There was one little critter that stole my heart (don’t tell Kirpi!) and I think I might just have to get one for our next pet: a degu – South America’s version of the chipmunk:

My dad came down to Columbus last night to visit for a couple days and we moved Kirpi’s cage to the main living area of our apartment so that he could stay in the spare bedroom.  Well, last night, I got up in the middle of the night to take some Aleve and I noticed how incredibly loud her wheel was, so I took her out of it and removed it from her cage.  I was worried Dad would hear it from the other room and it would keep him up.

Right before I left for work this morning, I checked on her and she was gone!  Oh no!  Didn’t I learn my lesson last time I removed her wheel?  She gets bored and wants to escape. 

I quickly woke Funnel up, I called in to work to tell them I would be late (luckily my only other co-worker today is a huge animal-lover, so she totally understood) and the three of us did an in-depth search of the apartment.  Flashlights, moving furniture, the whole works.  No luck.  Unfortunately, she sleeps during the day, so that makes it extra-hard to find her, because she just likes to curl up in a ball and be left alone.

I eventually had to give up my search and go to work but before I left, I mixed her food (dry catfood) with water and heated it in the microwave, which made it smell super strong, and put it in four bowls, which I placed in different spots around the apartment.  By each bowl I put either a hedgehog sleeping bag or a towel, which she loves to snuggle in.   Hedgehogs have great senses of smell, so I hope she’ll smell the food, come to eat it and then go to sleep in one of the towels and will be there when we get home tonight.

If that doesn’t work, Funnel volunteered to stay up tonight and listen for her (she’s pretty clumsy and loud when she’s awake, which usually begins around 9 or 10).  Honestly though, if we don’t find her before then, I’ll have to stay up too because I doubt I’ll be able to get any sleep knowing she’s missing.  I read online that a good strategy is to put their food dish in a paper bag and then you’ll hear them for sure when they rustle though it.

I feel sick to my stomach that we don’t know where she is.  Funnel keeps telling me “She probably had the most fun night of her life last night!”  I hope so.  I hope she’s okay and safe.

Sweet, little Kirpi after her bath. 

It wasn’t too long ago that she looked like this (although we never got to see her that small):

I am trying to decide what the appropriate response is to a hedgehog’s first birthday.  It must be acknowledged, for sure. 

I found a cake mold online to make a hedgehog-shaped cake and a recipe for hedgehog cupcakes, hideous as they are, with their sliced-almond quills. ((I’m sure Kirpi would be happy with a scrambled egg or some mealworms.)) 

Maybe a reading of Hedgie’s Suprise, by Jan Brett, and definitely some sort of miniature party hats for Kirpi and her friends ((the porcupine puppet and her little clone, the hedgehog Christmas ornament.))

I bought 2 ornaments (one of them must have fallen out of my bag at the show because it wasn’t there when I got home ) and a couple of hedgehog pins from craftpaca.

Kirpi was pretty psyched, as you can see below.

But I have a fear of Kirpi dying while we are gone.
(because Odie died when I was in Hungary, freshman year)
This silly little creature has stolen my heart. I love her to bits.
I have had small animals before —
Buttons the guinea pig and Rosie the rabbit
but I was never as attached to them as I am her.

in other news,
The Office starts soon, and we ordered season 2 and 3 on amazon.
I love fruit roll-ups and I am going to make a fun craft out of them.
Work has been decent.
Funnel is a sweet-heart.
Kirpi wants to be a pine cone for Halloween.

Last weekend we were in Indianapolis.

This weekend I am sewing robots and dinosaurs to try and sell at the garage sale next weekend and on etsy.com.

I want to catch up on the “Big Love” episodes I’ve been downloading and clean the apartment and relax and read.

I am looking forward to it. I have been craving some time to be annonymous and quiet. A weekend in, with some good movies. I am reminded of a line from senior year that Funnel and I made up — something about “a machete of reason and hand grenades of solitude.” I will have to look up (I think I wrote it in my journal.)

I got free tickets to the Crew game on Sunday – in the VIP terrace. It has been a couple of years since I have been to a sporting event, and I am looking forward to it. Especially the food. When I was younger we went to a lot of games – The Indians and the Cavs. At Indians games, I’d get those shelled, salted peanuts, and ice cream. At Cavs games it was “Lemon Chill”s. My dad would take me to Cavs games a couple of times a season probably, and he always would buy me a lemon chill and a pin for my Cav’s hat (back when their colors were blue and orange). Things like that mean a lot to little kids.

Lately I have been feeling especially awkward in my role as an adult. I sure mess up a lot, I get stressed out all the time, and occasionally, I do things right. I feel like a little kid learning how to walk or a little bird trying to build up it’s wing strength. And it’s not even stuff that’s very big – just things like opening new bank accounts and insurance and bills and stuff like that. I feel like I can relate to my Grandma June, who is just learning how to pump her own gas after my Grandpa died this summer. To me, and to other people who have pumped gas before, it’s seems almost silly, but silly, small things can be scary at first.

This week has been a week of good deals. Funnel and I made out amazingly at the thrift store with lots of clothing, shoes, and a brand new board game. Yesterday, I purchased two vintage bicycles for $20 each. And today, I saw a leather recliner at Kroger, which is something like $200 after the rebate, but I know we should stop there before it gets out of control.

I am anxious for a lot of things – for cool weather, our vacation, our anniversary, Thanksgiving dinner (random, I know..), a trip to Europe or Japan, a house of our own with a yard and a mailbox and walls we can paint.

but I am happy
and there are a lot of things in my heart
that I wish the whole world could know.

P.S. bathtime for kirpi!:::::