Of what, you may ask? I can't believe your forgot my anniversary...

What kinda loyal reader do you think you are?

Hmmph.

Ok... I think I've pouted enough. I am so happy to announce that my little, smallest (now), long-tailed, baby girl and I have been together for a full year! My little Tierna. Ahh... the memories a full year has made.

In fact, let me share some.

April 13, 2001:
I have cleared it with work so that I don't have to be in immediately at 5, because I'm expecting a call from Pet Supplies Plus telling me my baby rat is in. Then I have to go pick her up. As it turns out, I get a call at 2pm or so and I drop everything and race over to the store.

I get there, and Pearl is busy with another customer (she's the one that actually hand-picked Tierna for me). So I stand around, waiting anxiously to see my tiny new addition. I start pacing, when the manager comes up to me and asks if he can help me. I tell him I'm here to pick up my baby rat. He says, "follow me". I walk into the little office and see the box sitting on the counter.

I walked up to the box, and opened it immediately. I look inside to see a (full-grown) hamster-sized tan baby rat. I gasp. She's much bigger than I was expecting. I just figured she'd be the size of those mice or something (seeing as she was a baby and all). I walk out and start talking softly to her. I am waiting for Pearl to finish up.

Five more minutes go by. Still Pearl is busy. I end up asking the manager if he knows how old she is. He shrugs his shoulders and says he could ask the employees to see who picked her out. I said, oh, that's okay. I decide I'll talk to Pearl some other time. I walk out, put Tierna in the passenger seat and drive home.

I get her in the house and Maxine's all over me. "Where'd you go? What do you have? I smell something. What is that? Is it for me?" Cats, they are so nosy. (Well, Tierna is supposed to be an entertainment for Maxine while I'm away at work anyways). I open the box back up and pick her up for the first time. She's so much softer than I was expecting.

Her round little body clings to my hand as I lower her into her new home. I make sure the water bottle is low enough, but soon realize that she can reach much higher than I had previously thought. (She can stand on her hind legs like a biped, so she's actually quite tall when she stands). She runs around her cage, sniffing things, getting her scent on everything. She runs to the food bowl, grabbing a few chunks of food, nibbling. I wonder if I had the right food. I wonder if she'll like her new home. I wonder if I'll ever get used to that gross rat tail. I wonder many things as I just watch her smiling.

Another memory of her:

I leave. Upon arriving home, I discover everything is in order, and Tierna is exactly where I left her. What a good girl. I start trusting her more. She's so smart. When I call her name, she knows to come running out from under the blanket (that is, if she's awake anyway). She also knows that when I scratch my fingers across the couch cushion, that means I'm bringing the water out.

She's learned so quickly, and she's so well behaved. She lets me hold her more and more each day. Granted, she's still little and wants to run around a lot when she's awake, but she's getting more trusting of me too. I like the bond that's growing between us.

One more story for today, then I'm done:
I'm not sure how far along in having her, I am, but I have discovered that she is capable of playing with me (and that doesn't mean attacking me or my hand and it also doesn't mean that she just runs away when I try to pick her up). She likes to chase my hand under the blanket! I remember the first time that I put my hand under the blanket and she ran to it to sniff instead of just laying in one spot. I moved my hand around a bit and notice she followed. I moved my hand slightly outside the blanket, and she pokes her head out. How cute is that?!

All in all, I think Tierna has been a great addition to my life. She provides me with entertainment, companionship, and she's even a great little cuddle buddy. But most of all, I'm glad that I have her around. When I'm sad, I can just go get her and hold her for a bit and she starts doing cute things like usual. It makes me smile, because she's just being herself. I don't know if she realizes the impact she has on me, but I know that she's aware that I've impacted her life. She's happy with me. And I'm happy with her. And that's what makes it so great to have a furry friend. :)

Carisa