Not such a tame world....

Introducing....

Katy. The Djungarian Hamster.

She was added to the family on March 1st. So far -- so good. She doesn't bite, so that makes her A-OK in my book.

In the meantime, since March first we've had days up to the mid 80's and days in the low 20's. On Friday March 7th the school kids around here had their first honest-to-gosh snow day in years. We actually got 6 inches starting about noon on March 6th and going overnight. It seems that one may take the girl out of Russia, but one may not take the Russian out of the girl. Tabs was all grins about the snow....

My favorite scenic shot -- "Two Trees in Texas"....

Anyone for a quick dip??? (Mrs. K's backyard - not mine.)

And my favorite "snow" photograph from this year:

And Merlot & Tucker decided that I needed help staying warm.... (Tucker is the "big boy"....)

So that brings us up-to-date for most of the really nifty stuff -- at least weather & critter related wise

Farewell, Speedy....

So Monday evening we had Speedy's funeral in the backyard.

[Personally, I'm more of a cremation person myself. That's what we've done with the cats we've lost over the years. That's what I'd prefer to have done with myself when I'm gone, etc. I even called our vet to inquire about the cost of cremating a hamster. Apparently it wasn't the first time they've heard that question and after just a few seconds I had the info. "For animals between 0 to 100 pounds, it costs $105 if you want the ashes back." Seeing as I don't have a spare $105 right now, we opted for the ever typical "hole in the ground" solution.]

editor's side-note: One of Michael's co-workers suggested that since we live near a set of ponds, we should try a Viking funeral with a flaming boat. Michael & I both were intrigued by the idea, but we didn't think the local fire marshal would be very forgiving since there's a burn ban in effect currently and unfortunately neither of us could whip up a Viking ship in 30 minutes or less.... [I know! I hear the voices in the background calling out "Popsicle Sticks & Glue -- STAT!!"]

It proved to be a well attended neighborhood event. As far as funeral's go, not much pomp & circumstance. Mostly brief & to the point. Afterward, attendees were treated to Hawaiian pizza & frosted sugar cookies and the party was over by 7:30pm.

Tabitha continues to be very sad. Actually. If you ask her anything right, now her rote answer is "I'm having a bad day. My hamster died." Doesn't matter if you asked her what she wanted for breakfast or if she has homework -- it's the same answer.

Personally. I'm working very hard to find & maintain an empathy angle here. I mean, I know what it's like to lose a pet. I lost dogs as a kid & cats as an adult and I was truly devastated each time. But a hamster?? Really?? I so appreciate my Mom's "no-rodent rule" now. Never liked them. Had as little to do with them in lab courses as possible. I figure that the fact that I've "sucked it up enough" to allow the darn varmint in my house has met my obligation. 'Nuff said. So currently, I'm doing lots of nodding & hugging and not saying much at all. My motto has been "If I can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all...." But I will be doing a scrapbook page with my true thoughts at some point....

And since it seems that I've honed a talent for funeral photography, allow me to share a few from last night's event....

After digging the hole, Michael decided to go after some weeds.

Sugar cookies with an "S" for Speedy. 

[Cool tip: I wanted the "S" to really look like an "S" and since I'm in touch with my inner "Martha",  I used my Cricut to cut out a 2.5 inch "S". Popped out the actual letter, and used the negative image as a big template to help guide the colored sugar sprinkles. Literally took about 5 minutes to do from Cricut to finished plate of cookies....]

Should've stuck with cats -- Part 2....

We're sad to announce that Speedy, the hamster, died at approximately 8:30 pm CST this Sunday evening.

The hamster had a fairly stressful last 24 hours, as two of our cats successfully figured out how to dismantle the cage and then proceeded to bat it around on Saturday night for an indeterminate amount of time. (Yes....<sigh>.... The Tonkinese Terrorists strike again....) However, contributing to the melee was that Tab forgot to tightly close her bedroom door....

Tabitha thought on Sunday that Speedy might feel better if it had a warm bath. We now know that bathing a hamster is a very bad thing to do as it stresses them out very much. Apparently, its prior bathing sessions didn't really present the true dangers of hamster bathing.

By late afternoon, the hamster was starting to have prolonged seizures. Michael did a fast amount of Googling and we rapidly determined that Speedy was likely suffering from a condition called "Wet Tail Disease". [Seriously. I am not making this stuff up.] This turns out to be fairly common for hamsters, and is usually fatal. And for Speedy, so it proved to be as she finally stopped breathing at about 8:30pm. (Naturally right at Tabitha's bedtime.) Hysterics ensued and nearly an hour later Tabs finally curled up in bed, thoroughly devastated and blaming herself for Speedy's demise.

Monday afternoon, after school, we will be having a wake & funeral for Speedy. Friends & Neighbors are welcome.

I am holding my breath that this situation doesn't trigger major emotional meltdowns for Tabitha in the short term, since the depth of her loss right now is sure to be bringing back unpleasant memories from Russia. Time will tell.

In the meantime, it was all I could do to dredge up some empathy for a dead hamster. I wasn't a fan of the live version and I'm completely repulsed at the thought of a dead rodent in the house. I found a watch box the right size for a rodent "casket" and Tabitha is sleeping with it tonight. If I didn't have to work tomorrow morning, I would be stripping, cleaning, and bleaching everything in her room....

In the meantime, all thoughts & prayers are welcome. Especially those for patience & empathy on my part. Or at least a few to help control my squeamish reactions....

It has been the kind of week....

Where I feel like I should have just stuck with raising cats....

Last week I finally started recovering from the sinus infection of all sinus infections. Then in the middle of this week, Tabitha starts with her little "drama" cough that I classify as attention seeking behavior, and sure enough Wednesday night I get hit with another super bad sore throat, chills, and the typical viral "hit-by-a-truck" feeling. Thursday I get the dreaded school nurse call "She has a temp of 100.5 and she needs to be afebrile for 24 hours before she can come back to school." Did I mention that the call came in about 1pm. Guess that means that I'm taking Friday off and staying at home with a sick kiddo -- which is what I did. All completely viral. And 36 hours of only resting, no TV, no computer, no friends, no outside time, no school, and just Speedy, Brie & Merlot for constant companionship and Tab was feeling marvelous tonight at about 10pm. Of course, non-medicated, she's still about 99.3, but still.

As for me, I just feel wiped out. So far today I:

• am on the fourth load of laundry (first three loads are all washed, dried, folded & put away.... Rock On T! )
• scrubbed three toilets, four sinks, and two shower doors
• scooped three litter boxes
• picked up 6 piles of cat poop from various places in the dining room & game room
• picked up two piles of cat barf -- one warm & one cold. The warm one kicks in my squeamish side, but when one lives with cats, one learns that they have a tendency to barf....
• spent 1.5 hours on eternal hold with the insurance company to verify health benefits
• called the school so that they wouldn't think Tab was truant
• made 1/2 dozen calls for work and now have 4 appointments scheduled for next week
• planned, cooked, served and cleaned up a total of 5 meals and snacks for me & the munchkin
• got the recycling out in the nick of time for pick-up
• completed three hours of CME credit on-line
• sorted, deleted, answered about 35 e-mails
• swept the floors under where Tab sits and misses getting food from her plate to her mouth
• straightened up the living room twice
• tripped on Michael's shoes in the living room once -- then I got smart & just didn't walk by them anymore
• checked two worthless lotto tickets that only matched 2 of 12 numbers between the two of them
• had multiple conversations with Tabitha along the lines of "You poor thing...." in a pathetic attempt to dredge up some genuine empathy (more on this later in another entry)
• hauled Brie & Merlot off of Speedy's habitrail three times so far today. At one point I caught Brie chewing on the plastic cage trying to open it so as to get Speedy. This hamster has her lives pretty well numbered at this point.
• cleaned out my purse, tote bag & wallet
• reconciled my work calendar with vital statistics like weekly mileage, gas, etc.
• am part way through my second coke of the day (yes it's a bit late, and no the caffeine doesn't keep me awake.)
• had all six cats at some point throughout the day physically on me. Pixel & Molly have taken a page from Merlot's book and anytime I sit down they want to sit on my shoulders. Try eating breakfast with a 10 pound cat draped around your neck, purring & kneading the entire time. I actually found myself standing at times, just to avoid being where they could jump up on me.
• tried to make tuna salad for lunch and discovered that my bell pepper had gone bad, so ended up cleaning out the veggie drawer in the fridge.
• made a 15 minute stab at sorting the 10,000 untagged photos in my 34,000 digital photo collection
• cleared one small pile of paperwork off my desk, only to almost immediately replace it with another batch of paper.
• thought about trying to print some photos to scrapbook, and then was immediately distracted by Tabitha insisting that she needed some more cough medicine, when in fact she wasn't due for another 6 hours.
• bit my tongue about 8 times to keep from saying what I really thought and then having to immediately regret what I might have said -- usually to Tabitha

Seriously. This has been today. Or at least what I can remember of it. And nearly every day this week has been a variation of this same theme. On the one hand, I'm glad that it's been a light week medical examiner wise, otherwise I'd be seriously tired-cranky by now. But on the other hand, it'd be nice to have had more work for more income. All week the thought that has been popping into my mind at the most inconvenient times has been, "And for this I took a $100,000 pay cut to stay home in the afternoons???"  FaBuLoUs....

Hamster Tales -- Part 4....

Seriously, it feels like I'm reaching for material here folks.... But I've had a few requests for photos of the dressed-up hamster. I certainly hope that the Hamster Humane Society isn't about to get its fur in a wad by this. And surprisingly enough, Speedy really does appear to like being dressed up. Of course, she also likes riding around on Tabitha's head, pooping on Tabitha's shoulder, and running the exercise wheel enough to get it squeaking. Speedy is a rodent, so who's to know what she really thinks???

So without further delay.... drumroll puh-lease.... I bring you, Speedy the Hamster

Of course, to me it's a bit difficult to gauge Speedy's reactions in these photos. Especially since it almost looks like Tab has her by the throat and this might be "dressing by duress" -- but as I reiterated tonight, the hamster is not my problem....

My brother & I....

Arrived home to Texas late this evening. I was very sad to leave, but after two weeks in New England, I am so happy to be home. My Great-Uncle, who will be 88 in March, was so teary-eyed as we hugged & said good-by. He's been very  emotional over Nana's death and I had to wonder as I walked away, if today was the last time I'd see him alive....

Tabitha hugged my neck so hard when she & Michael met us at the airport, that I thought my neck would break. The two of them worked pretty hard to hold the household together and they did a fairly good job. I'll be spending the weekend taking down the Christmas decorations, and trying to catch-up on home life before heading back to work next week.

Not to say that all went smoothly while I was gone.

Apparently, Molly (the cat) got out and may have spent the night out in the backyard. Tuesday, Michael noticed that she was limping & yesterday she wouldn't walk at all. After a trip to the vet Thursday, it appears she had an infected cut on her front right leg and had formed an abscess. So much vet care later and she has pain medication and antibiotics for the next 7-10 days.

Tab has been suffering through her first cold-sore and the over-the-counter stuff didn't help much.

Michael did get her to her check-up appointment but the dental cleaning got ix-nayed. So that'll have to go on my to-do list.

Miss H. from next door face-planted off of our swing set Wednesday & narrowly avoided a broken wrist.

Speedy is still alive and seems to like being dressed in Barbie clothes; accessories mostly like hats & scarves & dresses. Merlot is also reported to have helped her escape from the habitrail earlier today. But Michael & Tab seem to have a "search & rescue" protocol they follow now and Speedy was rapidly retrieved & put back in her home. Speedy still hates me though. Tab put her in the palm of my left hand. Speedy took two sniffs & promptly bit me twice. Damn Hamster.

So at this point, the luggage has been brought in, we've all had a bite to eat from Sonic, and the cats are all visiting me to let me know that I was missed. Doug is hanging out with me until Saturday for the two of us to "decompress". I've rapidly sorted the mail and gotten my e-mail down from 137 to 35 left in the in-box. So tomorrow is all about trying to restart those home routines. As I look around my home, I'm happy to be here, sad to not be in New England, and feeling the melancholy start to settle in. I took enormous amounts of photos and as I sort through them, I'll share. It'll be over a few days though.

As I sit here, staring at the screen & the keyboard, I am realizing just how overwhelmingly exhausted I really am. On that note, I'm going to go curl-up in my very own bed, with my very own pillow, hopefully with a few cats, and hopefully get a good night's sleep....

Hamster tales....

Speedy is apparently still alive.... Six days and counting! WaHoo!

Called home earlier this evening when it started snowing up here. There's a storm coming in and we're in for possibly 4-6 inches of snow tonight. So I wanted to let Tabitha know. She wants Uncle Doug to bring her a snowball home. If he can't do that then she wants him to build a snowman and bring home a picture. He's already scheming on how to get our younger cousins to do the snowy work for us. It is after all cold enough out there for it to snow....

Hamster tales -- Part 1

So I never expected this critter to have a long life surrounded by six cats. I was however hoping for more than 24 hours....

I woke up this morning about 10:30am. It was a luxurious sleep-in for me. The only part that was disturbing as I woke up was that Michael & Tabitha were standing by the bed, staring at me, with the saddest looks possible. They started talking, but it usually takes me a few minutes to actually comprehend conversation in the morning. I eventually pieced together that overnight there had been a terrible cat-astrophe.

It seems that when Michael went to bed last night, he checked on Tabitha, but forgot to close her door. The cats gave into curiosity and managed to knock the habi-trail off of her play table and the hay and bedding were scattered through her entire room. And there was no sign of Speedy.

Turns out that when I woke up, Michael & Tab had already been searching for 2.5 hours and had concluded that Speedy was dead. They didn't find a carcass [Bummer then we could get a free replacement.] but after much discussion they had decided to go get a replacement.

Poor Michael was so shell-shocked at having been the cause of the grand escape that the poor man never got his usual caffeine in the morning. Nearly 3 hours later, he was still so rattled that he was nearly on the verge of tears. Tab was holding up remarkably well though.

So off they went, and I proceeded to get on with trying to face the day. AS I was brushing my teeth, I notice Tucker & Merlot sitting in front of our bedroom TV and they were studying the stand. They don't typically stare at furniture so I wandered over to see if there was a hamster there. Couldn't see her, but I could hear her. SO I went for the flash light, looked again and thought I saw motion. I was convinced I was going to have to get the TV off its cabinet to get under the cabinet where the critter noises were coming from. At about that point I thought it might be a good idea to get the cats out of the room. In doing so I moved the bedroom door and Lo & Behold! There was the hamster. I managed to pick her up and the ungrateful rodent promptly bit me three times in a row. It nearly ended up sliding down a nearby wall, but I controlled myself. Called Michael & Tab just prior to a replacement showing up and there was much rejoicing. Said critter is now residing in a redesigned habitrail and Michael & Tabitha have a new appreciation for closed doors.

And so now I am "The Fixer of all Problems!!"

So far: Hamster 1, Mom 1, Tab & Michael 0

So shortly after this escapade, I learned I would be leaving tomorrow for Massachusetts. Michael started his day out "unglued" and has continued to be shaken up all the rest of the day. Especially when he figured out that if I leave for New England, then that means I'm not here. Which means that he's responsible for Tabitha, six cats, a hamster and himself for about 6 days. That'll be a first for that long. I suspect that I'll be sorely missed while I'm gone.

Keep your paws crossed that no one else misbehaves while I'm gone....