Random Ramblings

As I sit here not studying for finals, and having no homework to do, I feel no other inclination than to blog :)

First and foremost, our Steer A Year project is overwith. It feels weird not to go down and feed or doing other things. We have our final results and we did awesome for the first year back. I was elected Public Relations officer, it's a position that begins right away and runs all through the year. What a chore! I am prepared for it though :) Since I am only taking 16 credits this fall, I think I can get away with that.

I have one week of classes left, with a final on Thursday. I leave Friday for Newport. I am having my rabbits brought to me. I am showing 6, with 1 presold, picking up 1, and 3 I hope to sell! I am giving a presentation at the judges conference. It's an erie feeling since I am the only one who is not a judge giving a speech, but I hope to get there sometime soon! I was asked to give one on the Mini Lop breed, of course!

I will also attend the banquet. It's the highlight of our state convention. Who knows, maybe one of these days I will help send a youth to convention like so many people helped me out!!! I am not working there this year, so I'll actually get a chance to relax, chat with breeder friends and actually show my rabbits. It would probably be more effective if I didnt have an Ethics paper to write or study for two Monday finals :D

I get to go home Monday evening. My final starts at 4 and I hope to be out of there at 4:30. It will probably take me an hour to pack up my remaining belongings. I get to go HOME for 5 weeks! Home has never sounded like such a good place before being away for so long!

When I get home, I will be blessed with FOURTY-EIGHT babies and SEVENTY rabbits to take care of. Thus, I probably won't be working for the next 5 weeks, that alone is a chore to deal with in the summer heat. And one must ask, what is my intention for those 50 newborns, and why so many? Convention of course! The more you are blessed with, the greater variety to choose from for competitive juniors and room for backups. I will not be showing any seniors this year, it's not worth it, especially since I will nothing left that hasn't had a litter. What is my cull plan for all of these babies? -- I have a unique cull sheet in which I evaluate my youngsters with... In one or two litters, this is best effective for keeping the best rabbit out of the litter. This sheet will be to sort through only the top ones, and keeping only the best ones. It's likely I won't have a lot of the ones "left over" for sale, I can't afford to keep feeding them or spend my time advertising them for sales. Whatever I so happen to pre-sell, will go sold.
With that, I have two litters easily out of the way. Maddelyn's litter was specifically bred for color, and even though I didn't get color, I didn't really breed her for type, so I'll keep the best typed out of the litter and move her on. With Kassidy's litter, my elusive aim was for a BEW and I think I might have gotten one! There is one "pink" baby in the nestbox, and where I have learned from my friends, It could always be an orange, so I am crossing my fingers and toes for WHITE fur to come in. I should know within a couple of days. Since Kassidy is doing well with her litter, I am selling Kenai.
Selected does are being sold after their litters, some does, I will have to wait and see what they produce before I know if I am parting with them or not. Either way, I am excited to see what I get out of my best does, and again thanks to Nicole for letting me use her awesome bucks! I am still very sad about the loss of Zeus, he would have kicked tail at Nationals :(

After Newport, it's just strictly feeding rabbits out and evaulating evaluating and culling culling. I don't have another show until the end of August, where I'll head down to Crescent City for a kick butt weekend on the coast!

July 27th is when the Benton County fair starts and I'll be up here till Sunday. I'll probably move some things into the apartment there since our lease starts on the 1st. I have been offered a job up here, so we'll see if I can get that one or apply for another one (most likely both?). That will keep me pretty busy, but hope to go back and forth for various weekends/days off.

So, that's my next week and my whole summer -- The rabbitry faces some big cuts after San Diego, so if you are interested in a rabbit, don't hesitate to ask, it's likely to be for sale in the future. I'll probably send out a sales e-mail after Newport when I get settled in at home.