Cindy discovers Kiwi's sunflower seeds

Tuesday morning, Shannon left the girls to their own devices while she went for a bike ride. Afterwards, she quickly got ready for work and fed and watered the bunny and bird.

In the evening, Shannon had a nice long swim, and even got a ride home from her friend Carlos. Shannon didn't go straight inside, however, as she hopped into her own car for a trip to Whole Foods where she purchased some fr

uit for herself and some spicy-looking jalapeno peppers and serrano chiles for Kiwi.

When she got home, Shannon went to work to make the girls feel loved and special! Cindy came out to hop around the apartmen

t and Kiwi sat on Shannon's

shoulder while they watched Beauty and the Beast.

After a while, Kiwi fluttered back to her

cage, and perched on its roof. Cindy, smelling something intriguing, hopped up on the couch beside Kiwi's cage to investigate. There she found some discarded sunflower seed shells and took a nibble. Cindy decided that she liked the sunflower seeds very much, and continued munching until Shannon noticed and shooed her away, as Shannon was unsure whether the seeds would agree with Cindy's stomach.

Luckily, it appears that Cindy's digestive system was not impaired by the little seeds and so all was well.

Monday, December 20th

Monday the 20th was a sad day for Shannon. Christmas Eve is so close, and yet so far away! Shannon was very much not looking forward to going to work this week, as she much preferred to spend her time with the girls at home.

Still, Shannon went for a run in the morning, entertained little Kiwi as she readied herself for lab, and then left the girls to their own devices during the day. Monday in lab was fairly uneventful. Shannon worked on her computer to try to analyze her newest data, which was met with difficulties at every turn. She was very happy to return home at the end of the day for snuggles with Kiwi and Cindy.

Cookie weekend

Shannon has realized, sadly, that she has been quite remiss in keeping dear Anna apprised of the goings on at the menagerie and for that she is truly sorry. She will attempt to make amends be recalling incidents from the past few days.

Sunday, Dec 19th, was fraught with excitement for Shannon as she had been looking forward to Liz's cookie party for many months. Kiwi recalled how sweet Liz was from when she visited last year and was sad not to get to visit herself. But Shannon knew that the chocolate in Liz's cookies would be harmful to the little bird, and so Kiwi stayed home with Cindy.

In preparation for the cookies to come, Shannon spent the morning with her girls. She considered going for a bicycle ride, but the rain would not abate. Thus, Shannon watched movies and ate lots of fruit with Kiwi perched happily on her shoulder.

Around 2:30pm, Shannon dashed off to Liz and Dan's cookie-filled apartment, where she reconnected with old friends (including Jorge, and Shannon can testify that she saw him eat a cookie!), new friends, and sweet little children.

Afterwards, Shannon had to go back to lab for a bit. Luckily Ertan was there to keep her company until it was time to go home.

Kiwi has a Hawaiian adventure

On Saturday, December 18th, NBC graciously decided to broadcast the 2010 Ford Ironman World Championships from Kona, Hawaii. In honor of this momentous occasion, Shannon invited several friends over to celebrate, watch the show, and eat lots of delicious food.

Shannon started prepping food earlier in the day, so that all would be ready for the guests to assemble kabobs according to their

liking and start broiling before the start of the race. She was concerned that Kiwi would be anxious around the new people and the cooking process, so Kiwi was left in her cage with Cindy to talk to. The girls gossiped and giggled while the humans were merry in the kitchen.

Soon it

was time for the race to begin, and Shannon thought that Kiwi would like to meet some new people and enjoy some quality time on the couch. Shannon changed into her Kiwi shirt, and the girls joined the boys on the couch. Kenny was very intrigued by Kiwi, and kept trying to entice her over to his finger. She decided that this was not a good idea and began pecking at him. Kiwi then proceeded to bury herself in Shannon's pink shirt and rummaged around there for the next two hours. Kiwi was very excited to find a navy bra underneath the shirt and went about pecking at the straps. Shannon did not like this very much, as bras are expensive, so she shooed the little chirpster to a portion of the shirt more near her stomach where Kiwi could nibble to her heart's delight, which Kiwi gladly did. Every so often, Kiwi would meander to Shannon's back, which was very ticklish. Shannon was worried about having a tickle spasm and squashing the little bird, so she gently shifted Kiwi back to her stomach again.

Every so often Kiwi would emerge from Shannon's shirt, and Kenny would again try to entice her to his finger. After a few attempts, K

iwi decided that hopping up was ok, but very quickly would flutter back to her surrogate mother, Shannon.

This went on the the two hour show, after which the guests left and Shannon began the cleanup process. Kiwi was very helpful in this regard, as she liked to peck at the leftover rice. However, the sticky rice soon became stuck to the tip of her beak, which was very amusing to Shannon.

Kenny helped cleanup, which was a little awkward as Shannon is particular about her dishes and her methods of cleaning, but she tolerated it. After the cleanup, Kenny again attempted to win Kiwi's affection, and this time she stayed a little bit longer on his arm, but to no avail.

Sadly, Shannon had to put Kiwi back in her cage for a couple of hours, as she went out on a mission to find paint pens to decorate Ki

m and Liz's shiny Christmas water bottles. When Shannon returned home, she decide

d that keeping Kiwi in her cage was best, since the pens are quite toxic to humans, and probably to little birds as well. After the painting was over, Kiwi and Shannon settled down to read some Virology together. And then, exhausted, they went to bed, but not before saying goodnight to Cindy.

A new morning, new holes in Shannon's shirt

Good morning Kiwi and Cindy, said Shannon on the morning of December 18th.

Shannon had awaken two hours before the Kiwi, because she wanted to get some chores out of the way. She cleaned the bathroom and showered, cleaned the kitchen, and then finally vacuumed the bedroom. Shannon was sure that Kiwi would be revived by the loud sounds of the vacuum, but she was quiet as a mouse on Christmas morning. Finally Shannon removed the towels from Kiwi's cage, and the little green bird began chirping happily. She accompanied Shannon while she cleaned water bowls and filled food dishes. She sat on Shannon's shoulder while Shannon ate her breakfast, now and again flying back to her own bowl for some nibbles.

Shannon and Kiwi decided that they would watch another episode of Criminal Minds together, since Shannon's chores had gone so smoothly and she could afford to take a little break. Kiwi spent most of the time inside Shannon's shirt, chewing holes from the inside out. Shannon did not mind, except when Kiwi's feet would tickle her stomach. Then Shannon was afraid that Kiwi would become squashed if Shannon laughed too hard, and she helped the little bird climb back to her shoulder. Kiwi would always find her way back inside the shirt, clever girl.

When Shannon began typing her blogs, Kiwi thought it would be fun to stand on the keyboard, but this inhibited the typing process, so she climbed back into Shannon's shirt again. When Kiwi poked her head out of the bottom of Shannon's shirt, Shannon thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to snap a picture. Kiwi did not like the flash of the camera very much, and flew across the room. She turned around and then landed on Shannon's feet. Kiwi then spent the next ten minutes flying back and forth from Shannon's feet to Shannon's head. Perhaps she has seen too many episodes of America's Next Top Model, and has taken the idea of "modeling head to toes" or "H to T" to heart?

What will that silly green girl get into next?

Kiwi's first day in her Christmas home

On the evening of December 16th, Kiwi arrived at her Christmas abode, tucked safely away in the hood of Anna's sweatshirt. She liked the tickle of Anna's hair, and the warmth from the cold night air. In Shannon's apartment, the girls were eagerly awaiting the arrival of their green-feathered friend.

Cindy munched on her red leaf lettuce, mumbling that Kiwi was taking way too long to arrive. Shannon tidied up the coach, and laid a pretty black and color-blocked quilt over it to serve as Kiwi's home for the holidays. The triangle pattern was reminiscent of snowflakes, which seemed fitting for the time of year.

Jay set Kiwi's cage on the couch, and the little green bird was placed securely within. Anna seemed sad at leaving her girl for such a long time, but she knew that she would be in good hands.

Once Anna and Jay left for the night, Shannon went right to work to make Kiwi feel welcome. She placed a few choice sunflower seeds in her food bowl, and then enticed the little bird onto her finger. Kiwi did not seem distressed by her new surroundings at all, and seemed quite comfortable with Shannon again. Cindy also was not afraid of the chirpster this time; she remembered her friend from last year and was excited for the company.

The next morning, Shannon exchanged Kiwi's water bowls, which were poop free this time. She warmed some frozen corn for a delicious Kiwi snack and decided that since today would be a long day, that Kiwi should have some more of her favorite sunflower seeds. Because winter days are long and dark, Kiwi was able to sleep throughout Shannon's shower. But she was very sad to see Shannon leave for work, although Shannon promised she would return as quickly as she could.

In the evening, Shannon returned home after having received a generous ride from her friend Carlos. Shannon was planning a party for the next day, so after dropping off her backpack, she hopped into her own car for some shopping. But this shopping trip was not completely party-centric. Shannon also decided to select some sliced jalapeno peppers and sliced bell peppers for the Kiwi to munch on in the next few days, because the Kiwi is so fond of spicy things.

Shannon returned home, and tried to be sneaky about her presence. She knew that the little green bird would want to play right away, and would not be happy if she knew that Shannon was busy in the kitchen instead of playing with her girls. So Shannon was quiet, and put all of her groceries away, and then proceeded to test out her bacon-wrapped pineapple recipe in the toaster oven broiler. It was delicious! Shannon was so excited and decided to prepare her own dinner so that she could eat with Kiwi and Cindy.

While Cindy hopped around the apartment, Kiwi and Shannon settled down to dinner on the bed. Kiwi was very much intrigued by Shannon's bowl of pasta, spinach, corn, and cheese. Kiwi would scurry down Shannon's arm to perch at the edge of the bowl. Shannon tried to explain to the little bird that the bowl contained her dinner, and that Kiwi was more than welcome to eat the sunflower seeds instead. Eventually, Kiwi lost interest in Shannon's cuisine and found her own food dish. Shannon ate happily, until something caught the corner of her eye. Cindy had jumped up on the couch by Kiwi's food dish, and the little chirpster was leaning far forward to nip at Cindy's ear! Just in time, Cindy hopped to the ground and all was well.

Of the two girls, Kiwi is sure to be the dominant one, since she is ever so vocal. Cindy, on the other hand, is very easy going, and adapts to most anything (except for the car).

After dinner, Shannon, Kiwi and Cindy watched an episode of Criminal Minds together. Kiwi was scared because in this episode Penelope Garcia gets shot, but since Shannon and Cindy had seen it before, they were able to calm the little green bird and assure her that all would be well.

Shannon finished reading the first chapter of her virology text book, and decided that it was time for bed.

Return of the Kiwi!

Tonight will mark the arrival of the little green chirpster in Shannon's new apartment. Last Christmas, little Cindy was very confused by the initial presence of the chirping Kiwi in her house, but soon the two became fast friends.

Will Cindy remember her feathered friend this time?

What will Kiwi think of the new apartment? It is not as big as the other one, but the bedroom is much nicer. In addition, she will have a window to look out upon the greenery of the backyard and the Bay Area.

Excitement abounds!