No place like home for the holidays

Gearing up for the holidays is a lot of work. I love the idea of staying with my parents for a while, eating food that other people cook for me and not having to go to work, but I hate the thought of leaving my apartment unattended for so long, or the long long long drive to and from Virginia.

I just stayed with my folks for the week of Thanksgiving. The food was excellent, and my parents are excellent. They love me so much, and I feel that I learn to appreciate them more as I get older.

Especially with a sick guinea pig. After several more visits to the vet, Lacey is napping on pain meds and I am pretty sure that thirty minutes ago she "passed the obstruction." We'll leave all the bloody details at that and I hope you can safely use your imaginations. I hope that finishing this round of antibiotics will clear the whole thing up.

As for Christmas: wow. I have a paper due Tuesday, a paper due Wednesday, a paper due Thursday, and then on Friday my students turn in their final portfolios to me for grading over the weekend. I'll be busy doing those until Wednesday. Any suggestions for a holiday party? I was thinking "ugly sweaters" or something classy like that.

Sorry I haven't posted for a while - this is just such a busy time of year. Hope everyone is doing well. ;)

Lacey Update

She's on Baytril (penicillin and other antibiotics aren't safe for piggies) and I think she's perking up, a little.

For those of you who don't know about "bonding" between small animals, here's a story for you.

I had Lacey sleep alone last night and half of the day today in a hyper-clean environment to monitor how much she's eating... but I learned after work that she and Betsy are a truly bonded pair of females. When looking at pet adoptions on-line you will often come across this term, and people will be hesitant or refuse altogether to allow you to adopt just one of a these pairs. If they have lived together for a while some argue they cannot live apart. My experience:

Lacey was just sitting there, very pathetic-like, (and Betsy was too, in the corner of her house) so I put Betsy in with her. They immediately started talking and wheeking, snacking on hay and pellets and rumblestrutting (which is this adorable hip sway accompanied by a low rumble in the throat - it can mean they are exerting their domenance or attempting to win the eye of a possible mate). It was absolutely adorable. I'm keeping them together so she'll eat. It's piggie love.

Lacey's mainly going for the hay but I'm hoping she knows what she needs - like when dogs eat grass or whatever. It was so sad on Wednesday night though, she was so bloody. They think it's a UTI but aren't ruling out bladder stones. They didn't do an x-ray but I have to take her back; so if the urinalysis isn't clearing up they'll probably test for other problems.

She's the chubbiest, I think she got it from her belly dragging. Females are more likely for that to happen. :( Here's a photo of Betsy... I like to imagine she even just looks sad here.

Hope your kids and pets are doing well.

Sick Piggie

Lacey's sick, and as she hides under a blanket in her little isolation tub I can't help but want to cry. She's so pathetic and I have to force feed her disgusting antibiotics that smell like sickness. Terribly circular, I know. She's eating some hay but obviously sad and tired and I worry about the way the nurse at the vet's office described the infection as a " -bad- infection," so I'll have to bring her back to them to see if the medicine is even helping in ten days. I have a feeling this is going to be a very long ordeal and it really gets me down that she can't tell me when she's hurting. I just give her extra parsley and hope she starts feeling better soon.

She's been letting me pet and hold her more, but that just makes me even more sad, considering how skiddish she is. She's a real loner but not today. She was charming everyone at the doctor's office and just sat there, looking at me as if she knew. I think the other piggies know too. animals can sense that sort of thing, you know?

I'll add something interesting later, for now grading papers and taking care of her are my main focus. Other Lauren took these awesome photos.

Spiders

This is probably only funny to me because my mother loved it so much. A co-worker sent it to her.



Fascinating stuff.

-L

Mmm, free creative ideas

I know I've talked up Lowe's before - but I absolutely love that they provide FREE subscriptions to their Creative Ideas Magazine. I know this type of thing usually acts as an advertisement, but while they will list the paint colors they use and size boards or screws, etc, they never force it on you. For color-matching though, you can't beat people telling you exactly what they used!

http://www.lowescreativeideas.com/subscribe/subscribe.aspx

What really pulled me in is this image I cut out of the September 2008 issues of Travel and Leisure magazine. I am immediately drawn to beautiful outdoor spaces that feel like an extension of your home, and this hanging bed in India was the perfect example of this blend for me. There is a very easy, do-it-yourself version right on the cover of their summer edition. I love coming across unique DIY like this one. If you go now to the link and look at the Home and Garden mag. you can read the pdf. file of this. But I really suggest signing up for the mailed version. It's full of great ideas that won't be deleted after a short period of time. ;)

Can we change?

Yes we can!

Obama won. :) But I still had the weirdest day - I came home from work and completely forgot about class tonight or work I needed to do. I'll be up all night, but it's okay. I'll write my two papers and grade my student's work knowing next year has so much potential.

Hope you're all doing well. In you live in California I am terribly sorry about Proposition 8. It affects us all. Keep the hope!

-L

Seven (photos & facts)

I know this mean I'm posting two blogs in one day (unheard of!) but Sandra from "Smosch" did one of her excellent photoblogs on seven random facts about herself and I couldn't help but do it too. I talk about the same things all the time on here so I thought I'd share. I'm going to go ahead and say JP needs to do this - and any other six of you who want to, just let me know in a comment!


1. The only books that are alphabetized on my bookshelves are the poetry books (out of, let's say, 300+). I'm partial.2. I "rescued" thousands of medical slides from a warehouse full of home acquisitions. Not only were they beautiful and weird, but I had a strange desire to keep them all in the same place - some had already been picked through and purchased. I wanted them to stay a unit for some strange reason. The drawers themselves are really lovely, too.
This is part of a heart :3. I have a knife collection from Mali, from my time studying abroad there.4. I didn't set out to get guinea pigs, but my lease said "pets." When I asked they told me that "didn't mean dogs." I wasn't sure about cats so I decided to "start small."5. I am a fan of jars and visible art supplies. Being able to look at what I have and make time for crafts makes me happy.6. My favorite toy from childhood is my "Dinosnore." The toy company was Commonwealth out of NY and the tag says 1986. I have never seen another, except my brother's which was a triceratops. They always look sleepy and make a noise like a snore when they fall over or are turned - hence the adorable name, (and, now you've all seen my excellent pajama pants).7. I am from the beach and feel most at home when near a body of water. I like large moving bodies of water most of all though - like bays, and oceans, and the sea. (this is the James River - it's a poor photo but just imagine the settlers sliding in, before there were pools built.)

Free Stuff on Election Day...

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Wall of Inspiration <3

This week was long and I didn't get nearly enough grading done, or my own work for that matter. Every week this semester has felt like that. Sunday I'll play catch-up. This week I'm interested in getting this "wall of inspiration" of mine off the ground. My blank bedroom wall is bugging me beyond belief so I'm working to collect things that inspire me: prints from friends, I'm looking to order some soon from an artist I admire, some photographs of my cousin's - and I'm working on collages of trinkets that are the same color schemes. (if that works out there will be pictures to come)

I've found a few photos that I'm using to organize my ideas:

*http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_gallery_10&listing_id=15213593
*I forget where I found this - when I come across it I'll post the link. But painted drawers as shelves (for lightweight objects I'm assuming) seems like a great idea.

*A great blog to check out some time is http://poppytalk.blogspot.com/.
*and http://darlingdarleen.blogspot.com/
*And remember! In this upcoming election - Vote Sandy Holepit!