Today I didn’t know what to write about because I had so much on my mind. I feel kind of defeated today. It wasn’t too bad, though. This morning my gramma called and said she was coming over. That made me happy. She brought Brody too (the puppy that I’ll introduce tomorrow). I love him and he’s such a sweet boy. Anyway, we (me, Nikki, Winnie, my gramma and all the dogs) went out for Taco Bell then we drove into town just to drive. We picked up some Subway for my mom and then we stopped at a toy outlet that was going out of business. I wish we’d gone earlier because it was next to empty but we still got lots of cool stuff. Right when we walked in I saw that there were Godzilla figures and I ended up getting a 6.5″ Godzilla and a 12″ Mechagodzilla. Now I want to look up more Godzilla stuff and collect that. I love Godzilla. And we’re talking old school Godzilla, NOT the Matthew Broderick one. That thing looked nothing like Godzilla AND you can’t kill Godzilla! That’s the whole point! He’ll always come back! He just needs to be recharged by a lightning bolt or by chilling for awhile at the bottom of the ocean. He’s Godzilla! He’s the best! Mothera’s cool too, of course, ’cause he’s got the singing twins and all, but Godzilla is the king! *happy* Oh, and Godzilla is a thing between me and my dad so I called him up and told him and he thought it was cool. He said he had a figure when he was younger but he doesn’t know where it is right now and that he gave me Godzilla feel to stomp around in to annoy my mom when I was younger and I told him I remember them and we actually still have them downstairs. Yay Tangent. So some other things we got at the store were a cute little Yoshi figurine and a small Pluto stuffed animal. They’re both so cute. We also all three got an egg thing that you put in water and it hatches into a mystery something in 24-48 hours and we’ve been on egg watch for a few hours now. Heh.

After that we went to the Hallmark store which I didn’t think I would like but then I found the Disney figurines and got lost in them. I LOVE Disney stuff but it’s so dang expensive. Of course, I think it’s always worth it if you can afford it because Disney stuff is always well made. Anyway, Nikki and I want to collect those as well. They had an awesome Winnie the Pooh and Piglet being pirates on a boat book-ends and a cool Christmas figurine with Chip and Dale when Chip’s wearing the Santa outfit and his hat is on fire and Dale’s putting it out. I know some of you have got to know what I’m talking about. Anyway, that’s the kind of things I love and I can’t wait until Nikki and I can get settled enough and make enough money to start buying things like that that make us happy. Ha, we’ll have $150 Disney figurines in the same room as $5 Yoshi’s and Godzilla’s because, really, isn’t your happiness what counts? Yeah. Also, they had a little button that you pressed and it played the entire Twilight Zone theme song and that made me happy because I love the Twilight Zone – it’s another thing my dad and I share.

So some sad news I found out today, however, is that Brad, the man that ran the State Inspector attached to my dad’s car wash killed himself over the weekend. No note. No seeing it coming. It just happened. It made me sad then mad then numb. I’ve known him since I was at least 12 and it’s just one of those things. My poor dad. First his car wash was down for 5 months due to vandalism, then his girlfriend died a couple months ago and now one of his friend’s killed himself. It’s just beyond. . . I don’t even know. I really want to get to Austin soon so I can take care of him, if you know what I mean. I’m his only child (well, he has Celia’s son that he kind of adopted as family, but you know). I just want him to be okay. We’re going to visit next month when Mac is down there for class so we can meet her and go job hunting. I think that made my dad happy.

Umm, my gramma left pretty soon after we got back – not sure why. She’s really unhappy lately too. I just wish I could cheer everyone up but it really is true that you can’t make anyone else happy. Too bad, though, because I care enough to keep trying. I tried to teach her some tricks to work on with Brody but we’ll see what happens. He’s a puppy. It’s all just going to take time. We’ve got plans set to visit the Knoxville Zoo with her and maybe my grandpa next Saturday so Nikki and I are both excited for that. Umm, after she left Nikki and I worked on our taxes because I got my W-2 today and I know I’m going to lose it if I try to wait until April. I’m still trying to figure out if I qualify for the Recovery Rebate Credit. *shrug* A little while later, Winnie, Nikki and I watched The Huncback of Notre Dame and we all got excited because we’d forgotton how much we liked it – especially the music. So powerful it gives you goosebumps! Then we made some really good alfredo with chicken. My mom woke up to make it with me and teach me. I now know how to make homemade alfredo sauce and that chicken soaked in olive oil and herbs is good. Umm, I messed up though and got upset over something stupid and my mom got upset because of that so she went back into her room. Winnie went to bed because she has school tomorrow, so it’s just me and Nikki again – and the pups and Tigerlily. Now we’re going to watch Iron Chef America and go to bed. Thus ends the post that was just supposed to be something really quick. Heh, I just got excited over my new toys, I guess. ^_^

Here’s some pictures from earlier today. We took the girls out for awhile when we were watching the movie.

Meetu Hanging Out in My Hood

And this picture is so adorable.

Zane and Morgan Love Each Other Too!

Good night all! And just remember, if a cat and a rat can be friends like this, then there is always hope for the world!

Filed under: Cats, Furry Kids, People, Rats on January 26th, 2009 | 3 Comments »

So tonight is going to be absolutely crazy! My dad comes tomorrow. Early tomorrow. Like he’s leaving tonight instead of tomorrow morning and I really hope he’s going to be safe. He’s worried about a supposed blizzard that might be coming tomorrow. And, since Nikki doesn’t understand the passage of time, we have next to nothing packed. I thought we were being good and now we’re in need of a serious stroke of good luck. I don’t think we plan on sleeping tonight. Yeah, no time. We have to pack computers, movies, books, clothes, figurines, animal stuffs, bathroom stuffs, pots and pans, art supplies, board games, toys, desk type things, papers, and art. Umm, hopefully that list will actually help us when it comes to staying organized. Man we have tons to do.

Other than packing, we need to worry about getting the landlord to send us the adendum because so far he has decided not to get back to us. I can’t wait to get away from that useless jerk. Then I have to hope my car gets done. All the parts were supposed to arrive last Wednesday but the fender didn’t show up. Yeah, the one piece they need to get started. It was supposed to come in the next day on a speedy shipment and it didn’t. If this gets screwed up, our Christmas is ruined. I also have to come up with like $200 for my traffic citation because even though I’m not guilty and pleaded so, they told me that I have a court date on Janurary 12. Great, I’m not going to be here! It pisses me off. It’s not my car therefore it cannot be my fault that it’s not up to date on it’s registration! Yeah, it sucks.

NO TIME! ACK! Gotta run, gotta pack, HELP!

The Girls! Look at Those Details!

Wish us luck!

Filed under: Furry Kids, Rats on December 12th, 2008 | 3 Comments »

Hey everyone! I’m not sure if you noticed, but I worked on adding some links today. One, I’m hoping that some of the other daily places will link back to me but mainly I wanted to link to sites involving animal adoption or rescue. I am totally for adoption/rescue over buying a cat or dog or any other kind of animal for that matter. not saying I’m a saint and have never bought an animal, but it is definitely a passion of mine. Just think of how many animals’ lives would be saved if people would just adopt even one animal or if breeders would stop breeding their animals for just one month! I think it would be amazing. Completely unrealistic, but I can hope, right?

So, today I couldn’t decide which kid to introduce so I assigned a species to the numbers 1 through 4 and asked both Mac and Nikki to pick a number. They both chose 3! Cool, huh? I bet you can guess what type of animal was assigned to 3. That’s right!

Chunky!

This is Chunky, our male rat. We have no idea on how old he is because he was already an adult when we rescued him. Chunky is one of the two newest additions to the family. Chunky comes from Petco, though not in the typical way. For my birthday weekend in August, we went to Duluth which, of course, included a trip to the pet store. We looked at all the animals in the store (okay, not the fish, but all the mammals, reptiles, and birds) and bought a few things. Nikki was particularly enamored with a ball python she saw there, though she knew we couldn’t have one. Anyway, as we were leaving, we went to look at the animals they had for adoption at the front of the store (as in, the pets that people turn in to the store so the store can find them a new home). There were two really big male rats living together in this giant cage. They seemed to love one another a lot and curled up together in their house. Yeah, nice story, huh? Prepare yourself.

We returned to the store the next day and there was only one rat in there. I inquired as to what had happened to the other one and got an answer I never expected – he had been sold as snake food. Someone turned in their pet rats to Petco and one was given away as snake food! THINK before you give your animals to someone else! Please! The managers told me that they were sick over it happening and that it had been a mistake. One said she saw the guy leaving, the cashier said he’d adopted out a rat and she was like “Not to that guy! He’s a snake owner!” So she was upset. But it turns out that the cashier knew exactly what he’d been doing. He told Nikki that the snake guy had come up with a frozen rat and the cashier told him to just take one of the adoptable rats because they cost less! Can you f*cking believe it? I’m not one to swear on here, but just thinking about this story again is getting me livid! I hate people like that! I’m pissed and I want to cry. Why are people like that?

Okay, so let’s get back to happiness – the point of this blog. After hearing that, there was not even a doubt in my mind. We went over, played with the rat, and I bought him on the spot. There was no way that little (okay, huge) boy was going to have the same fate as his friend. Still, I couldn’t help but wish that we had saved them both the first day – of course we had no way of knowing. I guess you just do what you can do. At least Chunky got a reprieve, right? Yeah, Chunky’s name may seem mundane compared to Morgan and Meetu but it actually started out as a joke. We had no idea what to name him and I just started calling him Chunky one day and, as it usually goes, it stuck. I don’t think he minds. He should be proud of how big he is. So there he is. Once an abandoned pet, then spared a horrible fate, and now he’s a happy chittery rat that likes sleeping in his tissue box home. Go Chunky!

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Okay, now I know that this is already a tremendously long post – and I apologize – but I have a surprise for everyone! I would just bump it to another day, but I already promised Mac. Plus, I want this to become a regular deal. See, I figure since Wednesday is the so called “hump day” of the week, that you need an extra bit of cuteness to get you through the day. So here you go!

Those little babies are Remington (black) and Browning (brown), two 6 week old lab puppies that came into my work for daycare yesterday. They were just the most adorable little balls of roly-poly cuteness. Nikki got Browning to growl/bark at her and it was just – well, you know. Doesn’t that video just make you melt?

Also, I’m sorry that my posts are always so late. I have no time to write in the morning and with my ADD I’m not very good at just punching out a post real quick. So I’m thinking about maybe writing posts one day in advance so they can always be there right away in the morning. Whatcha think? Oh and Jennifer – pick a number from 1 to 4!

Filed under: Dogs, Furry Kids, People, Rats on November 19th, 2008 | 6 Comments »

Hey everyone. Sorry that there was no update yesterday. The server went down for a good 11 hours or more so there was no way to update. I know, I’m sure you were totally pouting over the lack of cute pictures to look at… I wish. ^_- Anyway, here’s something to get you your furry fix. I’m also going to be nice and stick to what I was talking about yesterday. That’s right, I’m going to introduce you to Meetu.

Baby Meetu

As you can see, Meetu is our little dumbo rat. Actually, the pet store said they had no dumbos but come on! That’s obvious! Anyway, we consider Meetu a Valentine’s Baby too, but we actually didn’t get her until the next day, on the 15th. Nikki and I talked for awhile on Valentine’s and she decided that she wanted to get another baby to keep Morgan company. At first I was worried it meant Nikki didn’t like Morgan because I thought maybe she thought her markings were boring, but she assured me that she loved Morgan oh so much. I’m so glad we got another one, because without Meetu, there would be no “Girls”. At the pet store, we stayed and played with baby rats for a very long time. Nikki looked at one girl that I had considered the first day, too, but after she found little Meetu and picked her up, she was hooked. Meetu was so tiny! We thought Morgan was small but Meetu was noticeably smaller than her. How small were they?

Awww!

For awhile, we were worried about Meetu because she was so small and pretty frail. It’s likely due to the fact that she was in with so many babies (and practically no food or water) that she was finding it hard to fight for the food she needed. Poor baby. They also both had lice. Lucky them, they came into our care and both of them flourished! Meetu got her name for probably the exact reason you’re thinking. She was so enamored with her bigger sister that she followed her around the cage wherever she went and copied everything she did. I just looked at her and said “It looks like she’s running around saying ‘Me too! Me too!’” And there you have it. Morgan and Meetu. I think their names go together just perfectly. And they love one another, even though Meetu acts like she’s being killed whenever Morgan cleans her. Want proof?

The Girls! All Grown Up!

Filed under: Furry Kids, Rats on November 15th, 2008 | 6 Comments »

Again, my plans for the order of introductions have changed. I figured I’d stick with cats and move onto Akima today but when I got home from work and turned on the TV, there was a Modern Marvels on Rats. I caught only the very end but what I did see was fascinating. They were talking about and showing a “robo-rat”,  a rat that was essentially remote controlled. Now I don’t want to get into a debate about animal testing/research because I honestly don’t know how I feel. Obviously anything done to animals for superficial crap like make-up pisses me off but I’m on the fence about testing for medical and/or scientific research. In any case, that’s not an argument I want to start here, but I want to share what they were talking about in the show. I’m a scientist, after all, and I found it fascinating. So scientists took a rat and inserted electrodes into different parts of it’s brain. One stimulated the whiskers on one side of its face and another stimulated those on the other side. There was also one implanted directly into the pleasure center of the rat’s brain. Then, by “remote control” from a computer, signals are sent to the rat’s brain to tell the rat to go right or left (based on which whiskers are stimulated) and if the rat goes in the direction they want, they send signals to the pleasure electrode as a direct/instantaneous reward. Okay, that is just cool. I’m sorry that they experimented on rats, but that’s amazing! They were talking about one day maybe being able to implement robo-rats in search and rescue type applications because rats are able to fit in much tighter spaces than a dog ever could. They were thinking about instances such as building collapses because the rats could run all through the rubble searching for survivors. Plus they said rats have basically the same smelling capabilities as a dog, which I didn’t know, and find very cool. If you’re interested, I found a short video on the same project they talked about on the show. You can also just google “robo-rat” and find tons of stuff.

Robo-Rat Video

Okay, that was a lot longer than I thought. Ready for some cute pictures now? Good! ‘Cause you’re going to get them whether you want them or not. (And you know you do!) Ladies and gentlemen (ha, I wonder if I’ll ever have a guy read this blog…) I give you the cuteness of baby Morgan, one of our girl rats.

Spoiled Little Girl

Morgan is a Valentine’s baby. On Valentine’s Day of this year, while Nikki was distracted, I ran down to the local pet store and looked through all the rat babies (there were TONS). I wanted to get a boy since Nikki had only had a male rat before and said she liked them better. Still, no matter how much I looked at all the boys, I kept being drawn back to this one little girl and eventually I decided that she was the one. I took her home, stuffed her up my sleeve and waited for Nikki to get back. When she did I was so anxious to show her the rat but it took her a long time to sit down (I had it all planned out, you see). Once she did I rushed over and set the little baby on her shoulder. She didn’t notice for a second but then she reached up and felt her and grabbed her in one hand ( she was tiny). She pulled her in front of her face and just stared at her for a moment. She then asked me who “he” belonged to. I told her “SHE is yours.” She stared even longer, cried a bit and then we shared a kiss. Our friend Jess took some pictures but thinking back now, I wish I’d been smart enough to tell her to video it. >_< At least we have something. In any case, Nikki was beyond thrilled and didn’t put her down for a very long time.

She Just Held Her For the Longest Time

Morgan didn’t get her name (although I suggested it pretty quickly) until the next day because we kept going back and forth on it. She’s named after Morgan Adams, the female pirate from Cutthroat Island (my personal favorite pirate movie) because it looks like she has a scar running down past her eye. Morgan is a wonderful little girl and I’m sure you’re dying to see newer pictures of her. Don’t worry, those are coming, but first you’ll have to meet her sister, Meetu. That, however, will have to wait for tomorrow. I know, I’m so mean. But I’ve gotta keep you coming back, right?

Filed under: Furry Kids, People, Rats on November 13th, 2008 | 5 Comments »