Seaside adventure

Oh...there they were. Eating all the crispy, yummy shrimp they could eat. And loving life.

Floyd's shrimp



A man... ...and his dog

Sheldon's new life and Nikki's surgery

I think we have found a home for Sheldon. A lady here in town lost one of one of her rats this week. She has two others, but one is elderly and from what she said, not expected to be around much longer. So she is looking for a companion for her other rat. I'm going to miss that little sweetie. But, I'm glad she is going to a good home.

Part 2: Nikki's surgery
Nikki had a microlaminectomy Tuesday. The surgery was surprisingly fast...less than an hour. Other than a little bout of light-heady-ness (aka fainting) it went swimmingly. The fainting came as she was getting ready to come home. Too much activity at that moment, and it took her down. But, she overcame and we toted her home for the recovery period. Which we are still in. She is doing, in my opinion, extremely well.

Rules of surgery: There is to be NO BLT for 3 months!!! BLT = bending lifting twisting. I worry about that. Do you hear me Bobert? 3 months. Pay close attention. That means until her birthday. Mark that date on your calendar.

The reason this is so important is because she is building scar tissue now. That will keep the lamina from 'oozing' out again. Scar tissue is our friend now. With scar tissue in place she will be pain free and that is what the whole surgery was about.

The Sheldon Story

The natives (ie family) are restless. "I check your blog everyday...why haven't you posted?" Well, my life has been meaningless drivel for the past 3 days. Work and all. So, to please my fan base, here is an update.

While at work, on my break and lunch, I read, and finished, "A Lesson Before Dying". It was a thought provoking read. I liked it, but I don't know if it merited a Pultzer Prize nomination. Maybe I just couldn't concentrate enough in the break room while reading it. What with all the distractions. But, it was pretty good.

We did have a bit of excitement this week. Enter Sheldon...the rat. Yes. A rat. But, OMG, the cutest little pink nosed, pink eyed, whiskery, adorable ears, white with tan spots rodent you could ever want to meet.

Here is the story. Enjoying a peaceful evening, watching TV when out of the blue, Stinky Pete went off the deep end by the back door. Nikki ran out and saw a white rat. She ran back in, commandeered my tupperware cake saver and went on a rat hunt. Much to her surprise, there were two! She was finally able to catch one...Sheldon. Leonard is still at large. Of course, she went to all the neighbors to try and find the owner. No one confessed. But, on the up side, they wont' be wanting any cake from us anytime soon. The rest of the night was a blur of Walmart trips and getting Sheldon in an appropriate setting.

Now it is getting to know Sheldon time before someone answers the ads to find a new home. sigh. She (we named her before realizing our rat is a female) loves carrots, sugar peas, bananas, crackers, dried cranberries, and various rat treats.

This puts me in the mind of when I was a little girl and I traded a stack of comics for a white 'mouse'. My Minnie. She was a rat. A lovely rat. Rode in my jacket pocket everywhere on my bike with me...her little head sticking out and her nose twitching in the breeze. All I ever fed Minnie was crackers and she lived in a wooden cupboard outside our door. A tarp was her home. She tunneled and made a nice nest for herself. When I opened the door and called her name, she would always come running.

So, you can see I have a fondness for little white rats. It makes me sad to think of giving her away, but Bumble is pretty firm on this.

I love you guys!