Burgers, Purses, and Rats

We don’t tend do much during the week because of work, but Wednesday we decided to go to Red Robin so Joe could cash in his free birthday burger. He’s been
training for a run in September, however, so I actually got his burger and he got a salad. I was feeling adventurous so instead of ordering a regular cheeseburger, I got their Banzai burger which has teriyaki sauce and a big pineapple ring on it. I was feeling a bit apprehensive about it until the burger arrived – it was delicious! I think I’ll be ordering that one in the future. Yum, indeed!

Before leaving the mall where the Red Robin is located, we stopped at Payless and Joe got a nice pair of shoes for only $12. I liked the look of these grey leather boots they had but they were uncomfortable and a little pricey anyway at $35. The Payless is right outside Macy’s so Joe tried to convince me to buy the purse I want but even if it was included in the 20% off Kipling sale (the sign was by the small purses only), it still would cost $60+ which is too much. I need to sell the wrong purse Amazon sent me since after complaining they told me to keep it and credited my account! At least then I could put that money toward the purse I actually want. Knowing my luck by the time I get around to that Macy’s won’t be carrying it anymore. I don’t know why they won’t just let me exchange it. I get they didn’t sell me the other purse but does it really matter when they are going to likely send it back to the manufacturer?

After dinner we decided to let the new baby rat (whom I’ve named Gizmo) out to play downstairs. I had been covering half the couch with a blanket and a large towel but that little stinker wants to run over to the uncovered portion of the couch. Then it occurred to me that since he’s still small and doesn’t jump, I could cover the coffee table with the towel and put him on there so I did that instead. Then I was telling Joe how impatient I was feeling about introducing him to Milo, so we decided to just go for it. He has not shown the slightest inclinations of sickness and all his littermates were healthy too, so I really hope I don’t end up regretting that decision. Introductions went well although I think Milo was getting a little tired of the baby after awhile as he spent a good portion of his time tucked away in the large wheel I set out and there was a small fight when the baby tried to join him in there. No blood was drawn, however, which is a good sign!

Gizmo & Milo Meet

Thursday after work we ran to get some delicious steak tacos from El Famous Burrito. I had never eaten at the chain until earlier this year when a coworker mentioned they do $1 tacos on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Now I’m addicted because they are the best steak tacos in the area and you can’t beat the price! We’re not fans of the seating arrangements there, however, so we took the food to go.

After eating I put Milo and Gizmo together on the coffee table again and apart from a small squabble over the wheel, they got along fine. I had them out almost three hours. They both started getting sleepy, so I put Milo back in his cage and a little while later Gizmo fell asleep for a bit on the coffee table. He’s so adorable!

Big Yawn

Weekend Shenanigans

I love that word – shenanigans. Anyway…

Saturday morning I saw my doctor because my equilibrium issues which started back in October still haven’t gone away. I feel off balance like I’m going to tip over to the right and this past week it was worse than ever coupled with ringing in my ears and neck pain. She did note my neck muscles were stiff and recommended I see an ENT (ear, nose, throat) and a neurologist, in that order. Interestingly enough, I was having a little pain in my left ear but she noted my right ear seemed to have fluid in it. Whatever. Monday I’ll make some appointments so they can send me for tests that come back “normal” because no one ever finds an explanation for 99% of the ailments I suffer from. Oh and my blood pressure was “high” which was unusual. It was actually 120/80 which technically is ok but for me that’s high.

Saturday afternoon we attended our association’s first annual block party. I felt bad for forgotting to bring a side dish or dessert like they asked, but there was plenty of food at least. I mostly ate junk because my stomach was bothering me and real food would have set it off again (I know how that sounds but I swear my stomach loves sweets/chips but freaks out when I eat fruits/veggies/meat; just one of the great things about being me). We met one of our neighbors who was asking people to sign a petition to start a community garden. I asked where it would be and he said right next to the pool (like a block from where our unit is) so I signed up. Anything within walking distance I can handle. Had it be off the premises I know my lazy ass would never go there. As it is I probably won’t tend to my crops as often as I should (assuming it gets approved and built).

After picking up the new baby rat we stopped at Sonic to take advantage of their half-price shakes after 8 pm. Well, Joe and E did but milk is enemy #1 to my stomach so I got a small lemonberry slush which was real good. Joe and I shared some popcorn chicken and tator tots as well.

When we got home it was around 9 pm but we decided to watch a movie anyway – Divergent. It was ok. I think the potential was there but there wasn’t enough backstory to satisfy me so I was easily distracted playing with the new rat. I’d have to say that Guardians of the Galaxy, which we saw last weekend, was much better.

This morning we did some shopping and then decided to have an early lunch at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant. We ordered our usual – mongolian beef, kung-pao chicken, and sweet and sour chicken. The latter was overcooked, however, and the chicken inside was hard. We pointed this out and they remade it to perfection. Love that place! I had been craving it for over a week. I struggle over going there because the bill is always around $40 but for as often as we go I need to just calm down about that. I tend to freak out over every cent we spend which is ridiculous when the fact is we are doing fine. That point (my tendency to freak too easily) really hit home yesterday when I was driving home from the doctor and Joe texted me “don’t be mad… spent $60” in regards to his trip to Target to buy E some clothes. Just to be clear, I would have been “upset” if that $60 had been spent on me, so I don’t want anyone thinking it had to do with E in particular. Joe just knows how much I worry about money, which when you think about it is kind of his fault as I never thought that much about it before we got together. In any case, I’m not freaked because I already decided recently that as long as we’re fully funding our retirement accounts and putting something away in savings monthly that it’s ok to spend money and enjoy ourselves. So I’m making progress! :)

The rest of this afternoon was spent cleaning the house and the rat cages. Now I’m going to eat some leftover Chinese food from the Vietnamese place and spend some time with my favorite person in the world.

Introducing No Name Rat

I realize that title is odd, but we adopted a new rat and he doesn’t have a name yet. I’ve been contemplating calling him Burt Macklin just because that would be hilarious, but I kind of want to stick to a name starting with M if possible since I already have Marshmallow and Milo.

New Baby

I found this little guy on Craiglist from a woman whose rat got pregnant unexpectedly. We had actually started emailing back and forth a week and a half ago but she stopped responding. When I saw her repost her ad I was rather pissed, but replied and calmly asked what happened. She said she didn’t get my email from before, and then when I replied, she didn’t respond again. Then I noticed there was a phone # on the ad so I texted her instead and we made our arrangements over text.

When we arrived at her place she was outside with some other people. They were hanging out with rats in their laps and a bunch of babies in a cage so I was able to pick the one I wanted. I liked his markings, as well as one other, but the other one kept trying to get away from me whereas he was cool with me picking him up. In fact he let me, Joe, and E hold him while we talked to the people about rat stuff. Everyone was very friendly and helpful and I enjoyed meeting them all. We were there about a half hour or so before taking off.

He was born on June 16th and was handled since day one which is why he is even more outgoing than Milo (although Milo was pretty good from the beginning too). I decided as long as he doesn’t show any illness in the next week I will introduce him to Milo next weekend. I want to get them acclimated quickly so Milo doesn’t turn antisocial like Marshmallow. Unfortunately Marshmallow has made it clear he would rather live alone so for now he’s going to get moved to a smaller standalone cage so that the two babies can have the run of the Critter Nation. I feel kinda bad but it’s not fair to them to have to live in the same area and be on edge because of him. If I can find a larger used multi-tier cage something like this then I will get it for him, but I’m not buying one new because I’ve already spent enough money on these guys.