How to: Bond with an Older Bunny

Okay, so you've adopted a cute little bunny from someone who is moving, doesn't spend enough time with him/her, etc.. Now you are home and are looking at the cutest cotton ball you have ever seen. And then you remember; I don't know a damn thing about bonding with rabbits. This blog post is for you.

1. Be gentle and patient.
Rabbits are very emotional and expressive for "silent" animals. While they don't seem to do much beyond poo and eat hay, there is a lot going on behind those big curious eyes. They are calculating everything and remember everything too. They also hold a grudge and can be emotionally strained from the change. Remember; they don't know what is happening. Many things could happen with your critter:
The first, your rabbit could hold a grudge and hate you for a while. That's okay. It takes time for rabbits to bond with their new fur-ever parents. Just be gentle and make sure the fluff ball knows that you are there to take care of them and give them love. The second, your rabbit could like the new change for a bit, and then one day you wake up and they are cranky. That's okay too! When Gracie was babysat for two weeks she went with my co-worker and loved the new change for a week, but after that she was cranky and biting. It was crazy and totally out of character. She had just had enough and wanted to come home.
No matter how they act, give them at least a month to adjust to the new environment and to you! It may seem stressful and crazy how long they can hold a grudge, but trust me; it is worth it in the end.


2. Read to them.
Rabbits don't have the best eye sight, so sound is highly important to them. Speak to them often, especially when you are alone, and if you can't think of anything to say, read to them. When I got Gracie, she refused to come out of her cage, and so I got down on my belly and read to her. I read books, I read my homework, textbooks, etc. ANYTHING to get her used to my voice. I talked to her about everything I was doing and everything she was doing, "I see you are eating so much hay. You are munching on your hay. You must like that hay." or, "I need to do the dishes, Gracie, before I pet you again. I am going to pet you when I am done with this pan. I just need to dry off my hands now". Anything you can say or read will help them get used to you.

3. Get down on their level.
Think of how huge you are to them. They stand no more than 2 feet tall on a good day and there you are, over 5 feet. They need your face within their range of height in order to explore you. One of my favorite things to do with Gracie when I got her was to lay on my stomach and pretend to be sleeping. She would wait until she was sure I was "asleep" and then hop over to me, smell my face, hair, etc., just on my back, and more, all while I held still. This exploration is necessary for a good bond.


4. When all else fails, eat bananas.
Gracie held a grudge for so long, I was starting to give up hope that she would ever like me. She just watched me for almost 4 weeks, never left her cage even though the door was open more times than not, and wouldn't eat from my hand. I was at a loss. Then, one morning while eating a banana, she perked up and was sniffing in my direction. So I held out my banana. Just a little nibble was all it took. We have been best friends ever since. It may not be a banana piece, but kale, corn, who knows with your little bunny, but whatever it is, it will work.

5. Don't forget all the things you can do with your bunny!
I take Gracie to preschool with me to play with kids. I take her to the park. I have a leash for her and a harness, and she goes with me if I am meeting someone for coffee somewhere I know has an outdoor patio. I take her to indoor functions too, but I didn't start that until she was absolutely litter box trained. She is my right hand woman and my best friend. I couldn't have asked for a better first pet.


xoxo
Britt (& Gracie)

Why I can't shop at Target

Being from Vermont, where there was no such thing as a physical Target to go to every night, I was caught unaware when I moved out here to Arizona. Being within a ten minute drive to a Target has nothing but negative effects on my health and my bank account. Not only that, but this Target is not just any Target; it's a Super Target. Thanks right. [Insert ooo's and ahhh's here please]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Target_logo.svg

Not only am I a cheap college student, but I am also a preschool teacher. When you put cheap, teacher, and Target together, there's only a formula for destruction. There are some, but certainly not all, the reasons why I cannot shop at Target.

1. The Eye
Just like the Eye of Sauron, you cannot go to a Target without looking into the eye of the Target. And as soon as you do, you forget everything you may have gone to the Target for, and now have to walk aimlessly around the whole store with a cart, just in case, so that you know you have bought everything you could ever possibly need.

2. There's no such thing as "Just 20 minutes"
You cannot go to Target for less than an hour. Ever. There's no way. After you have looked into the Eye, you have to walk aimlessly around the whole store. After which time, you have to take a second lap in order to place items from your cart back in their designated spaces because you did in fact grab more than you actually needed and more than your bank account can manage this pay period. After doing a second check, you may start to wander to the front to check out, only to remember something you did indeed need and forgot to pick up your first two times around. At which time you walk rapidly to go get said object, trying so very hard not to look at the shelves as you walk passed so that you don't see something else you "need".

This is me after being at Target
for 3 hours yesterday. Yes. 3 hours.
Retrieved from:
https://www.flickr.com/photos
/jeepersmedia/10032630476

3. You fill up a cart every time.
No matter how many times I tell myself "just get a basket so you don't spend so much", I end up filling up the basket in just the $1-$3 section and then I have to go back and grab a cart. And finish looking in the $1-$3 section. Before making my two trips around the whole store.

4. Target makes me question all other purchases
Sometimes I look at the stuff in the $1-$3 section and I cannot believe it's only that much. It makes me question all my other purchases anywhere else, ever. Looking through the clearance of the women's clothing, I can't help but think, "if this is only $6, then why did I purchase a $20 shirt from that other place yesterday?". There is no end to it either; the baby section, where I get toys for my house rabbit, the cat section; for my cat, the decor section; my personal weakness, the clothing; it is all so cheap and still pretty good quality. Makes me wonder why I shop anywhere else; this might be brainwashing.

5. Coupons make all these worse.
Yes, you can use coupons. A lot of coupons. Making Target the best place for all those name-brand items, the cheap food, the clearance clothes, and so much more. You don't even have to be a crazy coupon lady with your own TV show episode to save more than you spend at Target.

xoxo
Britt

What I've learned from Lent

This year my co-worker asked me to give up something for lent. Since I grew up without a religious background or pathway, I had no idea what Lent was, much less what it required, how long it was, etc. But just like most unknown things, I agreed. Because why not?
After agreeing, my co-worker asked me what I would give up. I asked if it could be anything, and she said I needed to pick something that I wanted to get rid of from my life that would better myself in some way.

This is what I learned from my first Lent:

1. Picking something to give up is hard
Being a woman in my early twenties, my first thought was the current boy drama going on in my life. But would I be able to justify to God that all I really wanted to give up for Lent was a guy? After coming to the conclusion that it wouldn't fly with Him, I looked around. I was well dressed, but there was no way I was going to give up shopping. I had just splurged on lunch; again, not something I would ever give up. I had a Starbucks coffee cup in my hand. ... While I knew how each daily cup was about six bucks to me... did I really want to give up coffee in my final semester of college? I guess I did. I went back to my co-worker. Coffee it was.

My love and my object to give up: Coffee.

2. It's not about the object, but rather the substitutions.
The first week was a tad bit difficult. I had two exams and a paper due, and no coffee to keep my body in check in the early 8 am classes. I was also going through slight withdrawal from the coffee each day and I could tell my body was not okay with my decision. What I started to notice was the different beverages my body started craving in substitution to coffee. One morning I woke up and decided to have a Dr. Pepper for breakfast. While it gave me the caffeine my body was craving and was a lot cheaper than a cup of Joe, I had never had soda for breakfast before, and it didn't sit well with my subconscious. The next week I had three exams and 3 quizzes; all on Thursday. Well, sure enough, I woke up and started craving red bull and soda, all things I knew I shouldn't drink but did because coffee wasn't an option.

Received from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/seamus_walsh/6966321726

I was also noticing that depending on how much work or effort I knew I was going to have to put in that day, my morning beverage cravings matched. If I didn't think there was much to do in class except take notes and listen, I didn't even crave caffeine by the second week. Tuesdays and Thursdays, my longest days of the week, ended up being the days I woke up with cravings. I was starting to wonder if my cravings weren't really necessary at all.

3. Giving up something can be mind-opening
Giving up coffee opened my eyes to the fact that while coffee was expensive and not really healthy for me, I was still doing better than I could have been. I could be addicted to my morning can of cranberry Red Bull, I was instead getting the smallest cup of soy latte to just boost my morning. Instead of craving coffee and increasing my daily amount each week, I was limiting it to just two cups a week; a total of less than $10 a week, on a splurged beverage. I also discovered that Starbucks wasn't my only option. There are so many tea and coffee shops in town, and I was picking the one with the most expensive cups.

My new favorite beverage: tea, from Scented Leaf in Tucson, Arizona

I also learned, following a Thursday in which I had a 50 page paper due and drank 8 Red Bulls in 24 hours, that I was headed down a destructive path of substitution. Not only did I not feel well but I was tired and buzzing on ATP my body wasn't even producing anymore. My brain was useless, I was cranky, and my sugar levels were so low I thought I was going to pass out. I had a brief moment where I thought; there is no way Lent was meant for this.

4. You discover the true meaning of Lent without a sermon
It was in that moment that I realized that my substitutions were creating a monster that wasn't even there to begin with. Giving up coffee for Lent was supposed to decrease my bank account spending, allow my body to recharge from caffeine, and let me feel empowered for giving up something I cared about to Him. But I wasn't really doing that. I became a slave to caffeine instead. I didn't need a sermon or a hot crowded church to tell me that. I had myself and I became awakened from within. Why would I want to give up something to help myself, and then substitute all these things which do more damage to my body anyway? I couldn't imagine that that was what Lent was for. It had to be able bettering yourself through these changes and allowing yourself to give up something to better those around you as well, like Jesus did when he gave his life. I needed to find myself and my energy again, in a healthy way.

This may not be the most flattering of photos, but I am enjoying myself and have the energy to do so.

5.  You can always adapt
Though I don't plan on drinking coffee until Easter, I think it is beneficial to myself and my body to stop drinking all these nasty substitutions. I believe that trying juice and a bagel to wake myself up more naturally is definitely better than using a substitution even more harmful to myself than coffee. By adapting, I can gain back the energy I lost and be able to go out with my friends instead of crashing, or go rock climbing again, where before I had no energy to do so.

Giving up something isn't always easy, but it does help you discover more about yourself.

So here I am, 9:30 am with a huge bottle of water and an empty juice bottle in the waste basket. Awake and oriented x3. A changed woman. Thanks to a co-worker's query and Lent.

xoxo
Britt

The Segway

I tend to wonder why the same words were used for multiple items in our English vocabulary. I also always wonder why words we use make no sense at all for the object we are describing. For instance, [chinchilla] describes a really small furry house-pet rodent, but [Ox] describes a large furry animal which tends to be outside on farmland. In the same sense, [fair] can be used to describe a carnival, pale skin, and to be semi-equal. So why do we even use all these different words, yet all the same words, in our everyday vocabulary? Having to rely on the context of conversations seems to be more work than it's worth sometimes to communicate with others.

[Segway], for instance, could mean a robotic-like transportation device many use on hiking paths and resorts, or it [the word, pronounced the same but written segue] could mean to ease into another part of the conversation or a different point to be made. In another example, a heartbreak doesn't actually mean to break someones anatomical heart. My question to any English speaker is; why?

This blog has been used this past summer as a requirement for my online English class. However, I feel like I can put my thoughts and my ideas out to the world in a different way now. Like reusing a word to mean something different and new, I am planning on using this blog to retell my story. Not in the sense of researching something for a class - but by writing completely new and creative. To be different in every way and hopefully provide some sort of feeling of sonder to someone else.

This is my [segue].

Britt

We Did It! We Did It! Yeah! (The preschool version)

Now on to lesson plans...

Final Draft of Project 4: The letter.

To my peers and professor of English 102,

Throughout this course I have learned a little bit about my writing style and have grown from these changes. Though there weren’t any conferences outside of class with my peers or professor and though I did not discuss my papers or projects with anyone outside of my class, I did a lot of self reflection through this course and the tasks it required of me.

I enjoy writing if it is on my terms and for purposes that I am motivated about. If I am not fully motivated, if I have to write more than once on the topic, or if at any point in time I get bored during the piece, I don't put in as much effort as I should because I am not driven. I found that my writing style did not change much during this course because there was a lot of drafts of the same paper and a lot of editing, which I don’t particularly find motivating. I would have rather worked on a paper, then edited it once, and then worked on something else. Perhaps if there were 5-8 different papers and they were all different topics entirely, not building off of one another, it would have been more fun. Less of a process for each paper would have also been nice.

I have learned to be more patient with my writing process and to look more closely at the grammar and punctuation. I believe that the writing process is more complicated than I thought it was at the beginning. There can be a lot more steps and processes to fulfill in order to accomplish something worth publishing. I think the peer review process can also be more lengthy than I originally thought. I think being given both positive and helpful feedback is more beneficial than just what should be fixed. I I learned a lot about how to take feedback as well as give feedback in this course.Each time I revised a new paper I was able to revise a little more efficiently. I think this came with practice.

I didn't realize that the genres we looked at were really writing genres. I found it interesting that this class had me look at more unconventional writing genres than what I thought we would be exploring. I liked that I saw an increase in my project grades throughout this semester so that I could see that I was improving throughout this course.

I hope that if I ever take another writing class again, it is not online. I felt a huge disconnect with my peers and teacher. I would hope to have a more timely response with my classmates and professors when I needed help or if an assignment was due in less than 48 hours. While the course readings and assignments were helpful for the course needs and requirements, I personally didn’t feel that they were beneficial to where I am headed in my future plans.

Writing only fits into my lesson plans at the preschool now, through lesson plans. I don't see this changing anytime soon. I don't plan on pursuing a higher level of education in the next 5 years, so I believe that my writing essays and such have come to a close for now.

I think in the next five years my writing style will start to become more fluid in simpler, smaller tasks such as my lesson plans. Full sentences, grammatical situations, and longer, more in depth contexts will not be in my lesson plans. In fact, I think the next step for me as far as my writing style goes is to learn the ways of other cultures so I can connect with my families who are of a different culture.

All the best to your futures,

Britt

Reflection on Peer Reviewed draft for project 4

Please see my previous post, Peer review for project 4, for the hyperlinks to the drafts that I edited.

This letter is written to my peers and professor of English 102. My readers will have a similar background as myself because the topic of the letter is the process we have all been going through in this class. Nothing in my letter should come as a surprise. The opinions and ideals of my peers and professor are for grading purposes only, so I shouldn't be disrespecting my peers through this letter in any way. My peers have the expectations that I will follow the guideline given to me to answer the questions my professor wants to know for this project. I have stuck to the outline and so should meet my readers' expectations. The level of information needed to get my point across in this letter is not as much as usual. Because my readers have gone through the process with me, they understand my experiences. I shouldn't need to include strong and minute details because they should be able to understand by reading the text the same concepts that I am talking about. By overindulging in details I would be insulting their expertise. This letter is supposed to be semi-formal, so the language should match the genre. I will need to use a tone that shows that I believe us all to be on the same level as far as respect and intelligence goes.