This weekend wasn’t as bad as I have imagined it was going to be. Early in the week they were calling for temp in the 80’s and maybe a stray shower or two. With that forecast I thought this place would be over run with people. The weather was muggy and we had some nasty storms right at closing time so I didn’t have a problem getting people out.

I did feel really bad last night as I was locking up I had a father with his 8 year old daughter who were the last ones to leave. They were telling me how they had caught this huge large mouth bass and as we were talking I noticed the little girl clinging to a large Pepsi bottle and there was something moving in it. I asked her what was in the bottle and she showed me that it was a baby turtle (A yellow slider actually) and the father said she was going to take it home as a pet. I told them that I was sorry but it was against the law to take native wildlife from the park. The little girl at that point stuck out her bottom lip and started to cry. I felt so bad for her and tried to explain why should couldn’t take him. I even brought up Nemo and how unhappy he was when he was taken out of the wild and away from his father but none of that got through to her. I was just the mean park ranger taking about the turtle that he had grown to love so much. The father wasn’t happy that his daughter was upset but understood and didn’t want to be fined for removing the turtle. I told him that there were pet stores that sold turtles but he was just hoping to have this one because it was free. LOL Oh well!

Last night when I got home I had a message from a friend of mine inviting me over to his house for a cookout. His parents were in town and he wanted them to meet the cool park ranger that he knows. LOL I was so hot, sweaty and tired that the idea of putting on a smile and entertaining people was not very appealing to me but seeing as his parents are here from Canada and they don’t come often I figured I would suck it up and go. I am glad I did. I find lately that with Lennie gone I have had an excuse to not go out in public much. But when I force myself to go out I actually end up having a really great time. Bryan’s parents are so nice and they have a great Canadian accent. His mom made this really awesome coleslaw and his dad was the master of the grill. The only bad spot of the evening was when they thought that Bryan and I were romantically involved. We both immediately chimed in with the fact that we were just friends and that I was happily married. After that I decided it was probably best to head home

I got home about 10PM and stayed up to after midnight chatting with Justin. He is going through a rough patch and it just kills me that he is hurting. It was however good to talk to him. Since I got married we just don’t talk like we used to but last night was like old times. I really miss our adventures together. I used to collect brochures for tourist attractions. He would come over and I would scatter them on the floor and we would pick one or tow then go to what was on the brochure. We have seen some interesting things and we always managed to get lost but it was always a blast. I missed that. We could go somewhere like the Elvis Presley and Hank Williams Jr. Museum and still manage to have a fun time. No one can make me laugh like he does. I just hope that he is able to put all this bad crap behind him and get back to the happy Justin I know and love.

Tonight I am meeting up with a girl from the gym (as long as it doesn’t rain). She has a black lab and we figured we could walk the dogs over at the park to get some exercise. The gym has gotten a little old for us both so we decided to mix it up a bit. Then I am going to come home and relax. I should clean my house because it is a mess but I am just so tired.

The rest of the week will hopefully be quiet and I am off Friday so at least it gives me something to look forward to.