1. There are so many things I would show you if only I could find the freaking charger for my camera battery. A charger that they don’t seem to sell in stores. I could order one from Amazon, but I want to see if it turns up.

2. Kasey and I are going on a mini vacation this weekend to our favorite city, Philadelphia! I’m planning it as part of my very late Valentine’s Day present to her. I’m very excited.

3. They opened a Steve & Barry’s just a half hour from us. It is so interesting the way the towns around me are moving up. This town used to be pretty small, but still had the most to do around us. It had a decent mall and then a Red Lobster and Chi Chi’s nearby. Now there are tons of stores everywhere and much more places to eat. It’s really interesting. We spotted the S&B’s yesterday while going to Old Country Buffet, Kasey’s favorite place to eat. We stopped in b/c they were having an sale, $8.95 for everything in the store. Holy crap! I got a pair of Bitten jeans (Yes jeans! I now own a pair of pants!) and a dress. After we left OCB was closed. I felt really bad that my shopping made Kasey miss eating there so we are heading back there tonight so I can take her there and also so I can get some more Bitten. I so heart Sarah Jessica Parker for creating this line. She could have made plenty of money by making a designer line that only appeals to the rich & skinny, but I am thrilled that she made this affordable line that includes clothing I can fit into. (Even with my recent 12 lb weight gain. Boo.)

4. Yesterday I had my first appointment with my new Dr. It went well. They ordered tons of blood work so I am dreading getting that done. She also deemed my new rash (not the armpit one, the one on my neck) “very interesting” and “something that needs to be looked at”. I have an appointment at the dermatologist next week.

5. Tula is not like Penelope at all. I used to adore having a litter-trained rabbit, but Tula doesn’t seem to be having anything of it. She pretty much goes where she is and she seems to poop her weights worth daily. I think it will balance out once she gets used to eating better food, but for now it is a little too much. She is friendly, but she is also very timid. She is very good with being handled. I hold her several times a day to get her used to it. I clipped her nails a bit today (I have to get better clippers to finish. Mine seem dull.) and she was great. She just stayed still while I did it.

6. Penelope is jealous and hates Tula. Tula is sort of like the overly friendly neighbor that drops by. Whenever she is out she tries to go to Penny’s cage to play and Penny just tries to bit her through the bars. We have to wait until two weeks after Penny gets spayed to try and bond them. Other than her biting me once though she seems to be good. Kasey and I are trying to redo the room so we all have more space so she has been caged more than normal. I think that is adding to it.

I missed yesterday? Wtf?

Oh well. Tuesdays are long for me. I had work than a night class than wings that took forever, but were really cheap and then Wal*Mart and then I tried to watch Dane Cook. Ehh..

Did you know that I am the queen of losing shit? No, I mean the absolute queen. I lost my favorite Tiffany Starfish necklace that was pretty much my most prized possession months ago.

Currently on the lost radar? The charger for my camera battery, my license, my photo card to get a new license, and my cell phone. It is KILLING me. So I can’t take pictures of Tula to share. (I killed the battery completely forcing it to upload those few photos of her.) I have also been trying to coordinate calling Loralee since January and now I can’t find my freaking phone.

It is maddening!

I am also used to having a messy office. So I don’t panic when things are lost because they must be in my messy office. Right now my office is 100% cleaned up and perfect and still these items are missing. Ugg. I need to go somewhere. I can’t deal with this. than again if I did go somewhere you wouldn’t know because I can’t take pictures to share with you!

These are things not yet started.

1. Write paper on gender.

2. Read chapter on Mothering & write reaction.

3. Read short story and write reaction.

4. Write another paper…the topic of which I haven’t even looked at.*

I’m so excited for tomorrow.

*I just checked it is on concepts of sexual orientation. Oh boy!

Just in case you were wondering having two bunnies is a lot more work than having one bunny.

Happy Easter!

Kasey and I went the traditional route and gave each other Easter baskets. Curious about our loot?

We sort of used it as an opportunity to give each other stuff we already needed for the room. Romantic, yes? All compliments of Target.

I hope yours was just as good if less practical.

Can I tell you guys a secret? I know that is a stupid question to ask the internet, bear with me here. So Kasey and I had an interesting day today. We went out a little shopping and got a bit to eat. Then we were at a pet store buying some food for Penelope. Someone was standing near us and once she saw us picking up bunny stuff she started talking to us. She said she got a bunny for her daughter for Easter (of course) and quickly found out her daughter is allergic. Then I guess the store wouldn’t take it back and she couldn’t find anyone else to take the bunny. Umm…okay. So she wanted to know if we wanted one because her next stop was the SPCA.

This rabbit is some sort of Peter’s Rabbits so it is supposed to be bred for friendliness and it is already spayed…well for two bunny people that is hard to say no to. We told her we needed to think about it, but told her not to go to the SPCA yet. We went to another part of the store to talk about it and decided that we would take her.

Yeah guys…I am trying to tell you that we got a new rabbit today. I just couldn’t bear the thought of this adorable bunny in a grungy cage being poked at by lord knows how many people or worse a hasty Easter present for another kid.

After much deliberation we decided to name her Tula Madeline. (Kasey and I LOVE the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. That is where we got the name from.) I guess you want to see her right? Okay. I have that covered.

Now the problem is bonding her and Penelope because apparently Penelope hates small adorable baby bunnies. I might have to take some time to work on this. In any case there is a new member of the family…oddly around Easter.

1. CLEAN the room for Kasey and I. For serious. Also bring mini fridge to room to keep fresh veggies and fruit available for Penelope and drinks for us.

2. Maybe a mini road trip somewhere? Currently on my mind is Edison, NJ to visit a new LUSH store.

3. Find the darn charger for my camera.

4. Watch Fried Green Tomatoes.

5. Do my school work. This is really a need to do thing.

This year was my first year actually doing something on St. Patrick’s Day and I don’t exactly know how I felt about it.

Kasey and I got up early and drove to her friend’s house that a group of us were going to leave from. There were 8 of us all together so it was a nice big group. We drove to Scranton (you know, where The Office is set), parked and walked to where the parade was going on. I was excited to hear that Hillary Clinton was there and it was also nice to see a whole bunch of people with Hillary Clinton stickers and posters because sometimes I feel like I am alone in my love of her. So we walked past the parade and got in line for a bar called Tink’s. A line. For a bar. Called Tink’s. Yeah. So we were in line for about a half an hour maybe more. We finally got to the door and squeezed inside. We had to pay $10 a person just to get in and then Kasey got us 2 beers each at $3 a beer. If it is possible to go through the entire college experience (being someone who drinks) and NOT drink beer I would like to see it. I hate beer and I constantly find myself drinking the stuff either because it is so cheap or in this case it is all that is available.

So we’re in the bar and it is completely packed. You have to sort of tunnel through people and it’s hard to find space to stand let alone move. We finally get to a little clearing with enough room for all of us to stand near each other and move a little to dance. People are bumping into us and other people have to tunnel through every once and again to get to the other side.

Now I have pretty severe anxiety problems so in addition to hanging out with a big group I am with them in a packed bar?! It was crazy. However Kasey is really attentive and I was able to relax and she kept me feeling really calm. I drank my 2 beers and then one of our friends got me another one. I don’t drink to much so pretty quickly I was feeling very relaxed. The more I drink the more personable and happy I get so I was starting to get more outgoing. This guy came into the group and somehow we started talking and I asked him to give me one of his St. Patrick’s Day necklaces. He said he would if I danced with him so he gave it to me and before you knew if we were dancing. (Well dancing like kids these days dance.) Kasey took this picture to share with you guys.

Afterwards he had me feel his ginormous arm muscles and smell his hair. (It smelled good, btw.) So it’s always entertaining. At least I got my beaded necklace!

The main problem came when I had to go to the bathroom. A few of us had to go so we made our way over there…uhh…to the HUGE line. Okay. So we are waiting in this line (I should have taken a picture of this) and we get to what I think is the corner where the door is. Nope! It’s a hallway! With the line continuing down it! By the time we get the the bathroom door and we can see in it the whole group of people around us is cheering people on when they get out of a stall. It would have been more entertaining if I didn’t feel like my bladder was going to burst. After I finally got there used the nasty bathroom and was on my way to the floor I really didn’t want to drink much more because I really didn’t want to have to pee again.

Kasey got me two more beers which I put in my pockets. I drank one and just couldn’t drink another one. I offered the beer to the other girls and they were all winding down too. I tapped some guy on the shoulder and offered it to him. He, of course, gladly accepted. The beer fairy has visited!

We needed some air so out into the streets we went. I was hungry so I got 2 hot dogs from a street vendor that had set up. They were the best damn hot dogs ever, I was so hungry. We stood and ate our food, used the bathrooms and then decided rather than paying another cover charge we went pack into Tink’s to dance a little more before heading out.

Again I ended up having to pee and wait in the dreaded line. This time I noticed that while waiting in the hallway you can see into the Men’s room and also that the urinals were up against the wall right next to the door…yes…I saw more male genitalia then I care to share, but I strangely could not stop myself from looking. I’m being honest!

We left the bar for good and it was still about 5:00 p.m. We were a bit hungry so we went in search of food. Kasey’s friend new this place called The Tipsy Turtle and they are supposed to have really good wings. We decided to check it out. When we get there this guy is standing next to a pit bull and the pit bull isn’t on a leash. Seems strange, but whatever. We get out of the car and go in. Two of the girls go to use the restroom and we look over the menus. Suddenly the waitress announces that to sit and eat there we all need to have ID. Even if we aren’t drinking. Weird, but alright. We get our IDs out. Mine is in the car so after Kasey shows hers we are gong to get mine. Kasey’s license is expired so she need to see a different ID. Kasey is used to this so she take out her passport, which is what I have with me also. Then this woman actually says that a passport isn’t a valid form of ID. A passport! She tells us they are doing them on the internet now so they can’t be accepted. A passport! That people use to leave the country! The highest form of government ID! She tells us we can’t eat there. However we could get items to go. She tells a group of 8 people that we can’t eat there! Even if we aren’t drinking! Even though we have been drinking that day in actual bars! Oh and get this, there were children eating there. Like children under the age of 10.

I don’t want to say that this was racist, but we were in that sort of town and frankly I wouldn’t be surprised. It just seems really weird. We were so in shock that we just left without saying much of anything. It took a while to set it. This is a place where 3 of the girls in our group have gone to fairly often and they all said they have never had to show ID before. I’m calling today to talk to someone about it.*

We go to leave and I am getting into one side of the van and Kasey is getting into the other. She suddenly looks scared and freezes and the freaking pitbull has just jumped into the van! I am used to violent dogs so I figure I will just chance getting bit to get the dog out of the car and away from everyone else. I grab its collar and pull it out. He turns out to be friendly so I shut the door and then this dog starts to jump up to all the windows. We try to back out, but we are scared to hit him. Then as we carefully try to pull out this dog jumps on the hood of the car! There was a dog on the hood of our car and he was trying to climb onto the roof. Finally we realize this is going no where so one of the girls goes into the bar to get someone to hold it so we can leave the damn place while I am standing outside holding it’s collar. Geeze. It was such a mess and hopefully it didn’t mess up the van. (I, sadly, didn’t get a picture of this.)

We go to a nearby pizzeria and just have some dinner and go back home.

All in all it was a good day and it was really enjoyable getting to see people that we don’t get to see very much. Hopefully we will all do something together again soon. At least days like this give us something to laugh about. So concludes my first St. Patrick’s Day ever spent out.

* I called and the person was very rude and said it was their policy and that the children were allowed because they were with their parents. So maybe we should have said one of our friends was our guardian. Whatevs. We definitely won’t be going back there.

Thanks for the input on yesterday’s rash situation. I have a doctor’s appointment set up for next Thursday (that is the soonest they could fit me in) so I’ll update again then.

I am always very interested in what people are reading. Perhaps you are one of those people. My books tend to be more based on things that have recently interested me or just books I was browsing in the book store that for one reason or another I couldn’t put back on the shelf. Here are the 4 books on my nightstand right now.

1. The Power of Kindness by Piero Ferrucci - This one just sounded really interesting. I don’t know how it will be, but I think everyone could benefit from being more kind in their everyday lives and it is really something that doesn’t come naturally to me.

2. It’s Easy Being Green by Crissy Trask - Yeah…after watching the movie I figured it couldn’t hurt to read more on the subject and maybe do a few things differently.

3. Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style by Christie Matheson - I know the title sounds dorky, but it also seems to be very basically written with practical tips on being greener while still doing things normally.

4. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann - I really enjoy books like these that take everything you think and believe and shake them up. I think it is really important (in everything) to not let your opinions about something keep you from letting new information in. I’m never afraid to go back and say I was wrong about something as I learn more and become more educated. It’s also just really interesting to read about and this book is actually a fascinating read.

Okay…yesterday’s entry was a total cop out entry, but at least I had something posted by midnight. Truth is when it comes to posting a blog or having sex I am going to choose sex every time.

Now to more pressing matters! I wanted to stop using deodorants that have aluminum in them because I have heard that there are various health risks involved in using them. For those like myself who are nervous about normal medicine risks this is a problem.

Armed with info and already in love with a store that sells more natural body products I went off in search of a safe alternative. First I bought the Aromacreme, but then I read scary reviews about people getting rashes so I set that one aside and bought a different one. This time going with T’eo. At first it went great! Super! I loved my new natural deodorant. It kept me smelling nice all day and I had no side effects. I was happy. Plus the bar was expected to last an entire year. A year! That would mean spending only $9 a year for deodorant. Perfection. I could not have been more pleased.

Then about 3 weeks into use my arm pits started to hurt. I assumed it was because the bar is hard and was scraping my skin a bit at application. I didn’t think much of it. I continued use and didn’t pay much attention. Flash to 4 days ago when I looked in the bathroom mirror after taking my shower. My arm pits were flaming red! I went into the bedroom and showed Kasey and she was shocked. We decided I had to stop using the deodorant right away. I stopped using any deodorant at that time to let them heal and I also started to apply a lavender and chamomile cream to help soothe the skin. Yesterday we took pictures to help show you what I am talking about. Please keep in mind these pictures were taken 3 days after I stopped using the deodorant so they are about 4 shades lighter than in the original.

Pretty right? I am so glad Kasey and I have been together for such a long time that she wouldn’t be grossed out by this.

I am going to continue to put cremes on this to heal it, but I have also been thinking about going to the doctor because it does still hurt. I’ll keep you posted.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

This is another lame attempt to get a blog out on a day when I don’t have time. Also I hope I didn’t offend anyone yesterday. I am totally happy with everyone having their own opinions.