So, I've been a bit scarce lately out here in Blogland, but I do have good reasons. Two of them are right over there.

Yes, I have taken the plunge just like Shannon and willingly (maybe) invited rodents to live among us.

Libbyline is my animal lover. She adores anything with fur, four legs and a need of a vet. She has a tender heart and has longed for another pet ever since we had to give our black lab, Jazzie, away last spring.

In addition to Libbyline's love of all things animal, we also have Sweetcheeks who will not stand still for being left behind in any adventure that takes over our household.

Hence the reality of not one, but TWO rodents joining our family last night. We made our rounds at Target for bedding, food and a couple toys then made our pilgrimage over to the mecca of pet-dom, PetSmart.

Let me introduce you to the types of pets we got. We cannot actually get close enough to get such fabulous photos of our own hamsters yet, so I am relying on a couple of stock photos to give you a clear description of:

Ghirardelli (Delli, for short)-- Libbyline's black bear or Teddy bear Syrian hamster. He is currently snoozing and trying to get used to the idea of being someone's pet. The trip from the pet store to our house must have worn him clean out, because he's not real sociable today.

Snickers -- Sweetcheeks' Chinese dwarf hamster, who spent the entire night running miles and miles on his little hamster wheel. He gives a whole new meaning to this poem. So far, Snickers seems much better adjusted to his new habitat, and is friendlier overall. We are experiencing a little skittish behavior, but that is more frequent on the part of the new pet owners than the pets themselves.

Please pray for our transition as we get to know these little creatures and try to make them feel as welcome as is possible for a rodent. I'll pop in and out occasionally this week, but much of my time is going to be spent supervising the pet care and baking.

I must have 12 dozen of these done by Thursday, in addition to several other varieties that we only make at Christmas time. Oh, and I also need to buy pretzels, because I've got some real Ghirardelli's chocolate to make delicious treats out of them.

Labels: family, fun, pets