Christmas At The Zoo

Tomorrow I'll be working at a wine shop for one of my sister's aunts (who owns it). It's down on mainstreet and sells only missouri-brewed wines and beers. It's a nice little place, very home-y. I'll be working an 11 hour shift tomorrow--which is fine with me! I need the money.

Right before thanksgiving I met my "little sister" from the Big Brothers Big Sisters progam. I signed up for this last may and asked for a little sister close to home (St. Peters/O'fallon). I interviewed in June and they've just now found a little for me. Her name is Leilah and she's 9. We've only met once but she seemed really cool. (I mean...she likes to draw Gir...as in Invader Zim Gir! That show isn't even on anymore!!) Anyways. I called her mom earlier this week and couldn't get ahold of her. Then today wasn't having a very good-mood day at all and she called me back! We're going to get dinner and see MegaMind next Tuesday. I'm pretty excited about my first big/little date.

I was told by the program that for the first couple visits with Leilah I should have it just be her and myself so as to create a bond. They would also prefer it if she doesn't hang out with my friends all that often since it is suppose to be about just me and her bonding, not her + all of my friends.

Luckly, Leilah is a very friendly and outgoing girl. She's willing to basically try anything! And when summer comes around I'll be allowed to take her to places past St. Louis. So, parents permitting, I'll be able to take her to all the summer sweet spots (Johnson Shutins, Elephant Rocks, City Museum, etc).

...and yes. This will get confusing with my BBBS little sister and Axi little sisters.

Anyways. So I don't know how many of my friends have ever gone to the zoo at night during the winter. First of all, it's incredibly creepy to walk by the cages while there are no animals in them and it's extremely dark...I can't help but be paranoid that the bears are just going to lunge out of their cage and get me!

Second off, It's gorgeous! The christmas lights everywhere are fabulous! I love it. I plan to go again and again (hopefully I can bring Leilah with me once and another time I can go with all of my friends. I'll have to look up how much it costs to go).

Anyways, I went with Allison tonight. Her work had a Christmas party there. The food was pretty good (a step above chartwells food). AND WE GOT A PICTURE WITH SANTA!!

I'll have to provide the sweet picture with santa later. For right now, Enjoy the small amount of photos I got before my camera sadly died.