Myelin is a Busy Lady

We've been taking a lot of pictures of Myelin lately. She's slowing down in her old age, but she still manages to be mischievous and adorable.

And, as usual, we've been cooking. This was a last-minute dinner one night that ended up working out nicely. We fried some eggs in little red pepper cups with green onions, and some bacon and toast.

I also made beef stew this week, with mustard greens. Later I added corn and peas, and it cooked down a bit more.

Its juuuuuuuuuuuuuust barely been cold enough out lately for hot drinks, so I steamed up some milk and made a chai latte one night. The milk froth was PERFECT.

Love you!

Business as Usual

We haven't done anything of note in the last couple weeks, and as such I don't have much on which to update you. Mostly, I've been diligently doing my statistics homework and attending seminars, and struggling through labwork as usual. As I understand it, one of Brandon's projects at work finally wrapped up, so he breathed a sigh of relief this weekend. Hopefully this means next week will be less stressful for him.

This week we marathoned our way through Game of Thrones, which I insisted on watching after Peter Dinklage got the Emmy for it. A worthwhile watch, if you can stomach it; but don't expect a satisfying ending. I'll be reading the books soon. It should be an exercise in frustration, if the show is any indication. But as long as I get to enjoy more of Tyrion Lannister's antics (and picture them in Peter Dinklage's voice, of course), I'm happy.

So, what have we been up to lately? Let's browse the latest photos on my camera and see if I can piece together a story for you.

Ah, yes. A few weeks ago Brandon and I caught a nasty cold. I made a gigantic pot of chicken stock for us to drink, and gave Brandon a blanket to throw over his shoulders when he sat at his computer, with hilarious results:

Hm. Not exactly what I had in mind.

We've been playing with Myelin more frequently. She requires more attention now that she's an Only Rat. She's actually adjusting quite well. She likes to nap in my lap while I work on homework and browse Facebook.

We used the chicken from the chicken stock to make a gigantic chicken pot pie. It lasted almost a week. Brandon was pretty impressed with this feat. When I looked back and realized that it was 100% from scratch, including the crust, the broth and the mashed potatoes, I felt pretty accomplished.

My mentor goes to China about once every couple months. He has another lab there that he has to oversee, so he's constantly traveling. Whenever he goes, he brings back treats for everyone in the lab. This time he brought back moon cakes, which are filled with red bean paste, probably my very favorite Asian dessert. They were very pretty so I took a picture:

I'm sorry if the letters are sideways or upside down. I honestly don't know the difference.

I put mine in the microwave for a few seconds and it was scrumptious. 

This week is Rosh Hashannah. Brandon and I will be attending the evening services at the local synagogue, but we can't make it in the morning to hear the shofar. It's just too much of a hassle: I have seminar, he has work. This won't be the first year I've missed the shofar. It's alright, we'll have apples and honey at home. That's enough for me.

Luckily, Yom Kippur is next Saturday, so I can go to whichever services I please, fast all day and do a full break-fast. I'll likely buy bagels and have my friends over for dinner. It's always nice to be surrounded by people you care about on the High Holy Days.

That's all for now! Lots of love.

Sad News

Glia, our youngest rat, died last week. She was very very sick. Her cancer had progressed pretty far. She was having a difficult time breathing. Eventually she stopped eating and we had to feed her with a medicine syringe. I was planning on having her put down this week, and then on Friday she died in my lap. I'm really glad I was with her. We took a bunch of pictures of her last week, because it was clear she was fading. Here are some of the best ones:

I realize that half of these are of her eating. It's because getting her to eat was a big event all last week. She was really starting to shut down. We had to encourage every bite.

Honestly, it was a bit of a relief. She was not living a very comfortable life the last few weeks. I'm glad to know she's not in pain anymore.

So now it's just Myelin. She's our last rat. We won't be getting any more rats, I've decided I'm done with pocket pets for now. After Myelin is gone (which won't be for a while) we'll get a kitten. For now, we're giving her lots of attention, because rats aren't very good at living alone. Luckily, Myelin enjoys human company. She's very social. So I think she'll do okay with being an only rat.

If anyone has ideas for little rat puzzles we can put in the cage to keep her busy and stimulated, please let us know! I'm going to be making little pinatas out of paper towel, filled with snacks. I'll hang them so she can't brace them against something to open them - she's gonna have to get up on two legs and work for those snacks! Although, the last time I tried that, they just pulled the pinatas into the hammock...

Thanks everyone for the condolences on Facebook. I'm gonna try to get back to blogging more regularly. I have a cooking post planned (when don't I?) so hopefully I'll get that up soon. Bye for now!

Tiny Rat Pancakes

Brandon and I have gotten into something of a tradition: we make pancakes or crepes on the weekends. It's not every weekend, but it's pretty common.

When I was in high school, my stepmom would cook an egg every Sunday morning for her dog Princess. Princess would wake up on Sunday mornings and race around the house, waking everyone up, so excited for her egg. It was a fun little tradition that really brightened the weekend. We all loved seeing the dog so happy.

When I was REALLY little, my dad would make pancakes for my brother and I every week. Sometimes the batter would drip in the skillet, making tiny droplet pancakes we referred to as "itty bitties." I think you see where this is going.

Fast forward to now... And you have rat pancakes. Almost every weekend. PHOTO DUMP!

That's a chocolate chip. Yes, we give them chocolate chip pancakes sometimes.

Some weekends I forget to make the itty bitty pancakes when we're done making ours. Brandon always, always remembers. It's almost as adorable as watching them eat the pancakes. ^_^

Rat Bath!

Sometimes, the rats need a bath.

Bye!

News From This Week

Hi it's Amanda. I just thought I'd pop in to let you know what's been up with us this week.

Firstly, my pet rat Glia had two surgeries: she was neutered, and she had a tumor removed. She's recovering nicely and she should be okay! It's likely that she has cancer, but now that she's spayed, it will progress much slower, so we've bought her a lot of time.

She has a little gauze tee shirt. It's sort of terribly adorable:

The surgery was only a few days ago, so right now she mostly just sleeps.

The second bit of news is that my other blog, the photo-a-day project, just ended yesterday! We completed one year of taking one photo each day. It was a really fun project, and it changed the way I use my camera: I learned that my day-to-day activities are memories worth recording.

If you haven't yet, check it out:
http://photosfromthegirls.blogspot.com/

Lastly, tomorrow is my 24th birthday! What am I doing to celebrate? Pretty much nothing. I've had a busy week, I have a lot of homework and housework, and I have the edge of a cold. My birthday landed on a Friday and I don't even want to go out. I guess I'm an old fart now. -_-

However! I will be attempting to make my Mom's traditional birthday cake recipe for the first time! So I'll be sure to take photos and let you guys know how it goes. I even have some beautiful photos of a past birthday cake for reference.

I know it's only Thursday, but have a great weekend!

Lots of love,
Amanda

P.S. I'll try to coax Brandon to update soon.