joie

Now I know why Dan bought me the ipod

Its so much fun to clean the house with that thing. This is what I swept up off of our bedroom floor today:

And yes, its all from him.

Hamster update

5am
Nadia comes into my room with her signature "kill" meow. She is under the bed, I am afraid to look. When I do, a motionless slightly chewed up hamster is in her mouth. I take him. He moves!

One very scared but alive hamster is pleased to be safe in his cage again. Lets hope he learned a lesson! Because Nadia is NOTHING compared to those students he will be facing in two weeks.

I hope he is in a happier place

Here's the scene:

I stink, I'm sore, I'm REEEEALLY tired. Turns out my little sentimental journey to Sisters was not to have a shared family trip down memory lane. It was to help my parents move 10,000 pounds of pine furniture down a flight of steps in temperatures you could fry eggs in. And to NOT mess up my father's system of organizing 10 large boxes (the first thing that is not an exaggeration) full of magazines. And I didn't sleep well due to the trifecta of:

1. My father's late night blow-out when I tried to get the remote for the television, since we were sequestered with the children to a small bedroom with nothing but a 13 inch tv/vcr combo. But CLEARLY, THE REMOTE SHOULD STAY WITH THE BOX, NOT THE T.V.!!! HOW CAN A MAN SORT THROUGH 10 BOXES OF MAGAZINES WHEN EVERYONE IS TRYING TO MESS EVERYTHING ALL UP?!
2. Sleeping next to the port-a-crib when Ian woke up and wanted his mommy. Actually, that was no big deal.
3. The persistant whining coming from Dexter THAT WOULD NOT STOP! Until I figured out that the reason he was whining was that somehow he got underneath the twin 2x4 bed I was sleeping in and was hopelessly stuck. So, I had to get up and lift the bed while he did an army crawl to get out from under it. I swear, it was so funny, I couldn't get back to sleep after that one.

Finally, after the last large item (a refrigerator) was moved, my sister and I were released on probation so I could home and clean for my in-laws. Oh, and did I mention my air conditioner has decided to stop working? So, 3 and a half hours later, we are home. I walk in the door and I am greeted by my cat holding one of the hamsters ransom. The poor things made it through the entire summer and now, four days until they get to go back to school, this happens!! I put the cat out, possibly permanently and go back to give the poor little hamster its last rites. But, miraculously, it was alive!! The last time I saw it was about an hour ago, running accross the living room floor. I have not been able to find it despite:

• Putting its little ball out in the living room full of food to try and trap it. Result: Dexter became curious and started playing with the ball, spraying food everywhere. FUN! Just what I need, a big mess to clean up before my inlaws come to visit.
• Telling Dexter to find them. Result: See above
• Going under every piece of furniture and appliance in the house with a flashlight. Result: Increased stress due to discovery of scary, scary dust bunnies I missed in my cleaning frenzy. Probably ate the hamster by now.
• Forgiving the cat and deciding to bring the enemy to my side. My thinking: she would surely lead me to the hamster.  Besides, at this point, I'd rather she kill it and bring it to me as a present than have it run up my in-laws legs in the middle of the night (this actually happened to me with a gerbil when I was 9) Result: Dexter and I sat and watched her lick her self and saunter around and finally curl up on a cushion. She showed me for not appreciating her attempts at ridding our house of vermin!

As of this moment, there is no sign of hamster. I fear the worst. The eventual smell may have to lead me.

New Addition

Because I am easily talked into things like this and somewhere inside me there is still a fourth grader who wants to be a veterinarian and make a home for all the stray animals in the world, and I am only  three letters (D-A-N) away from falling off the edge to becoming one of those out of control cat ladies, the shoebox now has two more residents. I am now the proud parent to a pair of three week old dwarf hamsters. Dan is so patient with me.

A coworker of mine brought home two "female" hamsters who miraculously got one of them pregnant. And apparently hamsters are so fertile they can get pregnant when they are already pregnant. No fair! So, what could I do? I saved them from being sent back to the pet store as snake food. Who could say no to this little ball of furry love?

We named them Percy (Dan's contribution, not sure why he picked that...) and Popeye, cause his right eye just ain't right. I'll save you the description. By the way, she assures me they are both male....

They received a warm welcome in our household.

"Mmmm....Did I hear the word ham?....This smells interesting!"

every night at about 10pm they awake and go for a "morning jog". Its pretty amazing. Those things can run! I think they are practicing for when Nadia finally figures out out to open the cage. Lord knows shes been studying it for about a week.