The beginning

This may be a little late, but I thought I'd explain the situation with Itchy's parents. In order to do this, I have to start at the beginning.

It all started in March 2001. I had just accepted an internship at a wildlife rehab facility. Itchy had just started to volunteer at the same facility. I was working in the mammal nursery and he was working with adult animals. We both worked on Saturday nights, along with a few other amazing people. The Saturday night crew was a really fun group. We often hung out long after the animals had been cared for. It seemed as though there was a lot of chemistry between Itchy and I. The summer went by quickly. The wildlife rehab facility really slows down in the fall. The internships are over and most volunteers say goodbye until the next summer. I loved that place and I knew I wanted to stay over the winter. I signed up for the Saturday night crew.

The following spring Itchy signed up for an internship in the mammal nursery. I had been offered an Intake specialist job (fancy for answering phones and admitting patients) and an honorary mammal nursery assistant job at the wildlife facility. The director of the mammal nursery (we'll call her A) thought Itchy and I would make a cute couple. She did her best to set us up. My schedule that summer was nothing short of chaos. I had an internship at a zoo, a job in the dirt lab, the intake job at the wildlife facility, and the assistant job in the nursery. I was at the zoo M-F during the day, the dirt lab most weekday evenings, the intake job and mammal nursery assistant on Wednesday nights and on weekends. Itchy's internship schedule was set up by A. She scheduled him for Wednesday nights, Saturday mornings, and Thursday mornings. He also continued to volunteer on the Saturday night crew. A had scheduled us together as much as possible.

Itchy and I worked together a lot that summer. It was a blast. I was busy and tired, but I always looked forward to going to the wildlife facility. Once again, the fall came and we said goodbye to most of the volunteers. But the Saturday night crew remained the same. Times were changing for the wildlife facility though. They were moving to a new building in the spring. Things were going to be different.

Spring semester started at the U. Itchy and I ended up, completely by coincidence, in the same ornithology class and lab. We sat next to each other in lecture and always found a way to be in the same lab group, despite how the groups were suppose to be divided. It made that class a lot more fun. I found out that for the Summer of 2003, that I would be the Mammal Nursery Director. I knew I would need help. Just running the nursery was a huge job, but I would also have to get the nursery set up in the new building. Not to mention that I would be gone for almost an entire month that summer (I had to go to big kid camp in order to graduate). It was not ideal. I immediately thought of Itchy. Except he didn't know this. He was making plans to study abroad. By the time I told him what was going on (I was told to keep quiet about A not coming back), he had already planned his trip. He was going to be gone for 2 months at the beginning of the summer, but was willing to do what he could. Since my month at big kid camp was the last month of the summer, I thought it would work. The wildlife facility found one other person to help, that would be there all summer long, and we were all set.

The nursery got off to a quick start. I had found a few really great interns, volunteers were coming back, and finals were coming up. Itchy and I ended up studying for the ornithology final one night after working all day in the nursery together. It was that night (well, early in the morning the day of our final) that we finally had our first kiss. We had our first official date a few nights later. By the way, we both passed ornithology.

A short time later, Itchy was off to study abroad. We emailed each other a lot and there were a few phone calls. I was busy trying to keep the nursery running smoothly. Time flew by. Before I knew it, I was packing for big kid camp. I left for big kid camp the same day that Itchy got back from his trip. I left early in the morning and he arrived late that night. We did not get to see each other. More emails were exchanged. About 2 weeks into big kid camp, we were given the option to take the weekend off! I drove back, a 4 hour trip, that night. The first person I called was Itchy. We got to spend the weekend together after nearly 3 months apart. I realize that we were only dating for about 1 month before he left, but it really did feel like we had been together for a lot longer.

Anyway, the summer ended and we were finally able to spend time together away from the wildlife center. That's how this all got started.