No more nachos at Allen St. Grill, and a birdfest!

Last night, we went to one of my favorite places, Allen St. Grill, to hear Molly and Ted sing; Molly's in Kat's PhD program, and she's a great singer and piano player. We also usually have nachos when we go to Allen St., piled high with cheese, guacamole, vegetarian chili, salsa, and sour cream. Most times, I get heartburn afterwards, but I can usually stave off anything worse with a stout dose of Maalox.

Not this time.

Suffice it to say, I think I've had my last nacho at Allen St. Grill. Goodbye, my wonderful nachos! Alas, we must part.

Despite the fact that I'm still not feeling too good, I had to come down and post this exciting news! I found out there was a birding festival going on in the "Oil Region" of PA, over to the northeast of us, and I initially hadn't given it too much thought--I mean, it's right around finals week, it'll be busy, etc.--until I found out that none other than Julie Zickefoose will be speaking there and leading a birdwalk, giving a talk at a dinner, etc.!

This changed the stakes dramatically: one of my birding heroes at a birding festival specifically targeted to beginning birders. I had to go! The planning is still being ironed out, but I can't wait to go on a birding walk with Julie Zickefoose--a real pro! I'll finally be able to see how real birders go out in the field and pick birds out of the dense and leafy trees, how they approach them, how they listen for special calls and songs. I'm so excited, I can hardly sit still. The festival is set for May 10-12, and I'll probably be driving out there with Niki and Ian, and staying at Niki's mom's house. I'm so pumped!

And I'm so exhausted. I think it's back to bed with me, where I'll continue my libations of apple cider and Maalox, my napping, and my re-reading of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, in anticipation of the release of the final HP book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and the next HP movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I'd put in links to all these, but I'm just too sick right now.