Okay, so I know the title doesn’t make much sense, but this entry is such a platypus of topics, I couldn’t think of a good title so I just tried to merge them all together. I promise the entry itself isn’t so cryptic.
Today I reached a whole new level of…well, depression - for lack of a better word. I was going through my work computer trying to clear out old files that I no longer need and stumbled across photos from a work trip we took to San Antonio a few years ago (I think it was 2004). Anyway, in the photos, I couldn’t help but notice how thin I was - emphasis on WAS. Yes, that’s right, I have added probably 20 pounds in the past year or so since leaving the city. Just one more reason to be sad that I’m not still in New York. Sigh.
I suppose this really should motivate me to start working out again, or go on a diet…instead it just makes me want to make a mad dash to the grocery story and find comfort from my buds, Ben & Jerry.
However, I really should do something… Aside from the fact that I just really looked good in those pictures, I’m starting to notice just how many clothes I have now that don’t really fit so well any more. On top of which, I’m down to 8 weeks and 3 days before I leave for the Alaska cruise. If I can get my rapidly-expanding butt in gear now, I could potentially lose most (if not all) of those 20 superfluous pounds before then. So c’mon Deb - whatcha waiting for? Hop to!
On an entirely different subject, I should probably update on my last entry re: Colleen and the troubles there. Thanks to all for comments, thoughts, and prayers on this - and please don’t stop! I did speak to her, she apologized, but nothing has really changed. She still doesn’t shut off the water completely in the bathroom half the time. She still leaves all the lights on in the house - even when she’s holed-up in her room. And I have yet to see her take any trash items out to the corner. But such is life. I will press on as before, speak to her when I have to, but otherwise just figure that she most likely isn’t going to change so I should just not be surprised when she doesn’t.
This Saturday she and her boyfriend (Chris) are meeting me up at my Aunt Susan & Uncle Jeff’s for dinner which should be interesting. I’ve been anxious for her to meet them, partly because I just don’t think she really has any concept what Christians really look like (and I know I’m not always the best example). So I’d love for her to get to spend even a couple of hours in a home with Christ is pre-eminent…and it shows. I think that house is one of the best examples of what a true God-filled home can be and it will be very interesting to see what she thinks afterwards - and Chris since he isn’t a Christian either. I’ll let you know, but you guys could all pray about that as well.
Finally, tragedy struck in my backyard yesterday.
I knew that there was something going on under the Evil Bush that grows by the sliding glass doors. Chena’s had an abnormal interest in that area for a couple of weeks - sniffing around, pawing at the ground, and even whining sometimes like she does when she can’t get a toy that’s rolled under the sofa. Then the other day we saw a bunny in the backyard. Chena spotted it first through the door and had started growling. I really need to work to help her understand the difference between a burglar and a bunny - she seems to think anything in the backyard carries the same threat, when in truth, I’m much less afraid of a bunny - that is, unless it’s THE rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail…
Anyway, yesterday when I got home, I took Chena outside and we discovered that there is actually a bunny nest under the bush! While this might normally be a happy find, I was extremely distressed because two of the baby bunnies were lying dead just outside of the rabbit hole. One of them was missing its head, the other looked like it may have just been literally scared to death because it was completely intact, but just lying there. This has to be one of the saddest things I have ever seen.
I looked it up online and discovered that typically if a baby bunny is found dead like that (without a head), a few sites said it was most likely the work of a house cat in the area since any other animal would have taken its prey with it. However house cats don’t kill for hunger, so this is often how they’ll leave things they get a hold of. Several of my neighbors have cats that they let wander around so I think this is the most likely scenario. Colleen of course thought it was Chena - yeah, right! First off, Chena’s not vicious like that - she had even seen the baby bunnies before and didn’t growl at them or anything. Secondly, those bunnies weren’t there in the morning so it had to be something that happened during the day and Chena was inside all day. So whatever. I know it wasn’t her.
I know that bunnies have a high mortality rate (part of the reason why I think they have so many babies!) but it still bothered me to find that. I had to scoop them up with a shovel and take them out of the yard of course - that was even sadder. I’m not sure if there are more babies or not - I suspect that there may be, but I can’t see into the hole well enough to tell…and I’m certainly not one to go messing around with that bush with its evil prickers.
So that’s it. I’m fat, my roommate is difficult, and the bunnies are dead. Sigh. For fear of ruining everyone’s day by ending on such a downer, I’ll finish by adding a few additional (and hopefully more fun) tidbits…
1) Happy Easter!! Hope everyone had a good one! (And yes, the dead bunnies in the wake of Easter has not escaped my finely-tuned irony radar) I spent most of my weekend painting. My kitchen is now yellow (Sherwin Williams “Bee’s Wax” to be exact - see swatch) which looks great next to my green cabinets. And then I decided to do an accent wall so I’ve painted the long wall in my living/dining room red (see swatch again). It looks brilliant against the khaki in the rest of the room, not to mention the yellow from the kitchen. I’m painting the powder room the same color which I think will be a great way to bring some of the color elsewhere.
2) I got a new refrigerator and dishwasher (Best Buy, 24 mos no interest financing which is like free money for 2 years!) They were delivered on Friday, installed on Saturday, and look fantastic in my kitchen… Almost feels like a whole new kitchen. Next purchase will be an over-the-range microwave so I can get some of my limited counter space back. Oh, and the fridge I got is a TV star. Yes, that’s right. The day before they delivered it, HGTV had gone to Best Buy to film my fridge for some show they’re doing in the area. So my sleek, sexy, counter-depth, in-door water & ice dispensing fridge will be coming soon to a TV near you. Autographs? Why yes, if anyone is interested, I’m sure I could get a freezer bag signed for you. Just let me know.
