Gathering myself together

Hey everyone,

I will post again, I promise. Been settling back into my life, and trying to get myself together. I'll post soon!

Stacy

Oolong.

I was going to post a lot of pictures about the weekend we spent in Kansas City, but that is going to have to wait. Instead, I need to talk about Oolong.

Oolong, the rabbit this blog is named after, died yesterday. He was the most magical, sweetest, most charismatic little rabbit I have ever met. Like I mentioned in previous posts, he was named after a rabbit from Japan who had a large internet presence, who my daughter liked when she was little. Oolong the first captured our hearts with his talent of balancing things on his head, and when we read he had died, we were very sad. Oolong (Actually, his full name was Oolong Deux) came into our lives only days later.

Shawn and I walked into a pet store, don't remember why. But there was a little pen on the floor, containing rabbit kits. I walked... well, to another part of the store, but Shawn went over to the pen, and bent over. Oolong was there, teeny little guy. He immediately sat up on his haunches and looked up at Shawn. I knew, watching this exchange, that we were leaving with a rabbit. Shawn picked him up and didn't put him back down. He could have fit in a shirt pocket.

This was in Wichita, Kansas. Oolong came home to our house at the time, and took up residence in the corner of Megan's room. We lived there with him for almost two years. We had a cat at the time, aptly named Cat, and he and Oolong sometimes didn't see eye to eye - mainly during Oolong's "teenage" phase. Poor Cat was the target of some of Oolong's wild behavior. Cat passed away (after 21 years of life - Cat will be a future post) and Oolong was an only pet.

Then we moved to Colorado. Oolong rode in the car with us, in the back seat with Megan and Shawn. He didn't like riding in the car, but he did okay, drinking water and looking out the window. We moved into our house here in Colorado Springs, and Oolong set up house in our finished basement. It was a perfect place for him, the sun streamed in through the high windows, and he would follow it across the floor every morning.

One night, in the middle of the night, I awoke to hear a strange sound, kind of a "fwap...fwap...". Confused, I listened. It was coming from right next to the bed. I looked over the edge of the bed, and it was Oolong. He had come all the way up the three sets of stairs, and found us in the bedroom. He was lifting and dropping a magazine I had left next to the bed, the only way he could make some noise. I got out of bed, and carried him back down the stairs, and brought him into his room. He was out of water, that was the problem. I filled his bowl, gave him a hug, and went back to bed.

After a couple of years in our current house, Abby the chocolate lab came to live with us. Oolong was very brave, and wasn't scared of her, but Abby was a big chicken, and wasn't sure of Oolong. Slowly, they learned to coexist, and even could be seen napping together from time to time. When Oolong died, Abby sniffed him, and sat quietly against my knee. She knew.

I was at work on Friday when I got the call. Heidi, the lovely woman who cleans our house, had given Oolong a treat like she always does, and went about her work. She came back downstairs for something, noticed Oolong sleeping in his sunbeam, and went to scratch him, and he had gone. He went peacefully, like the sweet peaceful soul he was. It's funny, how such a quiet little guy can leave such a hole. But it wasn't just him, it was the family folklore he represented.

Every family has their in-jokes and sayings, just their *things* that they can only say to each other, that very few others understand. A lot of ours revolved around Oolong. Little songs, daily habits, every time one of them comes to mind or we do one out of habit, it hurts. I know people who have had pets get this. A being that loves and counts on you unconditionally suddenly being gone will have an effect. Fortunately, I can honestly say that we didn't take him for granted. We loved him without reservation every day he was with us, and we do the same with Abby, especially now. She is very good about accepting the extra hugs and pets. Like I said, she knows.

This has been a difficult year for me, there has been a lot of changes. While things like Megan graduating and going to college have been amazing, they have also been hard on my heart, and other disappointments and difficulties that are too petty to go into have been rough, too. I will be glad for a new year and a new beginning.

Thanks to everyone who read this long and rambling post, it's self indulgent, I know. And I may not be done on this subject yet, but I think I am right now.

Oolong doing what he loved most, napping in the sun.

Mmm, Chili

I know it's fall when I get the urge to make chili. I got the urge, and there was chili.

Lazy Saturday.

Having a lazy day, watching movies with friends, bad TV and taking naps.

Autumn Shoe Swap

As the weather gets colder, the time comes for those of us with more clothes than closet to do the big seasonal rotate. I begin with the shoes, and I got that little task accomplished today, since I had the day off of work, and it was gloomy out.

So, here are the summer shoes, on their way to a plastic container put out of the way (Excuse the quality of the picture, it was darkish, like I said...):

And here are the winter shoes, having emerged from their plastic container cocoon:

And of course, the boots (this picture is even worse, because it's in the closet):

Next is the clothes rotate, I envision that happening next weekend. I should have done it today, since it's going to be COLD this week, but I just plain didn't get to it.

So, shoes.

The People In My Neighborhood

Since I've been taking our dog for a walk (almost) every day off and on for the past couple years, I have come to recognize, if not actually know, lots of my neighbors. Most of them I know from their dogs, or by the cars outside their house, so here is a rundown:

• People with rottweilers who decorate their house like crazy for Halloween. These people often say hello, and I have seen them at the store before.
• People with a herd of collies. Like four or five of them. But they are very well-behaved collies, and Abby likes them, so it's okay when they swarm all around us. Lots of smells, and then they go back inside.
• People with the mystery dog behind the fence. They have gorgeous flowers, but I have no idea what kind of dog barks at us every day.
• Guy with the classic Mustang convertible in the garage. I think it's a '65. He often waves.
• Group of 20-something guys who all live in a house together. Most of the time they are sitting outside smoking. They have a little yappy dog, but if it barks, they yell swear words at it, so we try to be quiet past this house.
• Lady who is almost always watering her grass with a hose. She must not have much going on, because she is out there all the time. Nevertheless, she is very nice and calls Abby a "good old boy." Abby is obviously a girl, but I don't want to hurt her feelings. The lady's, either.
• Kids who are out playing every day, mostly on scooters. They sometimes pet Abby, but they are usually too busy.
• House with the little gray poodle (I think) that never barks, but he gets so excited that he runs around and around a tree in his yard. This never fails to make me smile.
• Lady with a tennis court  in her yard. I don't know. She also has a bunch of glass butterflies.
• Another mystery dog.
• House with teenager who works on his car a lot.
• Yard with three big dogs, one is a German Shepherd, and another one looks like a younger Abby, the third, I am not sure. They bark a lot.
• House where the pug steeplechase used to happen. There were two pugs here, one with a hilarious raspy bark that sounded like an old man. I loved them, but I think they moved.
• Pit Bull house. This dog never barks, only watches us. He (or she) is a very good dog.
• House with two corgis, but I have only seen them two or three times. The people are also very friendly.
• House with an amazing classic red Saab, which is almost completely restored.
• House with cars with political/smutty bumper stickers. Some are funny, and the guy is sometimes out jacking with the car engine.

That's about it. Those are the people in my neighborhood, the people that I meet each day!

</Mr. Rogers>

Guilty.

Who got TOTALLY busted singing at the top of her lungs on the way home from work?

Yeah, this girl.

That's not embarrassing, though. What is embarrassing is what I was singing.

THE GAMBLER.

That's right, Kenny Rogers. AND I KNOW ALL THE WORDS.

I blame my dad.

And now you'll sing it, too:

Also, I fixed my cell phone all by myself. I'm a big girl now.

The Ambien Blog

I wrote earlier that I would tell the story of the now-deleted Ambien blog. So...

I was having trouble sleeping, so I talked to my doctor, who prescribed Ambien. Those of you who have taken Ambien know that while it is fantastic about putting you to sleep, if you don't go right to bed when you take it, you can do some pretty goofy things. One of the first times I took it, I figured I had about a half hour before I needed to get into bed, so I pulled out my laptop and was surfing a bit.

As I browsed, I had an IDEA. A fantastic idea. I would start a blog. Not just any blog, but a blog about the dictionary. I would start with the first word, and work my way through, and blog about how each word mad me feel. Aside from the twenty minutes I spent on a blog entry about the edition of the dictionary I was going to use, and some unsuccessful browsing for a picture of said dictionary (why I thought this was important is beyond me, but hey, Ambien), I started with the first word: Aachen.

Aachen is apparently a town in Germany, and if I remember correctly, I blathered about the pictures of it I found on a travel site, and as I wrote, it made less and less sense, and finally devolved into incoherence. I remember, as I wrote it, thinking: This is the BEST IDEA I HAVE EVER HAD. I am going to be the next blogger to receive a book deal, this is going to be just like Julie and Julia. Then I went to sleep.

The next day I read it over. I showed it to Shawn and a couple friends, who mocked me, and rightly so. I then deleted the entire thing in humiliation. I wish I would have kept a copy, because it really is a cautionary tale of blogging and insomnia medication.

And, scene. FIN.

Scenes from a Dog Walk

Under the weather

So, I was sick yesterday, and I swear, I slept the entire day. I really needed it, and today I feel fantastic. So fantastic, I took the dog, Abby, on our usual walk, and actually RAN part of  it. So weird.

But the weather is gorgeous, and Shawn (Husband) and I spent some time puttering around the back yard and just soaking it up. The leaves are changing, and the light is so beautiful and gold. I happened to see a giant peace rose, probably one of the last of the season, so here it is:

Here's to October, and a belated Rabbit, Rabbit for the first!

Post weekend

Following up on the last post...

So, I did the grocery shopping (I had to go twice, because I forgot some stuff, and then I have to go again on Wednesday for the same reason), and I cleaned the fridge. So, two for four.

Also, the Kansas City Chiefs, my favorite football team, won AGAIN. So we're 4-0, which is crazy, we haven't done this well for a long time.

Weekend!

I am so glad for a weekend with little to nothing to do. I know I should get some things done around the crack den, but inertia will probably win out. Maybe. In case it doesn't, I am putting this short list of things I would like to get done out to the universe:

1. Clean the tile and frame of the kitchen table. We have this table that has slate tile laid in kind of a metal grid, and it gets... well, gross, frankly. I run the tiles through the dishwasher, and clean the grid thing with a brush. Here's hoping.
2. Clean the fridge. This is probably the second most likely job to get done. It just needs the shelves taken out and cleaned, and some expired stuff thrown out.
3. Grocery shopping. I will definitely do this.
4. Yard work/lawn mowing. To be honest, I may bribe the kid to come over from the dorm and do this. We'll see.

I'll check back after the weekend and see how successful I was.

Completely age-inapropriate

Thinks I like that no self-respecting 43 year old should:

• Hello Kitty. Particularly things like This. Yes, I dress like a toddler.
• Glee.
• Biscoff Spread. Yeah, Nutella who? This stuff makes Nutella look like... well, something not as delicious as Biscoff. Try the crunchy.
• Movies targeted to teenagers, from any era. Like Sixteen Candles, Juno, Pitch Perfect, or anything of that vein. Extra points for John Cusack.

Musings on an empty nest

I went out to dinner tonight with a friend and her two year old daughter. I had a lovely time, but being around her sweet little girl made me miss my little girl. My daughter started college about a month ago. Yes, we are the proverbial empty nesters. I know it's a cliche, but it really does go so fast. But, it is so amazing to see our daughter spread her wings and learn to handle everything life throws at her by herself. Such a girl.

The question for me is, now that Mother is not at the top of my job decision, what is? What do I do now? She is not the only one embarking on a new life, I guess I am, too. But what that means remains to be seen.

An Update

Since the first post, five years ago, I finished the Masters program and have started a PhD. I'm about half way through, so I thought I'd blow the dust off this blog (that I started as part of my Masters) and brush up on my writing skills. So here we go (and I promise this one isn't Ambien-fueled... a story for another time).

Scrunchies. Yeah.

I was clearing out some stuff, and opened a drawer in this little roll-around storage thing, and found no fewer than twenty SCRUNCHIES! Remember those? Hair scrunchies? Not only did I drag these around for probably three moves, one of them interstate, but it also means that I hadn't opened that drawer for over a decade or more. I'm starting to worry I'm a hoarder or something.

This Happened.

Oolong is our rabbit. We were thinking that maybe he is lonely, being a solitary rabbit, so we called rabbit rescue places to see if they had an unpaired rabbit looking for a bunny spouse. Well, the rescue person said, we have a few, why don’t you bring Oolong to our rescue, and we’ll see if he takes a shine to any of them.

So, we packed Oolong up, and drove him to the rescue place, about 45 minutes away. Dropped him off, and then went back home. The next morning, we got a call from the crazy rabbit rescue lady. Oolong is upset, and won’t eat, which is bad for a rabbit, because they need food to keep their digestive system going. If they stop eating, their system stops all together.

We go back to the rescue, and go in to see Oolong. He sees Shawn, my husband, and goes ballistic, he is so happy so see him (Shawn is Oolong’s favorite person), he literally JUMPED into his arms, and snuggled right down.

We asked the woman what happened. She said, she put Oolong into a pen with an unpaired female, a large lop who, she admitted, was known to be kind of aggressive. When the lop saw Oolong, a Dutch Mini, she mounted him, grabbed him by the back of the neck, drawing blood, and wouldn’t let him go. Oolong wanted nothing to do with any of the other rabbits after that.

Every time the woman got close to Oolong, he would try to bite her. We looked around a little and left. Oolong remains a rabbit bachelor to this day.

Oolong after a rabbit rock star party. He tore up some magazines, pooped once or twice, and then passed out.

Snoozing.

His Handsomeness.