June already… wowz.

Well, on the 12th or 13th I will be driving south again on another Bunderground trip. 14 flemmies and an english lop need to get to san diego. It’s gonna need more than one driver per leg of the drive this time me thinks…

I saw this thread this morning and thought “Hey, she’s jumping the gun!” Then I looked at my desktop calendar! It IS June!!! Wow! Time flies!!!

Brittany, Olivia might be getting shipped to your place if she doesn’t stop digging and making holes in my couch so be on the lookout for a stretch limousine with the license plate “Honk Honk”. I’m here trying to enjoy my morning coffee and BB and every 10 seconds I have to get up to chase her off!

Monkey, Where are you going to pick up the buns for the Bunderground? That’s so great that you’re helping in this way…especially considering the price of gas! Does that come out of your own pocket?

On June 5 I am going back up to our other house and building the buns condo! Then my birthday is on June 10th!

Happy June all!!!
Over the weekend, I went to a thrift store and hit the jackpot!!! I found a stack of NIC grids, about 40-50 of them for $19!!! I was so excited! I picked up some bleach and zip ties at the dollar store and brought the grids home and soaked them and rinsed them in the tub.
I dont really have enough grids to make a cage I would be happy with, so I decided to just make a jungle gym for Huckles! It was like she knew she was getting a new toy because as I was trying to set it up in her room, she raced and did binkies and flops all over the place. I think she really likes it when I hang out in her room. I had to put the project on hold for a while because I got busy with some other things but I plan to get back to it on Friday at the latest.
I also ordered a slim cat treat ball for her and found one of those IQ toys for her. I basically decided to spoil my baby this weekend.

Bf and I went to go see The Hangover 2 this weekend. It wasn’t as good as I had hoped. In fact, I thought it was pretty stupid and the smoking monkey made me ANGRY! But it was still fun to get out of the house and do something together.

I bought a back pack for my trip to New Mexico. The clock is ticking and its going to sneak up on me. What is sad is that I am less excited about the trip than I am about having 3 weeks off work… and I only work three 8 hr shifts a week!!! I need to find a new job lol

Happy June! I can’t believe it’s so late already and that I’ve been at my current job for almost a year.

I spent the weekend in Vegas for my best friend’s bachelorette party. It was so much fun! We got an amazing suite with two bedrooms (there were 7 of us) and ate some amazing food. I also got to see my first Cirque show. Overall a great time. I’m still exhausted though – on Saturday I had to wake up at 4am to drive to the airport and I stayed up until 5:30am EST, so well over 24 hours. Not a good idea! I didn’t get home on Monday until 12:30 at night, so that wasn’t fun either. I need another weekend to recover from my weekend. I’m pretty worthless at work being so tired.

Last night I visited a farm near work. It was so cute! They didn’t have much yet except some pea shoots and swiss chard, but they did have a lot of local products like honey and cheese. I ended up with the veggies and some raw milk cheese. Then I stopped at the Italian deli near my house and got fresh ravioli (love living in CT, land of the Italian food). I ended up with ravioli in a mascarpone + raw milk cheese sauce with the pea shoots. So delicious. The best part is that DH wasn’t home until late so I got to eat it all myself and hide the leftovers for my lunch this week. Haha

I think I’m going to head back to the farm this week to buy a tomato plant. I want to start a garden at our new house next year, but I’ve never grown tomatoes or any other veggies (other than herbs) so I figure I should start with a nice big healthy plant in a container instead of starting from seed next year and winging it. They had a couple heirloom varieties and the plants looked really nice. Maybe I’ll pick one up on Friday.

Happy June. Time has been flying for us since Halloween last year. Maybe June will be better for us since May was not so great. Just lots and lots of drama keeps finding it’s way into my life.

Happy June!

Unfortunately for me, June means I’m completely slammed at work. Like the kind of slammed where you forget to eat lunch because you’re just too busy. Right now I’m taking a break because the sight of my “to do” list makes me want to cry and I decided I should stalk pictures of all your cute bunnies for a few minutes so I don’t lose it Oreo is not enjoying my schedule right now either because it means we don’t get to hang out together for as long each night and she sure has been moody about it

But! My bf told me he’s looking at airfare to try and come visit me for my bday at the end of June! So I’m very excited about that possibility!

Lani, what kind of work do you do? I hate those super busy times! I wish things would be more consistent.

Posted By LittlePuffyTail on 06/01/2011 04:24 AM

Monkey, Where are you going to pick up the buns for the Bunderground? That’s so great that you’re helping in this way…especially considering the price of gas! Does that come out of your own pocket?

Well, I will likely be picking them up in Vancouver, Washington. It’s just across the river from portland. Then I will drive them waaay south to Redding, California. An 8 hour drive.

They do gather donations for gas for the drivers, but I didn’t take them last time. I can afford it right now, and I use supreme so it costs more. I’d rather them use that money for the drivers that aren’t as well off.

Posted By Elrohwen on 06/01/2011 11:53 AM
Lani, what kind of work do you do? I hate those super busy times! I wish things would be more consistent.

I work for an elected official running both the legislative office and managing the campaign and since this is a re-election year for us, I’m doing double the work trying to stay caught up for both offices. We have a campaign event next week which has pretty much turned all of my waking hours into work hours trying to prepare. But I love my job, it just makes for some crazy hours sometimes

MB, driving with 14 Flemmies? What fun! the west coast is so much farther ahead in bunny care than here. Do they all wear seatbelts?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N9K5QL4IQ4&feature=related

Here’s a link to Sid the Cussing Rabbit’s 1st appearance, via You Tube. Warning: sensitive language bleeped out.

It’s funny, actually, Pam. The East coast gets more requests for bunny transport than the west coast

I won’t be the only driver for them for my leg, they won’t all fit in my car. last time I fit 5 flemmies and and english lop in, and I was almost full.

haha chacha people have been asking me that for years now! I’m turning 21 at the end of the month

I’ve only had one person in recent memory ask if I had kids, and it was understandable as I was carrying bags full of Easter baskets, toys, and a giant stuffed bunny. So I wasn’t too offended by the assumption. Of course in reality, I just like to go way overboard at Easter!
My boyfriend’s birthday is on the 5th and our three year anniversary is on the sixth so we will be celebrating his birthday this weekend and our anniversary next weekend, so that shall be fun. And I get to spend the whole month packing because I’m moving the first week of July! Holy cow, it’s getting really close!

I’ve had people asking me if I had kids since I was 18 or so. Haha.

My two younger sisters are 15 and 18 yrs younger than me. I was always so angry when I would be babysitting and have a toddler and an infant at the store with me and little old ladies would shake and whisper “Now, thats just a shame.” I honestly dont know how they could have assumed the kids were mine since I was barely 100 lbs and 5’1. I looked like a 15 yr old at 19!!!!! Oh well, such is life. It still happens though, but the girls are 10 and 7, when I bring them into the store I work at my coworkers crinkle their noses and ask awkwardly “So… are these your’s and Greg’s kids…or.. uh? Wait, how long have you two been together now?” It doesn’t help the youngest calls me Mommy in front of other people just to screw with them, either. She did that the other day. I was at a register and she was said “mommy, can we get candy?” and the cashier said “your daughters are cute” and I replied that they were my little sisters and the youngest pops out with “Mom?! We aren’t your kids?” and then faked like she was crying. She cackled all the way home!!!

Almost as much of a brat as Huckleberry lol

ROFL! Your little sister is hilarious.

Our 3rd wedding anniversary is on the 28th and my mom has been nagging us for kids since day one. Next year is a big maybe if we can get more work done on our house, and if my husband makes good progress towards his CPA and gets a secure job. As of right now, we are sooooo not ready.

Ahh, I’m so jealous that it’s your Friday! This has been such a long week, even though I had Monday off. I think it’s because I was gone all weekend, so I didn’t get my regular down time and extra sleep.

I’ve been telling people we’ll have kids in “10 years” ever since we got married when we were 25. Now it’s a few years later and I still say “10 years”, except now that would put me past 35. Guess I’ll have to start decreasing the number I tell people. Having kids freaks me out! I think I’m ok with having one, but definitely no more than that and definitely not in the near future.

Joe and I want kids. 2 or 3 of them. We are hoping sooner rather than later too. Like I said we just have so much other stuff going on, and I don’t want to have any until we are ready. Until then, our critters are our children. I am also putting out no definite plans because as badly as my mom wants grand babies, I want her to be 100% surprised when the time finally does come.

Posted By LoveChaCha on 06/02/2011 10:37 AM

I’m 24. I’m mistaken for being a teenager. I’m not sure if it is because of my Asian genetics or not o_O;;; I’ve been asked at my old job if “I’m old enough to be working here.” Say what?

Maybe it is the Asian genetics, LoveChaCha, because I get mistaken for a teenager too, despite being 23. I’ve actually been DOUBLE carded trying to order a glass of wine at dinner. They thought my ID was fake because I don’t look the age it says I am. My mom always says its the good Asian genes from her side that keep me looking young. I guess I’ll like having this “problem” when I’m older though

I was VERY upset last night…I’m still upset about it. I was at the bookstore looking at the horse magazines. A country/farm living-type magazine caught my eye because it had a cute bunny on the cover (I can’t remember the name of the mag). I flipped through the magazine…BIG MISTAKE!!! It was an article (with horrible pictures) on farming rabbits for meat and there was a section labeled “Overcoming the Cute Factor” and it said to keep 1 or 2 only as pets and view the others as meat. Sick sick sick….How could you keep 1 as a pet (the picture was 2 adorable buns snuggling on the couch) and then slaughter all the others that look just like him? I was horrified and saddened by the pictures.

What upset me even more, I think, was that the very next section of the magazine was about farm activities for kids. And the featured activity was “Rabbit Hopping (show jumping competitions for bunnies). So after the horribly sad pictures, there is, on the very next page a kid running a course with his bunny with a big smile on his face.

I wish I could remember the name of the mag so I can give them a piece of my mind. I may go back to the store just to write down the title…

I’ll never understand people…and I really don’t want to understand the kind of people that do this sort of thing.

Brit, I am still recovering! I went to bed at 9:00 last night and for the first time this week I don’t feel completely exhausted. Can’t wait for the weekend so I can sleep in.

LPT, I don’t know how people can have a pet as well as meat animals, however, I do respect the people who keep their own meat animals instead of buying those raised in horrible conditions. To me, this is much more responsible than buying meat from CAFOs, etc. Not that I would ever be able to do this, but I do respect the small farmers who know where their food comes from. It can be really hard to think about when it comes to rabbits though – I’m not a vegetarian, but I don’t eat rabbit anymore because I can’t separate the pets from the livestock in my head.

Didn’t mean to start a controversy or argument! I guess I just find the article pretty tame compared to how most meat animals really live.

I definitely agree with you, Elrohwen! I consider myself vegan but really only because it’s a nice big umbrella term and is true most of the time- I will only eat meat that came from a small small small farm (my friend’s family always had 2-3 cows they would raise for beef and they’d sell to us) or I’ll trust Whole Food’s farm star rating (1 star being worst conditions to 5+ stars being the absolute best.. it’s labeled on all of their fresh meat!). For myself, I feel that if I buy meat from some not so great places, I’m ultimately driving all meat producers forward. I might be eating a hamburger, but chickens, turkeys, rabbits, goats, and anything else died right along with it in a terrible death. As a rule, I can’t eat anything smaller than me. I can’t believe some of these humane ways of killing are considered humane!! Ick! But I still can’t rationalize the thought that a cow deserves to be eaten more so than a rabbit or chicken. It’s all about the veggies.

Oh but just to clarify, meat bunnies make me sad.

I don’t have a problem eating other meat animals and I’m trying so hard to find those from sustainable local farms (once we move to the Hudson Valley, that should get even easier and I won’t have an excuse). I still can’t eat bunnies though because I love them as pets. If I had a pet sheep I’d probably swear off lamb for life.

Brit, that’s lame that Whole Foods is buying their meat from sources and lying about it! We don’t have a Whole Foods very close to me, but we do have a couple stores that try to source local high quality stuff and I love visiting them. I’ve been in Whole Foods a few times, but the veggies always seemed lower quality than what I can get in Stop & Shop (though of course they were organic, which was good). I’m fine with getting non-organic if it’s local, because the local sustainable farms are typically better than organic anyway and just can’t afford the license.

Recently we got a brand of milk called “The Farmer’s Cow” that’s made at sustainable farms in CT. I love it! They have ice cream now that I really should try.

YUCK! I would hope that Whole Foods got it together… The closest one to me now is about 5 or 6 hours away. We only have WalMart and ShopKo and… some other grocery store where I am. So now I eat tomatoes and rice. Haha.
It is a huge eye opener seeing animals that eventually you will eat. The friend that I got meat from- Amara- had raised her cows since they were only a few weeks old. And we would play with them all the time! I remember running through their pasture (which was massive) with those darn cows chasing us and I didn’t realize that they killed and ate them until I went over for dinner one night. I remember distinctly- Amara said, “You remember that cow that chased us up the tree a few weeks ago? He’s dinner”. o____O
The cool thing was that they had these cows for years and they lived a pretty full life. They weren’t on their deathbed, but they ate the best and there was a group of 2-3 so they could roam around and other than us chasing them, they were in such a peaceful spot. The fact that they were kinda treated like pets almost made it easier to eat them. I’d eat a cow I’m affectionate towards before I ate one that was killed after a year of life in disgusting living conditions. :\

I worked in the food industry for four years and my confidence in them is shot! I never ate many processed foods, but I was never so against them as I am now after working for that industry (and I even worked for one of the more moral and upstanding companies).

I mostly found it distasteful that people spend all day trying to sell people food that’s horrible for them by convincing them it’s good.

Today I was declared official bunny property! Huckleberry chinned me! I have never seen her do that before to anything! I am overjoyed!

As for food… I recently watched a documentary where they discussed msg as having actual addictive properties, causing you to crave foods with it. Ive never been all that concerned with what I eat, if it tasted good, I ate it. But after that little “duh, could have had a V8” moment, I have really been… aware… of it. I havent necessarily been actively avoiding it but I have been telling myself I need to. Im lazy haha. I cant seem to kick my Dr Pepper addiction though, so high fructose corn syrup is and probably always will be a large part of my diet. My family is prone to diabetes too, i need to stop! AAGH why dont they have a Junk Food Eaters Anonymous?…. ah, I probably wouldnt go anyway.

When I decided to go vegan, the first thing I did was to go the PETA website (ew, I know) and look for all the vegan candies I could eat! Hahaha. Who needs meat when you can have CANDY?!?!?!

Chacha, no, it was actually something about some ancient roman ship wrecks. The crew had discovered some that had once carried bottles of a fish sauce. The sauce had a chemical in it that was basically msg. It was really fascinating.

I dont drink V8 much. I will if I am really craving veggies but I would rather just eat veggies.

Monosodium glutamate is what MSG stands for Britt MSG is just easier for people to say, so thats what they wrote it as for years, instead of the technical name. It’s a flavor enhancer, and does occur naturally.

Interesting fact, MSG has long been stated to be bad for you, but there are actually no studies that prove that. In fact, some health authorities have stated that it’s perfectly safe for human consumption in normal levels. As in, don’t take an MSG supplement each day

Maybe it is the Asian genetics, LoveChaCha, because I get mistaken for a teenager too, despite being 23

I will ditto that. My aunty is ten years older then my mom and asian vs. british, my aunty gets ID’d! She’s in her sixties just so you know…She tells me to use this face cream she uses. Yeah uh….hate to tell her, she just has amazing genetics and clinique may have helped but it won’t help everyone lol

On the food/vegie thing-I heard a VERY scary thing…I was talking with a health inspector as one of my things is to work with auditors and inspectors (I lamely love working with gov’t policy) and heard that the US is deregulating health and food. I don’t know if it’s true but it woudl mean central government agencies would not oversee inspections and all food safety would be self policed! Scary…

umn gotta spill the beans. We’re house shopping! I know those who have been patiently waiting for ‘after’ pictures of our home (we posted the ‘before’) -those will come this fall. But my parents seeing that the market is going up are going to help us get a place now and then we can sell this this fall without worrying about an increase on what we would buy!! WE checked out a place tonight-total dump but big acreage with no nieghbors ANYWHERE in sight. Fantastic. I know…don’t get excited but I can’t help it. It would be amazing to have this place, and just a relief to get something before we sell would be so helpful! We could start renovations there now!! I will so keep you posted and I will be proud to post the ‘after’ pictures of this place once we’re done. Only siding, partial bathroom to finish and part of the kitchen-then it will be a complete remodel and I’m so excited to share what we did!

Yay K&K! Good luck house hunting! We had a horrible time and are finally getting one (hopefully – contracts are signed) after about 8 months of searching. So stressful!

Also, food inspections are almost completely self-policed in the US at this point, so deregulating it more might not change a lot. Currently, the govt can’t force a recall – it’s completely optional and the company doesn’t have to release information about where all of that food was sold.  A lot of people wish they’d regulate it much more, but looks like the lobbyists have won this again.

So my Bunderground trip is on for the 14th. I get to drive down south again! SO the tuesday I drive down, back on wednesday. I hope. Cuz Thursday I go on a different trip out of town with friends. Don’t want to miss that

Ugh, this is not going to be a good week. One of my co-workers is out all week (he had an emergency gall bladder surgery, I think) so I have to cover for him. Unfortunately, he doesn’t like to ask for help, so I’ve never really gone over his stuff before and I don’t know all of the processes he covers and what to do when things fail. Now I’m trying to figure them out and address emails from a ton of people in addition to dealing with my own problems (and of course my processes had multiple problems over the weekend that I’m trying to solve).

Blah. Time for the week to be over so he can come back!

About 8 hours each way again. 900 miles total. And then the day after I get back, I’m off to Sisters, OR for a weekend Lots of driving!

Sisters is a funny name for a town! I like it.

Brit, I used to work at a grocery store and I’m a super-fast scanner! Haha. But what is up with the girl taking time off for a hair appointment? Isn’t that what days off are for? How old is she? There are so many responsible people out there, but then you run into people who don’t seem to get it.

Today has been a mess. It took me most of the day to figure out what was going on and just make a list of co-worker’s stuff, but I’m not even able to deal with most of it because I don’t have the right access or knowledge. We have one guy who does, but he’s leaving the department and is only working for us 50% of the time, so he’s really busy too. I at least feel productive that I pulled a list together and sent it out so it looks like I’m on top of things.

Then I got an email about one of my processes ruining a bunch of wafers (each wafer has over 100 computer chips – technically these were Wii chips – sorry Nintendo! ). The problem has been going on for 4 years (much longer than I’ve been here) and always seemed to be predictable so we were just dealing with it instead of fixing it (because fixing things means you will potentially ruin more product to find the solution). Now it’s happening randomly and I need to come up with a solution fast. Then I need to go to the executive meeting tomorrow and explain why I ruined more product for the same issue I told them about in April.

Its named Sisters because it’s right by the Three Sisters mountains, well… technically volcanoes….

Also, food inspections are almost completely self-policed in the US at this point, so deregulating it more might not change a lot. Currently, the govt can’t force a recall – it’s completely optional and the company doesn’t have to release information about where all of that food was sold. A lot of people wish they’d regulate it much more, but looks like the lobbyists have won this again.

ZOMG Zoink! I had no idea!

So my Bunderground trip is on for the 14th. I get to drive down south again! SO the tuesday I drive down, back on wednesday. I hope. Cuz Thursday I go on a different trip out of town with friends. Don’t want to miss that

You stop that! Now I’ve gone and applied to be their THIRD Canadian driver lol Darn… Oi you are a bad influence

Ditto wishing for the weekend! It goes by so fast and in a blink its Sunday night again! Though the week goes by quick and then I realize I’m just getting old Bahahahha

Oh and I have to mention because it’s crazy thunderstorming out right now…THANK GOODNESS MY DOG IS NOT AFRAID OF THUNDER -*sigh* so many fears and issues, but geez louise-living here it’s seriously a blessing he’s not afraid of them!

Ok good dog-thunder story-well interesting.
I grew up in southern ontario-known as the ‘kansas’ of Canada, and tornado alley. We had at least one watch or warning a year and many times confirmed touch downs close by. As a kid it was exciting. Thunder is often in the area as the great lakes create weather and the pressure systems cause tornado’s and thunder.
ANnnnyways we’d had our dog forever. Never afraid of thunder. One day my mom was in the yard (there was a thunder and tornado watch) and she was folding chairs and putting stuff away. Lightning hit three houses away-split a tree, caught a car on fire-etc. Crazy. It was so close it scared my poor dog who was then always afraid of thunderstorms. For where we lived-awful. But amazing in that the poor dear would let us know by winding up and going to the basement to hang out HOURS before clouds even appeared. Very neat how animals know.

The bunderground trips are so much fun! You get to snuggle bunnies you wouldn’t get to otherwise. And a car full of flemmies… its to die for. Thanks for signing up

Posted By Elrohwen on 06/06/2011 01:01 PM

There are so many responsible people out there, but then you run into people who don’t seem to get it.

 

No kidding!!! I have a guy at work that called in sick 2 nights in a row because they wouldn’t approve his days off. He went on a 2 day ghost-hunting trip!!!! A 27 yr old man with 4 kids skipped out on work to go ghost hunting! Oh well, who am I to judge, I suppose… but since I had to cover the aisle he usually works, I was irritated. 

Posted By Huckleberry on 06/07/2011 02:31 AM

Posted By Elrohwen on 06/06/2011 01:01 PM

There are so many responsible people out there, but then you run into people who don’t seem to get it.

 

No kidding!!! I have a guy at work that called in sick 2 nights in a row because they wouldn’t approve his days off. He went on a 2 day ghost-hunting trip!!!! A 27 yr old man with 4 kids skipped out on work to go ghost hunting! Oh well, who am I to judge, I suppose… but since I had to cover the aisle he usually works, I was irritated. 

Hahaha. Ghost hunting?! I didn’t know people did that outside of tv shows. So funny.

My co-worker is out right now for emergency gall bladder surgery and we keep joking about how rude it is of him to be out for a week and not give us any warning (and not even take his laptop to the hospital ) We also had a group rafting trip planned for Friday, but we’ll put it off because we want him to be able to make it (and 3 other people also had last minute reasons why they had to cancel). The nerve!

Ahhh, work is getting worse. I’m trying to deal with co-worker’s stuff, but now a big issue just came up for me. It’s about 2:00 but my brain is already starting to fade out and I can’t focus on one thing. I did cross some things off my list though, so I feel moderately productive.

Has anyone heard from that person that found the bun in the parking lot? I was really interested in that story!!!

Phew…after 3 weeks of essentially backpacking in Taiwan, I’m finally back in the US (and back on BB)! I’m going to be in the SF bay area for the next 10 days or so…gonna see what I can do about convincing my brother to drive me up to Save A Bunny sometime, hehehe. It shouldn’t be a problem, though, as he loves bunnies too .

Olivia just decided I don’t need surround sound after all.

Welcome back, Peppypoo!

LPT, that’s hilarious. I think bunnies really are anti-technology.

It’s Friday everyone! Nobody is happier about that than I am. This has been one of the longest and toughest work weeks ever, but I think I got a lot of credibility by handling a million things and solving some of my co-worker’s issues that were causing a lot of problems. It’s great to at least be recognized for working my butt off – makes the stress a little easier to deal with.

Good to see you back, Peppypoo, How was Taiwan? Any awesome stories? 

Elrohwen, Congrats! It always feels really good to be appreciated at work, especially when you have been really giving it your all.

I wish I could get some of that, I just got home from a very rough night. My boss was irritated that I wasn’t finished with my work, despite the fact that he knew before the night even began that NO ONE would finish because we had too many hours of work and not enough people. I dont do drugs, so dont expect me to act like Im on crack, pal!!! GRR! Oh well, I bought a microwavable chocolate fudge brownie and as soon as bf goes to work, Im going to take a long hot shower, microwave my brownie, settle in and watch some tv. Hopefully Huckles will join me, however I doubt that is likely. I built her a new jungle gym out of NIC grids and she hasn’t left it once since it went up. It is HER cave and she has locked herself in it and wont let anyone near it.

Soo … the boss just stopped by to say that my co-worker will be out until the 27th. I thought he had his gall bladder removed! Not half of his internal organs! *head desk*

He did say that he’s giving me a day off for each week I have to cover, so that’s awesome. I had planned to take 5 days off through this program where they pay you 1/3 of your pay or something, but now I don’t really need to. We’re not taking a long vacation this year either, so I have plenty of regular vacation days too. Plenty of time to spend on the new house once we move in!

That’s too bad about your work 🙁 I hate when bosses have unreasonable expectations. My bosses are pretty good – they understand if you’re trying your best and can’t get everything done (and they also understand when you can’t get everything done because you’re horrible at time management and suck at your job 😛 )

I hate when the bunnies get too attached to their cave areas. Otto’s like a little cave troll now about his maze and tunnel – he just sits in there and waits for me to approach and give him a treat, then he goes right back in.

I thought Father’s Day wasn’t until next week Sunday? People at work keep talking about it like it’s this weekend and I’m getting nervous because I planned to not send my card until Monday or Tuesday (to arrive by the next weekend). I’m going to feel stupid if I’m a week late.

He just had his gall bladder removed, but I really don’t see how that can mean 3 weeks out of work. They do all of that stuff laproscopically now anyway. My guess is that he had some complication like an infection or his gallbladder burst (I’m not even sure if that can happen) which makes his recovery worse.

It’s tomorrow.

OH. My boyfriend’s family is celebrating tomorrow because his dad is leaving for work on the real Father’s Day. lol

Yeah, I looked it up online and my mom confirmed that it’s next weekend. All the advertisements had me worried!

Just looked at an affordable 52 horse ready acres… plus livable home…*Throws tantrum* I want it!!! *sigh*

Fathers day…yikes…my parents hit us with a wammy…mothers day, moms b day, fathers day, dads bday….suck us dry they will

Oh yeah. Fathers Day is coming up.

I should send my step dad bright pink flowers. My mom would get a kick out of it

Mother’s day, my dad’s birthday, and my parents’ anniversary are all the same week. I used to just house sit/pet sit so they could take a vacation but now I live too far away and actually have to come up with presents! Luckily, I started buying my dad seasons of MASH for everything. When he came to visit I couldn’t get him to do anything other than sit in my apartment and watch my MASH collection, so now I buy it for him season by season. We’re up to season 4 for father’s day I believe.

K&K, that sounds amazing!!

Our new house has almost 10 acres and some cleared space that would be perfect for horses. Too bad I can’t afford them here 🙁 Someday though! And I wish we had real estate like yours – the best horse place I found was in our budget, 10 acres, but about an hour from work 🙁

Weeeeeee tomorrow I drive down to Cali with a car load of flemmies again! Another RA volunteer is driving down in her car with another load of buns too! Lots of bunnies going south this time! Gonna be toasty there, compared to the mild Oregon weather we’ve been having. I’m gonna need a rain jacket when I levae here, and flip flops and sunscreen when I get there lol.

Have fun on your trip, Monkeybun! It has been pretty warm over here. Not too long ago it was cooler and rainy. Meh, looks like the summer weather is here.

 Good Luck, Monkeybun!!! I hope the buns dont decide to simultaneously thump, you might bottom out!!! 

Hucklbun finally forgave me for brushing her today. She cuddled up on the floor and allowed me to pet Her Royal Highness from the couch. I was not allowed to come down to her level though. That resulted in Butt-In-The-Face. We also discovered that craisins dont taste as good as raisons and look a lot like a squashed cockroach when on the floor across the room 

Off to the vet with Bindi this morning to get his teeth re-checked. ****Fingers crossedd****

Good luck to Bindi!

So what fun things did everyone do this weekend? I just sat around, read a book, watched some movies, etc. I’m really glad that the hot weather is over (it was about 100 for two days – it hardly ever gets that hot here, even in July and August). Now it’s back to the 70s (in the 60s tomorrow even). I’m probably the only one excited about that, but I love the cooler weather! I just wish it wouldn’t have to rain every day to stay cool.

I definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I was up for a bit in the middle of the night because of a stomach ache – it’s happened a couple times in the past two weeks and it’s annoying! At least I’m fine during the day. Then I woke up at 6:00, 40min before I had to be up, because of a bad dream. Instead of falling back asleep, I was kind of half awake, half still in the dream. Ugh. By the time I woke up I just felt awful! The dream was about these obnoxious girls I used to be friends with, and then learned that they were actually mean people. I hadn’t thought about them for a while (this all happened about 6 months ago) but the dream kind of brought everything back and made me feel lousy.

Venting over! Now onto work! I’m not super motivated today, but I’ve gotta get those Wii chips out the door.

Good luck, Bindi Loo!!! Dont bite the vet.

Elrohwen, I am jealous of your weather. After our daily tornadoes ended, the heat kicked in. Now it is somewhere between 85-95 every day and the humidity is so thick its hard to breath. It only gets worse. Late July through early September will be well into the 100’s and there is usually a long drought with no break… except for 4th of July, its almost guaranteed to rain that day. Once the heat breaks, there will be about 6 weeks of wonderfully cool, crisp weather and then when winter hits, it will be cloudy, gloomy and bitterly cold without any beautiful snow to look at. Oklahoma stinks when it comes to weather!!! Thank goodness its cheap or Id move.
And your morning sounds way too stressful. I hope you can get a coffee or tea or gin to calm down and relax with.

Hahaha at the gin. I should keep a flask in my desk and add to my tea 😉 Too bad it’s not the 60s anymore when that was allowed!

I think I would melt if I lived in Oklahoma! I completely avoided going outside the last few days of last week and just sat in the air conditioning. I’m a wuss when it comes to heat. I wish it would stay 65-75 every day forever! Generally it’s nice here though – most days of the summer are below 85, which I can deal with. It was even nicer when I lived a few miles from the coast. We do have some cold days in winter, but I think I prefer being cold to being really hot.

I wouldn’t have thought Oklahoma would be so humid either. Really hot isn’t too horrible if it’s dry, but that humidity is a killer.

Its awful! It doesn’t make any sense, it shouldn’t be humid since we don’t have many bodies of water nearby but this state defies logic. Its stagnant too, very little wind in the summer. UGH. I have to walk to campus in a little while, which is about 4 blocks away and I am dreading the thought. I have to go buy some supplies from the book store. It rained two nights ago so it is extra humid. Thankfully it is cloudy and only 80 right now.

I often wish I could drink at my work. Its so obvious that half the staff comes in high, I dont see what damage it would do if I were tipsy. Im an angry person though, I may not be able to control my desire to tell the customers “Look jerk, dont look down your nose at me for working at Walmart, you’re shopping here!!!”

Haha, yeah, alcohol would probably make us all a little too “honest” with annoying people. Most of the people I work with are actually pretty good, but there’s a few bad ones that I would probably give a piece of my mind after a few drinks.

Hey Huckleberry, I love Walmart. I go at a time when most of the checkers are college kids and I like to talk to them while they check me out. I’ve met future marine biologists, robotic designers, game programmers, mechanics, laser technicians and one future orthodonist…lol. I put myself through college working at Safeway grocery stores and I’ll verify that that is hard work!

I can’t say I’m a fan of Walmart in general, but I worked in grocery for a couple years and I certainly respect anyone who’s a cashier! Actually, one of my best jobs ever was working in the photolab of a grocery store – I got to work with customers, but I was basically alone all day so I could make my own decisions and do what I wanted as far as refunds, discounts for bad pics, etc. Plus, scrolling through people’s pictures (while correcting them for color, blurriness, etc) never got boring.

I still have my scanning skillz. DH and I fly through the self-checkout lines (he does the bagging).

Brit, as far as college goes, I think they often give you the scholarship/assistance as an account that you can buy books out of or pay tuition with. Different ones work different ways, but I do know that some (maybe most? I dunno) offer you the money up front and you can use it for school stuff. Good luck! I’m sure you’ll be able to work something out – those advisors are there just for people like you who need to understand the process (because nobody understands it at first, and some people never really understand it, like me )

That made me laugh, Elrohwen, I ran the darkroom at the local college for several years and developed all the student’s slides and negatives for them. I really don’t think they realized that a real person handled the film and saw the various ‘subjects’ they were photographing….lol.

I bet college kid pictures were hilarious! That would’ve been a great job.

The best was when I got a roll of film with a bunch of normal shots and then two that were pretty graphic (if you know what I mean). Normally people pick up their pictures and walk away, but this couple picked them up, then stood right on the other side of the counter to flip through them. They must have forgotten about the lewd pics because when they got them them they looked up at me in horror, got red in the face, then ran away. LOL They saw the humor in it, but boy were they embarrassed (probably even more so because I was only 18).

Im laughing so hard I teared up!!! Elrohwen that story is hilarious!
Krawlspace, sadly I dont work the shift with the smart, hard working, ambitious young college students. I work the shift with the creepy people, the old slightly mental people, and the down right crazies! Graveyard is…. never boring. I stock half the night and the majority of my customers are stuck up, rich girls. My job is to greet them and try to assist them but so many look at me like Im a freak for speaking to them. It makes me feel like I should hunch over, drop one leg to a limp, start drooling a little and muttering like a mutant assistant. Many of the customers are friendly, and some even stop to share recipes and discuss things with me, one even asks how my rabbit is doing, but its always those rude jerks that get dolled up to go grocery shopping that rub me the wrong way. GRR ANGRY RANT!

Chacha, I was a cashier for about 6 months in 2004. I quit for a while and came back in 2008, when I worked as a maintenance worker (only position available at the time) for about 6 months, then a stocker for about 6 months, then they moved me to the back room for a while. Now I go do some back room work, then stock an aisle and then do more back room work. I miss being a cashier.
As far as scholarship stuff goes, with the ones I get, they are credited to the school’s bursar account about a week after the semester starts. Any left over funds after tuition is paid are then deposited into my personal checking account for me to use however I like. Does your school have a financial aid office? Those are the people to talk to. Some scholarships take a little longer though; for ex, the one I received for the class Im taking in NM wont be credited to my account until the class is half over.

Vibes for Bindi Loo! Any updates?
I’m asking same for my Jersey girl. I dropped her of for dentaal exam this morning. Gah! You’d think it’d get easier taking them in but nope. You still worry!

Lol-ing @ Brittany passing out and waking to a disapproving ChaCha. heh heh

Elrohwen, I’ve always thought it’d be a good little job in a photo lab. I like jobs where you can work on your own doing stuff. Though these days everything is digital and self service so I suppose those jobs are more rare now.

O/T: I’ve noticed the older I’m getting, the more immature I’m getting. Lol eg. Tim Tim was humming and running laps around the office chair the other night. So I started spinning to keep up with him. He just got faster. Then I’d change direction and he’d change without a hitch. Cracks me up.
I turn 35 this year.

Happy June everybody! It was my day of birth on the 9th! All I’ll say is that I’m still a youngin’ Anybody watching hockey? I’m a Vancouverite.. any Bostoners out there? LOL

Huckleberry: Have you ever seen the Life of Brian? If so, you could go to work and act like the jailer who’s m-m-m-m-m-mad. Be all hunched over and disgusting and grunt at people and then when you walk away straighten up and have a normal conversation, lol. If you haven’t seen it… well, you should.

I never worked as a cashier, but I worked as a bagger for awhile. It was terrible! A big part of my job was fixing the machines that count the cans and bottles for returns (if your state has bottle return for recycling you know what I mean) there are very few things in this world more disgusting than beer bottles left in people’s garages for months and then dripping all over you while I fix the counting machine. Yuck. I got to know some cool people though. And some terrible ones, but that’s how every job goes I guess.

Have fun Monkeybun and good luck Bindi!

@ Elrohwen-yes it’s crazy to board a horse here-475/month is the cheapest…yikes! I could squeeze it but then vet and travel and other perks would be tighter. I’d really love to be able to keep a horse at home, so I could see him/her everyday, take care of every aspect, work on training-oh yeah and it’s more affordable! This definitely wouldn’t be until next year, most likely as I would want to have my other items purchased ahead-not saddle of course because I want a proper fit but I want a good first aid kit, a year of hay and the pen/stall/paddocks done and built. It would be bonus if they come with it-but I want to do most of that stuff first so I’m not scrambling. I think this year I will do lessons weekly to get a refresher and get my legs back and then I’ll be prepared for ownership!

Fun things this weekend? Can the fun things be draining? I had my friends TWO puppies over for sitting on Saturday. They are crazy-bought a new house, renovating the whole thing and got TWO puppies! (different ages, mutts, rescues) Gorgeous dogs, one is a lab mix and one is a basset/terrier mix who is Mikey’s “brother from another mother” they are so similar. Then my other friend came over with her dog-so we had four going bonkers. It was fun and crazy and Mikey is still recovering lol

With Bindi’s vet visit I went in to get his teeth checked and walked out with an ear infection. I knew his ear was a bit red but I was quite surprised that it has a bit of infection in it. So re-check in a week…sigh. His teeth are fine though so there’s that at least.

Oh no! Im sorry LPT, poor Bindi. At least you caught it before it got really bad! <<<>>>

Everytime I pack for a move, I am reminded that I have waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many books. I finally got done packing them all… 20 boxes!!! I need to go order more boxes now for the rest of my stuff, sheesh. I should open my own used book store and get rid of some of them. I shudder to think how many I’ll have when I move again after finishing law school in three years.

Hugs to Bindi!

K&K, that’s more expensive than I thought it would be! Around here you can get about that much for pasture board, and well over $1,000 for stall board with feeding and cleaning. Blah. I don’t know that I’d have time to have a horse at home though, if I’m honest with myself. I work 10 hours a day, though our new house will be just a couple minutes from work. Still, if we ever want to have a kid, I don’t see the horse working out. For now I’m saving it up as a dream for after we have a kid and that kid is more independent (though at that point, I’ll probably decide we need to save the money for college). I should just not have kids and have a horse instead! I’d be ok with that.

Poor Bindi! It’s great that you caught the problem though!

Jers, I’m laughing thinking about you spinning in your chair with TimTim running around you. Also, how crazy is it that nobody uses film anymore? When I worked there we did a lot of business, though very little with people wanting prints of digital pictures. I guess that was almost 10 years ago, but it makes me feel old! It’s crazy to think about how fast technology changes these days (and I should know, since I work at a place that is speeding it along)

ChaCha, On the plus side, if you’re applying for an MA program, you get to apply as an independent so your family contribution shouldn’t be an issue. And grad plus loans are really easy to get and have a low interest rate, although at a community college you might not have to get any loans other than federal ones (Stafford, Perkins) to cover tuition. Although sadly, the really good federal loan is I believe going away soon, but I get them all confused. Usually they estimate your total cost of attendance (tuition, fees, books, living expenses) and deposit whatever money is left after the school gets tuition and fees in your account (or send you a check or whatever). Scholarships get applied the same way loans do, they apply any scholarships first, then the loans get applied in order of lowest to highest interest so that whatever loan has the highest interest can be as small as possible (at least that’s how they do it here). Definitely talk to your financial aid office people and don’t be afraid to go and talk to someone else if the person you talk to seems like an idiot, I’ve worked at universities a lot and the staff can definitely be hit or miss in terms of dedication and helpfulness. Just my two cents, good luck!

K&K, that’s more expensive than I thought it would be! Around here you can get about that much for pasture board, and well over $1,000 for stall board with feeding and cleaning

….*reads again* -am…A 1000$ a month for stall board??? Seriously?
*picks jaw off floor* ahem Guess it’s not that bad here!

I should just not have kids and have a horse instead! I’d be ok with that.

My goal too! Maybe we could get T shirts made…

So the 52 acres is gone-the people who viewed saturday made an offer that was accepted and there is even a backup offer *cries* Found a horse property west of the city…plans to talk Dave into viewing…

LPT-glad to hear it’s not teeth at least!!

So Mikey is ill-he had a very wet accident Monday and Tuesday-phoned and got him in for Wednesday. Got antibiotics and probiotics and he’s doing much better but stomach is still loud! No accidents or urgencies today though-I think he’s on the mend!

Elrowhen- I’m glad I don’t live where you do or I would be horseless! Around here horses are quite affordable. You can get a nice boarding barn with box stalls, pasture turn-out and an indoor and outdoor ring for about $350.00, which includes all the hay, feed and daily care. There are very fancy places here that run as high as $600.00. Those are the fancy snob stables. I wouldn’t board there even if I could. I’m not that kind of horse-girl and I dont get on well with snobby-types.

What are the prices like to buy a horse where you are?

I’m with you Elrowhen and KK! I love kids but I know if I had kids I would have to give up my horse or move to a really cheap, crappy barn. It’s not so much the boarding fee as it is all the other expenses: farrier, vet, supplies, etc. It’s ridiculous how expensive everything for horses is. I bought her a rain blanket a few weeks ago. $140.00! For Winnie, I’ll spend it but I would NEVER spend that much on a rain jacket for me!

I’m looking forward to my trip to the Morgan and Arabian Summer Horse Show tommorow. It’s about  a 2 hour drive and I go every year as a spectator. It’s neat to see a lot of Winnie’s relatives competing. My 2 nieces who are 6 and 8 are coming along and they are super excited. They just started riding lessons last month. It’s soooo adorable to watch them trot around on little ponies. Ponies make me want to have kids! 

Ponies make me want to have a pony!

I miss having horses 🙁
They have a rodeo arena and a bunch of horses in fields that belong to the college just north of me. I drive past them so often. I almost have a wreck every time I pass them because I cant stop watching the little foals prance around!!! Maybe I should drive another route haha
Im with you guys about kids too. I have a friend whose mom is harassing him about not having a gf so she can get grandkids, my mom does the same thing sometimes (asks when she will get them). I told him that we need to go pay an orphan to pretend to be our child but send him to the grandparents all the time. Horrible, I know, and I was just kidding but I get so tired of hearing about how I should have kids. I have a bunny!!! Its more than enough lol

Yeah, living anywhere within a few hours of NYC = expensive! We’re spending enough just to get our house – I adore it, and it’s worth it, but I wish I could live somewhere cheap and pay half the price for it. $1,000+ per month for a horse is so ridiculous and I don’t know how anybody affords it. It’s like having another very small apartment.

I have no idea what horses cost here – I’m sure you can get everything from an OTTB for super cheap to a $100,000 warmblood that could take you to the Olympics. I’d honestly be willing to spend quite a bit on a horse itself (maybe $5k to 10k?) if I could keep it cheaply. I don’t see the point of getting a super cheap horse if I’m going to pay $500+ per month just so it can have a place to live – might as well save up first and get an awesome horse with a lot of training.

We’re no where near having kids, but whenever I suggest we just skip kids DH gets sad – I think he does really want to have a kid someday, but it’s hard to realize that my horse dream will probably never happen – at least not until my kid is out of college and by then I’ll be in my 50s. Wah. At the moment I can’t even afford lessons since all of our cash is going towards the house, but I hope that in a few years I can at least take regular lessons and maybe partially lease a horse.

You can always borrow kids!! I got “stuck” taking my friends daughter to riding last week (her mom says because it’s my fault she rides lol)-and I’m going to see her horse show next Saturday. She’s very much my ‘rent a kid’ with no bedtime battles, no homework, no boy trouble-at least that I have to worry about lol

She’s very much my ‘rent a kid’

That’s what my nieces are!!! It’s so fun for me that my sister has kids. The girls love animals and are such sweethearts. She has a 2 year old boy as well. I get to borrow em, spoil the pants off them, and send em back before they get cranky.  That’s the plan for the horse show today.

Their Daddy is not impressed with me. After the second riding lesson the 6 year old started asking about “Where do you buy a pony?” I had nothing to do with that. I swear.

Sorry, FAFSA. You shouldn’t have to give them your parents income and such as you’ll be an MA student.

I want a rent-a-kid! I don’t have any siblings, so no nieces or nephews. A couple of my friends here have babies, so maybe when they’re a little older and I live closer to them I can borrow their kids. I do enjoy playing with the babies at parties – I’m not interested in babies at all when I don’t know them, but when I do know them I think they’re pretty cute.

My kid will totally be asking for a pony just like I did. Haha. When I used to say I wanted a pony for Christmas my mom would say, “Or how about nothing?” Lol. That shut me up.

I have two sisters that are 10 and 7. They are my “rent a kids”. They are great kids but they send me into burn out so fast!!!!

Chacha, you wont actually enter “Im independent” in anything (that I know of). Independent means that you wont enter your dad’s info from his taxes, just yours. Fafsa will total some things up and declare that you are independent. They claim that you are if you are over a certain age (24 I think) or youre getting a masters. It wont mean that your family contribution will be 0 though. They still expect you to pay for your self based on the amount of money you made last year. For example, even though I am considered an independent because I am 25, I still have an Expected Family Contribution (I think that is what it is called) of around $1200, but FAFSA still pays my tuition and there is usually a significant amount of money left for supplies and such.
Good luck!!!

Yeah, FAFSA still estimated a family contribution for me around the $1200 mark as well but I’m also doing my MA at an out of state university, so presumably yours would be a lot less but I’m not sure.

Elrohwen, if you get a house with some land, would it be enough to have someone elses horse there? That would be a neat solution if someone is looking for affordable place to keep their horse and looking for someone to assist exercise it. i.e. You. ; )

(((Vibes))) for Mikey K&K! Poor pup.   Oh, thanks for posting pics of Rocky  – I forgot to post in that thread.  I don’t know what piggy markings are called but I love how he look cross between chocolate dutch and harlequin in rabbits.

Jersey, I’ve thought of that! You can actually get an agricultural tax break if you make $5,000 or more per year through an agricultural venture. I could easily make that by boarding one or two horses. We actually tried to get my friend to do that on his land so I could keep a horse there cheaply. Haha. The capital needed to build everything would be tough though. Even a pasture would take some saving up.

Mmmm…lots of incentive then.

You should grow organic bunny hay! Have a little boutique brand.

Hahaha. I should tell him to work on that!

It’s funny, in my gardening research I learned that planting timmy hay or alfalfa is a great “cover crop” – you plant it at the end of the season, then till it back into the soil to add nutrients. I think it would be fun to grow timmy hay, harvest some of it and feed it to the bunnies. I’ll have to figure out how to make hay now!

He currently has chickens and sells the eggs at work for $4 a dozen. Now DH kind of wants to get chickens and we can supply Colin with our extras to sell at work. At first I wasn’t sure about it, but now I’m kind of into the idea. I don’t know that we’d get them next spring, but maybe the year after that. Having a couple chickens would be fun and fresh eggs are awesome!

Yeah, you shouldn’t need to much room to keep chickens. You could do the whole free range egg thing. I used to have 2 and they’d go nuts when allowed on the grassy areas. Makes the eggs nicer too. 

For hay, maybe you’d have to be totally “green” and harvest it with a scythe! lol After I posted I thought about cost of farming implements. $450,000 comes to mind. Gah! I suppose it makes more sense to loan equipment.
Go for chickens, that’s totally do-able.

Yeah, we have a nice clearing in the woods right behind the house – it’s not sunny enough for my garden, but it would be nice for chickens! Our friend has his in a coop with an enclosed run, then he lets them into a larger fenced area during the day that has an electric fence to keep away predators. We could definitely do something like that back in the clearing and get 2-4 chickens.

I’m scared just thinking about how much our lawn-tractor is going to cost! Someone at work was trying to talk me into a $10,000 tractor (that’s if you buy one used no craigslist). Uh, no thanks! Haha. We’ll start with a weed whacker since those are cheap and go from there.

Bummer! I read that you bury the phone in a bowl of uncooked rice it can take out the excess moisture.

Chacha that’s scary! Im glad its nothing too serious and that you’re ok though!!!

Im in Taos, New Mexico. Today we had our first class. It took 13 hours to drive here. There was a whole town that was shut down because some fires had killed their power. Since this town housed the last gas station for 4 hours, we felt the need to backtrack to fill up, adding 2 hours to our originally estimated 10 hrs. The area is beautiful and the SMU campus is providing us with free room and board. The food is just as amazing as the views!!! I am really happy that I took this opportunity.

Brittany! Hope you ok! {{{Vibes}}}
I immediately thought appendicitis. Do you still have your appendix?

Goodluck Casey! Great to feel you’re enjoying now that you’re there. : )

Scary, Brittany! Glad you’re going to be okay. You only got 1 day off work?

That’s actually one of my biggest fears about getting really sick/passing away. Who will look after my babies? Ricky loves them and would keep them and care for them, obviously, but he doesn’t know about rabbits like I do. And he definitely knows nothing about my horse. I better stay healthy.

That sound terrible Brittany! Tell Chacha to tone down the diva-tude and be extra nice to you for a few days!

I hope you’re feeling better! That must’ve been so scary for you and your dad. I’m glad it’s nothing too serious.

Take it easy working out til you are all better, missy. Your body needs to fight it off, not use the energy to work out

realised that (in my missing my boyfriend) that it is nearly impossable to think… er… ‘thoughts’ when your bunny is flopped against the full length of your leg. thanks for keeping my mind out of the gutter Dude.
(i should stop calling him dude, he is starting to come to that name now O.o ever sence he freaked out one night and i said “$*&! dude you are ookkkkk!…. you are safe!”. sorry about the language but apperently the magical calming phrase is “$*&! dude you are ok!”. hey whatever works i guess ”

bunnys truely are pure creatures… who needs a purity ring? i gotta bunny!

I was laying on the living room floor last night

That’s how my story starts….and it ends with Olivia biting my cheek for no reason.    There is a tiny bruise there now. What a total stinky pants. She pretended she wanted pets and then turned evil. She’s a moody little witch sometimes.