Savoy Truffle...

I don't really feel like blogging today, but I'm going to. Things are still really sensitive when it comes to Sally. I almost made it through an entire day yesterday without crying, but I knew it was inevitable. It's still so hard to believe she's gone. Her sister, Emilie, is taking it really hard. I know you all probably think I'm crazy, but it's true. She's just lying around and looks lost. Melissa and Chelsea are both consoling her, or so it seems. They lay their heads on her and just stay close.

It's extremely hard on me to be without Sally, but imagine those 3. They've spent their entire lives with her, every day since birth basically. I can't imagine what they feel and it breaks my heart that I can't ease their pain and suffering.

Speaking of suffering, poor Pip is having tooth issues again. He's lost a significant amount of weight and can't eat well at all. His teeth are extremely sensitive to cold foods -- we've all been there before. We put him in a cage by himself for a couple days to see just how much he's eating. The first day of giving him his regular food was a big eye opener -- he didn't eat much at all! The next day I cut his food up extremely small in hopes of him being able to eat it easier. After doing that and cleaning his teeth every other day, he finally started to eat a LOT! Like almost everything.

He still needed to be checked by the vet to make sure everything was okay. Since he's been drooling a lot lately and Sadie's fur has been greasy, we decided to just get fecals while we were there as well. Luckily everything is doing well. She acknowledged that he was having some teeth issues and said that there's a good chance there's irritation that may be causing an underlying infection, so she put him on antibiotics and sent us on our way.

If this doesn't help, we'll take him back for an ex-ray and maybe a blood smear.

Love & Peace

-Megan

Some pictures of the drive home. These are of Saint Francois river on C highway:

Just a sample of how cold it's been.

I like this one.

Now for the DELICIOUS cake that LaVaghn made. It's an Almond Joy cake and yes, it's just as delicious as it looks:

Here's our fancy Almond Joy cake.

I think it turned out quite pretty.

I like this picture. I think it turned out quite nice. Cake photography has never been my thing, though.

Remember yesterday...

I've been preparing for this day for months now. Postponing the inevitable doesn't make things magically better, it just prolongs death. By now I'm sure you've gathered that we've lost a very precious member of our furry family today. Our rat, Sally, has left this painful life and is in her eternal resting place.

LaVaughn and I both agreed that today was the day that we have her put down. She made a turn for the better last week. She put on weight, became more energetic, and just seemed so full of life. That all came to a grinding halt about a week ago. Her health has been declining at an alarming rate and she just seemed absent. She was there, but she wasn't. Last night I saw it in her eyes that she was ready.

My heart is breaking in ways I never thought imaginable. I've cried non-stop for hours. I honestly didn't think I was going to be able to let her go, but thankfully I was strong enough and realized that she was the one suffering and I was just being selfish.

I'm so thankful that my aunt was able to take her out of the cage. I was trying, but failing miserable. I was crying and shaking so hard that I could hardly hold the pet taxi. I had to leave immediately after and just get away, so LaVaughn and I drove in the opposite direction for countless miles. It wasn't until we came into unfamiliar territory that we decided to turn and go back.

I felt a certain level of peace on the way back, knowing that my precious girl was no longer in pain. Of course, regret and all the other deadly effects of loss started to fall into place. I know it was silly of us, but we decided to play with the rat boys in the bathroom today. I don't know why, but they were trying like crazy to escape their cage. I lasted for a good 10 minutes before I lost it. I tried to cover the sadness with songs on my MP3 player, but everything that came on was (somehow) a reminder.

We actually just left the bathroom -- we were in there for over 2 hours, crying and playing with the boys. Right now I feel like I've been kicked in the face by a horse. My eyes are puffy, my head is pounding, and I just feel completely heartbroken and lost. I'm having a hard time facing the fact that I'll never get to see my sweet girl every again. I'll never feel her little rat feet crawling around on me, her warm little body inside my shirt, her wet tongue kisses -- I honestly just can't.

-Megan

Welcome to the world of Superbowl...

I'm sure at least 65% of the population is watching the Superbowl today, which is to be expected. I asked off for this day, mainly because I didn't want to deal with the Superbowl crowd at work -- I honestly did have intentions of watching the game, but decided against it.

Instead of doing that, I took joey pictures! It was cold, damp, and cloudy outside, so outdoor pictures were a no. Instead, I moved their shoot to the bathroom. It worked out so well the last time I did that, but they were smaller and it was sunny, not dim and gloomy. That light that was cast through the window was not in my favor, so these pictures didn't quite turn out like I wanted them to.

This is what I deal with when we have joeys in the winter months.

After that, I cleaned the rat cage. I haven't been cleaning it as often as I normally would, mainly because I don't like upsetting the girls and/or moving them around much. Sally is still in bad shape, she's nearing the end I believe. Melissa's tumor is huge and I'm completely irate about it. It's NOT fair that rats have to go through what they go through.

I do don't want to get on that subject. It doesn't take much to trigger a crying outburst.

In other news, I'm still doing well with my Project 365 (knock wood). I've taken all the 365 pictures with my camera -- which is great, cause even if nothing it going that day, I still manage to get a decent picture. Well Friday rolled around and there I sat, 30 minutes into Saturday morning and it hit me... I didn't take a picture Friday! I flew into panic mode and frantically started looking through the camera for even the smallest picture I could have taken, but no.

It's LaVaughn's fault, I had to take her to the doctor yesterday and got completely sidetracked due to the paranoia of potentially getting sick from all the sickly people in the office. Luckily, thanks to the every popular "selfie" phenom, I managed to take a picture on my phone... of myself. NOT looking forward to that being my Day 31, but what can you do?

I'm going to get back to relaxing the rest of the night. I have to get up at 9 AM (shutter) tomorrow. Yeah, not looking forward to that wake-up call, but it's for my aunt and that makes it okay.

Love & Peace

-Megan

Here are the LONG overdue joey pictures...

Neville

Luna

Evan

Evie

And now some pictures from Saturday:

Grumpy looking Una.

Yes, this is me sporting LaVaughn's glasses.