Break!

So it's the second to last day of the semester and I still have a project to do, but I just want to curl up and watch Love Actually. It's been raining all day and all I managed to do was go to Petco and Target and make Mexican for dinner. Guess I'll be up tonight getting work done but at least it's only one more day then a month off from work. This time of year is a good reminder of why I like teaching. ;)

Here's the photo I put on the cover of my holiday cards:
They were a big hit - Last year I sent out one with just Betsy, since I got the new babies in February:I've become the crazy guinea pig lady and I didn't even know it! BUT, for inexpensive holiday gifts (I haven't blogged about my crafting in a while) here's an idea!

Wine bottle lamps. Best invention ever. As everyone worries about recycling and going green more and more, I think these are simply the easiest and sweetest presents. I have a friend Randi who is less into wine than Jack Daniels and I made her one of these in an old Jack bottle, so you can be as individual as you'd like. My mom visited Morgantown last May and I sent her home with one for her kitchen made from a bottle from the local winery, as a momento.

Here's the one in my bathroom, but they're also great for kitchens and hall lamps (especially for those who like low nightlight lighting):
This is a Forks of Cheat winery schawarzer bar bottle; it's a delicious white table wine, might I add. I use a 35 strand of christmas lights. White lights work too, but they look best in blue or deep green tinted bottles. In plain white bottles I prefer white strands. I have also seen people use 100 strand lights, but I'd say that's too many for a regular size bottle - you don't want the lamp getting overheated.

I decorate the outside with a picture framing wire (found at Lowes, or any other home store). I have 16 gauge galvinized utility wire right now because it's earier to add decorative touches with, but I've gone up one size in the past. I'd go one size thicker just to twirl, like I did in these images, but I've made a bunch of grapes before and it was tough with thick wire. And be sure to use needle nose pliers to grab and manipulate; it might take a practice piece to get used too. You don't want too many kinks or folds... just a nice coil.

Here's photo with the bunch of grapes:My advice is just to play around with the wire until you're comfortable to do this; it hurt my hands a lot but it was worth the extra effort. Another great thing about this bottle is that I didn't use a strand of christmas lights, but I bought a bottle topper named Bottelabra from a company Northern Lights.
Sweet, huh? Only eight dollars. Sometimes Bed, Bath and Beyond sells them, but I've found them on the internet for cheaper through wineries with shops. Hallmark was also JUST selling a bottle topper with three cast iron tealight holders. I fell in love. I know it probably doesn't look its best in a chianti bottle, but that's all I had just sitting around.
Hope everyone is having a safe and happy holiday!

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.

The week's already over

I'm not much for the journaling aspect of this thing, but I figured I'd update a bit. Last weekend, although I didn't get any actual "work" done, I was very productive. Friday I had a meeting with a professor on a big paper I have coming up, saw a friend and then curled up and watched a (stupid but still enjoyable) movie. Saturday, Lauren and I drove down to Buchanan, WV for lunch with her grandparents, visited with her mom at work and went antiquing. I bought the sweetest chair. She bought this old artist's case with palette paper and old oil paints...
Sunday I don't remember but halfway through the week I went to my favorite little used everything store and bought old slides... some are this couple's vacations in Europe from the late 50's, and others are creepy medical slides - I still haven't ventured to explore all of them.

This weekend is pretty laid back - sent in my absentee ballot request, paid some bills, looked through some home improvement and decorating magazines and laid around the apartment... the other Lauren's out of town. I find myself doing the same lame things we do together, only alone, which points out my inability to entertain myself without her. ;) Tomorrow's Sunday and I'll try to do an annotated bibliography for this lit class I'm struggling through. I'm probably struggling through it because I like the subject matter, but just don't love it. I'm in too many classes this semester.

I thought I'd share some of my favorite home stuffs websites. Some are about DIY and others going green and renovating in general. Hope they inspire you!

*http://www.lowescreativeideas.com/idea-library/articles/Artistic_Appeal_1107.aspx - This is just one of Lowe's fun projects. Hanging artwork can be artistic too!

*http://www.greenwinebottles.com/ - If you can cut glass, or if you're a wine drinker, think twice before wasting those beautiful bottles!

*http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/green-ideas/diy-upcycled-lighting-ideas-from-etsy-055107 - Just one of their inspiring pages.

*http://www.artecnicainc.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=15&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=49&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=12 - Don't neglect the tabs at the bottom!

*http://www.etsy.com/ - Who doesn't already know about this?!?

Here are three cute piggie photos I'm going to hang on my bedroom wall - I'm about to start an inspirational mix of art and photography on that wall (I took down a huge map of the states that used to hang there). (In order: Penni, Lacey, Betsy.)



Have a super week. <3

Things I am working on that make me happy.

Things I am working on that make me happy:


Like the green pepper I grew on my struggling porch plant -



And Penni, she's still not really a "people piggie" but she's sweet and coming around ;)



A painting - it is definitely a work in progress, but it's fun to try.



A corkboard is underway!





AND, a collage of places and images that inspire me...


Happy October!

What do our dreams really say about us?

I gave the children bathes last night - these are photos from another time, but they're always adorable wet and grumpy.

Going Back to School?

I love the Fall a little more than I knew, and even though it's still Summer, the idea of going back to school is compelling and exciting, so full of possibility. "If I knew your name and address, I would send you a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils." Ah, Tom Hanks.

It has taken a while to get another post out - but the new school year just started and I've been finishing the task of designing the new class I'm teaching this semester. Argument and Research, with a special focus on civil rights. Can you remember what you felt strongly about as a college undergrad? If not, maybe that's because you didn't have many passions; this is what I'm discovering pretty quickly about my students. I don't mind that they are hyper-social beings that go out at night and on the weekends, and I don't even mind that this is their top priority most of the time. I just wish they read more news on-line, or cared about the right to vote they are ignoring. I hope 16 weeks is enough time to get the gears turning and have them realize how many rights they have that they've been wasting. Ah, so young, so carefree.

I thought this would be a great blog to list the things that make me happy, those little every day moments that make me smile and carefree after getting in from work:
-warm weather with a breeze, or low humidity. I love feeling warm but think sweating on my way to work is a bit TOO warm

-My porch garden. Ah, life in little pots, the smell of fresh basil when I turn my key in the door. I have a sweet pepper plant that looks more like a tree :-D Plus, the Piggies like it too, here's Lacey snacking away on my cilantro and parsley. -~->

-Clean House - Best show ever, if I do say so myself. Who doesn't love seeing other people's junk, or getting motivated to become a minimalist? Plus, Niecy Nash is worth tuning in for ;) I always wonder if they keep their homes looking so beautiful after the "team" leaves - they go back occasionally and I've never been too let down. If you check out the website you'll learn Matt and Trish are merely comedians there for a little relief. Interesting...
http://www.mystyle.com/mystyle/shows/cleanhouse/index.jsp

-Alphabetized bookshelves

-Fresh laundry, dusted counter tops, and a recently vacuumed living room...

-I relocated the piggies to the linoleum in front of the front door (I use the side door to enter and leave, my apartment is a weird shape). This makes my bedroom look HUGE! They were at the end of my bed, but I think this will work much better since it was an unused space, and now I can't hear them at night, drinking their water and rumble-strutting. They need plenty of room to move around, but so do I, haha. (Couldn't post about the pigs without showing you a shot of Betsy, she's the friendliest of the bunch. This one's from the garden day as well.)



Now I'm off to get some reading done for my classes, I'd hate to get behind this early. Hope you're having a great Fall!