The Beauty and the Mess

I'm making a public post to announce that my friend MaryElaine has four white rabbits who need a good home. If she doesn't find homes for them within a few weeks, she will have to euthanize them. :( (I can't believe she actually told me that, but she did and now I have the burden of knowledge.) I can't take any of them - they will not do well in a small apartment with two cats. So please, if any of you local people are interested in taking one, e-mail me. And pass the word along.

While I'm here...( LJ Stats/History Meme )

My work bridal shower on Friday was great. We got two china place settings, some giftcards, a canister set, and our comforter!! A bunch of co-workers went in together to get it for us. I was so glad and surprised, because it was the most expensive thing on our registry and I doubted we'd get it. Now we won't be comforterless. Yay! When the party was over, I went to my parents' so my mom could alter my dress. After the good weight report last week, I was shocked that the dress was snug in the stomach area. :( My mom said I'm not allowed to gain any more (!) weight because she can't take the dress out. I felt like a whale. So now I have to lose a few pounds, which I am terrible at because I already exercise and eat reasonably. Myla told me about a green tea diet she's trying. She heard that if you drink a cup of green tea per day, you can lose a pound a week. I have just under seven weeks, so if it works even half that well, I'm good to go. I bought some Celestial Seasonings Wellness Tea and had my first cup this morning. It was really good, and it even says on the box that it boosts metabolism. Here's hoping.

On Saturday I went to the homecoming game with Ryan, Luke and Myla, and their brother (Evan was at work). The Tigers played well and we won 41-14! It's the first time we've won homecoming in at least seven years. Go Tigers go! After the game, Ryan went to the fair with me since I hadn't been yet. We completed my short list of things I wanted to do (ride the Ferris wheel, eat pineapple whip, go to the crafts building, and visit the petting zoo). He insisted that there weren't any show bunnies this year, but we went to the barn where they usually are, and they had about 30 bunnies. Some of them were for sale, and I was so, so tempted to take one home. I miss Bun.

Any Smallville fans around here (I already know about you, calypsobard :))? They're showing it on FX now and we watched a few episodes on Saturday night. I think I could very easily get hooked on it.

Sunday was fun, largely because Evan didn't have to work. A whole day together! Our Sunday school lesson was about debt, and we had a good discussion about it on the way to lunch. Later, at home, Evan decided to fix one thing and it turned into a whole afternoon of fixing up the apartment. He easily fixed things that have been messed up as long as I've lived there. We dusted, freshened up, and talked about what we're going to change when he moves in. I felt guilty for doing housework on Sunday, but for once it energized me instead of tiring me out. I look forward to having a home with him. :)

Today is okay. My stomach feels bad - I ate a big piece of leftover cake yesterday and haven't felt right since. Other than that, things are going well. I don't have anything else to talk about, so I now return you to your regular lives.

I feel like I'm spending too much time on LJ again, but I had to share about what happened last night. I had just gotten home when my mom called me, exclaiming, "You'll never guess what happened! There's a bunny on our back porch!" She had spotted a baby rabbit hopping around in their backyard, so she and my dad went out, caught it, and put it in a cardboard box on the porch. Of course, I dropped everything and hurried out there to see it. We spent an hour or so looking at it and petting it (it sat very still and seemed okay with things). My mom wanted to take it inside and "domesticate" it, but my dad said NO, even though it was clearly a bunny sent from God. :) But finally, we released Little Bun from the box. When he (I'm assuming) finally started hopping, he went over to the planter area in the corner of the yard, where the rosebush is- and we saw another bunny there! Then they both disappeared under the rosebush. We looked in and saw a little burrow! My dad put some seed out for them to eat, and my mom and I hope that they'll hang around and be our Yard Bunnies. How amazing is that? God provides.

We (well, Evan) worked on the entertainment unit until after midnight. It's complete except for the doors. I'm very tired and seem to be coming down with sinus problems, so it's earlier-to-bed tonight. I don't need to be sick this week.

( A picture of Little Bun, and a survey. )

Hot weather makes me so sleepy. Or maybe it's the contrast between inside and outside. This time of year, I can actually feel things in my head expanding when I go outside and shrinking when I come back into the 68-degree office. Weird. Also, it's way too early for us to have highs in the mid-to-high 80s. I'm afraid of what July will be like.

This weekend is wide open plans-wise, which is very nice. Will I go to a movie? Finish my Shopaholic books? Have dinner with Helen before she leaves town? The possibilities are endless! Evan has Sunday off, too - yay!

A dove has made a nest in the eaves of my parents' front porch. It's neat. I took some (far away) pictures of her last night- I'll probably post them and other pictures on Monday.

Sorry I'm so boring today. Lately I feel totally uncreative and unable to come up with anything original. I feel like I say the same thing over and over. ( Here's a poll since Jessica asked for one. )

This icon is a picture from Hollywood Beach, Florida, where I spent almost every Saturday when I was younger. My best friend Kristi and I would "surf" and play in the sand and walk on the boardwalk all day. I'm missing the ocean a lot lately. I was looking online for things to do in New Hampshire, and there's a whale-watching tour that guarantees a whale sighting! I'd be so happy. :) Evan thought it sounded cool, too, so maybe we can go.

I am finally forced to admit that I've become addicted to Quizno's. Turkey Ranch & Swiss on rosemary bread. It's what's for dinner. Er, lunch. Plus, they're the only restaurant I know of that has Vanilla Coke on tap.

I'm spending the next three nights at my parents' because they're going out of town and didn't want to leave my brother alone. I don't mind staying out there- it's nice and quiet and I can do laundry. Unfortunately, my mom had plans for Kevin and me, which I can't do because of flute practice and my hair appointment. Now she's irritated, but at least I can spend all of tonight with him. Evan is coming out to the house so we can watch American Idol together. I'm sure Kevin will be glad to see him. They're buds. Oh, and tonight is Evan's last class of the semester! It's already Study Day week. Where does the time go?

It's still kind of weird at the house without Bun.

You know, I got a neat star guidebook for Christmas and I've only tried to use it once. I want to take that to New Hampshire, too- we can probably see a lot of stars there. The thing is, how are you supposed to use it? It's dark when you're looking at stars! Do you take a flashlight, or just memorize the map of the thing you want to look at before you go out there? What do amateur astronomers do?

My internet connection at work is still sporadic. Our network must have been hit pretty hard.

Now that I've finished my antibiotics, I think I'm getting sick again. What am I going to do? I can't just go back to the doctor. "Um, this medicine didn't work, give me something else." :P

Do you guys know my friend Jenn? She's living in Australia and is really cool. I just got caught up with her blog and wanted to give her a plug, since she rocks my socks.

Gandalf did Pilates this morning. I'm not kidding! One of the first movements is the roll-up, which is basically going to a sitting position from a lying-down position. Gandalf flopped onto the rug with us when we started our workout. When it was time for the roll-up, he laid on his back with his paws over his head, and when we sat up, he sat up too. When we laid back down, he did too. He did it three or four times. I was laughing so hard I could hardly do the exercise. I told about it at lunch and no one believed me, but I swear it's true.

Two random trip things I forgot:
1. One day while we were driving, my mother and I spotted a furry, cute, flattish animal scurrying around on the side of the road. My mother insisted it was a platypus. I had to convince her that platypuses (platypi?) are not indigenous to North America, but once I saw it I agreed that it sort of looked like one. I wanted to get a picture of it, but it ran away. Later I figured out that the "Michigan platypus" (as we called it) was actually a beaver. I'm so smart.
2. I learned from a radio commercial that no place in Michigan is further than six miles from a lake or river. I thought that was neat. There's your useless fact for the day.

I was looking at the pancakebunny community and saw that the bunny died today. I didn't even know this bunny, obviously, but I was seriously on the verge of tears. I'm still feeling sad about it. I'm getting more and more sensitive about that sort of thing, since Bun is almost 6 years old and I'm not sure how much time he has left. I feel so guilty that I don't spend more time with him. And my family has made me feel really guilty about getting a cat- every time I'm at my parents' house visiting Bun, they're all like, "Oh, Bun, you know she's replaced you." They are teasing, but I still feel awful.

Every guy I know likes to tease me about my sensitivity to animals. They think it's funny to make jokes about rabbit-hunting, or cats getting run over by cars. They don't understand that it's a serious thing for me. I just can't stand to think about animals being hurt or mistreated.

Okay, now I am all upset, so in an attempt to stop my emotional train wreck, I'm going to do this ( kissy quiz )

Well, I took Gandalf to the vet today for his second set of shots. He absolutely screamed. I felt so bad. My boss brought the other three kittens to get their shots at the same time, and they hardly made a sound. But no, Gandalf has to be dramatic. :) I am looking forward to getting home, so I can make sure he's doing okay. In other pet news, the bunny in For Better or for Worse is dying. I am sad about this. Any loss of a bunny upsets me, even if it only exists on paper. I've always thought about becoming a vet, but now I am sure I couldn't do it. I am far too easily traumatized by animal suffering. Better to stick to the filing. :)

This weekend should be fun. Tomorrow my mom is taking me shopping (!), and then our whole gang is going to a late showing of Harry Potter. If we don't make any plans for tonight, I will probably watch the first one again just to get caught up, cinematically. :)

I want my tax refund. The IRS lady said a month ago that it was coming. I was hoping to get my digital camera by Thanksgiving so I could take fun pictures in Smithville, but I guess I won't be able to now. I could just go ahead and buy it, but I already bought my coat with money "on loan" from my refund. So if it doesn't come at all, I'll be in enough trouble for that. :P

Gosh, I sound depressed! I'm really not. I just want out of here! :)