Carol's random babble

Pups are getting bigger every day.

The boys have a lot more room now ... notice one is sleeping in the exercise ball at the top left.

I didn't think I would enjoy watching the gerbils, but I do. They are getting to be a little more expensive that I anticipated, though. We got them the CritterTrail X cage, but since one of them turned out to be a girl, with babies, the person bringing them to me bought another cage. I need to pay her back. Now, we find that the boys (in the CritterTrail X cage) are using the wheel, which is outside and on top of the cage, as their bathroom. So, I'm thinking of getting this container system that is supposed to be helpful in training them to potty in one place. That's going to be interesting. (I need a rolling eyes smiley here). Now I have to get ready for work, 'cause I gotta. I would like to sleep more, but I must not. And Cayla has parent-teacher conferences today. Kent won't be going because he has an online spades tournament. (more rolling eyes smileys)

He's not really trying to escape - honest.

Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who? Who are you? Who, who, who, who?

One of the "brown boys" - it could be the same one as in the last picture, I can't tell those two apart yet.

The mama gerbil, Angel, in her cage. She's a black-patched gerbil, according to Gerbils (First Pets) , a book my mom checked out from the library.

Shadow takes a peek outside. He's a black-patched gerbil (according to this library book).

One of the "brown boys" on the slide. I'm not sure the exact breed - I'll have to do more checking.

So far, so good, I guess. The mama gerbil (named "Angel" by Cayla) hasn't eaten her babies yet. Nobody has escaped, although there were a couple of attempts when I was playing with them after work. I think the three gerbils that are together in the cage are all boys. I've got pictures, which I will attempt to upload shortly. Of course, they will be above this post if they work and not showing up at all if they don't. :-/ After work I stopped at Target and Wal-Mart. At Target, I got a box of Rosemary and Olive Oil Triscuits - they are so yummy! At Wal-Mart, I got salt wheels and sesame-peanut treats for the gerbils. I don't know if they think the treats are yummy. I do know they love to chew things. I gave the boys each a toilet-paper roll in the afternoon after they arrived and before Cayla got home from school. There was hardly anything left of the toilet-paper rolls. They love chewing up newspaper, too. I cut up an old sock of Kent's and gave them some p...

Cayla has been wanting a pet of her own for some time. We decided to look into hamsters and gerbils because my niece Jessica has a hamster. I was advised to go with gerbils because hamsters are nocturnal. A co-worker has gerbils and said that they need to have a companion or they will get sick and die. So, we decided that Cayla could have 2 gerbils - of the same gender, so they won't breed. Gerbils can breed about every 24 days. (Eek!) Another co-worker, Andrea, who spends her days off in Iowa City and belongs to the Iowa City Freecycle group (which allows listings for pets), said someone on the Iowa City Freecycle needed to find a home for four gerbils. I said we could take them, thinking how much harder could it be? Yeah, great thinking. Andrea called tonight. She's bringing the gerbils to me tomorrow (well, Tuesday, since it's nearly midnight now). She was uncomfortable calling me but had to let me know. The former owner had told her that the gerbils were all boys. They ...

I sometimes hide Kent's cigarettes. Well, not all the time, just when I get a carton and don't want him to know I got a carton. I let him think I only got a couple of packs. Today, he asked me to hide them. So I did. Two packs in a huge water mug that we don't use. Two packs in a recipe box that I started to decoupage. One pack in a Santa tin, one in the drawer I keep my printer paper in. One pack in the bottom drawer of this spice rack thing that we don't use and one pack in the top drawer of a plastic dresser. I was afraid that I would forget where they are, so I'm logging it here. ;)

rivka, Jamie, Nathan

Jamie and Nathan after Bob and Dana's wedding.

The happy couple

The dinosaur couple at Bob and Dana's reception.

I finally got to meet a bunch of people from Hatrack! Bob Scopatz and Dana Williams got married (seems like today but technically yesterday - April 2, 2005). I was able to attend, through the help of Farmgirl picking me up and ElJay returning me home. I couldn't have done it without you two. I had a great time. The wedding was beautiful, the reception was wonderful, and the people were terrific. I got to meet: BannaOJ, Bob_Scopatz, dkw, ElJay, Farmgirl, IvyGirl, Frisco, Fugu, Icarus, Cor, Kat/Lady Jane, Krabby Patty, Posable Nurse, mack, T_Smith, Papa Moose, Mama Squirrel, Mooselet, Superstation, Plaid, Punwit, rivka, Ryuko, Shigosei, Stray, Tom, Christy and Sophie, Val and Xavier, Vana and Lime. I think that's the entire list of Hatrackers attending (plus me, of course - aka CaySedai). I will attempt to add a picture here: ... Or not. I can't remember how to use the simple program, and my brain is fried right now - I'm sooo tired. So, I'm off to bed. I will try to ...