R.I.P. Hammy

It is with great sadness I report the sudden passing of Snuggles, the Flutterhouse hamster. His time with us was short but memorable and we are shaken by the events of yesterday morning.

There were no signs to preclude his demise, just the discovery of his cold, stiff furry rodent body at the bottom of his cage yesterday morning.

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Honestly, I am pretty rocked by this... it really bothered me to see our hammy's obviously dead body when he was so, well, Normal just the night before. The grommets were pretty upset and distraught. We spent the day planning the funeral and choosing the "plot" to bury our little rodent friend. He was laid to rest in an Oil of Olay Facial Cleansing Cloth box which (mostly) fit him and atop his grave sits a little white cross with his name on it. There were speeches and even a song (Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah"... compliments of the Princess); all in all, a farewell befitting the sweet little guy that he was.

He loved climbing over me and the Princess when we watched TV and especially enjoyed the little veggie tidbits he'd get every day. He was constantly adjusting his habitat, moving fluff and litter from one area to the other and had finally started using the dedicated "poop den" like a smart little hammy.

I don't have very many pics of our hammy, I was actually thinking just a few days ago that I should try and take some ones that aren't blurry. I guess that won't happen now.

This is what a curious hammy looks like when someone sticks a camera in his face.



Goodbye little Hammy, you will be missed.

Classic.

Sorry for the two song posts in a row. But there's just nothing more appropriate than a little Alice Cooper at this particular juncture.

Party on, good people.

SUMMATIME!!!

Spent the day at work outside, enjoying the 30 degree heat, the sun on my skin and the humid air. So glad that SUMMER finally decided to appear. YEAH!!!!

Now just for some time off to enjoy it in.

Oh, wait... I GOT THAT TOO!!!

Can you see my grin from There?? Thought so.

Awesome To The Power of Sick.

Our derby league played a short scrimmage last night. It was just part of a steak night fundraiser our league was putting on; we broke into two bare-bones teams (one line and one extra jammer each -- we need more girls... send us MORE GIRLS!!) and played 30 minutes of the funnest, wildest game I've ever been a part of. The crowd LOVED us and had a great time and no question... I had a great time, too.

Some highlights:

- Wow. How nice to just be plain old Excited for a game and not feeling like barfing or peeing like before our last bout.

- Our team pulled together an awesome, showy bout production in seriously Record time. Great announcer, terrific music and sound system, lights, scoreboard... the whole nine yards.

- Playing every jam -- priceless experience.

- Facing down some of the big hitters and holding ground. Suh-weet!! And... taking some the hard way and kissing the floor.

- Getting my biggest derby rink rash to date. Six inches of angry red scab centered in a lovely dark purple bruise on my left thigh, compliments of Anna Filactic and the track boundary rope. (it's taped to the floor along the edge of the track. I neatly baseball-slid over top.)

- Having Mr. F. there to be a part of the ref team. He called all three of my minors. *grrrrr*

- Having Mr. F have fun being a part of the ref team! Yay! Derby is now not just My Thing.

- Jamming a full two minute jam against one of our team's accomplished jammers and going point for point with her.

- Hearing people cheering "GO Kitty!" during said jam. Very cool, rockstar moment. Fun.

- Hearing the crowd love the hits, the spills and the showboating. It was fun to Perform and feel that kind of energy directed at the game.

- Steak is totally THE BEST FOOD EVER CREATED TO EAT AFTER A DERBY BOUT. Nuff said.

- Ice cold beer is a close second.

- Loving my derby sistas. No matter how different we all are, they are some pretty rank, fun and caring girls and I'm glad to know each one.

- Waking up and feeling like a Mack Truck hit me the night before. Bruises on both legs, one butt cheek, hipbone and both arms. Knowing that someone else is feeling it that morning, too and it's because I did my job.

Life... is good.

Really don't have much more to say than that. Been feeling very blessed and lucky lately and enjoying this ride. I feel Well... Content... Whole.

And that is something I will never take for granted.

Where Does She Come From?

Scene: The Princess is reading Tuck Everlasting to me. We are in the middle of the book, thoroughly caught up in suspense and fascinated with the idea of immortality.

Princess: So, Mom... what would you do if you could drink that water and live forever?

Me: I really don't know, Princess. It would be pretty tempting I guess, but I don't think it would be something I could decide right away. I'd need to think on it.

Princess: Yeah, I don't think I would know what to do either. *thoughtful pause* I think I'd probably have to draw a Venn Diagram...

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Sometimes she blows my mind with this stuff. I really don't think I even knew what a Venn Diagram was until I was much older. (errr... possibly even well into adulthood. Not that I hadn't seen them... just didn't know that they had a name and purpose.)

I love my Princess.

What's For Dinner?

Ummm... do I smell roasted derby girl? Yes... apparently our sweet lil behinds were on the bout menu -- we were neatly slaughtered and served for dinner last Saturday night -- it was an upset of grand proportions.

Final Score? 174 - 78

We lost by 100 points to the other team.

Sucks to be US.

There were some issues with the reffing that were regrettable and a few other things that could have made the score more respectable and the game less frustrating. Regardless, we would have lost. They are a more experienced team and have been skating longer and frankly, the played Better than we did. I have no problem giving them that.

I will, however, say that our half-time locker room was something straight out of Reality TV. Our tailgunner was barfing in the stall, an EMT was tending to a downed and semi-conscious player (heat stroke) and about half the girls were laying on the cold concrete floor cause it was so crazy hot and stuffy in the venue.

We came back with a much stronger second half and I think we won the respect of the crowd, despite being thoroughly pounded. During one of our MANY penalty calls (the reffing was questionable at times...) someone from the crowd yelled, "It's not a penalty to be from (Fluttercity)!!!" Thank you Random Fan.

It was a great and humbling learning experience and I think our team will be better for it. I, for one, loved every minute. It was by far the single most Rockstar thing I have ever done in my life and I can't wait to get back on the track and do it again. Hopefully do it better, though.

One of my favorite pics from after the bout. I'm sweaty and stinky and all kinds of rank, bad-ass derby girl.
Getting up close and personal with the floor -- one of many times that night.
Gave chase to their jammer, couldn't get a solid hit and had to pull back after 20 ft. hence the wide, snowplow stance.
Team photo. Hijacked from facebook... sorry so small.