Oh hai!

So my new job as been…well, apart from leaving me with almost no time to myself, let’s just say the new job has been a learning experience and leave it at that.  But here I will present what little has happened in my life in a listed and numbered format.

1. I’ve been reading a lot in these recessionary times that gourmet cupcakes have become rather fashionable.  So I went to the only gourmet cupcake bakery in Indianapolis that I know of, and tried one out for myself:

Chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting – highly recommended!  But at three bucks each, I only recommended going the once for the novelty of it.  However, next to the cupcake bakery was the toy store, and I couldn’t resist taking this picture:

especially since I am in the process of giving my Legos to my aunt to save for my cousin for when he’s older.  It was hard to make the decision to let the Legos go, since I feel that Legos truly defined my childhood and adolescence.  But the bottom line is I haven’t played with them in 15 years, so it’s probably time to give them a new home.

2. I was casually reading Swamp Thing one evening while having a cup of tea (as us single ladies tend to do), and was shocked to my core when a bird flew full-blast into my sliding glass door.  After giving my heart a moment to resume beating, I ran to get my camera.  I thought the poor bird was dead, since he was laying perfectly still on his back.  But when I arrived back on the scene with camera in hand, he looked like this:

And there he sat for a good 45 minutes before flying off.  The creepiest thing?  A few weeks later I went to a friend’s house one Sunday afternoon and another bird (a much larger bird), did the exact same thing.  What can I say?  Birds will do anything for a chance with me.

3. The fall weather set in before my last bell pepper fully ripened, so I brought him inside with low hopes that he would ripen indoors.  But he could, and he did!

And he was delicious.

4. I made the leap and purchased a super-fancy HDTV.  While I completely adored my previous old-fashioned setup that had faithfully served me well all these years:

it became too much of a strain to watch widescreen programming on the 19″ screen from way across the room.  So I bought a new TV and a new TV stand:

But don’t shed a tear for my loss of retro just yet.  I’m setting up the old system in my spare bedroom in the hopes that it will encourage me to work out on the HealthRider my aunt gave me.  (P.S. Why yes, that is a Blu-ray player that I got for free when I purchased the TV!  Thanks, Sony!)

5. I signed up to take a metalsmithing class at the Indianapolis Art Center.  I needed something to look forward during the week, and a creative outlet for my weekly work-related frustrations.  During the first class, we learned to use the equipment and went over the supply list, so it was kind of boring.  The second class, we worked on our first project – a riveted pendant.  I sawed, filed, and sanded metal for 3 straight hours.  I hadn’t been that physically exhausted in a long time, and the pendant isn’t even finished yet!  But last Saturday, we learned to make a simple band ring.  It was really quick and easy to do, and I love how mine turned out:

6. I don’t mean to end on a sad note, but I do mean to end on an important note: Jonathan died.  He had a huge tumor on his neck which prevented him from being able to eat solid food.  I was giving him shallow dishes of whatever I could find that was pureed: applesauce, hummus, mashed bananas and avocados, baby food, pasta sauce.  He seemed to be doing OK with the new diet, except for some weight loss.  Then his tumor burst through his skin and I had to have him put down.  He was doing so poorly in the end, it was the right thing to do.  But he will be terribly missed!  I didn’t realize how much company he was until he died.  But let’s remember the happier times:

FINALLY.

I am totally buying these for Jonathan.  I can’t handle him marking everything in site – including me – when he plays outside his cage ANY LONGER!

What happens when you feed a rat Pop Rocks?

The same thing that happens when you feed him anything else: he gobbles it down and begs for more.

Have you ever seen anything this cute?

No, you have not.  Here is more cuteness of a magnitude you have yet to experience.  Brace yourself:

Zombie kisses!

Shoe Sadness

I was dismayed when I looked down yesterday and saw that Jonathan had chewed the toes of my favorite shoes!  I wear these with everything: jeans, dress pants, even skirts (if I were to stop being lazy).  I looked for them in stores recently, because I was interested in purchasing another pair in case this exact problem arose, but they don’t make them anymore.  From now on, shoes will be kept in the bedroom!

Jonathan, The Destroyer

I think I gave Jonathan the run of the house too soon.  He’s gotten into a lot of terrible mischief which I’ve been too late to catch.  A sampling of his destruction:

Exhibit A: ruined carpet.  I close the doors to the bedrooms and the bathroom when I let Jonathan out, but that still leaves a small stretch of [NEW] carpet in the hallway, which he loves to dig at in the corners by the doors.

Exhibit B: chewed wood.  I don’t know how he managed to chew the floor, but he did.

Exhibit C: digging in and gnawing on the houseplants.

Exhibit D: stained hardwoods.  Yes, from pee-pee.

Fortunately, the current state of the destruction can be considered normal wear-and-tear upon moving out.  But I must be a vigilant mother in the future to insure that the damage doesn’t progress!

Allergies? Or asthma?

Mornings and evenings I have terrible coughing and wheezing fits.  This morning it was so bad I almost vomited.  The thing is, my whole body itches the entire time I’m coughing.  I know my cough is due to allergies, but no allergy medication lists coughing as a symptom on the box.  I consulted my vitamin bible, and the section on allergies told me what I knew all along: there is a condition called allergic asthma (“restriction of the breathing passages in the lungs as a consequence of inhaling substances to which you are sensitive”), and Vitamin B12 is supposed to alleviate the symptoms.  I can’t wait to try it!

But what could possibly be causing my allergic asthma?

Funny how my coughing fits start after Jonathan sits on my shoulders.

He’s a big boy now!

Jonathan has gotten much bigger – and has become much more trusting – since I first rescued him!  In fact, he’s so friendly, that every time I get the camera out to take his picture, he comes running over to me so fast that I usually end up with either the photo above, or something like this:

But sometimes he’s a good boy and stands very still so I can take a picture like this:

Welcome, Jonathan!

I had been thinking about getting another rat or two for some time now, but due to a large cage debacle, I had put it off.  However, I would still look at the sweet ratties in the pet stores from time to time.  One day last week, I went to Petco and they had six lovely rats.  The next day they were down to one lonely rat.  I learned from an employee that the other five rats found a home with a snake, and that most of the rats at that location go to snakes.  I promptly brought the remaining boy to my snake-free home and named him Jonathan.  He’s still rather shy, but curious and undemanding, which I believe to be a good sign!