Welcome back and to a new month! I can't say I'm sad to see January go but not sure February will be much better. There's a whole lot of craziness and uncertainty going on right now but we'll make the most of what we can and push for change if we can.
Here are last week's pictures:
We had mini Bundt cakes at our Monday morning lab meeting for my belated birthday celebration. Then later John took me out to dinner and drinks just for fun.
Rusty really is loving my new super soft blanket--forget the blanket cave, he's all about this right now. And Bailey is learning to "stay" on the family-room rug while we are in the kitchen trying to cook. This is her go-to position to lay in with her legs exactly like this every time I put her in a "down". At least she looks relaxed and comfortable. Getting her to actually stay though is definitely still a work in progress. When this doesn't work she has to be leashed and tethered to a person not in the kitchen.
Ouch! One of our hamsters got me good today at work so that became a huge thing. I was collecting blood for a blood-smear check and he somehow twisted in an unimaginable way to be able to grab onto my knuckle with his teeth and bit right through my glove into my skin. He was not letting go either. Brat! At least he had a good parasitemia in the sample I took which is what we needed to see. Blood cell photo credit goes to our lab assistant Ipsy who quickly snapped this through the microscope lens using her phone. When I try this it never turn out this clear. Those little circles in the blood cells, called "rings," are Babesia protozoal parasites. The smaller purple dots are immature forms that haven't made a ring yet. They are infectious to humans but thankfully for me you can't get them from a hamster bite, only a tick bite, needle stick, or blood transfusion. In happier news Justin had his second shift at the raptor center which he is still enjoying very much and discovered their little gift shop so he came home sporting a new sweatshirt. Looks good on him!
During our evening dog walk the skies were looking very gloomy and grey. There is a storm system brewing. One of our neighbors also has this gloomy looking tree out front and I just noticed today the bird's nest near the top. After our walk Bailey gets her dinner and then pretty much naps the rest of the evening usually on my lap and recently with her favorite ball--"red-one ball". She has many toy balls in many different colors and when we tell her what color ball to get she is great at finding the right one.
Day 31- Friday, 1/31/25
My finger is looking much better today--not nearly as swollen around the joint and I can now bend it again too. I was seen by occupational health on the day of the incident and they put me on antibiotics to help prevent a bacterial infection which is more likely to happen when a joint is involved--so far all good. Almost 30 yrs working with hamsters and this is my first ever bite. I was back at it today because the work doesn't stop and all went well. We never work alone with animals so I do have a great support team helping out. Otherwise, today was also a very rainy day and we have a series of storms lined up so it will be like this on and off into next week. TGIF! Our Friday night movie was the new Will Farrell and Reese Witherspoon comedy on Prime which was fun although a bit over the top but in true Will Farrell fashion. We all needed a good comedy.
Welcome to February! It was a quiet relaxing rainy day at home. When John is on his computer in the other room, usually playing music, Bailey likes to watch and keep an eye on him. Later we decide it was a good day for a soup & sandwich type of dinner so everyone made their own favorite. Tonight's movie was a new Tom Hanks one that follows many families through generations in the same location/home. It was an interesting premise for multiple story lines and a bit of a tearjerker.
Day 33- Sunday, 2/2/25
That wraps up the first month of 2025 and starts us on the next one. Hope to see you back next week. Stay strong everyone.
Sorry about your hand!! Hope it's doing better now.
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