Layla's New BFF

Dave quickly figured out how to keep Layla entertained...

No Bacon For You!

For Dave, who complains that I never have any bacon in my fridge...

Oopsie...

Last night I cleaned two hamster cages while watching DWTS. Since Trevor's cage was new to me, it took a lot longer to figure out how to get it apart (and then back together...). Somewhere in this cleaning process, an integral part of his cage went out with the waste. I noticed when I put him back in his cage and he tried to run on his wheel. Apparently there is a critical pin that holds the wheel in place, and without it, the wheel falls off and pins the hamster underneath. Rather than sift through two hammie's worth of dirty cage litter, I stopped by my local pet superstore on the way home and bought a new wheel.

I think this wheel is actually more "Trevor-sized" than the original. And it gives him a little more room to run and play in his hammie home!

It didn't take too long for Trevor to discover the new addition to his cage...

Everything is right in the world now that the hammie is happy running on his wheel!

It's Officially Spring!

Cute Socks

Back in January, my bestest friend in the whole wide world sent me a care package. One of the items in the package was a pair of St. Patrick's Day socks, which I've been waiting to wear ever since. Wearing cute socks always makes me happy, and I like St. Patrick's Day since you're supposed to wear my favorite color!

DWTS Rant

I have been a faithful watcher of Dancing With the Stars since the beginning (with the exception of Season 2--drat that trip to Europe!). Season 8 premiered last night, and I was extremely disappointed. The dancing wasn't nearly up to the standards of previous seasons, and the level of star quality has stooped to a low that hasn't been seen before--even in the first season! The cast includes a rapper recently released from jail, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, and a former Playboy bunny. I don't necessarily hold my television shows up to strict moral standards, but come on... giving a shout out to the girls in the Federal Detention Center???

This Is Trevor

Garfield has a roommate.
His name is Trevor.

I introduced Trevor to the hammie ball when I brought him home last night. I can't wait to see what he does with all of the fun bedding I left for him in his really cool cage!

He was so tired after running around in the hammie ball that he fell asleep with his fuzzy rear end hanging out of a toilet paper tube!

Karen and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

It all started last Saturday evening when Dave and I were on our way to the bank before a Thrashers game. We were stopped at the light to the entrance to the shopping center where both of our banks are located when the car was suddenly jolted as if we had stopped short. We had been rear-ended, and the week just went downhill from there...

Fortunately, my car was not seriously damaged and therefore still drivable. So Sunday afternoon, Melba and I carpooled out to Winder for a jewelry party despite the threat of snow--the weathermen said that road conditions would be fine, and who seriously would expect more than flurries in Georgia in March?

The farther we got from home, the heavier the snow fell. When we arrived, there was already an inch or two of accumulation. When we went to leave, there were a couple more inches and a nice layer of ice underneath the packed snow that made driving impossible for a Californian with a Puerto Rican co-pilot. The worse news: our host's house had no power.

By morning, things had slowly started thawing, but the snow hadn't been bad enough for either WHHS nor SCC to cancel work for me and Melba. We finally braved our way home behind a tow truck. By the time we hit the county line, there was barely a trace of the snow that had trapped us overnight.

I headed in for a half-day at work on Monday, and that day (along with the rest of my work week) was spent stressing over an 1800+ piece bulk mailing that took over my area of the office. God bless Foster for finding the paper folder on Wednesday afternoon that allowed us to actually finish the mailing on Thursday!!! Then I had to get everything ready for the next (600+ piece) mailing so that the work study students would have something to do on Friday since I was going to be off. Why? So I could get estimates for repairs to my car due to the fender bender that kicked off my fantastically sucky week. Notice that I didn't mention anywhere in there that I was actually getting any of my *normal* work done while taking care of these mailings... it stacked up for two days before I had a moment to work on it.

Friday morning I found out that the dealership doesn't do body work, so they couldn't give me an estimate for my bumper repairs, but while I was there, I decided to have them try to figure out the source of the elusive rattling that began when I had my rear brakes replaced back in November. It turns out that my new brakes (left) are supposed to have a spring mechanism (right) that keeps them from making lots of noise and causing lots of damage while I'm driving around. In addition to new brakes, my car also needed another $500 worth of work.

Wait, wait--it gets better! I had started my day with a half-tank of gas. After picking up the accident report (after the potentially financially devastating trip to the dealership), I was almost home when I noticed my idiot light was on. I was convinced that someone had siphoned my gas while I was at police HQ. It turns out that the jolt from the accident may have damaged my fuel sensor, so now my car only reads half a tank when she should be full...

I could go on about some of the additional stressors from my week, but I believe that is enough suck for one post.