May 2020 Wrap Up

So this month Blogger, which I use to host my blog, changed its interface. And I am still trying to find everything again. It looks nicer on my side of things, but the old interface was in place for years. Sorry if things seem a little different while I get adjusted.

I am also working on a blog post about some of the current events and things that people can do to educate themselves and to help. Stay tuned for that, I will try to get it finished and posted soon.

Alright! Books read in May:

Title: Ouran High School Host Club Volumes 13-18
Author: Bisco Hatori

Synopsis: Haruhi is a poor scholarship student at the very wealthy and prestigious Ouran Academy, where the students have too much money and too much free time. In a twist of fate, Haruhi ends up in debt to the school host club (a gang of six attractive boys). Originally mistaken for a boy herself, she keeps her gender a secret from the rest of the school to become a host to work off her debt. And hilarity ensues.

Thoughts: I needed something light, quick, and fun to read, and these fit the bill. I finally finished the series and I really enjoyed them. They were cute and fun.

Rating: Overall, 4 out of 5 stars

Title: Ask Again, Yes

Author: Mary Beth Keane

Narrator: Molly Pope

Synopsis: Two New York police officers end up buying houses next to each other in the suburbs. Francis's wife, Lena, looks forward to making friends with Brian's wife, Anne, but Anne seems cold and like she wants nothing to do with anyone. They go through normal life, Lena and Francis have three daughters and Brian and Anne have one son, Peter, who is around the same age as Lena and Francis's youngest daughter, Kate. Kate and Peter become best friends. When tragedy strikes to tear them and their families apart, they will have to decide if friendship and love is enough.

Thoughts: This was a book club read for me (and I didn't quite finish it in time for the club's online meet, but I did finish it a day or so later). Overall, I enjoyed the story. Parts were sad or strange or heartbreaking, but there was a lot to love and a lot of redemption. However, I think I was more interested in Francis and Lena and George than I ever was in Kate and Peter.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 5

Title: The Mark of Athena

Author: Rick Riordan

Narrator: Joshua Swanson

Synopsis: The adventures of the seven demigods begins as the Argo II travels from Camp Jupiter to Rome after possibly starting a war between the Roman and Greek demigods. Then when they finally reach Rome after a harrowing journey, Annabeth must strike out on her own quest to follow the Mark of Athena. The other six have to find and save Nico from evil twin giants.

Thoughts: This was a re-read for me. I have lost count of how many times I have read these books, but I just love them!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: The House of Hades

Author: Rick Riordan

Narrator: Nick Chamian

Synopsis: Nico has been saved and joins the crew of the Argo II, Annabeth and Percy have plunged into Tartarus. Percy and Annabeth need to find the Doors of Death to help close them and Nico has to lead the rest of the crew to and through the House of Hades to close the doors on the mortal side. Meanwhile, the Roman demigods are marching to Camp Half-Blood, intent on destroying the Greeks.

Thoughts: Another re-read for the up-teenth time. And I had book club books to finish or start but I still re-read this anyway. I did decide to wait to re-read the Blood of Olympus until after I finish another book club book. I love these books very much, in case you couldn't tell.

Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Title: I Hope You Get This Message

Author: Farah Naz Rishi

Synopsis: In seven days, the world will end. According to the alien message received on Earth, the aliens from the planet Alma have human lives in their hands and plan to terminate those lives. Jesse isn't sure he believes this and sets out to capitalize on peoples' hopes to help his mom and himself out of the poverty they've been struggling in. Cate, urged by her schizophrenic mother, sets out to find and meet the father that doesn't even know she exists. And Adeem, the coding wiz and radio amateur goes in search of his estranged sister and bring her home before the end. Their paths will collide in Roswell, New Mexico.

Thoughts: This was an Owlcrate book from several months ago. I thought it sounded interesting, but wasn't really in the mood for this sort of apocalyptic/sci-fi type of story. It ended up being quite good, in my opinion. I kept thinking about it and the characters when I wasn't reading. And while I did predict part of how the book ended, I still wanted more and had more questions. But I guess that's sort of the way real life is.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper

Author: Hallie Rubenhold

Narrator: Louise Brealey

Synopsis: The stories of the ones no one talks about. We all know about Jack the Ripper, but what about the women he killed? This book talks about the five women who were murdered: Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine, and Mary-Jane. Also, they were not all prostitutes as the stories like to tell. These are their stories.

Thoughts: I am guilty of being fascinated by Jack the Ripper, which is why I chose this book. And this book is not about Jack the Ripper and talks only briefly about the murders. It is about his victims who were real women that were treated very unfairly by society both before and after their deaths. This was actually a book club book and I was excited that it was one of the selections because it had been on my TBR for a while. I greatly enjoyed it. If you are interested in history, this book is very well researched and the stories are well told.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Favorite book read this month: Aside from the House of Hades? The Five.

Least favorite book read this month: I think I have to say Ask Again, Yes, only because I didn't really care enough about Kate and Peter.

Also, I read three books with characters named Kate/Cate? Ask Again, Yes, I Hope You Get This Message, and the Five (Catherine was called Cate/Kate--not sure how it was spelled as I listened to the book).

Reading challenges:

I have read 46 of 80 books for the year.

For the alphabet challenge I crossed off "I" (I Hope You Get This Message) and, inadvertently, "H" (The House of Hades, but was planning to read House of Salt and Sorrows for "H.")

In other news, a student that I started tutoring about 6 years ago graduated high school this month. I am so proud of her and excited to see what her future brings.

It was also Mother's Day and I sent my momma a card and gift and got to talk to her an extra day that week. But Kevin was sweet and put a gift together for me "from the rats." It was super sweet. Here is a picture of the front of the card and the painting they made.

The painting is color-coded. Green for Zeus, blue for Poseidon, and red for Hades. And orange for Kevin.

Social distancing has continued, but I still have spent every Saturday evening chatting with friends via Houseparty. Sometimes we play games or work on crafts/projects, and sometimes we just hang out. I love it!

I have started thinking about my next disease post. I can never decide what disease I want to tackle, but I think I will do diphtheria next. I hope you are as excited as I am!

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy and reading good books!

Rat Tattoo

Yes, you read correctly. I decided to get a rat tattoo. I had been thinking about doing something like that for quite some time (even before my boys died, though I never thought too seriously about it until recently). I had seen some rat art/tattoos that inspired me, but nothing that knocked my socks off.

A little over a month ago, I stumbled across this on Pinterest:

(Try as I might, I could not track down the original posting or the artist. I scoured Pinterest, DeviantArt, and Google and came up empty handed. I hope the original artist will forgive me! This was the only link I found: rat art.)

This one hooked me, so I decided I wanted something similar and I wanted the rats to look like Romulus and Remus, obviously.

Even after the last several months and having new rat babies to love, I still miss them like crazy. They are so often in my thoughts and dreams and always in my heart. Their absence weighs so heavily on me. I would have been happy to have the two of them forever. They were so special and I felt inspired to show that. Plus, I feel like I really am the crazy rat lady, so why not make it official? Extend the crazy, as it were.

So I showed them the above image and sent a few pictures of Romulus and Remus (like I don't have enough, right?) The guy who owns Fallen Owl and did my first two tattoos was, once again, booked through August! (WHAT?!?) And the lady who did my Labyrinth tattoo is no longer at that studio, so Adam (the owner) made a few recommendations for me based on what I wanted and pulled out portfolios. I actually ended up liking the portfolio of a visiting tattoo artist best for this type of thing. So we set up an appointment a couple of weeks out.

That gave me more time to solidify my decision and make sure of the placement. Tattoo placement seems to be the hardest thing for me to decide on and I am amazingly picky. I aim for places that won't wrinkle/stretch too much over time, as well as places that I can cover them up (in case I ever want a job... actually, at my current job, no one cares! Awesome). I had been thinking about my collar bone area. I carried them around on my shoulders so that seemed appropriate. And then I could put it close to my heart. Because I am a cheesy person.

And that was that! I went in Friday before work to have it done. The guest artist who did it was great-very nice and talented. Plus he keeps everything really clean (a must in my world. Fallen Owl always keeps things clean, though). It took not quite two hours and it hurt like the dickens (all of my others were either done in one hour or one hour sessons).

I was happy with the way it turned out. But I couldn't take any good pictures right off because the artist covered it with a special bandage. It was clear, but blood and ink pooled inside of it. It was pretty nasty looking!

So I waited the 24 hours and took off the bandage. Carefully, so as to not get blood everywhere (again, nasty). I washed it and tada!

It obviously needs time to heal (and boy is it tender!), but it looks pretty good, right? I got several compliments on it when I went into work. My kind of people on night shift: nerds with crazy hair colors and tattoos. I feel like I fit in!

I imagine some people will find me very odd for getting my rat tattoo. But I am happy with it! It's a nice reminder of my boys. I love how they are all curled up together. It reminds me so much of how they always curled up together when they were alive. I think that is part of why the original image made such a strong impression.

Now to heal and contemplate future tattoos.

When You Become a Crazy Rat Lady...

You buy a carrier to take them everywhere with you.

Romulus sticking his head out.

Yep, that's me, the crazy rat lady. I love my ratties so much! I spoil them rotten (which is part of why they are chub-sters). I have been trying to get them used to coming out with me. They handle it well, actually. So I got a ferret carrier for them. I put in some bedding and an old shirt that they like to burrow in inside the carrier. I have to be creative, but I plan to cut a little hole that I can stick a water bottle into in case we have a longer trip.

And they have really taken to the carrier! They like it!

Romulus washing Remus's face inside the carrier.

So there you have it. When I'm not doing schoolwork, I spend as much time as possible with my rats! 

Sleepy rat in his carrier!

Remus washing in the carrier.