grading grading grading

7:20 am

                Not like I really have any time to write. What I really should be doing is grading lab reports. I did absolutely NONE yesterday. Instead I zoomed off to work early, on the 7:30 bus, so I could run in the gym before I had to be at work at 9:30 for Administrative Professionals Day. We always have cake and flowers and given that it is my office mate that arranges everything and picks it all up and lays it all out, I really have to be there. Then somehow the 2 hours between lecture and lab just disappeared in a puff of smoke and I didn’t manage to grade at all. When I got home at 5:30 G had made her decision – Warren Wilson – wooooooohoooooooo! So I was feeling really relieved and decided I wanted to get ice cream at Flavors to celebrate, and we might as well go to the grocery store at the same time. And once at the store, since we went to Whole Foods, I decided I might as well get salmon for supper, so when we got home at 6:30 I had to cook that. And by the time all that was done, and bunnies fed and all the rest, I was pooped. So no grading then, either. I did read some of Uncle Tom’s Cabin for bookclub.

                So, today. Lab is at 1:15 (except that this year has been the worst ever for people showing up late……..). If I want to go to the gym, I’ll need to get there by 11:45, meaning I take the 11 bus. But I want to bring bunnies. Should I bring the bigger ones today? If so, can I really take them in the bus? They are pretty big. I could stick them in a cardboard box. Or I could bring little ones again. Maybe I should drive on Friday and bring the big ones then. But I kind of wanted to give these little guys a rest today. So maybe I really should drive today. I could leave the cage in the car while I run, then bring them in. meaning I will have to leave here around 11:30. And before that I was thinking of baking some cookies. But that is stupid. Maybe I’ll just make simple brownies. Why do I feel compelled to do that???? Are not bunnies enough? After all I really don’t have time to bake if I want to get some good grading done. Ok, I think I will just bring buns and spend as much time as I can before I must leave on grading. It is 7:30 now. I still must do bunnies and eat breakfast. That gives me a good solid 3 hours. And in between I can get some laundry done which is at a pretty crucial stage. I could start in on grading the barley assignment, but I think I will keep cruising on lab reports instead and save barley for the weekend.

                Oh blah blah blah. What good thing will happen today? Well, doing chicks is actually quite fun. And it is fun to see all the students with bunnies. Other than that……..

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The News from Here

7:30 am

                Tuesday lovely Tuesday. And ------ next week I will have to go into work on Tuesday because: IT IS THE LAST DAY OF CLASSES!!!! WOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! That does not by any means mean that I have no more work because I will still be grading, then on Sunday they will take the exam and I will be grading that. Still. It is woo hoo because things will be more flexible. Of course, in some ways it is the worst part of my job: the grading, without the best part: student interaction. Well, I can certainly offer to be available for study help before the exam.

                This Tuesday lovely Tuesday is not really going to be that lovely because of all the grading. I am slightly less than 1/3 of the way through the mass of lab reports. And tomorrow I will start getting a mass of barley assignments, but they are much easier to grade. And besides all that, it is raining which is a drag because it means I cannot sit outside to grade while rabbits frolic in their outdoor runs. Too wet for them. Maybe it will dry out later today.

                More bunny news: let’s see, I now have 1 litter of 5 that is about 5? 6? Weeks old. I have separated them from Mom, they are growing very fast and seem fat and happy. I have 3 litters (9 total) that are 3 weeks old. They are just leaving the nest box (hopping in and out) and starting to eat pellets, and bug poor Mom.  And I have 2 small litters of just 2 each that are now a week old. And I have a good range of colors – some white, some black, some of what I believe are called lilac, some nice brownish – probably agouti, one very clear fawn, another brown, probably another black (the little ones are still hard to tell).  I rebred the two white females (Angel and Chrysanthemum) and the fawn (Charlotta) that did not produce litters, so they may kindle in 3 more weeks.

On a not so good note, Bo, the French male I got in NY last year, showed one big glob of snot in his nose yesterday. I decided I would wait and see, but I have to gear myself, if he shows any more, to cull him. From everything I’ve read, it is the only way to go because pasteurella is so contagious. I most definitely do not want to lose him, but I will just have to toughen myself.

So that’s the news from C. Drive……

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sleeping and more babies

8 am

                So how lazy is it for me to sleep ‘til 7:30 when I went to bed just past 10? I keep wondering if it is bad to get “too much” sleep. Part of it is probably that I take quite a while to fall asleep most nights (compared to K who starts immediately snoring away) and part may be because I end up waking up most night at least once and laying there for a while. And part might be that I just love to doze in the morning if I have a chance. I love to turn over the night’s dreams (what I remember) in my mind. Last night there seemed to be two that both involved trying to leave a museum type place and having a really hard time. Hmmmmm? Well I am not going to worry about the sleep. It works for me.

                More baby buns born last week. Amber and Beatrix both had litters, both from Radish, but only 2 each. At least they are all fat and happy. The others are doing well. Night before last it got down to freezing so I brought all the 2 week olds in so they would not hop out of their nest boxes and get chilled. I brought that group in to work yesterday and they certainly got socialized in a big way. I brought the “big gang” in on Thurs and they also got mega socialized. These newbies will only get a bit before school ends.

                Today is going to have to be grading day. I have the full set of plant lab reports to work on – joy. I have a feeling K is going to be pissed. He complained the other weekend that I spend every weekend grading. Well, that is life. I would far prefer not to have to spend my time doing just that. I think today I will let him know I must grade, and then ask what nice thing he would like to do as a break.

                Biggest news I haven’t even mentioned. I suppose that is good since it is not really my “news” and only partially my business. Anyway, G is in Portland right now. She visited Lewis and Clark yesterday (spent Thursday night). She hated it. Ok. So now (tomorrow night) on to Warren Wilson. I sure as hell hope she likes it. If she does not, well, I don’t know where we stand. If she does, then that is that. Meanwhile she is in Portland with my friend. I am kind of jealous. I would not have wanted to do the plane trip, but it is kind of surreal that she is there. It sounds like she’s having a decent time there.

                Other news: L is in, of all places, Las Vegas. She went with a group from school to present a poster at a Human Ecology conference. And they hope to get out into the desert to “herp.” She actually called and it sounds like the presentation went well, which is excellent because I know she was really nervous about it.

                I actually finished spinning the latest 3 ounces of dog hair – I just have to mail it off. And last night I started in on the last 4 ounces that I have of Lucky fiber. It was very nice to just spin, listen the This American Life, and not think about grading.

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New Baby Bunnies!

7:15 am

                Well here’s an amazing thing. It is 7 am, Monday morning and it seems that I have time to write! I suppose it is because I bust my butt all weekend to get the exam page graded and finished last night at about 10. So, although I still have a full set of virtually untouched drawings to grade, I decided I would work on them this afternoon and tomorrow (I think I can crank them out) and write this morning. Shall I also meditate? That would truly be miraculous.

                And here’s even better news: BABY BUNNIES! I now have 3 litters. One is quite old – nearly 4 weeks, the others are only a week. I have a bunch of deaths, it happens. But to look more positively, I have 16 that appear as of now, healthy. Of course those week olds are still very young and you never know. I had one large litter that lost all but one, so I moved some of another large litter in with the one and they all seem to be doing well. It is heartening.

                Not so great but related stuff: the new bylaw will be going to Town Meeting in May. It was pushed forward by some folks that want to make it easier for people to have backyard chickens, and is a great idea, but they included Rabbits in it and it is a bit wonky for rabbits. Not to mention that, although I’m sure that technically what I am doing is not allowed, well, no one has complained. I figure that the town, if someone complained, would tell me I can’t do it, but if none of the neighbors has a problem, then why make a fuss. But now, I will have to register my rabbits, for $10 a year, and have the health and animal officers in town come and inspect things to be sure I am following whatever rules someone has set up. It is a total pain and I have a feeling that whether or not I am following rules will depend on how picky the officers are. And the rules are written for chickens. At one point they required a certain amount of fenced space per animal. I hope they took that out, as I am not planning to let my rabbits run in the yard in a colony set up. The whole thing is a pain if you ask me. I had thought of suggesting that they take the rabbit part out, but I do not want to make a fuss and then have someone say that I can’t have rabbits here.

                                I am feeling a little jittery this morning. I think it is because I decided to switch around the antidepressant. My doctor put me on Welbutrin instead of the Zoloft. I think it may actually be better, but we may have to adjust the amount, because I do get a bit of these jitters sometimes. I am supposed to be taking half of the Zoloft amount also, at night, but I keep forgetting. Morning is easy, I take everything – vitamins, calcium, vit D, and the anti-depressant all together when I take my lovely morning psillium. But I am not in the habit at night. Maybe I should do it when I brush my teeth.

I feel like it would be good to expand my friendship base, but, again, being so damn busy makes that hard. I am worried (of course, why not just worry worry worry) about summer and how easy it will be put everything off until then and then have the summer completely fill with random stuff like cleaning……. In other words, I have not cleaned for months……

                Ok gotta get a move on.

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