General Update

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.

I just started a new job at a lab (finally!) but life has been completely hectic. First off, it is a night position, which took some adjusting. On top of that, I have still been helping out at the auto shop in the mornings, Tuesday through Friday. And, of course, I am still tutoring. Which means that I hardly have time to sleep, much less do anything fun or hang out with friends. Plus, I find it difficult to find time to read, unless its the weekend. So I am listening to lots of audiobooks, which is great, but not the same.

Adjusting to a night schedule is strange and has been pretty tough. It will be much easier when I am all done at the auto shop so I actually have more of my day free to sleep and get things done. I am hoping I will be finished with that by the end of this week at the latest. Three jobs is at least one too many! And I get headache-y and nauseous when I don't get enough sleep and have to stay up all night.

It has made it a little difficult to see and spend time with Isaac. We just kind of see each other in passing and on weekends, when one of us isn't sleeping, that is. I seem to do better if I stick to the night schedule all of the time, even on days off. I hope once I am really adjusted, that I will be able to be more flexible on my off days.

However, I generally enjoy my new position. It will definitely provide me with opportunities to learn and grow. And I like the night shift. My coworkers are pretty awesome. To my utter horror, I broke a tube in my centrifuge for the first time ever, but one of the gals who is training me came to help me out and my manager walked me through the reporting of the incident. It sucked, and I felt like crying, but I am glad that no one freaked out. They know that such things happen and were willing to lend a hand. (I was still miserable for a couple days, and I'm sure I will be nervous when I go back Monday night).

In other news, I am trying to spend time with my rats. Being so short on time is hard. I make sure to spend some time with them every day and I clean their cage every week. But we get the most time together on my off nights while Isaac is asleep. They get to run around and get into trouble and climb all over me. I am just part of the scenery, really.

But the girls are all doing well. They are all very playful and super full of energy. I don't think they ever get tired of running around and climbing. And, of course, I spoil them rotten with treats and snacks. My main failing has been my complete inability to litter box train them. I never managed to really train the boys, either. It might be something that requires me to have a lot more time with them than I have. I read articles about litter training rats, and I do follow the advice, but I can't be here all the time to monitor. Oh well. I suppose that won't be the end of the world.

As of right now, that is my life. And man, do I miss hanging out with my friends! Top priority once my schedule calms down!

The Naming of Rats

See what I did there? As in "The Naming of Cats." I thought it was funny. I am also sleep deprived because I am trying to switch to a night shift schedule. Let's move on.

We picked names for the ratties!

Here is Nova. She is shy and timid, but friendly. Fun fact, both my sister and my mom dreamed that I got a white rat with a black head! My sister had her dream months ago, before I was even ready for more. My mom had hers after I got the rats, but before she knew what they looked like. Must be destiny!

Her nick name is Masked Bandit.

This is Carina. We originally figured on naming her Gamora, but we just didn't think it fit and didn't think it was pretty enough. On the plus side, she gets into so much that I can scold her like The Collector scolds her namesake in Guardians of the Galaxy.

She is very adventurous and tries to get into everything.

And this little one is Nebula who is our resident acrobat and monkey. She can and will climb anything!

Nebula is the dwarf rat so I often call her Little One.

All of them have settled in pretty well. They are all interested, active, and adventurous (though Nova is less so than the other two). They are quite a handful! Quick and little! But it's been a fun couple of days and I am looking forward to spending tons of time with them!

New Ratties!

I would like to introduce our new rats!!

These two are actual sisters. The one on the left is a dwarf rat. They are nearly two months old.

She doesn't like to hold still, even for pictures! She is nearly 3 months old.

We haven't decided on names yet. I wanted to go in a similar vein as Romulus and Remus and voted for Medusa, Sthenno, and Euryale. Isaac voted for Guardians of the Galaxy theme: Gamora, Nebula, and Nova (as in Nova Prime). I'm still looking for names that pop out at me that will fit them.

Anyway, you know me, TONS of pictures and updates will follow! Especially if you follow me on Instagram. I think most of my pictures are of rats already.

I got them home and into their new big cage. They are already getting settled and starting to feel comfortable. Romulus and Remus took longer to start acting normally, but the girls are doing great. Just the little dwarf is still acting timid and unsure, but she is starting to explore! All of them have found food and water and like the wheel.

Once I decided to take steps to get more rats, I have been so excited and I dreamed about rats a lot. Then I picked the three girls and I could not wait to meet them! And here they are!

Once again, I adopted from Camarattery. She is a local rat breeder (among other things). I got Romulus and Remus from her and they were so wonderful, I had to adopt through her again!

Pet Rats

We all know how much I love(d) my little ratties. I still think about them quite often. Sometimes I get overwhelmingly sad that they are gone, but I also have plenty of good memories.

Babies in a hammock!

Big ratties in a hammock!

I decided that I do want more rats. I think I am starting to get to a point where I will want more soon. I knew I wasn't ready for a long time because every time I thought about getting rats, I couldn't picture having any others but my Romulus and Remus.

I follow several people on both Instagram and Tumblr who are rat owners and lovers. It is so fun to see the pictures and I can't help but think that there are so many other sweet, cool, and cute rats out there that I haven't met yet. That sounds silly, but it has helped me move on from needing to "replace" my rats and to a place where I would like to form new bonds and relationships with other rats.

Do I sound like the crazy rat lady or what?

Big old rats on top of their house.

Baby rats on top of the same house. So tiny!

The point is, I really love rats. I think they are so fun and cute. I like to follow people who have pet rats and see what happens and what things they do together. And I know from experience how much fun rats can be. And I think, sometime in the near-ish future, there will be rats here again. I have started stalking the page of the breeder that I got my boys from, and will probably apply for adoption in a couple of months. I will keep you posted.

Six Days Into October

Yes, we are only six days into the wonderful month of Halloween.

Yet, I have already finished In the Stone Circle (which I haven't read for years, but it still scared me at parts and I still cried at the end). I have already made a sizable dent in The Graveyard Book. I perused my bookshelf for more potential October reads. Here is what I found:

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, by Josephine Leslie aka R.A. Dick, which is not spooky, but it is still a ghost story.
Practical Magic, by Alice Hoffman, which I started about three years ago and never finished because it scared me. If the book is good enough, I will return to it, even after a few years. I'm odd that way.
Plum Spooky, by Janet Evanovich. It is a Stephanie Plum In Between the Numbers book. It should be silly. I haven't read it before.

If you are interested in following my reading journeys, you can find me on GoodReads. I love that website.

I put all of my Halloween music on my iPod and iPhone and have listened to everything at least once.

Today I babysat my niece and we watched The Addams Family and The Haunted Mansion. These are the first Halloween movies I have watched this season. And my sister lent me The Munsters movies which I haven't actually seen before (or if I have, I don't remember).

And here is an awesome picture of my niece that her mama took:

 Aww! I love this picture. She totally belongs in our family.

I also had to take this:

Aww! Halloween rattie picture! You know I can't resist.

In non-Halloween related news, my sister and I got to go see Cavalia Odesseyo on Saturday (thanks for the tickets, Mom!). Here is their website: Cavalia. It was awesome! I saw it last time it was here, which was four or so years ago, I think. And I remember some of it, but I wasn't in a good place (emotionally and mentally), I think, and I don't remember as much as I should...

Some of my favorite routines didn't involve horses at all. There was one with a carousel that gymnasts danced and performed on. They are so strong! And the carousel went around and some of the poles went around in circles or moved up and down. It was very neat. Another favorite was the gymnasts who swing on and do tricks with the big rings up in the air. They looked like fairies!

One of the gymnasts on the ring. Picture from www.calgaryherald.com

More ring gymnasts. Picture from www.edmontonsun.com

The carousel dancers! Picture from www.rockinmama.net

Kema and I really enjoyed it when the people led the horses (without any tack or halters on). Then they joined up to form larger groups until one person was leading 3 to 4 horses. Despite having many groups out there, the horses stayed with their person. That takes serious training and dedication, I think. And Kema and I decided that we want to have horse shadows, so we each need a couple of horses... but that's beside the point.

One guy leading his four horses. Picture from www.tomonair.com

The point is, that the show was awesome, and we really enjoyed it! Also, their music was all live and absolutely amazing! I kind of want the soundtrack. If you have the chance to see it, I hope you take it!

So far, October has been pretty awesome. And Blood of Olympus comes out tomorrow! Not that I'm excited...

More Halloween and October posts to come!

A Blog About Rats

Most of you know how much I love my pets.

I had a couple of customers tell me that they would "take care of" my rats or introduce them to their cats (in jest, but I would not label everyone as a rat lover). First off, my rats, while spoiled scared-y rats, are quite large things. They are reasonably fearful of cats, most cats don't know what to do with them because they are so large. Remus weighed in at 1.83 pounds (he's my chub-ster). Romulus is a little slimmer, but longer. "Two-handed rats," I call them; you need two hands to hold them. Second, I love my rats more than I like most people and I will take you down if you hurt my fur babies.

Romulus washing Remus

So a couple of months ago, I found a little tumor on Remus' side. There also may or may not be a little lump on his abdomen? It kind of comes and goes. My mom said it might be some sort of fat tumor because they can do that (apparently--don't look at me, she's the nurse). Crushed, I took him to the vet who actually said that she would expect a good outcome and recovery because it is still small and it is conveniently located for removal. It is a little pricey, estimated 200-400 depending, but she expected closer to 200. My money is a little tight with just finishing school, going on that moving trip, and trying to save up for our vacation later this summer, but I want to do this sooner rather than later, so I made an appointment for Monday.

Those faces!

Remus is still fairly young--a little over a year and a half old--so he could still have nearly two more years if we are lucky.

The main thing I worry about is that Remus is such an anxious little thing. He always has been. And he is often a one-woman rat (that woman being me, obviously). Romulus is a little more social (though obviously attached to me), but Remus has always been a pretty nervous critter. I feel horrible that I am separating him from his braver brother to give him to strangers for at least one full day, maybe longer, who will hurt him (he won't be able to understand that they are trying to help), and he will have to go through all of it without me or his brother (who he has never been separated from). And that thought breaks my little heart. I hope he will forgive me! And I hope Romulus doesn't get too lonely.

Sweet boys

They are funny rats. People talk about having dominant rats, but I honestly cannot say which of these two is dominant. They are both willing to push each other around and Romulus is a very forward rat. In the rare cases where they have a little fight, they take turns being the aggressor. However, Remus does hold Romulus down and forcibly washes his head (hence Romulus' bald spots...) and Romulus will squeak, but not put a stop to it, which I was told shows that he is not the dominant rat. I wonder how their relationship will change with this surgery. The vet said that they can spend some time together, though not right away, as long as it is supervised. Poor ratties.

Anyway, the point is that I love my rats and I am sad that Remus has a tumor (I hope he doesn't get more) and I hope that they will be alright. I bought different bedding and am trying to prepare for Remus' surgery.

The vet office that I go to is great. My family has taken our pets there for years. They are called Mesa Veterinary Hospital. Here is their website: Mesa Veterinary Hospital. 

On a related note: it makes me sad how few people catch the Romulus and Remus reference. Some people catch on that Remus is also Harry Potter's Remus Lupin, who was, I believe, named after the Roman Remus. People need to take more history classes.

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.

End of the Year Review

Hello everyone! Sorry I have failed to post much lately. I guess it's been a crazy month what with finals, moving home, my birthday (yay!), Christmas, and so forth. I hope everyone had good holidays! And Happy New Years Eve!

I wanted to end the year by revisiting my year. My New Years resolutions were to be better with money and to get in shape.

As for getting in shape, I did Insanity for about three months, stopped for a while, started again, stopped for a while, and started again. In between, I tried some running (which I still hate doing) and some other miscellaneous exercises. While there is still room for improvement (especially since starting school again, I have managed to gain some more weight), I feel that this was fairly successful.

Money is still tough for me. It is something that I think about and try to work at regularly. I think that I have made small improvements this year, especially when I started school again (because I can't work as much). There is still LOTS of room for improvement, debts to pay off, et cetera, but overall, I think I did okay.

As for my GoodReads reading goal. I am sad to say that I started with a goal of reading 45 books, but school ended up taking up so much of my time that I reduced it to 35. I managed to make that goal, at least. I will try to increase it just a little for next year. Maybe 38 books.

For next year, I want to keep working out and keep making improvements to my financial situation. I also need to start eating better, but that will have to wait until after I finish school, I think. I already have a meal plan and there is only so much I can do about dining hall food.

And what a crazy year it has been. Working on fixing up this condo, a break up and getting back together, a trip with friends, going to graduate school, NDK 2013! Sounds like adventures (some better than others, of course). I have all sorts of things to post about the work we have been doing on the condo. I will need to get those bits up. There may be good information there for people! Which leads us to one more little resolution: to keep this blog going and growing!

On that note, I want to thank those of you who are regular readers, those who have supported me in so many different ways, and those who give my little blog a signal boost from time to time (Thanks Mandi-I'm lookin' at you!). Keeping this blog is just a silly little thing that I enjoy doing, but it's nice to see some of what I post getting around to people.

And lastly, here is a recent picture of my rats. Because they are cute and I love them.

Busy Month

Hello everyone!

Sorry about the lack of posts! I just wanted to give a little update on my life.

It seems that half of my friends have birthdays in July, so I have been doing lots of birthday stuff.

I am also in a friend's wedding near the beginning of August, so there is a lot of wedding stuff going on! On this note, I got my bridesmaid dress which is pretty but doesn't fit (I know, they never fit). It's too big in the shoulder and the bust (story of my life), but too small in the hips and butt! I about panicked when I tried it on, but it was far too late to re-order and the women in the shop told me it would fit. All I can do now is loose some inches from my hips and butt! So I have been working out nearly everyday for that and my friends and I have started Insanity yet again. We need to be fit and sexy for NDK, anyway.

I have been working a little on my costumes, but not as much as I probably should be.

In important news, I am going back to school for my Masters. Sadly this means I have to move and leave Isaac and the rats at home for the year. I also don't have a place to live yet, which causes me some stress. I am excited to start the program, however. It is an intensive, year long program for a Professional Masters (which boils down to more credits per semester, finish in a year, and don't write a thesis). I have my classes all set up and I've ordered my textbooks, so I'm feeling pretty good about it.

I just took on a new student to tutor in reading. While I passed the test that says I can tutor reading, I find it difficult to teach because I learned at such a young age, I can't remember how I was taught. It has been an interesting experience so far, but I enjoy it over all.

And we had some of Isaac's family in town during July so we spent lots of time with them. Then my friend, Amie, came into town so we all spent a ton of time just hanging out. Which led to me not sleeping much hence no blogging.

Is that about it for the moment? I think so. I will try to get some more posts out with a little less delay!

And we will end with some pictures of my adorable rats, since I haven't blogged about them very often. They make me very happy!

I like it when they are in rat piles.

Me and "the boys."

Little Remus (aka "Bright Eyes.")

Silly Romulus!

Enjoy! Thanks for reading!

Four Years Ago Today...

Pico and Gary were born. Those who follow my blog may be familiar with my hamsters that I loved so much.

I bought Raya on March 6, 2009 and two days later, March 8th, she had two babies: Gary and Pico.

They were very important to me. (See End of an Era.) I got more attached to them than I probably have to most of my pets (and I really, really love my pets).

I have been really bummed lately and missing Pico. It took me a while to realize that the reason could be his birthday approaching. Even after almost a year of him being gone and my life being so busy, I still manage to miss him like crazy. Sometimes I wonder if that feeling will go away. I suppose with time...

While I miss Pico with a pathetically sad ache, I always remind myself of our pet rats that we have now.

I'm sure some of you remember Romulus and Remus?

They are just as fun and adorable as ever. I can't get over how cute and silly they are. We love to have them around and they are so playful. They have brought so much to our lives already, and they are really only about 7 months old. Lucky for us, we still have years with them.

So while I am and have been feeling down about Pico, I am still so glad that we have Rom and Remus. I feel very lucky to have such wonderful pets!

Life of a Drunk Model

That title was Wyatt's suggestion. I should let you know a few things: 1. It's about me 2. I was not drunk, but I did drink a glass of wine very quickly and 3. I am no model!

Wyatt did my little photo shoot last night to make a banner for this here blog. He has his own little studio at his place and it was unnerving to be under all those lights in front of a camera! I don't like so much attention. Luckily this was after our Insanity workout so my friends (two of which are his roommates) were around to help me laugh and pick outfits and jewelry.

Wyatt says, "Bring a few different shirts and we will take some pictures!" Except I'm a girl. And we were going to work out first. So I had to clean up. And bring make-up and hair stuff. And several shirts. And a couple sets of jewelry. And other hair accessories in case I wanted to change my 'do for a set of pictures. This is the picture I will be known by from now on, you know? And I don't like pictures of myself generally so it was kind of a big deal. Talk about intimidating.

I got ready and downed my glass of wine to help me loosen up. I hope it worked. I haven't seen any of the pictures yet.

I guess I am Wyatt's new project. He's trying to help this little blog go big. I hope I am up to the challenge. Half the time I'm not even sure what to blog about! Oh well.

On a side note, here are some pictures of me with my ratties! They are so cute! I don't much mind taking pictures with them (the attention is on their cute little faces after all).

Romulus and me!

Little Remus and me.