Happy Birthday Mom!

While I love my mother dearly and know that she would never consider harming me for revealing her age, we're just going to say it's older than I am and leave it at that. There is no guessing my mom's age (at least not this year, lol), so don't take a guess in the comments unless you want to butter her up. ;)

Meet my mom in her formative years (the tender age of three). Cute isn't she?

I'm going to skip ahead a bit now and post some more recent photos. Meet "my other mother" Mary Anne and Mom, the "Alphabet Soup" gals. They were doing a program at a national conference and needed to be "soup cans." This always cracks me up.

Why what's this? Mom having fun? Yes, I think it is! Mom, Christy, and Teresa hanging out in D. C. having a little "treat" (ok, we all know the chocolate fudge is good, yum).

Oh, and Mom, she's a pretty bright bulb too. She wins awards like there won't be any left tomorrow (and at the rate she's going, there might not!).

I know, I know, I don't look much like Mom, that lovely young lady to her left certainly does (hi Cami!), however, her Mom, niece, and Sis-in-law are sitting in the front row (from your left to right). We're like one big extended family and when we have a party, we do it up right. :) The girls know how to whoop-it-up. hee hee

Yeah, so I don't look entirely enthusiatic in this picture (May 2006), but in my defense I was tired, cold, and my feet were aching. Mom was very proud of me though. Just three months after this picture she finished her doctoral degree and walked the same stage at Purdue for the third time. She keeps joking about making me call her "Dr. Mom." Yeah, it's not so funny to me.

Needless to say, I love my mom. She's supportive, she's fun, she has treated me like an equal since I was about 10 years old, and she has been more like a friend in the last few years. I know if her Mom were alive we would all be having a blast for Mom's birthday. Since she isn't here, I'm hoping you'll all leave my mom BIG birthday wishes instead. :)

Happy Birthday Mom! (I hope you don't mind that I shared your pictures.)

Hope in Pictures

Thank you for your words of encouragement. I lost a few more babies tonight in different litters, but I keep hoping that it will get better. I hope that you enjoy the bunny pictures. All of those pictured are healthy (at least, as far as I know).

Life's Up and Downs are a Real Bitch

First off, this is sort of a ranty post and sans pictures, so likely not any fun. Leave now if you're so inclined, I understand.

Every time I think that the herd is getting to the point where I can take everyone off the meds, I get a new outbreak. I've been fighting since New Year's and I swear if the cat sneezes one more time making me search in vain for the sick rabbit, I'm going to strangle her pretty little black and white neck. Hook, amazingly has determined that it is smarter to stay out of the scary woman's way. He's my new favorite right now.

I think the rabbits are getting better and then one relapses. Better yet, I have happy healthy babies one day and two dead babies the next. I'm talking about 19 day old babies people! Well past the age of instant death for no reason. I'm blaming the bacteria. I'm blaming the evil snot inducing, sneeze creating, makes me cry from frustration (I WANT TO KILL ALL THE BACTERIA RIGHT NOW) bacteria. I'm tired, I'm frustrated, I'm worried, I'm anxious, and I'm downright disgusted by all of the money I'm spending trying to make the bunnies better.

Which has made it really hard to concentrate on things like school, work, knitting, cooking, cleaning, or anything not involving sleeping. And in case you are wondering, that is really all I want to do or have wanted to do for about 3 weeks. I want to just give up, face the reaper, and sleep until it's all better. I know, I can't do that, but having the strength to keep fighting is really draining to me.

I finally rallied late last week, finishing some papers, taking some bunnies off the meds, cleaning my floors, doing a lot of much needed laundry. I even had time to really knit on my lace shawl this weekend and I'm on the edging now (picture to come soon). Saturday I was even feeling up to a little errand running/clearance shopping. And my friends, I found some great deals. I was all excited to come home, and then I nearly ended up as pineapple upside down cake on the side of the road.

I know, I need to be more careful. I know that it was icy. I know that going the speed and not panicking are important. I know that trying to turn the wheel to correct the direction on ice is a bad idea, but I did it anyway. A full 360 degrees, and much "shitshitshitshitshitshit" later, I was on a small outlet leading in to a subdivision about 2 miles from my house. I was fine, the van was fine, even my four pounds of kiwi fruits weren't bruised, yet I'm still upset by the experience.

Some time ago, I had my first car accident. I hydroplaned on a country round, spun 180 degrees, and rolled onto my driver's side in a very muddy cornfield. I had nightmares about the mud splattering up my window for weeks and being in a similar situation brought all of the old emotions back.

And when I think that I am finally getting everything back to as normal as my life usually is, I find two dead 19 day old babies when I go out to the barn. I'm just not sure how much more I can handle. Every time I think I've reached my limit, I reach a little deeper and come up holding more. I hear song's like "Bring On the Rain" and I think, I can do this. I can handle it. I look into the faces of my sweet bunnies and I try not to cry at having to kill some of them. I see hope in my pregnant does and I wish against all hope that this damn bacteria would finally let me have some peace. I just need them to be well for a few months, just to get my strength back, to give me more hope than what I can find in the fleeting moments I see it in the barn.

I'm heading up to Michigan this weekend for a two-day rabbit show and convention. My goal is to recharge my batteries, have a little fun with Kristi, and come back resolved to make as much right as I can in my life. I just need to hang on until then.

And even though I may not be commenting, I am reading your blogs, and I am thinking of you all. Thank you for letting me vent, and I'm sort of surprised if you made it this far.

Better

Just a quick post to let you know that things are looking better in the bunny barn. Very few new cases, and most of the rabbits have come through this with little to no wear. I'm still "doctoring" a few and will have to let a few go if the Sulfa drugs don't start working soon. On the whole though, it is a much healthier bunny herd. There are even a few signs of new life (aka, new babies). I was worried that I would lose all of my litters, but bunnies are more resilient than I tend to think they are.

I'm still knitting, but I have several papers due on Monday. My posts will be spotty at best and most likely very short until sometime next week. Hopefully I'll have some pictures of healthy bunnies to share in the next few days.

I'm taking a break

I've had some bad news. It just confirmed what I already knew, but was trying to deny. I have a very contagious respiratory infection in the rabbit herd. I'm fighting it and have been for a while, but I just can't handle blogging for a few days while I try to minimize the damage.

Hang in there, I know I am. I'll be back when I can compose a coherent post and come to terms with what is going on the bunny barn. They've been my life for 14 years and it's hard to watch them get sick knowing that my injections aren't really working.

What I'm Working On

Knitting wise:

1 sweater for me
1 pair of socks for Will (stalled until I can get better measurements)
1 lace shawl


School wise:
1 paper due Monday
1 Plan of Study due by May 1
1 research idea
2 projects that are due over the semester





Bunny wise:
1 specialty show on Sat.
2 shows on Sun.
24+ rabbits, all of their paraphenalia, and anything else for the shows
All of the paperwork that goes with running said show on Sat.





What does all of this equal? One frazzled Knitter Bunny.





Oh, and lace, ignoring it all to knit lace. ;)



PS, my Loopy Ewe order came today. As before, FAST shipping. I ordered it on Saturday night. She filled my order and shipped it off on Monday. Sorry about the secrecy, when I see if the project will work and ship it off (IF it works), I'll see about letting you in on the fun. ;)

What the ???

Um, who ordered the Chilly with a side of SNOW?????

(No, Zoie is not an outside cat. Occassionally she likes to try to go outside. She was mightily thwarted tonight by this cold, cold wet stuff.)

Luckily my pipes have continued to run. Much to my delight. (heh, make that dee- light, kind of sarcastic and southern)

My knitting is back on track, pictures still to come, perhaps tomorrow, as I'm pretty well snowed in. Homework is coming along. I'm on track for the bunny shows this weekend ( in Huntington, IN at the fairgrounds if any of ya'll want to swing over and say hello, Sat night and Sun. am through about 5pm barring a blizzard). I'm working on work at home which is a blessing. Another season of "Murder She Wrote" landed on my doorstep today (te amo "Murder She Wrote"). Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow. :)

And, I won a contest! OMG, I have the worst luck in the world, but hugs to Imbrium aka Nerd Knits and the random number generator for picking me. I feel so loved. :)

Oh, and Cynthia, remember that promise I made you? Something about burying you in baby socks? Let the deluge begin. (those are all pairs, in case it's hard to tell, the ends, well something about superstition and Jewish folklore, and I don't know, go ask Cynthia) ;)

Update On the Pipes

Yeah, so through absolutely no effort on my part (except for leaving the heater under the sink and what water I could get at midnight running) my hot water was back on this morning. Huh. Wish that worked for more things. Go to bed, wake up, problem's fixed.

I'm knitting on things, but having a few issues. I'll post pictures when I can remember to take some. lol

Sorry for the short post, I hope to put a little longer one tomorrow. :)

Brrr, Can I Get Some 30 Degree Weather?

First, DAMN the contractor that though it was a good idea to put my kitchen pipes three friggin' inches away from my west wall. Yesterday my cold water pipe froze. I cursed it, I plead with it, and I kicked the cabinet door (that really didn't work). I even sacrificied my own little space heater that I use to keep my toes and bedroom warm, and it wouldn't thaw. I contemplated calling for help, but damn it, I had fixed this before. I held my yarn and self-soothed most of the afternoon, listening as I heard a pathetic drip . . . drip. Then I suffered through a constant dribbling of water until it finally started running again at 10pm. TEN AT NIGHT. Grrrr. Today my hot water pipe froze. I'm still attempting to thaw it. We will not go into the state of my sanity nor my knitting at this point.

Second, bless my clothes dryer. Nothing beats a piping hot bathrobe when you get out of the shower, especially when you are attempting to thaw pipes. Nothin'.

Third, red heat lamp bulbs are really scary looking after dark when they light up the two windows in your bunny barn. REALLY SCARY. They also have the effect of making me somewhat blind when I am in the barn. This is not a good thing. I will be replacing this bulb as soon as I can.

Finally, bless you "Biography" channel for your free preview on the weekend when you are running a Murder She Wrote and Poirot marathon. Bless you.

While I am not exactly appeased by the movies, they do help me cope with my frozen pipes. I'm going to go knit now, I'm still waiting for the drip . . . drip.

Have You Heard?

Today is the Second Annual Brigid in Cyberspace Silent Poetry Reading. In honor of this, I am sharing one of my poems.

Untitled

and once when I was falling
falling from so high
and downward ever spiraling
through clouds of lullabies
a deep and endless dreaming
was there within my reach
but the moon was brightly beaming
to sweep those dreams beyond my reach
how I want that falling
to fall again so high
then downward ever spiraling
through clouds of lullabies

On an entirely different track, have you heard about the Cherry Tree Hill contest? I had no idea, until my friend (and fellow knitter) Mary Anne called me. I pooh-poohed the idea of designing something. And then, I had an idea. A very gripping idea. An insane idea that I'm not sure I can pull off, but I have until June 1. Shhh, please, I'm trying not to think about it.

To finish off this post, I finished a scarf. Did I even tell you about this little beauty? ONE skein of Malabrigo, I think the color might be Vaa??? I used all but about 10 inches of the 216 yards of this stuff. Knit on size 10 needles, in the pattern "big bamboo" from the Vogue Knitting Stitchionary: Volume 2. Oh, baby I love this scarf!