Socks, shoes and a few challenges.

Here's what's going on: I sit down to write, I start to write, I get a paragraph in, I get distracted by something really important like Instagram or watching the bun trying to hide my socks when she thinks I'm not watching and then it's game over. Therefore, you are getting some bulleted business so that I can catch you all up and get back to this blogging thing because I miss it.

-My running is going really well. My base is at a solid 10 miles and I ran the best run I've had in two years last Sunday. It wasn't that I was faster than normal, it was that I felt amazing. I finally got in my running zone and when I was done I swear I could have easily done five more miles. You have no idea how good that felt, it's what I have spent the last 6 months working towards. My goal is to run at least one 5 mile run during the week and one 8-12 mile run on Sundays until February when I start half marathon training again in order to keep my base solid.

-That being said I have committed (in my own mind, which is all I need) to the Runner's World Holiday Running Streak where I need to run at least one mile a day every day until January 1. I'm not sure how it's going to go on days that I leave at 6am and get home at 8pm but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. You can read about it here: http://www.runnersworld.com/cold-weather-running/2012-holiday-running-streak and I am wicked excited about it so I am sure I will check in a lot about it.

-I've finished several races since I last wrote: the Wineglass Half marathon in Corning, NY; the Empire Half Marathon here in Syracuse; and the Baldwinsville 10k Turkey Trot yesterday. Both halves went much better than I expected and I finished almost an hour faster than the half I attempted in March. I will try to remember to write about them. Hold me to it :) And if I don't here are a few pictures:

Wineglass swag! The medal is glass as Corning is known for the Corning Museum of Glass, one of my favorite places.

Empire bling

-I have found my holy grail of sneakers. They are Nike's and I have no idea what exactly they are but we are in love and I have no intention of cheating on them anytime soon. Well, not counting when I have to start wearing my winter Asics soon. Do you hear that faint sound of sobbing? It's my butt because they weigh about a pound more than my normal sneakers. But anyway, back to the Nikes. They are soft and squishy and amazing and don't give me blisters and they look cool and they don't really show dirt and even when I'm done running I don't want to take them off. All of these things are proof that we were meant to be.

My soul mates.

-I signed up for my dream race last week after waiting 8 months for them to announce the sign up and I will find out December 14 if I got in. Please cross your fingers, toes and pray to the makers of Cadbury Eggs for me (aka my version of Jesus) that I get in.

Yes, that is a picture that I took of my iPad with my iPhone while sitting in my car on a call on my OTHER iPhone. God bless technology.

-Enough about running, I have another challenge that I have put forth for myself and it's a little something I like to call Curltember. My goal is to curl my hair every working day from now until January in honor of one of my most amazing friends who had to shave her glorious curls recently for a reason that I have named Nipplegate. And that's all you need to know because it's her story :) I will tell you that my hair might not make it out alive but I'm doing it anyway out of 90% solidarity and 10% insanity because my hair is super straight and curl resistant and it will take an act of Ulta to get it to hold a curl consistently. I bought a Hot Tools curling iron today, a gallon of heat protectant spray and enough hair spray to turn Nutella into silly putty. Let's do this!

Also, that lipstick is my life right now. It's Mac's Creamsheen lipstick in On Hold and I'm obsessed.

-I went to my friend's baby shower recently and wore the amazing BCBG dress I wrote about a while ago (which, btw, is also an awesome date dress. It's an awesome everything dress) and my current favorite Nine West shoes. I still have no idea why anyone ever wears pants. I mean, I do sometimes but I don't like it. Not one bit.

I also ate cupcakes of the cookie dough variety and they made me not fit in my dress the next day.

-As for my back, it's doing ok. It was better, then it was way worse, then I found out I had a herniated disk, then I started back to work, then I started back to PT, then I got some narcotics, then I was told it isn't a herniated disk, then I got mad because I hate the human medicine world and that's where we're at. I maintain I have a herniated disk though and am just working around it accordingly. AND FOR THE RECORD: No one has told me that I have to stop running! Quite the opposite actually because the longer I run, the better my back feels (most days, some days it's not happy and I take it easier those days). It's funny how once you have an injury everyone magically has an MD and has an opinion about it which usually is 1) You need surgery and 2) You shouldn't be running. I do appreciate the concern but it gets a little frustrating after a while. It's been improving with PT though so I'm sticking with that for the time being and I have decided not to go for the cortisone injections that the unhelpful spinal doctor prescribed to me in my 7 minute visit, 3 of which involved discussing his cat. If I am not feeling better in a few weeks that I am considering a second opinion but only because I like answers. It amazes me sometimes how different veterinary medicine and human medicine is, it's not too often that a client will let you get away with "I don't know" in regards to their pet's health yet that seems to be a viable answer for my own.

/End rant :)

And with that I think you are all sufficiently updated on my life so I will leave you with a parting gift of the bun rearranging my socks when she thinks I'm not looking. The Smartwool ones are her favorite because they are more stiff than my Balega running socks and are therefore easier to throw. I think? Who knows, I'm not a bun.

Bunday SUNday: Crash course in bunny GI emergencies

If you want to know about my rabbit's latest "trying to die" escapade keep reading. If not, I'll be back later with a running update. Or maybe a clothes update. Or maybe both.

Last night was the second biggest scare I've had since I got the bun, following closely behind the time she tried to kill herself by eating my Macbook Pro power cord.

I was gone most of yesterday and she was completely fine when I left early in the morning. I got home around 5 and opened her hutch to let her out and sat down on the couch with my computer. I didn't pay attention to her much at first but she didn't come out right away and when she did she laid on my IT box (I have a fabric covered box I cut hole in the back of and have my routers and cable connectors in there vs being in a mess on the floor and she loves laying on it) for a while by the air conditioner, then got up shortly after and went into her crockpot box that she likes to hang out in (it's too funny for me to get rid of). She was in there for a little while and then came out and stretched out on the edge of my area rug. That's when I really started to notice her because she seemed really uncomfortable and she was stretched out and kept flopping from one side to the other. When I really took notice was when Trixie jumped over her and she didn't even move which never happens, usually that triggers Nascar laps around the coffee table.

Shortly after she went back in her box and I was now really worried so I got out her bag of yogurt drops which usually has her running and she completely ignored me. I pulled her out of her box and she was really listless and her eyes were glassy. I put her on her back in my arms to pet her because that usually comforts her and shortly after I did she had diarrhea all over my leg (FYI rabbit diarrhea doesn't smell like anything in case you were wondering). I put her back on her stomach on my lap and she just layed their not even trying to move.

Cue me freaking out at this point because diarrhea is extremely dangerous for rabbits. They typically have very hard, small stool (little cocoa puff pellets) so diarrhea means that they are losing fluids from their body very quickly. Rabbits have a very sensitive GI tract that needs to be kept moving at all times or else they will suffer from GI stasis that can turn fatal very quickly. Too much fluid loss will slow the GI movement down or stop it completely which can lead to necrosis (death) of their internal organs. Add in the fact that I had no idea how long this had been going on during the day or the last time she had eaten in with the fact that she is only 3.5lbs and it was a pretty serious situation. Rabbits, like horses and rodents, also lack the ability to vomit so if something is upsetting their stomach it has to move through vs out.

I have always prided myself in being calm and level headed in emergency veterinary medical situations as I had been trained to be for years but if it's my pets, forget it. Any knowledge or experience I have quickly goes out the door and I go right to assuming the very worst and want to get them to a veterinarian ASAP and am usually a blubbering, sobbing mess while doing so. I called the emergency hospital here in Syracuse to see if they would see her because I have been in there a lot recently for work and I know they sometimes have a doctor on who isn't necessarily trained in exotics medicine but who will be willing to see her anyway, otherwise I would have to rush her to Cornell which is about an hour away. Luck was on our side though and one of the doctors agreed to see her.

All told from start to finish I had her at the emergency room within 15-20 minutes of figuring out she was sick. The technicians there were really nice and ignored the fact that I was a crying mess and took very good care of her. She was really uncomfortable and I could tell because she kept digging at her blanket and sitting hunched up with her belly tucked in. I was really concerned that it was a foreign body since she does like to eat random things that I don't even know how she finds but the doctor said her stomach felt empty with no obvious mass which also ruled out trichobezoars (hair balls). She offered to do rads (x-rays, for the record, are the beams that take an image called a radiograph so it's been beaten out of me to call them x-rays) but cautioned me that she may not be sure of what she was looking at since the emergency hospital only took 3-4 rabbit rads a year. She thought that it was probably a bacterial infection or a virus (I am still suspecting hair balls issues despite her belly being empty) so I agreed with her that supportive care would be the best route and I would take her to her regular veterinarian on Monday (where I used to work so I know they are very familiar with rabbits) if it persisted. She got some subcutaneous fluids under her skin to help get her GI tract moving, some injections of pain meds and antibiotics that we were also sent home with and we were on our way, one stoned bunny and $250 poorer.

I cleaned her hutch when I got her home so that I could monitor any eating or pooping and she was pretty out of it most of the night. She ate a little bit of hay but not enough to make me happy so I syringe fed her Critical Care several times which is never her favorite thing. I checked on her several times during the night and she was bright eyed and happy at 3am and actually took a treat. This morning there is a lot of poop in the pan (really, aren't you glad you've read all about my rabbit's pooping?) and she is a happy normal bun. I think, cautiously, that the crisis was averted. Thank goodness.

For the record, rabbits are awesome and before getting one I worked with them for years and had no idea how much fun they could be because they have such awesome personalities when fostered properly. But good lord they are EXPENSIVE. She was actually a gift to me but the cost to purchase her was $39.95. Over the last year that I have had her I have spent easily $1000+ on veterinary care for her because she needed to be spayed or she broke a toenail at the base or she tried to kill herself or she tried to kill her GI tract...sigh. This rabbit.

Bunday Monday: The Lagomorph Terror

I'm still home. On the couch. Bored. Whining. Tired of laying down. But it's for the best, at least that's what I keep telling myself because I really want to go running but I don't want a permanent injury. This whole being a responsible, logical adult thing isn't my favorite.

At least the bun is ecstatic that I've been home so much because that means limited cage time and unlimited terror time. She is a little ball of bunny fury, that's for sure. Her full name is Archimedes (after the mathematician and physicist because I'm a nerd) which I only call her when she is in trouble which means I've been saying it non-stop all weekend.

 Here is what is going on as I write this:

She is obsessed with biting in my hair which is fine except sometimes she bites hard! And then when she gets scolded she looks at me like she has no idea why she's in trouble. Don't underestimate the intelligence of an animal at the bottom of the food chain, people. She is well aware of her actions.

She does give kisses though too to make up for it though which is why she's still around.

She also has a death wish because she keeps jumping OVER Trixie laying on the back of the couch which has me convinced that any minute I am going to have a hissing, scratching, ticked of cat land in my lap (which wouldn't be the first time).

I can't say that I blame Trixie though because this was my view on Saturday night right before she launched herself from the couch directly onto my face.

Anyone interested in a little rabbit? 3lb, spayed, fully housebroken, comes with a telephone book and unlimited paper towel rolls. Answers to Archie and will come when a yogurt drop bag is shaken. Will pay you to take and delivery is available.

Bunday (she tried to kill herself) Monday

I had two things on my agenda yesterday (besides cleaning my car and avoiding chocolate at all costs): take a picture of the bun for Easter and to put up a post since I want to try to blog daily.

Guess what didn't happen?

Guess why?

If you are a Facebook friend of mine or follow me on Instagram or Twitter then you know a bit of what happened but if you aren't subjected to my daily ramblings on any of those outlets here's the story:

I was sitting on the couch last night when I heard a pop, saw a flash of light and then smelled burning hair. It took a second to register but I immediately looked for the bun who I found cowering behind the couch. I picked her up and smelled burning hair accompanied by all of her whiskers being singed off, a big patch of burned hair on her normally white paw and ash around her mouth accompanied by a blackened tooth. I immediately freaked out and forgot all of my emergency medicine skills for about 30 seconds but after a hysterical phone call to a friend who also has a bunny, I checked her out and couldn't find any signs of a wound. Her mouth looked a little swollen and she was definitely spooked but appeared physically ok otherwise. I put her in in cage and offered her a dried strawberry which she ate. Then I offered her her favorite fling toy and she reluctantly took it to throw but then threw it several times after. I gave her some pain medication and checked on her all night long with no issues. Today I took her to see her veterinarian to make sure she didn't have any burns in her mouth that could ulcerate and require antibiotics. Other than a bad burn on her lip and a less severe one in the back of her mouth she appears healthy to him. She needs a week of pain medication but otherwise she is ok, thank goodness.

Archie was NOT happy about going to the vet but that's what she gets.  And she's lucky I let her have one of my Hello Kitty blankets.

And what, pray tell, did my perfect little princess of a bunny chew through? My MacBook Pro power cable, waaaaaahhhh!!! To everyone who keeps asking me YES, my living room is bunny proofed. This was entirely my fault as I frequently have my computer plugged in while she is out and usually have the cord out of her reach but she was able to get to it and almost burn my house (and herself) down. At least she is ok though which was my main concern. I get that most people don't get why I love my pets so much and that's ok. Just know that I do and I just want them happy and healthy and free of singed hair.

That paw should be entirely white. As should that power cable. 

Randoms:

-My mother was more excited over that sheep shaped butter than any other gift I have given her in the last 10 years. She even HUGGED me....my mom is not a hugger or an affectionate person in the least. Therefore I believe the butter can go down as a success.

-I didn't run yesterday or today because I am trying to listen to my body and it's still sore from Saturday's run. Tomorrow morning though it's Game On...if I don't wake up every hour to check on the bun again.

-I did eat cake yesterday but only about 2 inches worth. I also ate a baked potato and almost died on the spot because it was so good.

-I'm off carbs and sugar again today. Carbs until Thursday, sugar indefinitely. And by indefinitely I mean until I am in Portland, Maine in 2 weeks and get to go to Whole Foods and eat my weight in lemon bars (have you had their lemon bars?? Amazing considering I don't even like lemon and even better frozen).

-I have been on the hunt for off the shoulder shirts and couldn't find any anywhere. I finally caved to Victoria's Secret ridiculous shipping costs and ordered on only to find out it was cropped when it arrived. Womp womp. So if you see any somewhere help a girl out, I need some! NEEEED!

-Despite the bun's issues some pretty awesome things happened today: I got a card with a bunny on it from one of my college roommates from Hobart, I got a stuffed Hello Kitty holding a cupcake in the mail from my head trainer at work and my landlord finally mowed the grass at my house so it no longer looks like it's in foreclosure. Solid day for sure.

-I am obsessed with the show Shahs of Sunset. I can't help myself, I just can't. And now you know.

-I got a basket for Archie's Easter picture and although it will be delayed by a few days it will be super cute when it's done. My goal is to a take a theme picture of her every month until I can make a whole calender for next year and force them onto people who don't want them.

-I cleaned my car out yesterday after a long fall and winter of not touching it. There is nothing I love more than a clean car...nothing. Ok, that's a lie, I love frozen yogurt more. But that's it.

So fresh and so clean...and so free of sunflower seeds and shale bits.

-My favorite snack is currently this Combination of Awesome (which I took to my mom's yesterday and it never made the 45 minute car ride):

I'm eating 2lb of grapes every 2-3 days right now and the discovery of that cheese is my reason for living. Also, someday I will discuss my love of Nalgene bottles but you're not ready for that yet.

Bunday birthday!

In case you were wondering (and I know you are) no, my migraine isn't gone yet. It was gone until about noon today and then came back. The good news is that it isn't as strong as yesterday so I'm focusing on that. Maybe tomorrow it will be down to 50% strength because today it was at 75%. I knew it would be there today though because I didn't sleep well last night at all and anything that effects my sleep throws me off (I usually sleep like the dead).

Anyway, today is Archie's one year birthday! It's happy and sad day because it reminds me of where I was a year ago and who gave her to me but I'm focusing on it being a happy day. And it is! She is such a joy. If you had told me a year ago that I would be so attached to a little 3lb rabbit I would have told you you were insane but here we are and she is pretty awesome. I get that people think that I'm crazy that I love my pets so much but I think it's part of my charm, right? RIGHT?! Really it's just because I'm the opposite of the Grinch, my heart is far too big for my body and it's always spilled over into my pets, even when I was small. Don't judge...and it's an awesome banner.

This was the result of trying to do something besides laying on the couch willing myself to die. And because it's SO CUTE!!!

Coincidentally her new hutch finally arrived today too so it was a big day in her life. I took a few hours off from work because I couldn't look at my computer anymore without vomiting and I couldn't lay down anymore without vomiting so I put her hutch together. It's pretty fancy and I like it a lot. The only issue is she thinks that it is meant for consumption and I am not really excited about that. The pieces should have come presoaked in bitter apple.

After I finally got it put together (you can see her ghetto cage in the corner, I am SO glad it's gone) I put the mat under it to let her explore. I haven't shut her in it yet but she's been in and out of it all day. I was worried she wasn't going to go up and down the ramp but after coaxing her down with yogurt drops once she doesn't seem to mind it. She hasn't been in the litter pan yet which is a bit concerning due to some issues we had when she was younger but I think she'll figure it out.

I will say this about that cute mat I put under it: the stinker already figured out that the paw prints are removable (to switch the colors around) and she has already ripped one apart. SO awesome. She's too smart for her own good and I'm not happy about it.

Overall I'm pretty please with the hutch though, it looks much better in my living room and is going to give her a lot more space to run around in and cause trouble when I'm gone.

Oh! I also offered her a piece of banana for the first time ever. I think that they are beyond disgusting and not meant for human consumption but I figured she deserved a treat for her birthday. However, because she is MY rabbit she refused to eat it! I gave her an apple after I threw the banana away and she housed it, I've definitely trained her well :)

Link to a video of Archie's first banana!

So happy birthday, Archie! I was able to keep you alive for a whole year! You're the best little bun I could ask for, even when you're being super naughty!

And with that I am going to bed in hopes that I will sleep really well and when I wake up tomorrow my head will be 100% better. If not....I don't know, I guess I'll cross that bridge if and when I get to it. But in all honesty I am really exhausted from pretending I'm functional when I'm not. And I really want to start running again :'(

Bunday Monday!

I've heard that there are some women that surround themselves with less attractive women so that they can look better standing next to them. Never one to follow the pack, I choose to surround myself with gorgeous women instead. Maybe I'm hoping that it will rub off on me? No such luck yet as I'm still an average looking red haired chick but sometimes things take time!

While I was in DC last weekend with one of said gorgeous friends and one of HER gorgeous friends, sipping Moscow Mules and wondering who goes out on a Saturday night in kitten heels or a suit (DC is a place unlike I've ever experienced, everyone has a much more important sounding job than me, are much more cultured and much less white. And kitten heels? REALLY?) the topic of conversation turned to the bun. And why wouldn't it because she's darn adorable? So in the wee hours of the morning while I was showing off videos of her throwing socks while simultaneously wondering how my bar tab got so high the gorgeous blonde friend of my gorgeous dark haired friend decided that I should have one day a week on my blog dedicated to Archie. Pure brilliance, I tell you.

And so we have...Bunday Monday!

Onto the first installment!

As I mentioned I was gone for 10 days in DC and then in Baltimore and returned on Friday. My pet sitter was amazed at how many pellets Archie can go through when she's bored and stuck in her cage so he filled her feeder to the top. Since I've been home I've noticed that she no longer eats from the bottom portion of her feeder but instead stands on her hind legs to eat from the top. I don't ask, I just go with it. She also dips her paws into Trixie's water fountain bowl to wash her face like a raccoon so I've come to expect unusual behavior from her.

Honey Badger bunny does what she wants!

Also for the record, yes that dish on top of her cage is her salad bowl that came from Anthropologie. Her middle name is "Spoiled".