Wednesday, May 09, 2007
For My Part
It's been one of those crazy weeks. We started off Sunday by going to a tea dance in the afternoon.
Monday afternoon I spent in the barn with my three-month-olds, sexing and doing a preliminary sorting. My arms look like hamburger from handling all of those first timers.
Monday night, we had dance lessons. Tuesday night was family night. It was a sort of family day because the power company cut our telephone wires (aren't those the guys who always advertise to call before you dig?). Tuesday night brought bad badminton. Yes, the "bad" was on purpose. We're terrible.
This morning, Andrew and I went to Sarah's school to demonstrate and teach a little about Latin ballroom dancing (thankfully there was only time for a little since that's all we know!). For three hours, we demonstrated and taught.
For the life of me, I can't believe I ever thought that being in the arms of a sixteen-year-old was an exciting thing.
Anyway, on the way home - totally exhausted from dancing on hard floors and communicating with a total of about sixty students, I had a thought. "Well, we've done our part today to promote our dancing hobby."
Sarah, by the way, reports that her friends think her parents are "way cool" and some of them want to learn more dance steps!
This afternoon, I spent more time in the barn, this time doing my least favorite chore - tattooing. I've got to get ready early for this weekend's show because Friday night is Sarah's prom. After we get her out the door, we'll pop the rabbits in the van and I'll try to catch a few winks before doing that crazy middle-of-the-night-drive-to-the-next-state-to show-my-rabbits-and-then-drive-back-home-in-the-same-day routine.
So as I was out there clipping nails, checking teeth, and seeing which rabbits would still have some of their fur left on their bodies by Saturday, I started thinking about doing my part to promote our hobby.
I've been struggling lately with how much is reasonable for people to ask of me and how much I should do. Sometimes I feel that I'm at people's beck and call. I get letters asking me to send folks show information and directions to shows that I'm not even associated with.
So where's the balance between helping people and promoting our hobby, and letting a hobby take over your life? As you can tell, my life is already pretty full as it is.
For my part, I don't want to be totally self-absorbed only worrying about me and mine. I do want to do things that encourage and promote our hobby in general and help people individually.
But I'm also learning I have to draw the line somewhere.
Rumor has it that the Spanish II teacher at Sarah's school is interested in having us come and dance with her classes. I think the answer has to be, "no." I've got to start setting limits now.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry “Home Of Grand Champions”
Precious Pet Rabbits
Affordable Web Site Design ¶ 6:54 PM
Monday afternoon I spent in the barn with my three-month-olds, sexing and doing a preliminary sorting. My arms look like hamburger from handling all of those first timers.
Monday night, we had dance lessons. Tuesday night was family night. It was a sort of family day because the power company cut our telephone wires (aren't those the guys who always advertise to call before you dig?). Tuesday night brought bad badminton. Yes, the "bad" was on purpose. We're terrible.
This morning, Andrew and I went to Sarah's school to demonstrate and teach a little about Latin ballroom dancing (thankfully there was only time for a little since that's all we know!). For three hours, we demonstrated and taught.
For the life of me, I can't believe I ever thought that being in the arms of a sixteen-year-old was an exciting thing.
Anyway, on the way home - totally exhausted from dancing on hard floors and communicating with a total of about sixty students, I had a thought. "Well, we've done our part today to promote our dancing hobby."
Sarah, by the way, reports that her friends think her parents are "way cool" and some of them want to learn more dance steps!
This afternoon, I spent more time in the barn, this time doing my least favorite chore - tattooing. I've got to get ready early for this weekend's show because Friday night is Sarah's prom. After we get her out the door, we'll pop the rabbits in the van and I'll try to catch a few winks before doing that crazy middle-of-the-night-drive-to-the-next-state-to show-my-rabbits-and-then-drive-back-home-in-the-same-day routine.
So as I was out there clipping nails, checking teeth, and seeing which rabbits would still have some of their fur left on their bodies by Saturday, I started thinking about doing my part to promote our hobby.
I've been struggling lately with how much is reasonable for people to ask of me and how much I should do. Sometimes I feel that I'm at people's beck and call. I get letters asking me to send folks show information and directions to shows that I'm not even associated with.
So where's the balance between helping people and promoting our hobby, and letting a hobby take over your life? As you can tell, my life is already pretty full as it is.
For my part, I don't want to be totally self-absorbed only worrying about me and mine. I do want to do things that encourage and promote our hobby in general and help people individually.
But I'm also learning I have to draw the line somewhere.
Rumor has it that the Spanish II teacher at Sarah's school is interested in having us come and dance with her classes. I think the answer has to be, "no." I've got to start setting limits now.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry “Home Of Grand Champions”
Precious Pet Rabbits
Affordable Web Site Design ¶ 6:54 PM
