Begrudgingly saving lives one drop at a time

I donated blood today. I will confess that there are incentives for me to give blood: an extra vacation day if I donate five times in a 12 month period AND a free gift each visit. I have been trying to get the free blood donation umbrella for the last several years. They always claim it's seasonal, and I always happen to donate off season. Which means that instead of an umbrella, I am the proud owner of an XXL t-shirt, and countless tote bags.

This time I thought I was going to get lucky: one of my coworkers had the coveted prize, earned a mere 2 weeks ago.

They were out of umbrellas today. I got another tote bag. Dammit.

Also, they gave me a red bandage afterwards that stinks of burnt food. It makes me look like I am either bleeding profusely or part of some resistance movement.


Sigh.

OMG, MINIDONK!

We took a mini-roadtrip upstate this weekend. At one of the Finger Lakes wineries they had a mini-donk! Meet Doobie, the very first mini-donk I've met. I'll admit, he wasn't as cute as some of the pics of mini-donks I've seen, nor was he as mini as I expected. However, he was super sweet and friendly and came right up to me.

No, we did not try to take him home with us.

fungus!

The moss terrarium is doing well enough to grow a little mushroom!

Duck, duck, fowl

Ask any Minnesotan to complete the sentence "Duck, duck, _____," and they will undoubtedly yell, "Gray duck!"

Ask anyone from the remaining 49 states and they will undoubtedly say, "Goose!"

Per Wikipedia:
Duck, duck, goose (called Duck, Duck, Gray Duck in Minnesota) is a traditional children's game often first learned in pre-school or kindergarten.

Also: http://www.gray-duck.com/gray-duck/duck-article.jpg

The funny thing is, Minnesotans are absolutely shocked to learn that no one else in the country calls it Duck, Duck, Gray Duck. Personally, I take a little 10K lakes pride in the fact that we play it our own special way. We also call soda "pop" and mint chocolate chip ice cream "peppermint bon bon."