FIXED LINK: Hammy and his baby sitter

Hammy in a ball and his baby sitter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwh_yXH1OUg

Hammy misses his mommy

Last night, Hammy was jogging in his wheel, so I put him in his ball and brought him downstairs.  He ran around while Brodie baby sat him (she was so adorable, following him, then laying down to watch him).

At bedtime, I tried to cuddle him, but he needed to run.  Sometimes a hamster just needs to jam, you know?  So I put him back in his cage, and he jogged until I fell asleep.

When I got back from my walk with Cathy and Aspen (during which I had a little panic attack because of my breathing due to my cold - felt like I was suffocating aka having a heart attack), Pat came out and announced that Hammy was missing.

Aspen started searching his room, while I started searching the sewing room.  There he was, hiding in the corner behind my cutting table.  Pat called him, and he came right out.  Once he was back in his cage, he drank and drank and drank, then curled up in his bedding and went to sleep.

I wonder what kind if harrowing night he had?

Turns out I put his tube in the wrong hole the other day when I cleaned his cage.  He just waited until last night to take advantage of it!

SOOOOO uncool!

So, Pat came down with a cold on Sunday, and I tried to be a reasonably decent caregiver -- I provided medications, fluids, and bland foods.  Yesterday, his head was really congested and he was coughing, and he had a headache.  Poor baby!

Despite my awesome attention as a nurse, I still got cursed with the same malady!  The nerve!  I'm on Day 1, with the periodic opening of my nose-faucet, alternating with the complete stopping of all air through my nose.  Perfect for napping.  I'm not really coughing -- knock on wood.  I'm sure that's tomorrow.

Long story short:  I'm sick!  :-(

I still managed to record my Chapter 4 lectures, so I'm a trooper.  I've been working on my data from my sexual interest study, and I'm completely flummoxed by it. How can men and women be scoring the same way?  I don't understand. . .  I've tightened up everything I can think of across three studies, and I keep getting this weird pattern.  Sigh.

Pat is feeling way better today, but we both took it easy today.  He kicked back on the recliner on the back porch for much of the afternoon.  Aspen's the only truly healthy one, and I'm not comfortable placing our survival in his hands.  LOL

I think Hammy's going feral.  I went to get him last night, and he was sitting in one corner of his cage, where he's kicked out all of his litter.  He was sitting upright on his haunches, front feet tucked up to his chest, with a look like a prairie dog. 

I opened his door and tried to lure him out, but he got one sniff of my hand and fled through his tube to his other cage.  He adopted the same stance in a corner of that cage; I opened the door over there, he sniffed my hand, then recoiled to the back of the cage.  I finally grabbed him (he didn't bite me), and took him to see Pat.  He climbed around a bit, with the overhead lights on so we could see him, and when Pat gestured (causing a shadow to pass over Hammy), Hammy dropped to his stomach and froze -- like a hawk had flown over.  That was pretty cute.  But he didn't really want to explore after that.

I took him down to see Aspen, and he squeezed upward in my hand so that only his lower hips were in my hand, then froze in that position.  It was really weird.  I put him back in his cage, and he fled for miles in his wheel.  I think he misses his Mommy!

Brodie and Hammy

Brodie and Hammy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cD9Zod2DsQ

Sunday at home

We had a busy day at home today, full of glamour and thrills.

After watching Sunday Morning and drinking our coffee, I sorted the laundry and got it started.  Then I sanded the front door, stained it, and varathaned it.  Meanwhile, the boys worked on the shed.

Aspen and I made chicken salad for dinner while Pat practiced his archery.  During dinner, Pat brought Sierra's hamster down in a plastic container so he could play in the same room as us.  Brodie found that fascinating!

Now my shoulders and forearms hurt from my day of labor, and we're relaxing in front of the TV.