I Am Not a Jedi

I figured I’d quickly post a little hello since I have not in a few days. There’s not too much to say–things are still busy, but I’m looking forward to a 3-day weekend. Based on all the stuff that’s coming up–work and personal, I’m going to need this little break.

To pick up from last week, here are 5 things I’m thankful for:

1. Yoga one for me. My practice had been on a 2-week hiatus due to all the insanity of deadline and various things to do, but I went back last night and was happy I did. I was in such a great mood when I left. It felt really empowering to go reconnect with my body and my yoga routine. I’m heading to class again soon, but tonight is the Bikram. I hope my body is ready for that again!
2. One hop closer. I briefly mentioned before that we passed the first phase of the grant app to get some of our fosters in the Cherry Hill Petco. Last night I completed the app for the 2nd phase. Now it’s a matter of waiting (8-12 weeks of it, apparently).  I’m hoping they might be able push our app through sooner since we’ve been in discussion about this with the store and with the Foundation head, but we’ll see…
3. Write on target. Despite the countless drafts and hours editing, I was able to get out my application for the writing contest I wanted to enter. That makes two for this month! It was a lot of work and I’m not sure if my efforts will be rewarded, but I’m really happy that I followed through with this. That is accomplish enough for me.
4. What’s black and white and read all over? I have quite a few magazines that remain unopen at home. They’re taunting me from atop the coffee table, but it’s giving me a nerdy sense of excitement to know I will FINALLY have the time to read them, cover to cover, this weekend.
5. What the Plug are you looking at? Red Bull has been promoting its Flugtag Event ALL over the place, and I’ve done my best to ignore it. But, after doing spots on Preston and Steve and seeing some stuff about it on the news, I finally let down my guard and am now finding myself get excited for this event. Better yet, it’s RIGHT in my backyard! I look forward to being able to wander around and take plenty of cool photos of this.

I have been aggravating delighting my Facebook friends with my random status updates posting messages in Czech.  I know it’s silly and maybe just a teensy bit obnoxious, but I can’t help it! Lara, Kate, and I have officially (well, sans buying the plane ticket, which will happen post-payday) confirmed our trip plans: we’ll be going to Berlin, Prague, and Budapest!! (more…)

Alright, so I took the weekend off, but I’m back and more thankful than ever! It’s already shaping up to be one hell of a busy week for your old narrator, but I’m trying my damnedest to keep the entries flowing, even if it’s just letting you know the things that are making my day bright.

So, without further ado:

1. The generosity of family. Considering I currently have a bathtub full of produce (I’m not even kidding… my dad gave us three huge baskets of eggplants, tomatoes, watermelons, and cantaloupe, which we had to stash out of the reach of the buns, who were trying to claim the goods as their own by nibble the tomatoes…), D and I will not be running out of food options any time soon. And we’ve already made good use of the grub: tonight was mini pizzas with eggplant, homemade tomato reduction, and mushrooms (those were store bought), plus I made an eggplant casserole with spinach, mushrooms, the eggplant, parm cheese, and more tomato reduction. D sliced up some of the extra eggplant so hopefully I’ll have a chance to make some parm some time this week.
   We’ve also been paying it forward by sharing the wealth with friends… and if I can figure out how to cut up the melon, I’ll bring some in to my coworkers.
2. D’s knee is not broken. OK, we didn’t think it was actually broken, but I was pretty nervous at how swollen it was. He’s had on-again off-again problems with it for awhile, but this was the first time there was ever any visible signs of something being wrong. On Friday, he asked if his knee looked funny to me. Considering it was 2 times the size of his other knee, I said yes. I started him on extra strength Tylenol and glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate (here’s to putting work-acquired knowledge to good use!) and he was able to get a doc’s appointment for today. Fortunately, the doctor said it was most likely a muscle pull, so as long as the swelling goes down, he won’t need X-rays. Fingers crossed!
3. The help of friends. I’ve been working on all sorts of letters/stories/things that are in need of a 2nd pair of eyes and so many of my friends have happily stepped up to the plate for me. For this, I am forever grateful.
4. Continued progress with Mogwai. As previously mentioned, our foster came to us in rough shape and I really did not think we’d ever get him to a point where he’d be completely rehabilitated, but never underestimate the healing powers of TLC. That same bunny who would not let us touch him, is now letting us pet him and pick him up! Continued proof that a little love goes a long way…
5. The unexpected banuffin. D made a kick-ass batch of banuffins last week that were quickly annihilated. But while D was putting leftovers, he discovered the holy grail: one forgotten, uneaten, perfect banuffin!! (Yes folks, sometimes it is indeed the little things…)

We’ve had our latest foster, Mogwai, for about 2 months now.

Mogwai came from a huge angora breeder bust up in Canada where something to the tune of 100-200 rabbits were seized and were all in pretty bad shape. They spent almost a month in a shelter while rescues throughout Canada and the states scrambled to find room for them. Sadly, their time at this shelter was no better than their previous conditions: they apparently had not been sexed or properly separated, so many of the females ended up pregnant, and already poor health conditions (mites, eye infections) worsened without vet care. (more…)

Back in the day, maybe it was an Oprah thing, but I read/saw a program about creating a “gratitude journal.” The idea is simple: instead of focusing on the things we are not happy with, take that time and energy to note the things you are grateful for, those things that get you through the day. It can be as simple as being thankful the alarm went off in the morning so you were able to get up in time or having the Dunkin’ Donuts close enough to the office so you could get your morning iced coffee. (more…)

My friend, Heather, is fostering a rabbit for our rescue. Initially, I thought this was an act of motherly kindness, something she agreed to do to appease her children (and my) begging… but I’m beginning to see that Heather might have had more selfish reasons for this arrangement.

We have our fosters submit descriptions for the buns so people who might be interested in adopting can learn more.

This is what Heather submitted:

His parents were descended from the bunnies of the extinct Piast Dynasty in Poland, his 17^th great grandfather having lived with the Princess Jadwiga of Lithuania. The legitimacy of her claim to the throne was hotly contended and all the bunnies were turned out into the streets when her mother, Anna of Poland, died in 1425. In 1999, Adam Naruszewicz in his History of the Polish Nation working with the League of Polish House Rabbits declared that Alejandro was the lone heir and due the total of all the palace art that had been smuggled out of Wawel during the Polish Bunny Revolution of 1436. It is rumored that on November 10, 1999 he sold the art and invested heavily in UPS’ IPO, becoming that company’s secret majority stock owner, a fact that UPS CEO Scott Davis refuses to confirm.

Also, she started a blog, chronicling Alejandro’s (mis)adventures.

All I can say is I hope this little guy doesn’t find a home for awhile, so as not to miss out on the tom-foolery taking place while with his foster family. Viva la Alejandro!

The World Cup starts tomorrow, and although we won’t be able to make it to S. Africa in the flesh, I will happily be following along on my couch, in random bars, and various apartments and houses, surrounded by dear friends.

Today Norris (he loves when I name drop him in my blog), asked my opinions on how things will shake down, specifically with the US. I’ve been thinking about it, but not really thinking about it: I’m not usually one for predictions, but as I started to look more closely at their group and the other groups and once I found this bracket, I figured, “oh, why the hell not? It’d be fun to be right, and it’d be interesting to see how wrong I am.” Plus, I thought it might be fun to see what others had to say about it… (more…)

We’re working on the next Bulletin Board at work and in honor of June, we’re doing a whole thing on weddings. It’s funny to see the people you work with submit these really sweet photos and write ups about their wedding, their life, their significant other. The coworker who I do the BB with has been getting all excited about wedding stuff, and it’s infected me. I’ve spent a good portion of this afternoon getting sentimental about my own wedding. Some coworkers and I have been sharing things back and forth via email, and I keep looking up photos and links to songs to send, and finally I decided I would post some stuff here, because isn’t that what this blog is for, anyway?

So, enjoy my mushy, gushy trip down Memory Lane. I certainly did.

(more…)

I was talking to my boss today, exchanging our weekend plans, and both of us said pretty much the same thing: recovering. (more…)