A rat in my kitchen

For months before her sixth birthday, JJ was clear that she wanted two things: A party at Jimmy Jungles indoor playground, and a pet. For those of you who have no idea what Jimmy Jungles might be, count yourselves lucky. The rest will agree with me that it is one of the least adult-friendly places on the planet; but the kids love it, so Jimmy Jungles it was. I slept 12 hours that night (possibly the pizza restaurant afterwards was a mistake).

As for the pet, JJ's parents had a dilemma: neither of us like dogs (too needy, all that poo to pick up or step in) and L is allergic to cats. So, after much research, we decided on a rat. Or actually a pair of rats, because apparently it has to be a pair, which we got from a breeder in town. Their pedigree names (yes, rats have pedigrees) are Sammael and Boegiboe; JJ promptly renamed them Sniffle and Doodles. Here are the boys:


Doodles is the younger, more nervous blonde; Sniffle is the older, more adventurous brunette. After two weeks we are all more or less used to each other and the boys are happy to climb all over us in a tickly sort of way provided we don't move too suddenly. This and small children is not always possible (funny, that) and occasionally they have to be moved away when the hordes descend; but at night when the kids are asleep it's actually quite sweet to sit and play with them.

Last night was L's night out and my night in, which I planned to spend sitting with the boys, having hot drinks and knitting and maybe reading a bit and getting to bed early. Hah! (she said bitterly). Sniffle got a little too adventurous and discovered the washing machine -- or, to be more precise, the space *behind* the washing machine -- and I spent an hour sitting on the (cold) kitchen floor trying to tempt him out with chocolate-coated peanuts and bits of marshmallow. So my cuddly night in was spent remonstrating with a rat. THIS is probably why some people choose to remain childless.

On the other hand, there is this:

Sekkie with flowers for her teacher on the last day of school; and this:

Winter colour on the way to school with JJ this morning.

As of today they are both on holiday. Wish me luck.

My favourite author bio, ever

From the back flap of a picture book called Hog-Eye we got from the library today:

"Susan Meddaugh, gorgeous and younger than you are, has won the Newbery, the Caldecott, a Pulitzer, and the Nobel Prize for Literature, not to mention the Miss Teen America crown. She lives in Paris when she's not in Rome, with her twenty-three children all under the age of ten. A successful lawyer, she devotes her spare time to volunteer work for world peace, the Restore Wolves to the North Woods Foundation, and Free the Pigs. When she's not writing and illustrating children's books she is writing her dissertation for her Ph.D in Primatology.

And that's the truth.

Or is it?"

PS While looking for a site about her to link to, I stumbled on one called "unjobs.org". Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that the "un-" stands for "United Nations". She strikes me as just the sort of person who'd be proud to have an unjob.