Keeps on tickin'

My Oma (Grandma in German), my mom's mom, is 97 1/2 years old. She went to the ER two nights ago with -- I'll spare you the details -- a problem. We didn't know what was going on. Tests, more tests. Turns out the only thing that's really wrong with her is that she has an ulcer. Seriously. Go Oma!

The vaca was nice. Now back to work and busy with the same stuff...but a different flavor. Ah, spice, variety -- gimme a Bahama Mama, it's hot out! Okay, fine Corona with a lime'll do, too.

Stream of consciousness, anyone?

Vaca's a good thing

When I told my boss, Jim, a week ago that I was taking next week for vacation, he didn't respond for a while... I guess he was taking a long holiday weekend. On Tuesday morning, he said, "About your vacation, of course it's no problem. Go have fun. However I have one request."

I knew it wasn't "Get smart people to cover your work," because I told him who had agreed to help me out and they are two women who know what they're doing, besides being wicked nice people (a shout out to my homegirl Amy!). So I didn't know what he was going to ask me.

"Make sure you take another week in the next few months," Jim said. Oh, okay. I'll take loads of time off, then! LOL Gotta love this guy. The favor he asks when I tell him I'm taking time off is to take more time off.

Truth be told, I haven't taken any chunk of time off since I moved into my new apartment, and that was two weeks two years ago. It was a nice two weeks -- setting the kids up, bunny proofing every wire, yadda yadda, and at the end I felt good that I had taken some time to myself, but it was, you know, not a true vacation, per say.

This one is. I'm not checking email (oh, the spam that'll be waiting for me when I get back!), I'm not doing nothing. It's time all for me. So there.

TTY in a week.

Tennis frame

I was commissioned this week to make a frame for a tennis-lover's birthday. A tennis lover by the name of Teri. What resulted was actually something pretty great, I think. Here's a lame picture of it (always too much light or not enough in this apartment).

I've made a few frames lately that came out pretty cool-looking... Too bad my family keeps saying they're all stocked up. It's something I love to do. One of these days I'll have them all on a Web site with ordering information. Right now, I just point people to my email addy, which works for now, I suppose. One of my future and dream-ish jobs is to make these and sell them and make actual money off them. For now, I suppose they'll just be presents to people.

For instance, here's one I made for my good friend Leigha's little girl, Chloe, when she got her tonsils and adenoids out and fluid drained from her ears a month or two ago. The poor little girl. This kid has gone through so much in her few short years on this planet, and she's one of the cutest kids you'll ever see. Curly blond hair and a smile to melt ice. It's amazing how kids bounce back from starting off so tough.

Hybrids

If you think the Toyota Prius is a pretty cool car, join the club. It may look like a not-so-roomy space capsule, but once you ride in one, you'd be amazed at how big it actually is. Also, it's silent. Which freaks me out a bit. You don't hear a motor running (most of the time) and when you stop at a stop sign or the like, you think the car stalled.

I've never driven one, but my parents have one, so I've ridden in it a bit in the year since they got it. It's a bit freaky, I gotta tell you, until you get used to it. I'm not there yet.

So next time I go home, I have another ride waiting for me. Not in the Prius. Tonight, Dad and Jannine bought a hybrid Toyota Highlander, which apparently comes in "normal" engine mode or hybrid engine mode. My parents, being the environmentally friendly people they are, got the hybrid. They spend four hours negotiating, but they drove the sucker home at 10:15, calling me on the way. I was just coming out of dinner with "my Maggie" (nothing like a four-hour, cancel-the-movie, oh-my-god-we're-even-too-late-for-the-late-movie! dinner with your best friend), so my 'rents left a message on my voicemail:

"Hi, Dana. This is Nnine [/neen/]. We just bought tires tonight and were driving back home. Love you, Sweetie. Talk to you soon."

What my clever stepmom failed to mention was that a car came attached to those tires. Well, an SUV, but still. They made the decision in two days, having gotten a call from the Toyota dealership on Tuesday and having the seed planted in their brains. God love 'em. It takes me an hour to figure out which shirt I'm going to wear that day.

At any rate, hybrids are wicked cool. "And this relates to bunnies how, McCurley?" you may be asking. I'll tell ya. Keep your pants on.

My kids are all mutts, except Hops. For some reason, I get thoroughbred boys, but my three girls are mutts. Amber was a Mini Rex. Juniper Hops is a Dutch. Plain and simple. However, true to form with the female sex, my girls are more complicated. Ariel and Kayla are Dutch/Netherland Dwarf mixes (their mottled fur gives the mutt quality away). SweetPea is an English Spot Rex, as far as I can tell. I was tempted for a while to call her a Mini Rex, but she ceased being a mini anything a long time ago. She's a big, beautiful bunny. She weighs like 6 pounds, which is close to twice the size of Kayla, who could fit in your hand almost, save her abundant fur. Ariel used to be teased relentlessly for her bodacious voluptuousness until the bigger Pea came along and "grew into her own."

So, from hybrid cars to hybrid bunnies. Somehow I did it again. Stay tuned for the next silly inclusion of bunnies in a topic where you never thought they'd show up.