Whew!

It's been a busy couple of weeks, and I'm looking forward to a little downtime this weekend. We've had things planned for almost every day/night for the past two weeks, and I'm about worn out. Here's a breakdown:

Big Dave's "soundproof" game room is now mostly completed. He's going to add a second door, as the doorway is the weakest part of the room, but once that's done, he'll have the game room he's always wanted. And he just celebrated his birthday this week, so now he'll be a crusty old man playing some World of Warcraft-type game in his very own no-chicks-allowed room. At least he's a happy crusty old man.

Gizmo has settled into her new life with ease. She will now jump up on our bellies and eat treats like raisins and yogurt covered peanuts. She allows us to pet her while she eats. When we enter the room, she runs up to us, expecting us to give her broccoli. We are in the process of training her to use a litterbox. We just started to introduce her to the cats and dog, but we are doing it very slowly, as too much too soon would not be good for her. So far, she has met her look-alike cat Smokey, but only for a few minutes. It went well until Smokey started trying to reach inside Gizmo's cage. At that point, Gizmo let it be known this was not acceptable. So Smokey's training continues.

Lots of business-type things to do, which has kept us busy. I guess I'd rather be busy than not busy enough, but too much work makes for a dull existance. If anyone has any idea how to make money while not working, please let me know. I'd be very interested.

Our to-do list for the house keeps growing (does it EVER get any smaller?), and now includes reorganizing the garage, replanting the front garden, designing a garden area for the front, and adding grass seed to those areas under attack from pocket gophers. Oh, and mopping and re-waxing the floors, which took a pounding from the gameroom workers. Right now, more than ever, I want to be Samantha Stevens (Bewitched). I want to be able to wiggle my nose, and have all the household chores/drudgery done by magic. Will there ever come a day when I can just sit back, relax, and NOT think about all those little things that have yet to be done? If you figure that out, will you let me know?

Don't get me wrong - even though sometimes I feel overwhelmed with everyday life, I am still very grateful for my many blessings. I have a warm and happy home, which I share with a wonderful husband and many spoiled pets. I am gainfully employed, and I have health insurance, as well as good health. These are the things that really matter. In the whole scheme of things, I suppose having to clean a garage or mop a floor is a pretty small price to pay for my good fortune.

He's a She!

It turns out, Gizmo's a girl. According to the vet, Gizmo lacks the mechanics to be a boy, which was surprising to me because I could have sworn I felt "a pair" when I examined her shortly after she came home.

So now after a week of referring to Gizmo as a him, we have to get used to referring to Gizmo as a her. Poor thing. I hope we didn't contribute to her having an identity crisis or anything.

We don't know her breed (the vet thinks she's a mix) or how big she'll get (we're guessing no more than 5 pounds), or even how old she is (guesstimating 1-2 months), but we do know she's very smart, very curious, and very addicted to broccoli. And as far as I'm concerned, that's all we need to know.

Gizmo the Wonder Rabbit

Gizmo has been with us for 5 days now, and he's settling into his new life on the back porch. In the short amount of time he has been with us, we have learned the following:

1. He is apparently the rabbit equivalent to Houdini. By day two, he figured out how to open his cage. So we put extra security measures in place (he now has a lock on the door). We also added some toys, so he can amuse himself when he's in there. He's figured out how to dislodge the toys from the top of his cage. I can't help get the feeling that he's smarter than us, and he knows it.
2. He is a broccoli junkie. He will do ANYTHING for broccoli. We can lead him around the room like a dog , if there's a big enough piece of broccoli to help encourage him.
3. He believes he is Mario Andretti.. He uses my jacuzzi as a race track - speeds around the perimeter and races out the other side as fast as he can go. Then he tries to stop on a dime, which is nearly impossible to do on a slick concrete surface. This makes him slide across the room, or forces him to sumersault against the wall. Then he picks himself up and does it all over again. We cringe when we witness this feat, but since he keeps doing it, we figure either he really likes it, or he's not as brilliant as we'd like him to be. Either way, it's exercise for him, and entertainment for us.
4. He has discovered the joys/challenge of getting past the barriers we have put in place for him to keep him away from the jacuzzi. By day three he got past the large cardboard boxes we put in place by testing the strength until he found the weak spots. He figured out that he could jump over the plastic bucket if he had a running head start.
5. He's starting to recognize his name, as when we call him, he grudgingly comes over to see if we have broccoli for him. If we don't, he goes back to racing around the jacuzzi.
6. He loves to play with paper towel cardboard tubes. He'll chew on them, toss them into the air, drag them around, and otherwise abuse them. This tells me he should hold his own pretty well against the cats.
7. Since he has not been to the vet yet (he goes tomorrow), he is in seclusion from the other pets. But they have gotten acquainted by watching each other through the sliding glass doors. He is apparently fascinated by his look-alike cat, Smokey. They spent a lot of time watching each other through the glass, as if sizing each other up. I suspect that they will eventually become great friends, or great enemies. Time will tell.

Welcome home, Gizmo!

Today, I shall tell you the story of how Gizmo the bunny found a home.

He was sitting in a cage, along with 4 of his fellow rabbits, watching the people pass by. There was a lot going on outside the cage -- lots of people mulling around, and children were running around the aisles. He kept hearing the word "auction", but didn't know what it meant. Occasionally, people would stop and admire him through the wire. Children would poke their fingers into the cage and try to stroke him. "Oh, what a pretty bunny you are!" Then they would bend over the clipboard next to the cage, and write something down. Gizmo didn't know what was happening, but he was scared because of all the loud noises and unfamiliar people.

After a while, two more people passed by the cage. The man looked closely at Gizmo for some time. The man then called to the woman, "Babe, come here and take a look at this bunny! It looks just like our cat, Smokey!" The woman came up and peered into the cage. "You're right," she said. "It's uncanny. Same colors, same pattern -- it even has the same white feet! Poor thing, it looks like it's scared to death!" She continued on down the line, looking at other items laid out on the tables.

The man, however, continued to stare at Gizmo. "It's too weird. It looks EXACTLY like her! Hmm... I wonder.." The man went to the clipboard, and wrote something down. He then ran to join the woman. He leaned down and started talking to her. She turned and looked back at the cage. The man continued talking. Eventually, the woman smiled and nodded.

Throughout the night, the man kept coming back to the cage, and reading the clipboard. Twice he wrote something else on the clipboard. After what seemed like eternity, the man and woman came back to the cage together. The man wore a big smile. The woman smiled at the man. Together, they opened up Gizmo's cage, lifted him out, and placed him in the new cage. Then the man leaned down and said, "Don't worry, little guy, you're coming home with us. You'll get all the carrots you can eat!" And together, they walked to their car, with Gizmo between them.

And so, Gizmo left behind all the lights and loud noises and prodding fingers. He now inhabits a big cage all by himself, and is never short of a piece of carrot or apple to nibble on. Eventually he will be introduced to his fellow residents (the dog and cats) but for now he is getting used to his new surroundings.

And he lived happily ever after.

The end.

I'm An Idiot

This morning started out like any other day. I got up, I went to the bathroom, then I started getting dressed. Put my shirt on, put my pants on, then tried to put on my socks. Only they weren't fitting right. No matter how I angled my foot, I just could not get 'em on my feet. "Oh come on," I thought. "I've done this hundreds of times before. What is the issue here?!"

In exasperation, I sat down on the bed and took a look at my feet. Finally, I saw what the problem was.

I was trying to put my bra on my feet.

Perhaps I wasn't as well rested as I thought.

The Other Woman

Like many wives, I've had to come to terms with the fact that my husband has a mistress.

I can definitely understand what Big Dave sees in her. She's cute, has incredible green eyes, can strut her stuff like no one's business, and is completely head over heals in love with Big Dave. She hangs on to his every word and she follows him wherever he goes. I've caught them in bed on several occasions, and he makes no secret of the fact that he loves her too.

You might think this could be a problem in our marriage. That I should be jealous, vindictive, and upset. But the truth is, it's something I have learned to live with. Or rather, I have learned to just live with her. You see, the "mistress" is one of our cats, Smokey.

She has laid claim to him, and doesn't care who knows it. She follows him like a dog. If he's in another room and she's can't be in there with him, she cries for him. Her favorite pastime -- tunneling under the covers, laying right beside him and getting toasty warm.

You might think to yourself, "but she's just a cat.. it can't be that bad." But here's the thing - it is so obvious that she thinks of ME as the "other woman", and she definitely doesn't like to share him with me. The fact that I have senority over her makes no difference to her. The fact that *I* was the one who first brought her into the house also means nothing. There are some days when I look at her and I swear I can almost hear her plotting ways to get rid of me so she can have him all to herself. She's obsessed -- think Fatal Attraction Meets Aristocats.

I supposed, all things considered, I should just be grateful that we don't have a pet rabbit.

My Bucket List

A while back, Dave and I saw the movie "The Bucket List". It's about 2 terminally ill guys who create a list of things they want to do before they "kick the bucket". Naturally, it got me thinking about all the things I want to do/experience before I "punt the pail", so here's my list (at least what I have thought of so far...)

1. Eat my way through Italy (mostly Florence or Tuscany) because what better place to gorge yourself on Italian food than Italy?
2. Skydive, because you should always do something that scares you.
3. Make a real difference in someone's life. I'm just not sure how to accomplish this.
4. Create a non-profit/organization to help match older shelter animals to older citizens. It gives these animals a much needed second chance, and it will provide much needed companionship to those who are lonely. All funds would go towards the vet care/maintenance of these animals, so the cost would not be burdensome to the new guardians/owners.
5. Sing on stage at the legendary Carnegie Hall (my apologies to my future audience ahead of time)
6. Eat my way through Belgium, one chocolate shoppe at a time.
7. Be part of a radio mystery show, something like a Sherlock Holmes meets Monk.
8. Scuba dive in Hawaii
9. Canoe the glaciers in Alaska.
10. Attend the Montreal Comedy Festival
11. Tour New Zealand
12. Play baseball in Candlestick Park (now Monster Park)
13. Be a runner with the Olympic Torch
14. Make healthcare affordable for everyone.
15. Make amends with Santa (my naughty list should be pretty long by this point)
16. Build the biggest dog park ever, and name it after James Herriot.
17. Go on a photo safari in Africa
18. Golf at Pebble Beach.
19. Write a book that will be cherished by my friends and family for many years to come.
20. Adopt a school, so the students won't be affected so much by budget cuts -- they'll be sure to have all the supplies/computers/books, etc they'll need.

I'm sure I'll add more as time goes by, but hopefully I can cross several of these off over the next few years.

In the meantime, what's your Bucket List?