Friday, November 16, 2007
A Weekend Off
A rabbit show weekend for me is normally more hectic than my week. It takes planning. It takes preparation. There's packing, loading, unloading, reloading, unloading again. Usually there's driving - from the rare two-hour weekend to the upper end 17-hour weekend. I'm always glad I go to shows, of course, but I'm always exhausted.
So, in keeping with my attempt to cut down on showing this year, I've decided to stay home this weekend. None of that hectic-ness for me. And no exhaustion either.
Instead, I'm starting off my weekend by babysitting my grand nephew. It started at 6:00 a.m. this morning, or rather, about 20 minutes before. He's a good baby, nearly 4 months old. Unfortunately, he wants to play at 6:00 a.m. instead of nap. But I eventually got a quick nap before 10:00 a.m. So did he.
And got my breakfast about 11:00 a.m.
He's sleeping now, or there would have been no BLOG today at all.
Around 4:30, after I've gotten him fed and changed, my sister is coming by and we're going to the movies - with the baby. That should be fun. And then we'll grab a bite to eat, if I know my sister. That's a good start to a relaxing weekend.
That, of course, will mean feeding the rabbits late in the evening, when it's cold and I'm tired. But that's nothing like driving 7 hours to Conyers, GA.
Now tomorrow, I hope to sleep a little late - but not too late. We've been working on a painting job for weeks now and we have to finish up this weekend. We can't bring in a Christmas tree with shelves everywhere, tools everywhere, paint cans everywhere, and the floors covered with plastic. We've nearly finished Lydia's room. So I guess we'll start by moving her back in to her room. Anna's room needs the trim painted - twice. Then we can put up her wallpaper boarder and princess decoration. Her closet is a bit complicated. And there are doorknobs and outlet covers to replace.
Then we can start painting the hallway and linen closet. Talk about trim! There are 6 doors leading to the hallway and complicated corner-curving shelves in the closet.
I don't even want to think about the kids' bathroom. We have taken down the border, but there's a lot of patching and sanding to do there before we even get to start painting. That's not going to be fun.
And then there are a few chores in the barn to tend to. We need to sanitize the water system again and get it back on-line. I got the all's clear report back before Convention, but we haven't had the time to get the bunnies back on the system. I'll keep crocks in each cage until I observe the rabbit drinking from the system. A few never learn or never do well, so I have to sort out who can and cannot use the system. That will really cut down on the watering chores. I can't wait!
Andrew got the plastic over the northern windows, but we now need to cover the southern ones, too. That shouldn't be too bad. I'm sure we'll have time.
I have a couple of rows of empty cages. That seems like a perfect situation for taking out cages and pressure washing them. The water lines will have to be unclipped for sanitizing anyway so the cages can be propped away from the water lines. We don't want any rabbits drinking the Vanodine solution (by the way, I'm sanitizing again because the system has been open and empty for several weeks - just a precaution).
I think Andrew is going to have to take Monday off in order to get all of this done. Because after everything else, we're going to have to do a deep cleaning on the house. After all, next week is Thanksgiving and the family will all be gathering. We're bound to have some company.
Oh, and I forgot, I need to assemble LaForge's new cage. He's Lydia's pet now, of course. And Daniel has claimed Rio for his own. Now he wants a fancy cage, too. He likes Rio because he can pet him like a dog, he says. I think Rio will like his new situation a lot. And Anna's two new Jersey Woolies need to be moved to the barn. They've been in the house for quarantine.
Then we'll need to clean the six stacking cages we have and put them in the house. I lost too many kits to the cold this last go round, so I'm going to be bringing in my kindling does. My numbers are just too low right now to sustain unnecessary losses. I lost 4 Roxie x Rio babies and yes, they were all black.
One last task (I think) - we need to clean my carriers for the December 1 show in Columbia, SC. By "we," I mean Andrew, of course. Andrew is out of town on business the week after Thanksgiving, so we need to be caught up before he leaves and I'm the single parent of four for the week.
Well, thank goodness I'm not going to that tiring show. I really needed a weekend off to rest and get away from it all. Andrew is right. I need to stay home more often and take it easy.
On the other hand, after this weekend, he may be very happy to see me get back on the road again!
Laurie ¶ 1:13 PM
So, in keeping with my attempt to cut down on showing this year, I've decided to stay home this weekend. None of that hectic-ness for me. And no exhaustion either.
Instead, I'm starting off my weekend by babysitting my grand nephew. It started at 6:00 a.m. this morning, or rather, about 20 minutes before. He's a good baby, nearly 4 months old. Unfortunately, he wants to play at 6:00 a.m. instead of nap. But I eventually got a quick nap before 10:00 a.m. So did he.
And got my breakfast about 11:00 a.m.
He's sleeping now, or there would have been no BLOG today at all.
Around 4:30, after I've gotten him fed and changed, my sister is coming by and we're going to the movies - with the baby. That should be fun. And then we'll grab a bite to eat, if I know my sister. That's a good start to a relaxing weekend.
That, of course, will mean feeding the rabbits late in the evening, when it's cold and I'm tired. But that's nothing like driving 7 hours to Conyers, GA.
Now tomorrow, I hope to sleep a little late - but not too late. We've been working on a painting job for weeks now and we have to finish up this weekend. We can't bring in a Christmas tree with shelves everywhere, tools everywhere, paint cans everywhere, and the floors covered with plastic. We've nearly finished Lydia's room. So I guess we'll start by moving her back in to her room. Anna's room needs the trim painted - twice. Then we can put up her wallpaper boarder and princess decoration. Her closet is a bit complicated. And there are doorknobs and outlet covers to replace.
Then we can start painting the hallway and linen closet. Talk about trim! There are 6 doors leading to the hallway and complicated corner-curving shelves in the closet.
I don't even want to think about the kids' bathroom. We have taken down the border, but there's a lot of patching and sanding to do there before we even get to start painting. That's not going to be fun.
And then there are a few chores in the barn to tend to. We need to sanitize the water system again and get it back on-line. I got the all's clear report back before Convention, but we haven't had the time to get the bunnies back on the system. I'll keep crocks in each cage until I observe the rabbit drinking from the system. A few never learn or never do well, so I have to sort out who can and cannot use the system. That will really cut down on the watering chores. I can't wait!
Andrew got the plastic over the northern windows, but we now need to cover the southern ones, too. That shouldn't be too bad. I'm sure we'll have time.
I have a couple of rows of empty cages. That seems like a perfect situation for taking out cages and pressure washing them. The water lines will have to be unclipped for sanitizing anyway so the cages can be propped away from the water lines. We don't want any rabbits drinking the Vanodine solution (by the way, I'm sanitizing again because the system has been open and empty for several weeks - just a precaution).
I think Andrew is going to have to take Monday off in order to get all of this done. Because after everything else, we're going to have to do a deep cleaning on the house. After all, next week is Thanksgiving and the family will all be gathering. We're bound to have some company.
Oh, and I forgot, I need to assemble LaForge's new cage. He's Lydia's pet now, of course. And Daniel has claimed Rio for his own. Now he wants a fancy cage, too. He likes Rio because he can pet him like a dog, he says. I think Rio will like his new situation a lot. And Anna's two new Jersey Woolies need to be moved to the barn. They've been in the house for quarantine.
Then we'll need to clean the six stacking cages we have and put them in the house. I lost too many kits to the cold this last go round, so I'm going to be bringing in my kindling does. My numbers are just too low right now to sustain unnecessary losses. I lost 4 Roxie x Rio babies and yes, they were all black.
One last task (I think) - we need to clean my carriers for the December 1 show in Columbia, SC. By "we," I mean Andrew, of course. Andrew is out of town on business the week after Thanksgiving, so we need to be caught up before he leaves and I'm the single parent of four for the week.
Well, thank goodness I'm not going to that tiring show. I really needed a weekend off to rest and get away from it all. Andrew is right. I need to stay home more often and take it easy.
On the other hand, after this weekend, he may be very happy to see me get back on the road again!
Laurie ¶ 1:13 PM
