A Muchly Needed Update

I think we’re all aware that I am terrible at updating. You’d think that now that school is out, I would be more capable of updating, apparently not. Anyway, a lot has changed in the last few months, so I might as well. We have a few new family members and let me tell you, they’re pretty cute.

First up are Baxter & Watson. These two were found and in my opinion, rescued from PetCo… Their situations were dire. Since my girls Phoebe & Grace died, I’ve been longing for little bunny friends to occupy my life again. Because we’ve done the zoo thing before, I was only looking for one bunny… However, when we were at PetCo, we ended up meeting both of them. They both seemed very, very sad.

Baxter

Baxter was stuck in a cage that would have been better for a Guinea Pig and this disgusting, moldy towel stuffed in there with him. Plus, it was a cage that was open air and thus very easy for snotty-nosed kids to poke and prod at him.  His story included being purchased, allowed to grow into a too small cage and then left at PetCo because his previous owners didn’t think rabbits required as much attention as they do.  Which, they do.  As self-sufficient as they are in cuteness, they do require you put at least some effort into their care.  I’m not always the best pet owner, but I do snuggle them when I have the opportunity, bring them a variety of yummy, healthy treats and make sure that they aren’t drowning in poopy, that’s not a lot to ask.  *Sigh*, seriously people.  Despite this, Baxter is a sweetheart. Very nonchalant about things and the only time he reeeeally gets out of hand is if he sees food coming. As Dad says, “he’s mostly fur and fat”. I’d agree, but I’m afraid the fat issue is only being helped on my part. Since I work at a pet store, my pets have upgraded from being well-loved to outright spoiled.

(So what if I purchased microwaveable corn for my hamster? It turns into POPCORN and was on SALE!!!)

*cough* So.  Baxter has continued being the lovable, easily cared for, non over reactive bunny I adore– He’s much like my Grace was, in the sense she enjoyed being doted upon and was up for snuggles, as he is.  However, if his bowl is empty and he is hungry, he will be sure to let you know, either by dropping his wooden blocks into it as a helpful suggestion or trying to eat anything his brother has on his side of the hutch.  Through the screen dividing them.

Watson

Watson on the other hand, is hard to describe.  When I met him, he was in a teeny cage as well, very little room to hop and was (is) shy.  According to the associate, he was between 6-8 months old at the time and had essentially been left at PC since he was very young.  He had come in with his biological sister, but she had been adopted long before he had and he hadn’t received a lot of socialization. Unlike cats and dogs, no one wants a baby bunny so his chances were limited.  I guess he had been there for about four months, so again, his life must have sucked very early.   He was very afraid when I first held him and once he loosened up a little, things seemed more comfortable.  Mom and I both decided they were too sad to leave and much to Dad’s chagrin, we got both.

BTW, Watson was originally named, Duke.  Sorry to anyone who has a bunny named Duke, but that didn’t fit and frankly, I hate it.  He’s not John Wayne.  So we thought about it while we were out and when we got home, he was exploring his hutch and being inquisitive.  Mom mentioned naming him Sherlock and it sort of went from there.  Now that I think about it, Watson definitely fits, because although he is intelligent and enjoys exploring, he likes to do it at his own comfort and really seems more like a sidekick to Baxter’s outgoing personality.  My Dad and myself did discover rather quickly though, that Watson jumps.  Not the hopping kind– More like the:

“ZOMG, FREEDOMZ, I MUST TEKES ET!”

… Kind.  This is why I have like, one picture of him, because the rest were of me dropping my camera as he leaped over a, at least 2 foot play pen that came with Baxter and made a break for it.  It’s a good thing we have a tall fence because it kept him slightly contained and kept the neighbors from seeing my mother and I running madly around the yard, laundry baskets in hand trying to capture the little bugger.

As of late, I’m not sure what’s gotten into him, my theory is that although we made progress with him trusting me, having had to leave on family vacation, right in the middle of that and having a stranger come feed him for a week kind of ticked him off.  I feel this way because the first few days back, he and I were still friendly and then once the honeymoon period of our return was over, he no longer wanted anything to do with me.  To this day, almost a week and a half later, I still can’t even pet him, much less pick him up.  I had to feed him by pouring the food from over top of his cage because he bit me (something he hadn’t done before) and was freaking out.  Even now only my Dad can contain him enough to get him inside from severe weather or other crisis and that’s a struggle.  My only other thought is that he’s not feeling well, but he’s been eating, drinking and pooping as well as he ever has so I don’t think it’s internal and as far as I can tell, he doesn’t have any external injuries.  So, my diagnosis is PBS (Pouty Bunny Syndrome).  I hope I can get him back into shape, but so far, all my attempts to woo myself back into his good graces have failed.  He’ll eat any treats I bring him, as long as I leave them on his front step and walk away.  He’ll stare at me while I sit and speak softly to entice him out, but he will not move.

Pray for me, America, I’ve got ticked off bunny!  And if you have an ideas that have worked for you with your bunnies, if you’re a bunny owner and have dealt with a bad case of the PBS, then let me know, heaven knows I’ve tried all I can think of.  I’ve trained a hamster, you’d think I could handle a rabbit, but I guess I was spoiled with the easy setting.

And finally, the last new fuzzy edition is:

BUDDHA!!!

Just ignore the idiot holding her.  I actually only got her today (6-17) but I’ve been wanting her for over a month.  She came in with the last batch of Guineas we got in May, but we got so many and they haven’t been selling well enough that she’s been in the “holding tank” as it were.  I first met her at that time when a coworker of mine brought her out to pet her and show the rest of us the kind of personality she is:

You cannot tell me she doesn't look like a Buddha. If you do, you're... Not smart.

She’s actually much fatter than that now.  Must be all the carrot treats and lovin’ she got from the other girls at the store, because everyone wanted her.  As my parents were afraid I would, I got attached and have pretty much begged to have her, everyday for the last month.  Whether by sending adorable photos of her or telling the cute stories that come along with her– I finally annoyed them into letting me have her.  I am unashamed.  In any case, when I discovered she was the next batch to go out, I upped the anti until finally my Dad said yes, thank goodness, because my easily melted heart would have broken if some bratty little 5 year-old had gotten her.

(I promise, I love kids.)

I tried explaining to my parents (which didn’t take) that although I have a lot of pets, I’m selective of their personalities.  Probably not selective enough in numbers, but in knowing their quirks.  Ianto for instance, likes to kick box things he doesn’t like (see earlier post about his laziness), Uno likes to play Peek-A-Boo with people who come into the room and wrings her paws when something overwhelms her (she also loves mini-popcorn, I’ve discovered), Baxter does his little block in bowl thing when he’s hungry, Watson thumps his foot when he’s upset (leaping over tall buildings in a single bound), Faith squeaks her toys really hard when she’s upset with you (usually when she doesn’t get what she wants), Paisley sees naked toes and has to bite them (I dare you to walk barefoot in our house) and Yuri, well, Yuri is Yuri.  He doesn’t need an explanation.

I’m out of breath and I’m typing this— Yeah, I have too many pets.

And Buddha, well, she’s just chill.  Unless you scare the crap out of her, which I’ve done twice today.  But she will sit on your shoulder and watch you type until the cows come home, she just is that laid back regarding nearly everything.  And that’s why I had to have her, because believe it or not, I never had an interest in getting a Guinea Pig until I met her and I’ve always said if I was going to get a Pig, I would get a smooth coat, because the cow lick ones are too weird.

Dead serious.  So, clearly, she spoke to me.  Or I don’t know what I want.  Which is highly more likely.

And in an end to this already lengthy post that you’ve probably stopped reading– I have some news!

I’M GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!!

We just realized what getting married means...

Yes, that’s my ring and yes, that’s a glass slipper.  My boyfriend Blake tagged along on our latest trip to Disney and had planned on asking since, Christmas, I’m told.  Don’t know why, I think he might be slow on the uptake that I am indeed– a freak of nature.  I tried showing him this by introducing him to my family, my bad habits, my insane number of pets, but apparently that has not deterred him (or he’s given up hope of finding someone less freaky than me).  In fact, he was about ready to buy Buddha for me 1.) Because I couldn’t get my Dad to say yes right away and 2.) I think he wanted me to shut up about it already.  It’s going to be till 2012, Blake wants to finish school first now that he knows what he wants to do and although I’m graduating in November, I would like to find a steady job and get things ready for our own household (hopefully we’ll have a house by then!) but things rarely go according to plan and certainly not when my family is involved.  I’ll probably post our wedding website once it’s as finished as finished can be.  We haven’t reserved a venue yet, but we’ve got our eyes on one that I’m hoping it’ll turn out eventually.  That would be a better place to read the proposal story anyway.  Keep your eyes open!

Until then!

Jaina & Faith & Paisley & Yuri & Ianto & Unto & Baxter & Watson & Buddha (*Faints*)

With a Feather in her… Nose…

: Ok… So, I’m a really terrible blogger.  For whatever reason (*cough* I’m lazy *cough*) I have a hard time getting my act together.  I’m sorry.  Also, not a lot has been going on, other than me losing my mind in my current college course.  Believe me, it shouldn’t be this hard, but apparently it has to be.

: Appawentwee, educmuhcation is mowe impowtant den puppies and squeakies, but down’t twy tewwing hew dat.

: Let’s not start on that again.  In any case, it’s been kind of on the low-down around here.  Paisley is settling in pretty well, she already knows how to sit, lay down, roll over, shake and is working on sitting pretty.  But, she’s still definitely got baby fat, so she’s got a serious case of puppy butt.  Meaning she gets about half way up and then rolls backwards.  It’s cute in a sad little way.   The potty training is slow, but she’s done pretty well the last few days.  As far as I can tell, no new messes, but I haven’t been home 100% of the time.

: She steaws my towys…  And she bites me.  I dunno why.

: I’m sure it’s a sign of affection.

: Yeah… I kinda wike hew too… It’s wike a mini-me!

: I know and I’m exhausted.

Anyway, the shelter we adopted Paisley from has a board at the front desk called “Happy Tails”, where they post photos of the animals who have been adopted and are now living, hopefully, happy lives.  they asked me a few weeks ago if I would send them a photo of Paisley for the board since it looks like she’s going to be sticking around.  I have a lot of photos of her already but I wanted to get a family photo of her with Faith and Yuri.  You know, since they’ll be living together for a while.

How’d it turn out?

CHEEEEEEESEEEEE!

I’d like to say that my dog’s are perfect.  They sit when I tell them to, they smile when I tell them to– in fact, no command is too much…

Nevermind...

… to ignore…  I really hate it when they do that.  Well, before they scattered and tried to drag my poor boyfriend off the deck, just for being a sport and helping me do this, as I’ve been saying for days now that I wanted to do this photo (maybe just to shut me up?) and the weather had not been cooperating.  We live in Iowa, the first day of winter isn’t complete without a snowstorm and power outages.  It was finally sunny out and I had a weekend off for a change, it was going to happen eventually.

Clearly I overworked my furry friends because about ten minutes later they were passed out on my bed:

Sooooo tired-- Note the puppy butt

For the record, I just realized in most of my photos my sheets are the same…  I promise, they’ve been washed, in fact a week before this photo they were pink sheets.  Just in case anyone thought I had issues with that.

Awww. Still sooo sweepy...

And this just killed me.  As I was taking photos of Paisley sleeping, I realized there was a feather sticking up her nose that apparently wasn’t interrupting her sleep.

See what I mean?

*snorebeepdebeepbedebeeepde* *tickletickletickle* *snorebeepdebeepbedebeeepde*

After telling my mom, she said she wished I had caught it on video.  Now I do too…  Because it would have been hilarious.

I know.  I’m lame.

Anyway, just wanted to share that.  I entered a photo contest a few days ago and I’m hoping, if I win (fat chance) I’ll get a Nikon D90…. Most excellent.  We’ll see what happens, it’ll be a while before I find out, like January or something.  I’ve entered a few photos of Paisley, Yuri and myself and some flower photos.  I had a few others I wanted to add, but I missed the regular entry date and the fees went up.  Depends on if I want to spend more money on it.  I have no idea how well it’ll improve my chances.

I’ll try to keep y’all up to date.

Until then!

Jaina & Faith (oh and Yuri & Paisley too)

The Day They Went for a Ride

Feel free to ignore the first 4 paragraphs as college-student angst.

: So it’s been a rather uneventful last few days of summer for me.  The vacation is over and my school year is just around the corner.  This week has been fairly slow and I suppose that’s ok, considering come Monday, I’ll be neck high in homework.  Which, surprisingly enough, I’m not that concerned about.

My boyfriend began school last week and has been fairly overwhelmed with several class loads worth of homework, but he has been making a true effort to stay on top of his game and get things done.  Seeing him do that has made me realize that I want to be a good student again.  I used to be.  When I was in high school my GPA average was a 3.8 and by some miracle I graduated with a 4.0.  Nowadays, I’m barely scraping close to a 3.0.  Some of that is due to a legitmate learning disability in mathematics and a poorly advised schedule around an emergency knee surgery but for the most part, it was just me being lazy.

I wasn’t happy at the college I was attending and really stopped putting effort into my academics.  I blamed being at a school I didn’t like as my reason and although I believe it did have an affect on my work, I know better than to think that’s the only reason.  Now I’m at a better college, with better teachers, better students and better classes.  I’ve made progress since transferring, but not enough for me to be satisfied.  They hold their students to a higher standard and I truly want to prove that I’m worthy of studying there.

Since getting things figured out, I know I can do it.  I have to apply myself, but I know in the long-run I can do it.  And I’m really not worried about it.  Sure, I could slip up, but I don’t intend it to be from laziness.  I’m closer to my goals and by the end of this year, I hope to have a 3.5 or higher– I’m really not aiming for a 4.0 since I have two years of being a less than admirable student under my belt and I’ve never been a consistent 4.0er as it were.  I’d be happy with my usual average, but I know I’ll have to work for it.  I’m OK with that.

Anyway, enough goal-setting, you’re only here for the dog anyway, right?

: It is cawwed de Doggy Bwoggy, mom.

: I know, I’m terrible.  I should know better.

: I fowgive you mommy.  Now, teww dem about Wednesday!

:  Well, Wednesday was a pretty rainy day.  We woke up to it raining and fell asleep to it raining for nearly two days straight, which was pretty scary, considering our city just survived a major flood last summer.  A consistent rain is not something we really wanted to see.  We had a lot of things to do, but the rain sort of sucks out your will to move.  Unfortunately, lazing was not really acceptable, so I ended up having to get my butt going anyway.

First we received a check that needed depositing.  Then I get a call from my Dad saying he and my mom need me to go pick up supplies for dinner and I needed to stop at Target to pick up a present for the boyfriend’s birthday (he turned 22 on Thursday, but we’re going out to dinner on Sunday with his and my families)– and I needed to buy some wrapping paper.  So, as I was preparing to leave, two sets of doggy eyes followed me– wheeeerever I went.

: Just reminding you dat we wewe dere.  And happy to come wif you.

: Uh-huh.  So after guilt tripping me, I sent Faith to the car and latched onto Yuri, who as you’ve seen, is a Siberian Husky and thus, even in old age, will make a break for the hills if given the chance.   I didn’t realize that sending Faith outside was such a bad idea.  Until I saw the small, very frightened, wild rabbit sitting as still as it could in the grass.  Faith pointed (which confuses me as to what she is), tail straight and all, alerting me to its presence.  I think it probably died of a little bunny heart-attack right then.

: It was sitting wight dere!  I could have had a snack!

: But I wouldn’t let her.  I didn’t know how I was going to prevent “Bunny Maul 2009″ seeing as my hands were already full of purse, keys and Husky, but I told her to leave it and shockingly enough, she did.  Begrudgingly…

: It was WIGHT  DERE!

: But she did it.  I was very proud.  I know it’s hard for Faith, very hard, to ignore her instincts, especially when those instincts are screaming “KILLCUTEFURRYTHINGINYARD!”, but she did it anyway.  So to me, that proves she’s a really awesome dog.  So, after that, we all bundled to the car, bunny unscathed and my nerves not yet on end.  We had to stop by Mom’s work to pick up the debit card (what, you think I paid? Ha) and got to see her briefly.

: I nevew get to go inside.

: Because it’s a doctor’s office… I think they’d disapprove of the fur you’d bring in.

: *Huumph* Peopwe don’t know what dere missing!

: Or they do and you just haven’t gotten the memo yet.  In any case, I got the card and headed to the bank– or, as the dogs like to call it “McDonalds”.  As soon as I got to the drive-up and had the check pulled out, both of them were in my lap and  sniffing at the window– as if there were fries in there or something.

: Dat pwace is magic, mom!  Evweetime we go, cookies come out of de wittle siwver box!

: She means the tray people put their checks and other paperwork into while in the drive-up.  The teller was just nice enough to send out some doggy treats.  She almost forgot actually, until Faith pressed nose all pathetically up against the glass and then licked the window, as though she’d never seen food in her life and then she realized there were two dogs in the car (Heaven-forbid Yuri be left out).  So she sent some out, laughing as I explained to her, they were under the impression that this fine banking establishment was a fast-food joint.  And so concluded the second stop on our journey.  At this point it was sprinkling, so I started hurrying, knowing with my luck, I could break records in mad dashes through stores and it would still pour, straight into my car.  Luckily, the present I wanted to get was easily found, but I was drawn in by the sales they were having on DVDs and of course had to stop and see which ones.

I have a problem, ok?

So that ended up killing time and then I had a disagreement with myself over which paper to buy.

“Would Mom buy the three roll set for $5.99?  Maybe, but would she pick those colors?  Nah.  This one’s on sale for $2.99– but this one for $3.95 says Happy Birthday– Nothing says Happy Birthday like Happy Birthday on wrapping paper…”

Seriously, these are the kinds of internal struggles I have. So after spending even more time arguing with my inner-self about wrapping paper, I finally settled and bought some.  Hopefully he likes the bow, because I kind of almost forgot and then was so annoyed I ran back and grabbed one without really thinking, the whole time my head echoing with my mother’s sage advice about “Alwaysalwaysalwaysalways buy a bow or ribbon for presents. It makes it look classy, Jaina!”

I promise, my childhood was a happy one, I just have a very craft-oriented mother who understands what makes a sophisticated present.  Shut up.

: It’s twue…  Tell dem about how angwy you got when you saw de car next to us had pawked too cwose.

: Iiii don’t think we need to go into detail.  Just needless to say, if you drive a white Prius and you have issues parking in a straight line– I’m on to you.

With that mission accomplished we headed back to the grocery store I work at (I bet they love seeing me come in on my day off “Heyyy, didn’t she say she wasn’t available Wednesdays?”) and I was hopeful the light sprinkle I was feeling was as far as the rain was going to go.  As I was getting out of the car, I gave the dogs my usual spiel, be good, don’t bark etc. (to which Faith gave me a hearty doggy salute and Yuri said “meh– we’ll see”.)– Apparently this startled a gentleman who works at Hy-Vee as he was on his way to his car.  He looked at me strangely until he saw Yuri’s ears over the seat and smiled.  About .5 seconds later he realized there was another one in there.

“Oh, you’ve got two in there!”

“Yes, it’s quite the clown car.”

[Gesturing in Faith's general direction] “What’s the one in the back?”

“I have no idea.  She’s yellow.  Probably mostly Lab.”

“Yeah.  She looks Lab in the face.”

(I had to keep from laughing at this, because for whatever reason, I thought it was funny)

“Yep.”

“Nice looking dogs, have a nice day!”

Which just confirmed he worked there, outside of the standard uniform I see every time I work.  Once you work there, you start telling people to have a nice day, even if you’re the customer and they’re the employee.  After his departure I made a break for the store, list in hand and dashed around the store like mad-woman.  I got my shopping done in less than 15 minutes and was proud of myself as I’m still learning where everything is at this store (I transferred from a different branch about a month ago).  I kind of wish they would put black beans in a can next to the refried beans in a can so as to make my life easier when shopping for taco ingredients, but once I found them I was golden.

I realized how different I must look in street clothes when three out of four managers greeted me like I was a customer and not one of the employees they had been directing the night before, but that’s OK.  I like a certain amount of anonymity when I shop.  I was pretty proud of my speed shopping until I got back outside with the cart and realized it was really starting to pour.  So I ran to the car worried my dogs would be cowering somewhere in the middle, away from the windows I had left partially down only to find both of them hanging their heads out the window with glee written on their faces

Que Sound of Music Soundtrack:  The Hillllls are alive with the sound of musssssiiiicccc…

I was worried for nothing, so I immediately stopped worrying about them and worried for my car interior, which was slightly damp, but not soaked.  Good.  Once I got in the car, I figured I could roll the windows up… Oh no.  Yuri glared me down as I tried to roll his up, thinking I was taking away his only freedom and Faith wants what Yuri wants so I compromised and closed it a little more, but not enough he couldn’t get his nose out and Faith could at least get a nice breeze.  He kept his head out the window the whole way home, despite the rain.  It wasn’t until we got home he pulled his head back into the car– Proceeding to shake his now wet head and effectively making ME wet in the process.

I was not pleased.  He was.  Faith was indifferent.

All in all, it was a productive day.  The rain was kind of a bummer, since I promised them they could have some Frosty Paws ice cream, but couldn’t give it to them, since they have to eat it outside (trust me, the mess is not worth their two minutes of happiness and brain-freeze) and I’ve sort of forgotten to give it to them since then– To be fair it only stopped raining today, so they wouldn’t have gotten it anyway, but someone seems to think I’m trying to torture her.

: … Tink?  I know.  You pwomised and i stiww didn’t get one!

: Maybe tomorrow.

: I be watching.

Despite the weather, I’m glad I took them along.  They don’t get to go that often anymore and I like to make them happy when I can.  Especially since at the time they were being good.  I did say at the time.  Plus, how could you resist the joy it brings?

Taken while at a complete stop and no other cars were waiting. FYI.

Until next time (and we have more pictures, sorry my posts are so long!)

Jaina & Faith with guest star Yuri!