Wow! Where to begin? I have some adorable boy rats now -- 3 to be exact. Nothing's changed in the number of cats... or how awesome Maxine is.

The biggest change since I last updated is that I am fully employed! Not only did I take a few business classes to prepare myself, I dove in and started my own business. Within a year of starting, I had a respectable client base, made more money than my weekly stipend from Ryan, and had everyone at the SPCA referring me out to anyone who asked.

I'm officially licensed, insured, certified in Pet First Aid, and have been focusing my business on my areas of expertise! I'm a petsitter with a specialty in cat and rat behavior. Shocking, huh?!

Now, I'll try to just give some quick updates:

• I have a great best friend who's husband happens have become good friends with Ryan. The four of us try to spend an entire day together about once a week to just have fun! We have even started to play Bridge. :)
  
• I'm still in Sign Language class, and have even been able to apply it to my business, as I have one deaf client that desperately needed someone that could understand her
  
• I stopped volunteering with the SPCA and started with Rattie Ratz Rescue because of the bad changes at the SPCA and it's Year of the Rat afterall!
  
• At the beginning of the year, my email server went down and I lost years and years of emails and contact information -- I've been trying to recover, but it's been hard
  
• December 2005, Ryan's brother, Scott married Louise (of whom have been dating for years and years before) because they got pregnant
  
• all my cats are now using litter boxes, complete with a box on the toilet, because Teddy is just so addicted to being high up
  
• I've continued my yarn crafts, including joining a site called Ravelry and being part of a potluck knit group every other week
  
• I threw Ryan an awesome surprise-theme 30th birthday party -- Pirate themed -- he loved it!
  
• Last August, we had our house painted. It's now dark, glossy grey with white trim and bronze detail work
  
• At Rattie Ratz, I have moved up from being a foster home to a foster hub coordinator, to a co-lead for the entire Bay Area volunteer network! I'm on the fast-track to awesomeness with Rattie Ratz! :)
  

Lastly, I couldn't just put this in a bullet point, because it's lives we're talking about. I had two amazing rats "cage-sisters" that spent a year of their life with someone else (a friend, someone who I consider my big sister), and then came to live with me. I had them for almost two years!

Luna, the naked rat, was the boss, and she stayed that way until the last few weeks of her life. She loved to run on the wheel, and squirm when held. She didn't mind being picked up though, because she learned that freedom followed shortly afterward. Luna, too pushy for living with the boy rats, had a great life living side-by-side with her cage sister, Canasta.

Canasta, a dark-brown (black) and white rat (not-hooded, surprisingly), was a very special girl. She had seizures early in life, and when her first mom took her to the vet, they told her that nothing could be done for the seizures, and that she probably had a few weeks, maybe a month to live. Almost 3 years later, she was finally fading away. As a result of the seizures from "childhood", she had involuntary head movements and had become deaf. This didn't stop her from doing everyday activities, and she was a girl rat that thrived on people time. She would actually cuddle, although it always was like cuddling Katherine Hepburn's head.... constant movement.

By the time they each hit 3 years old, they were on a special diet of green mush and lab blocks ground up into a powder (so Canasta wouldn't choke), and they weren't slowing down! It wasn't until Luna was 2 days shy of 3 years, 1 month (approximately) and Canasta 2 days shy of 3 years, 3 months that they had to be put to sleep. Luna because of the tumors that were overwhelming her and Canasta because she had lived such a long life and was just old. The best gift I ever gave the two girls is the gift of never living alone -- they were put to sleep on the same day.

To end on a positive note, I have two adorable foster girl rats who are very social and sweet with everyone (including children). I also have 3 of my own boy rats that I adopted from Rattie Ratz last year -- two are the cutest twinsies you'll ever see! And I have 3 wonderful cats that each have special habits and needs that make them unique. Lastly, I have a wonderful boyfriend who puts up with my menagerie of animals and keeps me sane by having someone to talk to each and every day!

A busy life consumes us all,
Carisa

Happy idea for today:
knowing that someone, somewhere in the world thinks of you and loves you

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