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

Opossum pictures...

You really know you're bored and have nothing to do when your blog is titled "Opossum Pictures". I feel like it's an opening line for a hillbilly deluxe blog or something. I swear, I do get out more and don't base my enjoyment on the simplicity of marsupials. Minus, the gliders, of course.

It's so rare that you would see nocturnal animal out in the middle of the day, even more so when there's a giant dog roaming the grounds. I was kind of shocked when LaVaughn told me, but of course we had to interact with the creature and proceed to feed it bread and take it's picture, making it the star of the day.

I know you all are dying to see the pictures, so I will keep you no longer...

Love & Peace

-Megan

Here's my wannabe NatGeo picture of the opossum.

This is probably my favorite opossum picture of the day.

Or this one, this one is pretty cool too.

The white van that could...

Believe it or not I FINALLY got to leave my house today! It was at the aid of my aunt -- she owns a huge 4-wheel drive truck -- and wouldn't have happened without her. We were seriously getting so low on things. Especially glider fruit and cat food, super scary to get as low as we did. Not to mention, we were getting low on coffee creamer and sweetener. You don't not want to be around me when I've not had my daily coffee fix.

Luckily our 40 pack of cat food that we ordered vi Walmart's "Site to Store" was ready a day early, so we were able to pick it up while we were in town. We also got our 12 pack of large cat food cans in the mail today. PLUS I picked up 6 more large cans while I was in the store. I believe we're stocked up on cat food for close to two weeks now. Bring on the snow storms! Not really...

Aside from stocking up on the necessities, we also stocked up on food that we were nearly out of -- and a few extra things that we didn't need. We picked up some stuff to make a chocolate almond cake... yes, it does sound delicious. We're going to make it using almond milk, which should be very interesting.

Speaking of, I tried the almond milk today. As much as I hate to admit it, I actually quite enjoyed it. I'd like to try a slightly better brand next time. Highland is about the only thing you can get around here, unless you wanna pay $5 for a half gallon. Yeah, not thanks!

Well, since my extremely exciting day has come to a close, I believe this post has as well. It's been quite exhilarating and exhausting, so I believe I will leave it here.

Love & Peace

-Megan

Since I didn't have to drive today (for once), I decided to take the camera with me and get some pictures of the snowy scenery. Unfortunately, there's a white van that completely ruins all of my shots. SUPER frustrating!

A "still" of my aunt.

Warm chili on a cold day...

You guessed it, we're still snowed in! I don't think I've even been stuck in the house this long before -- severe cabin fever is setting in! Today marks the 7th day that I haven't left the house, seen pavement, people, stores... nothing!! It can really wear you down after a while, but luckily I'm surrounded by things I love, like chili and my animals.

We had a nice bathroom playtime experience with the rattie boys a little while ago, They're both really starting to open up, which is awesome! Nothing says fun like having rat kisses on your cheek. Call me crazy, but I love nothing more -- short of my kitty cats. Opie (now Louie??) is a tad more timid than I'd like, but he's slowly starting to come around and show us what his personality is really like. From the looks of it he's going to be a wild one!

As pathetic as this sounds, that's really all the excitement I have to share for the day. I do have a few new pictures, but it's repetitive nonsense that everyone has seen a 1000 times. Better than nothing, I suppose.

Love & Peace

-Megan

This cat is so inappropriate.

Nom, nom... chili!

LaVaughn's banana "bars".

Bathroom time with the rat boys:

Just look at that adorable rat face...