Two of my co-workers came into town this week and hubby and I had lots of fun hanging out with them. Since our company works out of three offices we communicate with each other over ICQ and email, but don’t get to see each other in person very much. We had a great time, drank some beer, and got our butts kicked playing pool. P and T are great players and ended up partnering hubby and I since we sucked so bad. Oh well….We had a great time hanging out and showing them good places to eat and play in Austin. Hopefully it won’t be so long before they visit again.

for winter that is. The rest of the year I run around pretty much exclusively in flip flops. Ben says I like these shoes because like flip flops they have no arch support, very little structure, and can barely be considered real shoes. I told him he was just jealous because his baby soft feet can’t live in anything except cushy sneakers. Either way, they keep my feet warm and mostly dry in the winter months here in Texas until I can once again wear my beloved flip flops.

With Lilly passing away, and Norbert in the end stages of cancer, it has been somber around our house to say the least.  I tore down the two condos, put them in the garage, and then moved Norbert into my office since it is carpeted and would be easy for him to get around.

I started talking about going to a breeder to purchase a little Holland Lop after Norbert passed away.  I had decided I would only have one bunny going forward, since having two bunnies who hated each other like Norbert and Lilly had, was horrible to manage.  I  had also decided on a Holland Lop, since my first bunny, Duster, was a Holland Lop and was fabulous and friendly and outgoing, and I wanted that personality again.  Norbert and Lilly, who were both dwarfs, were great, but they were very standoffish.  They were fine being handled, and didn’t nip, bite, or try and get away, but you could tell they tolerated the handling, they didn’t enjoy it.  I loved them anyway, and let them have their space.  I always knew my next bunny, if there was a next bunny, would be a different breed and have a different personality.

Apparently, the “Animal Shelter Gods” heard me say “purchase” and “breeder” in the same sentence, because a week later BFJ called me from work (he is an animal control officer) saying, “you’ll never guess what I picked up stray today at the middle school”.  It turns out he had picked up a fairly young little lop, which had been running around in the bus lane.  Since I was heading out of town on business and would be passing by the shelter anyway, I offered to drop off a bag of bunny food, and take a “look”.

I arrived at the shelter and was soon standing in front of a cat cage in the clinic.  The cutest little black lop hopped to the front of the cage to check me out, took some food out of my hand, quickly decided I was no big deal, and then proceeded to dig in her litter box spewing the contents all over the place, after which she flopped out completely in the mostly empty box in utter adorableness.  Several things struck me:

1. She was completely unfazed at being in the shelter – amazing

2. She was very outgoing and friendly – yay!

3. She was young, probably just 4 months – yay!

I decided to take a few days to think about adopting her, but the short story is that two days later, BFJ dropped her off at my house after work, and since then it has been nothing but bunny love.

She is everything I wanted in a bunny, friendly, outgoing, and LOVES attention.  Her funny antics keep me laughing constantly.  The way she runs around in her corner of the living room jumping, playing, and shaking her little ears and doing happy little binky’s.

Even Ben is starting to understand the enchantment bunnies can have on you.  He thinks she’s funny too, and the fact she hops up right up to the side of the x-pen demanding pets from anyone who’s close enough to pet her, is giving him a different perspective of bunnydom.

For me, Zoe was just the shot of sunshine I needed, even though at the time I didn’t realize I needed it.

Welcome home Princess Zoe, our little ray of sunshine