My Poor Peru

So my daughter had a friend over last night and neglected to feed the bird. I came home from work today - my daughter went to stay with her friend for the night. Thought I would give Peru some attention and discovered her food tray empty. A bird eats little amounts all day long. I filled up her food tray and held her on my lap as she pecked away. I gave her a treat too, her favorite cereal, Rice chex. And all the newspaper she wanted to eat.

She is such a sweet bird. She gives about 4 different versions of the wolf whistle and a half-hearted rendition of Jingle Bells. Hey, she only mimics what she hears, y'know?

When we first got her we taught her some phrases. One phrase she repeats sometimes is
"Where's (daughter's name)?" Over and over. Then I would say "Is she at school?" If you have ever taught a bird to talk, then you know that you just repeat over and over and over and over again the phrase. Well, much to my chagrin I discovered that I was running the words together for "Is she at school" to "Sheet school?" Didn't sound good. Lucky for me the bird has trouble with the "sh" sound.

But, the absolute funniest thing the bird does is mimic when we laugh. It just makes us laugh harder, and the bird laughs again, and we laugh until we can't breathe.

Trace of a headache today. I am a major headache sufferer. I take Relpax for migraines, when I feel one coming on. I also take a beta-blocker in an effort to thwart them. I began to have sinus trouble after turning 30.

Migraines run in the family. My Mom said her grandmother used to tie a bandana around her head real tight. Imagine yourself back in the 20's and 30's without the medication. Well, I have had migraines for 30 years, and have only had access to the medicine for the past 5 years.

What cracked me up was when Excedrin came out with a migraine version. I literally ran to the store to see what they were putting in the pill to help with migraine. Imagine how surprised I was when the ingredients were the exact same as Extra-strength excedrin. Who are they kidding? I chuckle every time I see someone purchasing a bottle. Look for yourself at the ingredients. Caffeine has been used in excedrin for years. I have used excedrin for years. For a lot of my headaches it was the only thing that worked. As for Tylenol, I may as well take a pez candy.

Smells are the worst when I am getting a migraine. Why do people wear so much perfume or cologne? They are clueless. Take a hint people: dab it on, don't bathe in it! Lights and sounds hurt, too. I had some minor surgery done a couple of weeks ago and the nurses were constantly banging doors, and metal containers together. You know how everything in a hospital is surgical metal? I swear one of them dropped a metal pan on the floor every 15 minutes.

I am getting off track here. Have you ever bathed a cockatiel? I have tried giving the bird a bath in her cage and she will have nothing to do with it. When I first got her I spent a small fortune in toys and play things - she could have cared less. Along with any new foods. Just bird seed and some cereals. Forget the tasty treats. They can sit and grow stale. The bird just gets her bath now and again in the bathtub. I take her to the pet store to get her toenails clipped. I tried it once. I stress the word "once". I am able to clip her wings, though. But the first few times, I had the pet store owner do it. Until I became comfortable with it. But the toenails, I don't think I will ever be able to do. Once I saw blood, that did it for me. I couldn't bear to hurt the poor little thing.

She is probably the most spoiled of all my pets. Think about it. The cats and dog have to wait until I feed them in their dishes. The bird almost always has her dish full and right within her reach. The dog has to wait and go to the bathroom outside. The cats have to go downstairs to the basement laundry room to do their business. The bird just lets if fly wherever she is at. No worries there. Literally going in one end and coming out the other. Bird paradise.

Well, her little tummy is full now. She has had free roam of my computer desk since I began typing. She used to walk across my keyboard. She is so light, she didn't even press the keys down. But, I had to stop it. Dander isn't the best thing for a keyboard. Let alone anything else she may deposit.