Sunday, November 25, 2012

Bunny Bandit

The rabbits, especially Fiona, love to eat the guinea pig food whenever possible.  I'm not sure why she finds it so exciting, because it's just pellets and looks almost identical to the rabbit pellets she gets.  It's quite a treat for Fiona and Fergus when they are able to score some though.


L inadvertently left the guinea pig food drawer open one night last week.  When I came in the next afternoon for afternoon chores and feeding, Fiona was sitting in the drawer of food.  She was quite relaxed and was leisurely alternating between a nibble of food and thinking about whatever it is that rabbits think about while in the commission of a crime.


She was so cute in the drawer that I had to run out and grab my camera and snap some pics before I said "Fi-o-na" in my angry-mommy voice.  She is a smart rabbit and as soon as she hears her name in that tone, she seems to know whatever it is that she's doing wrong and instantly stop.  She jumped right out of the drawer, I closed it, and thought that was the end of it.


It was not the end.  L went in the next day to do her chores and there was Fiona, happy as could be in her little drawer again.  A quick examination made it obvious that Fiona had learned how to open the drawer on her own.  We could see the teeth marks along the edge of the drawer from all of her failed efforts.  As cute as it is, I can't leave it go, because I know it's not healthy for rabbits to eat that much guinea pig food.


We rearranged their room a bit, so she can no longer get at the drawer.  For now.  I do not put anything past that rabbit.

Progress

I am completely caught up on grading!  It's the first time this semester I've been able to say I have nothing left to grade (until phase 1 of the encoding projects come in tomorrow), and it feels great.  I even had some time this weekend to knock out some of the chores and projects around the house that have been accumulating all semester.

I've had this white dresser sitting in the middle of my living room for almost a month, since my dad sanded and painted it and dropped it off.  I wanted to add a very soft lavender color to the drawers, because I felt the white looked to stark in the living room.  I couldn't find the exact color I wanted, so I mixed my own.  I have no more left for touch-ups, so I'm hoping for the best.  I had a different antique dresser in that spot, so I transferred all of the CDs from the drawers of the old to the drawers of the new.  Everything fit, and we all love it there.  It looks much better.

Now I am moving the old dresser into the dining room to keep L's ever expanding homeschool materials/supplies in (the bookshelf we have for that is full).  That involves a lot of furniture moving and rearranging, and I'm hoping to get that done next weekend.  I kind of have to or we won't be able to set up our tree the following weekend.

Weds. night was my old college friend's annual T-giving Eve comedy show, so we (M & I, Dej & Russ) attended.  As always, he was fucking hilarious (the other acts were funny, too, but he's clearly the "star" of the show), and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  I am posting a photo Dej took, even though it's a shitacular picture, and I have demon eyes, I'm happy to finally have a photo of us after 20 years.  Maybe next year's will be better.

Since I was forced ;-) to drink (two drink minimum--which is good, since two drinks are my maximum), I tried a peach mimosa for my first drink and intended to get something different (with mango) for my second drink, but the mimosa was so good, I had another as my second.

I have to admit that it was so much easier to go, and I felt so much better seeing old college friends with my "new" body than the one I had allowed to get so fat.  It was always very distressing for me to have old friends see me that way.  I just felt so much better!  

I wanted to go to Plan B  to dance after the show, but that didn't happen for some reason (coughCoughScroogeyNon-dancingHusbandCough).  Dej and I have decided with or without the boys, that we are going out dancing soon.  I LOVE to dance, and now that I'm back in shape and have the stamina to dance for hours again, I want to go out.

M is working with L on a botany unit for science, so they spent today looking at plant cells.  I'm not sure how much time was actually spent on botany.  They started out with plants/leaves, but then got sidetracked with looking at everything else they could think of.  I heard a lot of giggling, and I don't know the extent of what they were looking at.  I know that they looked at:  a layer of the sheath of a cat claw, bird feathers, skin, cat poop, my blood, and L's blood (her blood cells are much larger than mine).  They had a lot of fun, and I'm hoping she learned things as well.  

I'm trying to keep my nose out of this unit and just let him do it on his own.  I gave him the overview and the information she will be tested on, and he's a smart man, so I'm sure he'll figure it all out.  It's hard for me to not micro-manage things, because her education has been my responsibility, but it's good for all of us to have me step back and butt out sometimes.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Unravelled

We made it through the week with no new animal illnesses, and I will consider that a gift.  Womble is finding some relief with the cool mist vaporizer and seems more comfortable and active.

Charlie's urinary issues have resolved for now, but these tend to be recurring, so I'm sure we will see it again in the future. 

 I got an awesome package in the mail this week--one that has made Charlie as happy as me.  My friend, April, who excels in crafts of all kinds, crocheted a gorgeous afghan for me.  It is in my favorite happy colors, and it's huge!  I've never seen such a large afghan.  It covers our whole king-sized bed.  I don't understand how she was able to make something so large and intricate with no errors.  Every stitch looks exactly the same in form and size--it's just incomprehensible to me.  My brief forays into crochet and knitting drove me crazy, because I couldn't get the uniform knots (stitches?) and the results were not nice.  Oh, and because April is smart and knows my household, the afghan can be machine washed/dried.

I suspected the cats would love it, as they all love Mark's crocheted afghan (from his grandma) and take turns snuggling in it and kneading it.  Charlie has been the biggest afghan addict in the household, so when he saw this enormous fluffy miracle appear on his bed, he just knew the cat gods were rewarding him for being such a sweet boy.  He has been planted on the afghan since it arrived, leaving only for food and potty breaks.  Fortunately, Charlie is a generous boy and doesn't mind sharing with me or the other cats.

The box that the afghan came in has already been re-purposed as a guinea pig/rabbit hidey.  We are always on the lookout for cardboard boxes, which are enjoyed by the herbivores as well as our cats.

I left the house this morning without my cellphone.  I realized after I dropped L off and while I was on my way to class, and by then I didn't have time to run back home to get it. I spent my workday in my classroom/lab, where I do not get a phone signal at all.  It is truly the land time forgot, because nobody can get a signal in the lower level of our building.  I had no need for my phone, but I still spent the day feeling panicky and naked without it.

It was when I got in the car to go home that I realized why I looked like shit all day.  On my ride in, I noticed that my eyes looked like hell.  I had some emergency eyeliner in my bag, so I tried to touch it up, thinking that would help.  It didn't.  When I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror on my way home, it hit me.  I had forgotten my mascara.  I put everything on but mascara, which is why my eyes looked so shitty and unwell. 

I don't know what was wrong with my brain this morning.  I'm amazed that I was able to teach (arrays!) today with that level of brain functioning. I'm glad it's a short week!

I came home to find a mess of blood on the floor and all over Hurley bird's tail feathers.  The blood was dried and coagulated, so she wasn't bleeding anymore.  I could see exactly what happened--she had broken a tail blood feather (pin feather).  We are incredibly lucky that it sealed on its own before she lost too much blood and died.  I'm sick about how this could have turned out and am left with the helpless feeling I have most of time as a mommy/caretaker.  I feel like a huge failure whenever one of them is hurt/ill and like an even worse failure when one dies.  I know logically that I can't possibly prevent every potential illness/injury, but it doesn't override my feelings. 

Hurley is a little tired, and her tail is a mess, but her partner, Darwin, and her (grown) child Poppy we sitting with her and taking good care of her.  I expect they'll have her tail cleaned up by tomorrow.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Samarpanam


Our run of animal illnesses has continued with a return of Womble's recurrent respiratory issues, and Charlie (cat) developing his first round of urinary problems.  Womble's newest round of antibiotics hasn't helped.  We are running a cool-mist vaporizer for him and hoping desperately that it helps.  Charlie got some good pain drugs, antibiotics, and an anti-spasmodic for his bladder, and he seems to be doing well.

I have to show off the newest piece of art I got for my birthday.  Luce made this for me, and I love it.

We spent the day at Luce's performance.  Today's show was a fundraiser for the Sikh temple victims' relief fund.  The show was a mix of dance, vocal, and instrumental performances.  It was a great show with some enjoyable performances, but I was a bit stressed by all the hours of work I wasn't able to get done today.  I was quite surprised and impressed when the emcee made a point to mention that today was veterans day (in the U.S.), and that we should take a moment to remember the sacrifices made for us.  I would really have like to see better attendance--particularly more Americans.


L was in a bit of a sour mood after the performance.  There was a slight mix up with their piece, and that makes her very angry and foul when the performance isn't perfect.  Her face in the photos show just how she felt about taking pictures.  It was the first time she had performed this piece, Pushpanjali.  Next weekend will be another short/busy one, with a Diwali performance on Saturday.


Monday, November 05, 2012

Time marches on

We celebrated my birthday this weekend.  My bday was Saturday, which also happened to be our date night.  M made plans for the night.  We started with dinner at Taj Mahal.  We had a great dinner and were walking out to the car, when M mentioned my new age.  I had completely forgotten the fact that my age changed.  I like to think of my birthdays as a celebration of me, rather than the aging association.  I guess my plan is working, because until M reminded me, it completely escaped my notice.  For the next three weeks, I will be two years older than him, rather than just one, so he has the next three weeks to revel in his cougar jokes.

After dinner, we attended a play in Madison at Broom Street Theater (Seeking Flight).  It's been a while since we've been there.  M picked the play as a surprise because it was about birds kept in captivity.  I would normally not have attended the show, simply because I hate crying in public and work very hard to avoid anything that may cause that to happen.  We enjoyed the play, and I managed to keep it together for the most part, but I felt very sad after.  The play actually had a happy ending, but it was based on the real situation of Alex the African Gray parrot who spent his life as an experiment.  Alex didn't get a similar happy ending, and most birds don't, so I couldn't shake the sadness, even after a happy ending!  I also kept thinking of poor Sagan and lonely Simi, which added to my malaise.

Dej brought over some of the most delicious vegan cupcakes ever.  Our friend, Ande, makes them, and everything he makes is delicious.  These were chocolate/chocolate chip with raspberry frosting.  Yum.  My mom also baked me my favorite cherry-chocolate cake.  I'm revving up the workouts, so I can fully enjoy my delicious baked goods.

 I am once again wearing a wedding ring, though not my original set.  I've worn the rings less and less through the years, and really reached a point where, for a variety of reasons, I felt I didn't want to wear a ring at all.  I don't like rings.  I love the way they look, but they drive me crazy to wear.  Partially because I have very skinny fingers, and my mid knuckle is the largest part, which means my rings slip and slide and spin constantly, even when they fit as tightly possible over the knuckle.  I do so much with my hands, and they always seem to be in the way.  I don't feel the need to broadcast my marital status, as it's not relevant to anyone other than my family.  I have some major issues with wearing expensive gold & diamonds that serve no purpose.  I'm a bit embarrassed that we followed that stupid tradition way back when, and I don't think they accurately reflect me or my values.  My skin frequently reacts badly to metals--even gold (because of the nickel? it's cut with).  For these and a few other reasons, I had just decided to forget the rings.

M wears his ring, and since it won't come off anymore, he will continue to wear it.  He finally expressed a little discomfort with my intention to remain ring free.  I don't quite get it, but in deference to his feelings, started doing some research to see if I could come up with a compromise.  I found one that seems to work.  I got a simple titanium band.  It's indestructible, doesn't cause skin reactions, and is more reflective of who I am and my values.  I am trying to get used to wearing a ring again--right now it's very irritating, but eventually I will get used to it and not even think about it.  I think it's a compromise that we can both live with.  Now...I need to find a similar compromise for our toilet paper wars at home!

Thursday, November 01, 2012

Samhain

My sweet little Sagan passed away on Sunday afternoon.  Despite being on antibiotics and having the vaporizer running, she improved a bit early on, but then proceeded to get worse.  I'm just sick over the loss--particularly, because her partner, Simran, has been depressed and quiet without her, as she is now an only parakeet.  I need to get at least one more parakeet for Simi, so we are watching the humane societies and rescue groups.  They are unhappy birds unless they are with others of their own kind.

Poppy bird (cockatiel) turned one this week!

This weekend we had my in-laws here for a visit and then Sunday we attended the Dassera festivities.  It's my favorite holiday, because any holiday that includes a focus on eduction, wisdom, and the appreciation of learning is as good as it gets.

I'm spending this week trying to get caught up from the grading/prep work I was NOT able to do over the weekend.  L & I also do a lot of her homeschooling work over the weekends, and that didn't get done either.  I may be caught up again by the end of this week.

We've now reached the last day of October, and I still haven't found time to get to one of the many 'scary movies' released this month.  Tradition is that the girls and I go to at least one of the Oct. scary movies together, and there are three that we would like to see (Paranormal 4, Sinister, Possessed) but haven't had the time.  It's horrible.  Maybe Friday night after my friend's art show opening, we can get out and see one.


This is the first Halloween in 21 years (I didn't Dej out her first year as she was only 3 mos. old) that I do not have to take children trick-or-treating.  That's a job I have never really relished but since it was important to the kids, I sucked it up and did it.  M & I are both pretty giddy with the notion that our kids have reached the age where we can either ignore Halloween or not, depending on our mood/whim.

We went to my parents for dinner.  Instead of the usual chili, my dad made pizza.  The girls carved their pumpkins after dinner, while I made the roasted pumpkin seeds, and we were settled and ready for American Horror Story: Asylum  at 9.  It was a nice, stress-free Halloween.  So nice!  The biggest challenge was trying to keep the cats from chewing on the pumpkins as the girls were working on them.

We LOVED AHS last year, and we were very anxious for this season to start, though somewhat worried that it couldn't live up to last season.  No worries there!  After seeing the first three episodes, we are loving it and hooked just as badly as we were last season.  Wednesdays are once again the best day of the week!  Jessica Lange is doing another amazing job in her new role, and I'm still loving Evan Peters in his new role.



Dej comes to watch the show with us each week.  Jezi loves having Dej sitting in one place for an hour and makes the most of her opportunity to get cuddles from her.