So, NaNoWriMo is officially over and I failed horribly. The last time I posted any kind of word count update was the beginning of November and I had under 2,000 words. It predicted that I'd be done with my novel in April. That was the beginning of the month though....I have no idea what it would predict if I looked at it now. Probably November of NEXT year. lol.
But I'm not really disappointed that I didn't finish...just that I didn't look at the winner page ahead of time. You get all kinds of cool stuff as a winner of NaNoWriMo...you get your manuscript published for free by a random, generic publishing company (just one copy of it of course) and a whole bunch of special offers on cool stuff!! If I had known that I would have cheated...no lie! I mean seriously how mnay of those people ACTUALLY wrote 50,000 words?! I am curious to know.
But anyway. I did have a really cool idea and I will probably keep working on it and maybe next year during NaNoWriMo I'll finish it for good and win. I'll keep you updated on that.
Showing posts with label Caramel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caramel. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Clean Bill of Health!!
Today I took Caramel to the vet! This is the first time we've been to the vet together. Now, I've taken my guinea pigs to the vet when they were sick, but I've never taken them for a well visit. So this was kind of a new experience for me.
It went a lot better than expected. I was not sure how Caramel was going to react. She does not like to be handled at all...or well, she only likes it if SHE initiates it and not me. She'll hop into my lap or hop over to be pet...but she does not like to be lifted up out of the air and she won't let me put her in my lap to be pet...she wants to be the one who says when she sits in my lap and when she doesn't.
I got her this cute little fabric carrier and put a garbage bag and towel on my car seat and put a towel and some lettuce in the carrier with her. She seemed to enjoy the car ride. Then we got to the vet and I filled out paperwork and then the vet saw her. She got weighed and her nails were clipped and her ears were cleaned. Then the vet let Caramel run around the office for awhile. Of course we had a hard time picking her back up when it was time to go, but she really enjoyed running around for a bit.
Overall, the vet said she was very healthy, but a little overweight. She said I should let her run around in a bunny proof room instead of restricing her to a small area with a pen. Once in a while she needs to run around...not hop...run. So my mom and I let her out in the hallway. We used a little card table to block her from running into the living room and we used the pen to block the way into the dinning room. Then we closed all of the bedroom doors. She had the whole hallway to just hop around and run around in. And boy can she run! Sometimes she just races up and down the hallway! She goes so fast we can't video it!
The vet said we should also get new food for her. She asked what I use and said she was familiar with the brand and knew that it had a lot of alfalfa in it. She said alfalfa is what contributes to obesity in rabbits and other small animals...also she said it can give her bladder stones which I knew because my brother's guinea pig, Cocoa, had bladder stones one time. I just didn't know her food had alfalfa in it. I didn't even think to read the ingredients. So I bought her pellets that were made with timothy hay instead. At first she was a little disappointed because it did not have all the extra stuff she likes like seeds and stuff. But she does like it. And we kept the other food and give it to her as a treat once in a while.
And finally, the vet said she was in heat. She strongly suggested that I consider spaying Caramel. She said that bunnies live longer, healthier lives when they are fixed. Also, female bunnies are prone to getting uterine cancer later in life if they are not spayed. So spaying it is. She goes to have her surgery sometime in January so that she is better able to handle the anesthesia.
So that was our adventure together at the vet. It went well! And I seem to be doing most things correctly!
:-D
It went a lot better than expected. I was not sure how Caramel was going to react. She does not like to be handled at all...or well, she only likes it if SHE initiates it and not me. She'll hop into my lap or hop over to be pet...but she does not like to be lifted up out of the air and she won't let me put her in my lap to be pet...she wants to be the one who says when she sits in my lap and when she doesn't.
I got her this cute little fabric carrier and put a garbage bag and towel on my car seat and put a towel and some lettuce in the carrier with her. She seemed to enjoy the car ride. Then we got to the vet and I filled out paperwork and then the vet saw her. She got weighed and her nails were clipped and her ears were cleaned. Then the vet let Caramel run around the office for awhile. Of course we had a hard time picking her back up when it was time to go, but she really enjoyed running around for a bit.
Overall, the vet said she was very healthy, but a little overweight. She said I should let her run around in a bunny proof room instead of restricing her to a small area with a pen. Once in a while she needs to run around...not hop...run. So my mom and I let her out in the hallway. We used a little card table to block her from running into the living room and we used the pen to block the way into the dinning room. Then we closed all of the bedroom doors. She had the whole hallway to just hop around and run around in. And boy can she run! Sometimes she just races up and down the hallway! She goes so fast we can't video it!
The vet said we should also get new food for her. She asked what I use and said she was familiar with the brand and knew that it had a lot of alfalfa in it. She said alfalfa is what contributes to obesity in rabbits and other small animals...also she said it can give her bladder stones which I knew because my brother's guinea pig, Cocoa, had bladder stones one time. I just didn't know her food had alfalfa in it. I didn't even think to read the ingredients. So I bought her pellets that were made with timothy hay instead. At first she was a little disappointed because it did not have all the extra stuff she likes like seeds and stuff. But she does like it. And we kept the other food and give it to her as a treat once in a while.
And finally, the vet said she was in heat. She strongly suggested that I consider spaying Caramel. She said that bunnies live longer, healthier lives when they are fixed. Also, female bunnies are prone to getting uterine cancer later in life if they are not spayed. So spaying it is. She goes to have her surgery sometime in January so that she is better able to handle the anesthesia.
So that was our adventure together at the vet. It went well! And I seem to be doing most things correctly!
:-D
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Another Day Another Dollar
Well, another day subbing for me. I went in at 11...I'm not sure why I've been subbing only a half a day lately...the full day sub jobs must all be taken already. I'm not sure why this particular teacher left all of a sudden and it seemed like the kids had no idea either. This time I was subbing for a high school social studies teacher. It was pretty easy...the AP Euro kids were just supposed to work on an essay (which none of them did) and the kids in American Cultures had a test. So pretty much I got to just hang out and read and make sure no one cheated. Then, randomly, around 1:30....the teacher came back! Now, why would you do that? Why would you cheat the sub out of work...even if it is a half a day. He had to know that I was probably just starting out as a teacher and would not only need the money, but also the classroom experience!! How lame!!
But at least I was able to get some litter and food for my bunny, call about this potential Spanish position and start on my story for NaNoWriMo. I have three diary entries written....but I'm not sure if the diary thing is going to work....it seems like it'd be pretty boring.....but I guess the point is just to write it and make it more interesting later....I'm thinking it might be interesting to start a new blog and make the posts the diary entries for my story. That way people can keep up with it and tell me what they think of it as I go. It might be fun......
So anyway...that's really it so far for me. I'll have to update tomorrow with word of how the phone call went to the school district. The lady in charge of the world language department at the PDE is going to call the school tomorrow and "sell me"...so to speak. She is going to request that they meet me and is going to put in a good word. After that we'll see how it goes. I'm hoping that by the end of the month I know for sure whether or not they want me....cuz they want to start the Spanish program in January! I'll need time to write up lessons...especially since I'd be doing the whole curriculum by myself...from scratch!!!
But at least I was able to get some litter and food for my bunny, call about this potential Spanish position and start on my story for NaNoWriMo. I have three diary entries written....but I'm not sure if the diary thing is going to work....it seems like it'd be pretty boring.....but I guess the point is just to write it and make it more interesting later....I'm thinking it might be interesting to start a new blog and make the posts the diary entries for my story. That way people can keep up with it and tell me what they think of it as I go. It might be fun......
So anyway...that's really it so far for me. I'll have to update tomorrow with word of how the phone call went to the school district. The lady in charge of the world language department at the PDE is going to call the school tomorrow and "sell me"...so to speak. She is going to request that they meet me and is going to put in a good word. After that we'll see how it goes. I'm hoping that by the end of the month I know for sure whether or not they want me....cuz they want to start the Spanish program in January! I'll need time to write up lessons...especially since I'd be doing the whole curriculum by myself...from scratch!!!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Wow...It's Been A While...
So I finally found a pet store that sells rabbits. I got a brown Holland Lop. She will grow to be about 4 or 5 pounds so she won't be very big. Piccolo, the mini lop I was looking to adopt, was 7 pounds. They bred Mini lops and dwarf rabbits to get Holland Lops...that's why they are smaller. I'm not sure what she weights now, but it can't be much more than 3 or 4 pounds so she's probaly as big as she is going to get.
So, after much debate, we finally named her Caramel. She is approximately 3 or 3 1/2 months old. She is still a baby so she is very destructive. She chews on EVERYTHING and she loves to dig (even though most things she digs at do not move when she digs at them). She also loves to move her litter box around the cage which causes her to accidently dump it all over her bedding....she's actually doing it right now as I'm typing this.
It was a bit rough in the beginning. She was from a breeder but I guess she had been at the pet store isolated for a while and didn't interact much with humans. So she was really skiddish when we first brought her home. But I left her in her cage for abour 36 hours without taking her out. I put my hand in to pet her and stuff and she got used to me that way. Then, little by little I'd let her run around for a while out of her cage.
Now, the first time I let her out I thought I had everything thought out. I moved everything she could chew on and I got her a ball to push around with her nose. I read that instead of reaching in to grab her, I should open the door and let her come out on her own terms. She came out and pushed the ball for a little. Then, a teeny tiny spider crawled over my mom's leg...she screamed and Caramel darted underneath my brother's bed! It took us a half hour to get her back into her cage. She kept running around the room hiding behind stuff. I am not sure if she was actually frightened or if she thought we were playing.
But I bought her a pen so she doesn't escape again and she and I sit in the pen and watch tv together. She runs around and chews up the blanket we put in there for her. I also got her a stuffed bear that she throws around and tries to tear apart. I got her this ball of grass and she LOVES it and grunts at me whenever I touch it. She lets me pet her now and even comes up to the cage door to greet me when I reach in to change her food and litter. She even jumped into my lap of her own accord the other day. So it took a lot of work but she is definitely warming up to people.
I am hoping that with some more work I can one day begin training her to be a therapy animal. I think it'd be a lot of fun to take her to nursing homes and let the residents sit with her and pet her. Many times, elderly patients cannot bend down to pet dogs or cats, but a bunny would be perfect for them. They can hold on to them and pet them and they don't have to worry about bending over which could be painful for them. But, Caramel is definitely not ready for that. She is not comfortable being grabbed and she would rather chew on things and run around and play instead of sit and be pet. But she is still young yet, so once she matures she'll be more able to do that. Even if she could do that now, she is too young to be spayed and all therapy animals need to be fixed regardless of what kind of animal they are.
Anyway, so that's really all that is new with me. Caramel and I have been spending lots of time playing. I've been working long hours at the nursing home as well so between working 8 to 12 hour days and spending time with my bunny, I haven't really had much time to blog about her yet......or even about the Steelers game I went to see last weekend. Which, Caramel was not happy about....my going away to see the steelers meant I went away and left her for my mother to care for which I don't think my mother is well liked yet. And also my mom was not comfortable letting Caramel run around and play so she was cooped up in her cage all weekend. But the game was a ton of fun even though the Steelers lost. :-(
And things with Mike are going well...I mean apart from the distance thing. Mike went with me to the game and we stayed in a hotel. We went to a fencing tournament the day before the game and we both did not do as well as we hoped. But I think we learned a lot and know what to work on now. We downloaded skype and we've been staying in contact through our webcams. I am thankful we can do that cuz I can see him and hear him.....but sometimes I hear about how bad his day was or how much work he has to do or how painful his toothache is and I wish I could hug him though the webcam too. I need a stargate.
There's Caramel. :-D
So, after much debate, we finally named her Caramel. She is approximately 3 or 3 1/2 months old. She is still a baby so she is very destructive. She chews on EVERYTHING and she loves to dig (even though most things she digs at do not move when she digs at them). She also loves to move her litter box around the cage which causes her to accidently dump it all over her bedding....she's actually doing it right now as I'm typing this.
It was a bit rough in the beginning. She was from a breeder but I guess she had been at the pet store isolated for a while and didn't interact much with humans. So she was really skiddish when we first brought her home. But I left her in her cage for abour 36 hours without taking her out. I put my hand in to pet her and stuff and she got used to me that way. Then, little by little I'd let her run around for a while out of her cage.
Now, the first time I let her out I thought I had everything thought out. I moved everything she could chew on and I got her a ball to push around with her nose. I read that instead of reaching in to grab her, I should open the door and let her come out on her own terms. She came out and pushed the ball for a little. Then, a teeny tiny spider crawled over my mom's leg...she screamed and Caramel darted underneath my brother's bed! It took us a half hour to get her back into her cage. She kept running around the room hiding behind stuff. I am not sure if she was actually frightened or if she thought we were playing.
But I bought her a pen so she doesn't escape again and she and I sit in the pen and watch tv together. She runs around and chews up the blanket we put in there for her. I also got her a stuffed bear that she throws around and tries to tear apart. I got her this ball of grass and she LOVES it and grunts at me whenever I touch it. She lets me pet her now and even comes up to the cage door to greet me when I reach in to change her food and litter. She even jumped into my lap of her own accord the other day. So it took a lot of work but she is definitely warming up to people.
I am hoping that with some more work I can one day begin training her to be a therapy animal. I think it'd be a lot of fun to take her to nursing homes and let the residents sit with her and pet her. Many times, elderly patients cannot bend down to pet dogs or cats, but a bunny would be perfect for them. They can hold on to them and pet them and they don't have to worry about bending over which could be painful for them. But, Caramel is definitely not ready for that. She is not comfortable being grabbed and she would rather chew on things and run around and play instead of sit and be pet. But she is still young yet, so once she matures she'll be more able to do that. Even if she could do that now, she is too young to be spayed and all therapy animals need to be fixed regardless of what kind of animal they are.
Anyway, so that's really all that is new with me. Caramel and I have been spending lots of time playing. I've been working long hours at the nursing home as well so between working 8 to 12 hour days and spending time with my bunny, I haven't really had much time to blog about her yet......or even about the Steelers game I went to see last weekend. Which, Caramel was not happy about....my going away to see the steelers meant I went away and left her for my mother to care for which I don't think my mother is well liked yet. And also my mom was not comfortable letting Caramel run around and play so she was cooped up in her cage all weekend. But the game was a ton of fun even though the Steelers lost. :-(
And things with Mike are going well...I mean apart from the distance thing. Mike went with me to the game and we stayed in a hotel. We went to a fencing tournament the day before the game and we both did not do as well as we hoped. But I think we learned a lot and know what to work on now. We downloaded skype and we've been staying in contact through our webcams. I am thankful we can do that cuz I can see him and hear him.....but sometimes I hear about how bad his day was or how much work he has to do or how painful his toothache is and I wish I could hug him though the webcam too. I need a stargate.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)