New Office, New Mousepad

As the result of recent space issues in my building, many of us have been given new offices. The one I was put into didn't have a desk with a keyboard tray, so for the first time since starting this particular job, I had need of a mousepad.

Luckily, I knew just where to go for what I needed: Potentially Crazy! And here is the result:















Do I now have the coolest desk ever, or what?

Now go on out there and buy your own. Alice has lots of great bunny products for you to choose from!

Monday Bunday: How Does Your Garden Grow?

This weekend, Cadbury went to check on his garden.
















He was a little concerned that the soil wasn't properly aerated, so he worked on that a little, loosening things up so his plants would grow.
















Here he is posing with one of his chard plants, soon to be ready for bunny salads!















Yay for Farmer Cadbury!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Monday Bunday and Weekend Recap

Rabbit. Top View.

It's been eventful weekend at the House of Cadbury. First, there was the memorial last Thursday for our neighbor's son. Then on Friday and Saturday we had to deal with further rodent problems. We did what we could on our own on Friday, which was our Spring Break day from the university. We had a professional come out on Saturday and we think the situation is now under control, thank goodness! On Saturday night, Dan and I went to a family party, which was fun once I got some food, but we were out quite a lot later than we expected.

In writing news, I've incorporated a lot of new edits into my web-pubbed/self-pubbed Steal Tomorrow site. And I also won a little contest over at Everyday Fiction's Flash Fiction Chronicles. They're making quite a fuss over me, asking for bio, photo and a guest post, and they're going to send me a book and maybe other stuff too, for all I know. I'm amused at all this because the story in question is only 238 words.

Anyway, it's all good, and now the weekend is over and it's time to head back to work.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Death and Community

Last week, the son of a neighbor-friend committed suicide. This post isn't about that, as sad and frustrating as the event has been. Rather, this is a story about community.

Our friend lives a couple houses up the street from us and is a professor at the university. His son was a student and a member of a fraternity. From the moment our friend got the news, the university community came together to help. Fellow faculty members got him sedated and took him to the home of another professor in our neighborhood. Grad students offered to take over his classes and have stayed at his house in shifts so he wouldn't have to be alone. Those of us who live in the neighborhood have paid visits, taken him out for coffee, offered to walk the dogs, and made sure all the little details of life have been taken care of.

The memorial service was today at the university chapel, and the place was standing room only. Afterward, we attended a reception at a professor's home here in our neighborhood. There were a lot of faculty members I didn't know, since I primarily work with staff, but when they found out I worked for the university and lived in the neighborhood, their eyes lit up and I knew they saw me as a member of the club.

I mention all this because I don't think I've ever seen a real community in action before now, and I find it fascinating. I've sensed the community spirit since Dan and I first moved here, and we all banded together in mutual cleanup after Hurricane Ike, but this is different. This is the community coming together to care for one of its own in a way I never saw in the suburban churches and neighborhoods of my youth or the workplaces of my pre-university years. This is community as family and protector, community as provider and loving friend. This is a warm blanket on a cold winter night.

We humans lost something important when we left our tribes and villages for the cities. We have gained in myriad ways, and I'll always be a city girl, but our ancestors knew something that we've lost sight of: we need our community. We need each other.

Pixel: 1992 - 2010

We had to say good-bye to my dear friend Pixel today.















He was eighteen years old and had been in decline for a couple of years due to chronic renal failure, which is always fatal.

I had him since he was a kitten. He used to climb my bedspread and sit on the edge of my bed, triumphant at his grand accomplishment. As an adult cat he was shy with strangers, but a lovebug with me and Dan. He was playful until almost the end, still willing to chase a catnip mouse as recently as two weeks ago. His final decline was rapid and painful to see.

He leaves a big hole in my life, but eighteen years together does that. It was a longer relationship than I've had with my husband!

Pix and Tidbit were great friends, as you can see here:













When we moved to this house two and a half years ago, Pixel cowered in his carrier, scared to come out, while Tid waited patiently at the carrier door for more than a day. Sometimes she'd poke her head in, sometimes she would thump at him, as if to say, "Hurry up!" Most of the time, she just laid there, waiting.



















I like to think they're together again. No doubt she's been wondering what was taking him so long.

Monday Bunday: A Piece of Hay

It cracks me up when bunnies do this - start at one end of a single strand of hay and slowly make it disappear. I don't know why it always gives me the giggles, but it does.

Have a happy Monday, everyone!

Monday Bunday: Time Passes

Time passes, friends, and in recognition of this simple fact, Cadbury would like to draw your attention to a very fine calendar:
















Yes, it's Alice's bunnies!


















What great photos! Even if your day isn't going as planned, you can look at this calendar and smile.


















But don't just take Cadbury's word for it. Go get your own, right here.

Have a fine week, everyone!

Bunny in Need: Pancakes

It has recently come to our attention that there's a bunny out there who needs help. His name is Pancakes, and he's a cutie and a fighter.

Pancakes has an abscess that got out of control, and it looks like he may have some dental issues as well. His first owners didn't know what to do and gave him to someone who also didn't know what to do. Meanwhile, the abscess kept growing. Now Pancakes is in a loving home with people who are determined to do everything they can for him, but they've already nearly lost him once and need to keep raising money for vet bills and medicine.

Pancakes' long-term prognosis is excellent, and a lot of people have sent money to help with his care, but more may be needed. Please go read his story and donate if you can. Or go to bunspace, friend him, see his pics, and offer encouragement. Everyone needs a kind word now and then, and one of the things I find most hopeful about humanity is the way people will rally around strangers and animals in need.

Keep fighting, Pancakes!

Monday Bunday: Sunshine Bunny

Someone spent some time relaxing in the sunshine this weekend!















With a rainy Monday in the forecast, he knew he needed to soak up those rays while he could!

Have a bright sunshiney week, everyone!