Walk for the Animals

This is plea from me as we go into the last week of fundraising for the Animal Humane Society's Walk for the Animals on April 30th.  My goal is to raise $250, and so far I've raised $110.  This will be Lucy's first Walk for the Animals and we appreciate any monetary support we can get (every little bit helps!)

This is an event that Luke and I have a very personal investment in.  Our little Dwight was adopted from the Golden Valley site, and want to be able to give back to them as much as Dwight gave to us during his time in our family.

Please Please Please consider donating (it is tax-deductible).  The animals appreciate it more than you can ever know.

To donate, click on the link below.  Then click on the blue star that says "Make a Donation in My Honor" at the top of the page, and then follow directions for a credit/debit card payment.


http://events.animalhumanesociety.org/site/TR/Walk/General?px=1503133&pg=personal&fr_id=1150

See you later, little Bunny

Over the last few weeks, Dwight had been battling a nasty UTI, and potential GI infection.  After two visits to the vet in less than a week, two antibiotics, one steroid, medicated shampoo, diluted disinfectant, ointment, and subcutaneous injections of fluids, Dwight decided that enough was enough and passed away last night.  While we were doing everything we could to try to save our spunky little bunny, it wasn't enough to give him the will to fight the infection that was making him feel so horrible.

Dwight took his final breath laying in his favorite spot by the back door, looking out at the deck, where he used to spend hours just sitting and watching.  While sadness had been a major member of our family for the last week (watching Dwight get weaker and thinner each day took a huge toll on us, and resulted in multiple nights of tears and comforting), when Luke told me that Dwight had gone, the first thing I felt was relief.  Relief because I knew that he wasn't suffering anymore.

Dwight's favorite spot

It's amazing how such a small little guy made such a huge impact on Luke's and my lives.  Just under 5 years of being a family together taught us a lot about patience and personality (Dwight's personality was at least 20x bigger than his body size), and his passing has already left quite a hole in our hearts.  We may still have 10 pets in our house, but walking downstairs for the first time this morning forced me to feel how empty it already feels.  This morning, when I was on my way out the door to go to work, I walked over to the spot under the lilac trees where we laid him to rest, only to find that earlier Luke had put down some carrots for him on his way out to work (as close as we'll ever get back to that morning ritual of treat-time before heading to work).  As I sit here now, in the back room, I occasionally see him hop and kick his feet out of the corner of my eye, but by the time I turn to look, he's gone.

Thanks for the good times, Dwight, and we'll be seeing you again later someday.  Keep an eye out for us...

By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,

Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.

Where the friends of man and woman do run,

When their time on earth is over and done.

For here, between this world and the next,

Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.

On this golden land, they wait and they play,

Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.

No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,

For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.

Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,

Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.

They romp through the grass, without even a care,

Until one day they start, and sniff at the air.

All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back,

Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.

For just at that instant, their eyes have met;

Together again, both person and pet.

So they run to each other, these friends from long past,

The time of their parting is over at last.

The sadness they felt while they were apart,

Has turned into joy once more in each heart.

They embrace with a love that will last forever,

And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together.

Summer is Coming!

Well, the air is getting stickier, the neighbor kids are staying out later, and I bawled like a baby while watching the season finale of Grey's Anatomy yesterday, so summer must be just around the corner!  With summer comes a lot of fun things that we've been looking forward to doing for over a year now (i.e., spending time at the cabin for the 4th of July, celebrating our first wedding anniversary, being in M&B's wedding at the end of July, attending my cousin's wedding at the end of August in Duluth, just to name a few).  Unfortunately, I will be unable to sub during the summer months (summer vacay=no subs needed), but it looks like I might have found another nanny job to fill in the days/hours I'm not already with the tots, so I won't have to call Sallie Mae and attempt to get my huge student loan deferred for the summer months.  I'm waiting to hear back about a summer school position I applied for, but until then, it looks like one more summer of me being K: Nanny Extraordinaire.

Last week, I had a blast at M's tea party bridal shower.  After we were all done with the shower, some of us took a peak in super cool antique shop with an amazing staircase, which the shop owner was kind enough to take a picture of us posing and looking pretty with our tea attire on.

As for the animal update, Dwight has been tolerating his time outside in the pen pretty well.   At first, he was terrified and spend most of the time pleading with us to take him back inside, but now whenever we put him out, he's very content with munching on the grass, chilling with Darla, and sunning himself.  L and I have even caught him on numerous occasions staring out the window, and we can only assume it's because he wants to go out again.

Lastly, I've gotten myself back into baking again for fun.  My latest attempt was a cake for Mother's day, which turned out very well!  Eventually I will make the entire thing from scratch, but for now, the cake mix is from a box, but the vanilla buttercream frosting is all homemade.  The recipe I use can be found here at the Beantown Baker's blog, and it is amazing!  Because the only other kind of frosting I've ever attempted was of the cream cheese variety, I was hesitant to try making this kind from scratch, but with the help of my KA standmixer, it has turned out perfectly on multiple occasions now!  If you know me, you realize how excited I am about finding an amazing frosting recipe, as I am all about the frosting and believe that it can make or break the cake.

Anyways, that's all I have for you now!

Pictures!

Picture #1: Baby birds at my parents' house (we've got a pair of the same type of bird building their nest in our overhang above our side door!).

Picture #2: Lilacs are in full bloom, and our yard is surrounded by all sorts of shades of purple and white.

Picture #3: We finally have a real dining set!  No more crappy goodwill table and folding chairs for us anymore.  No sir-ee.

Picture #4: After spending a couple of hours out in his pen in the backyard, Dwight spent sometime getting to know our deck furniture.

*Warning*

The following picture is so cute that you may find yourself "awwww"-ing outloud :-)

 I love my mushy puddle of a bunny.

Our Zoo (pt.2)- Meet the Rabbit

Welcome to Part 2 of Meet the Zoo!  Today you'll get the chance to meet and get to know Dwight the rabbit!

L and I adopted Dwight in early October, 2007 from the humane society.  This was the only pet that L and I didn't quite see eye to eye about bringing into our family.  I was all gung ho about getting a rabbit, but L was hesitant, and the first couple of weeks that Dwight was in our home were filled with tension.  After the initial "getting to know you" weeks, things got better, though Dwight wasn't the cute and cuddly bunny rabbit I had thought he was going to be.  While he is still pretty damn cute, I learned pretty quickly that he didn't like to be picked up (which is common for most rabbits- they prefer to have all four feet on the ground!) and that he only liked to be pet on his terms.  I also learned that after they neutered him at the humane society that it would take awhile for the testosterone levels to drop, but after that, he would become less territorial and more friendly towards us.

Dwight quickly learned some commands from us ("get in your house" = get into your cage, snapping = stop what your doing/don't chew on that, kissy/tsky sounds = treats/food, etc.), and we caught on to his quirks an signals as well (especially when it comes to petting him).  L and I originally had no idea how many noises rabbits make (grunts, snorts, teeth grinding).  Back at the apartment, he would sit on the couch with me as I would work on homework, or he would hang out on the Love Sac.  Now, at our new home, he spends a lot of his time laying on our over-sized blue chair/ottoman, or chilling under the dinner table with Darla (whom most of you have met months ago in an old blog post, but she'll have a new updated post next week focusing on her).

While he still isn't Mr. Snuggles, he's got his own personality and we love him for it.  It makes his lovey moments much sweeter (nearly every morning he forces us to pet him while we attempt to eat breakfast, and again while we eat dinner).  People often wonder why we eat so many of our meals on the floor, and it's because it gives us a chance to continue to bond with Dwight and give him the attention he crave every day.