The Rat and Boot adventure.

Yesterday, my most wonderful parents drove me down to Amesbury, Massachussetts to pick up my rats from their foster home. We left around eight, supplied with enough Harry Potter for eleven hours, and a kennel full of fleece. I still can't believe my parents are crazy enough to do this for me.
Yes, Amesbury is just over the border from New Hampshire. But it's still a good three hour drive. Three hours!
After much consideration, I had decided to go with the two rats that had initially caught my eye, Madeline and Pimento.
The foster mother was a tiny middle aged woman named Ruth. Madeline and Pimento had only been there for one night, transported from a town just south of Boston. As we walked to the door, cat kennel in hand, I could hear what sounded like a full pack of wolves barking. It was terrifying to find out that this woman not only had several rats, plus the fosters, but perhaps four dogs, a new cat, and Heaven only knows what else. I didn't doubt her ability to take care of them, and indeed, she seemed very able, and very caring. But I couldn't imagine the time she must have had to put into these animals. After we came inside, past the door for the designated "rat room", Ruth opened up the door to the top cage, where I could see a recognizable dumbo-eared head poking out from inside the hammock. I had looked at the pictures of Maddy and Pimento so often that I could tell them apart with ease. They were much fatter in person- the pictures must have been taken when they were quite a bit younger. Ruth picked up Pimento, who isn't as shy as Madeline, and she handed her over to me. Pimento sniffed curiously, and then scampered up to my shoulder, where she burrowed through my hair and then sat, balanced. Rats like shoulder rides, and they'll stay there for awhile. Soon Ruth handed Maddy over to me, too, who was a little slimmer than the plump Pimento. She also sniffed, and ran up to my other shoulder. Soon they were both sitting together on my shoulders, while my parents signed a form. We pried them from their perch and put them into the fleece- filled kennel. The ride home seemed significantly longer than the ride down. It's always that way with road trips. As soon as they were outside of the foster home, Maddy and Pimento both got shy. I kept their kennel door open, assured that if they decided to roam out, there was no place for them to really go. For the most part, they stayed sleeping in the fleece at the back of the kennel. They did seem to like the oranges I gave them, but they didn't care for me too much.
On the way back, we stopped in Freeport at the L.L. Bean factory outlet for some hiking boots, my intended birthday gift from my parents. I've been having some serious ankle problems on and off for a few years, and they've gotten worse since the Acadia Challenge. And as I've been planning on doing a significant amount of hiking this year, my parents thought some mid-height boots were in order. I settled on these, eventually. They're lightweight, have super ankle support (wearing them feels so nice. I don't even need my brace), and are waterproof. Bad. Ass.
Back in the car, the rats were friendlier. I fell asleep at one point, and was startled awake when they both crawled out tentatively onto my lap.
They settled in pretty quickly at home- they've found the litter box, and love the hammock. I think I made it a little bit too comfortable, actually, because now they won't come out. They'll both need a couple of days to warm up, as they're quite shy around me or any other people.
All in all, it was a very successful rat and boot trip.

More OBE, or, Rosie the Riveter, or, You are Sixteen, Going on Seventeen.

I'm still filled with a good bout of OBE.

But it's not entirely detrimental to my state of being- in fact, it can be put to relatively good use. Which is why, on a Tuesday morning, I'm sitting with a list of eighteen places to apply for jobs. I'll be a big kid soon, it's time to enter the work force.

Yeah, Rosie, sure we can. But only after many hours of rigorous application filing and looking clean and professional and practicing firm handshakes (which, by the way, is something I've never gotten the hang of. It doesn't mean I'm a flimsy person- it just means that my fingers hurt). Yesterday at Petco (looking for a few rat supplies. More on that later), I went up, attempting my, "I am professional. Can't you read the words 'hire ME!' stamped across my forehead?" ploy for the first time, and asked, I thought very maturely, if they had applications available. The cashier looked at me for a second, and then informed me that it's all online, and, "You have to be eighteen to work here."

Oh. 'Kay then. Is it really that easy to tell that I'm not eighteen? It's not like as soon as I turn eighteen I'll magically be an adult, and capable of the rigors of working at Petco. Yeah, yeah, I know all of the legal stuff. There's probably some liability there just in case you get your head pecked to a nub by some parakeet (one of which, by the way, was loose at the time of my visit. They were running around with a net trying to catch it). But seriously. One year? When he said "eighteen", I almost threw myself on the ground and stomped my feet and almost shouted, "It's not fair!". Maybe that's the difference between sixteen and eighteen. Or sixteen and seventeen, take your pick. Oh well. So far, Tim Hortons looks like a good option. Also, Dunkin' Donuts and Charlotte Russe. I don't think I'm prissy enough for a job at Charlotte Russe, but it's worth a shot anyways.

Here goes nothing. Dive, dive, dive!

**On another very exciting note, it looks like my rattie adoption has been approved! Yaaay! I'm waiting for the official e-mail, but all signs say go. Hooray, for Madeline and Pimento!

Ratties, or, Bicycle Around the World Day

Somehow December passed in a whirl- actually, it was more like a drive-by shooting, the way that it hit hard and sped by fast, leaving many moments gasping for more time and air.
Yeah, I finally breeched into that dreded time of adulthood when the holidays (that is to say, Christmas and New Years) are more stressful than they should be.
Despite this, Christmas was very nice. I got to see some family, sing good music, and I got a few nice things under the tree. It's funny. Every few years, sometimes two in a row, Mom or Dad will say, "I hope you guys aren't expecting a huge Christmas."
Even when they don't say it, I know that we've never had a huge Christmas. But it's okay, because I've never had a Christmas I've been unhappy with. Present-wise I tend to like practical things, so that's no big deal. And I know that it sounds trite, but I honestly like the day because it's one of the few days a year that my brother and I magically get along.
I was extremely excited to find a large wire cage, unwrapped under the tree this year. It's big enough for rats or guinea pigs or even a small bunny or a chinchilla or something. I've decided, after years of wanting them, to get a few rats. I browsed around our humane society and stumbled across the Mainely Rat Rescue. I've applied for Madeline and Pimento, a pair of rats listed there, and I'm crossing my fingers that the adoption papers get approved, because they're Sooo cute. So. Cute.
Along with that large (and inexpensive. Apparently they found it at a yardsale) gift, I also got some bike accessories, like an odometer and a bell for my bike (more on that later).

Speaking of which, today, according to my schedule calandar, is Bicycle Around the World Day. In honor of it, I would take out my bicycle...except I don't have snowtires. That could be problematic. So instead I'll just cheer on this noblest of noble days.
I have, however, found a quite spectacular way of biking in the winter...sort of. A friend of mine introduced me to the great sport of Bike Polo. There's a motley group, apparently, who play under the cover of the parking garage downtown. I haven't gone yet, because I still need to construct a good mallet (they all make theirs differently, out of broomstick handles or PVC pipes or plumbing).

So, a hoorah to those people, whoever and wherever they may be, who are biking around the world right now. You're honorable. Maybe someday I'll do it, too.
After I finish hiking the AT and saving the world.