiscretion” behavior (chewing on fabric) and can be quite anxious and clingy.  I’m going to get some books from the library and try to play cat psychologist.  If only I had my Reiki certification already…I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt in this situation, because the main objective of offering Reiki is to get the subject to relax.  Here’s to hoping!