Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a 'Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to samples like these at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received all of this from Costco.
4 newborn diapers
2 packs of baby wipes
Baby shampoo
Baby Formula
and a $5 check to spend on Similac formula at Costco.

My next door neighbor just had a baby so she was very happy to get all of these freebies.

Did you receive anything free this week?

What To Do If You Accidentally Buy A Pregnant Hamster From A Petstore

Sounds ridiculous doesn't it? Why would a reputable pet store sell you a pregnant hamster and not tell you? Well maybe the pet store wasn't a good one. I had one such adventure a few years ago when I walked into a pet store located in my local mall and decided to buy a Chinese Dwarf hamster.

She was sitting there against the front of the glass cage just looking at me with her little black eyes, how could I resist? I also bought everything I needed to go along with a new pet, the bedding, wheel, food and hamster toys.

Little did I know that this store was one of the bad ones for selling pregnant and/or sick hamsters and other animals. I soon found out this store had been shut down after I brought my hamster home and few days later heard little squeaking noises coming from her cage. Sure enough there were little pink baby hamsters laying beside the hamster I had just bought. I went back to the pet store, not to give back the hamster but to ask them why they sold me a pregnant hamster and found they had been shut down.

The books I read said to feed the mother scrambled egg and milk soaked bread in addition to her normal seeds. It also said to sprinkle Wheat germ next to the opening where the babies were and they would eat that very easily. Also provide bits of cooked chicken and cheese to give the mother hamster the nutritional boost she needs. Make sure the water bottle is down low enough so the babies can get at it when they start drinking from it.

Also don't disturb the mother or babies too much for the first few days because the mother might eat her young if she feels threatened. That means don't clean the cage for at least two weeks, but you can spot clean wet spots if necessary. The mother hamster may act more aggressive at this time until the babies are weaned, don't be discouraged by this.

Hamsters can have up to eighteen babies at once, but mine was a Dwarf hamster so I figured there was no way there were that many in the little house with her. Later on I was able to count them as they started crawling about and she had five babies.

When their eyes are open and they are crawling around you can then handle the babies, this will happen when they are about 2 weeks old. You can then remove all the hamsters from the cage, place them in a box with some of the old bedding and clean the cage. It's best to keep a handful of old bedding and place it in the cleaned cage so they come back to a cleaned cage that has some familiar smells. It will be less stressful for the family. The babies will be weaned by three weeks and it's best to separate them by sex at this time so you don't end up with more babies.

I decided to keep all the hamsters, they were too cute to give away. I ended up having to buy another cage though, there were two female babies and three male babies. For some reason the females didn't get along and kept fighting. They were drawing blood when they fought so I thought it best to separate them and I gave them each their own cage. The mother had her own cage because she didn't like being around the babies after they were weaned, she would bite them if they came close to her and she kept running away from them. She would climb in the top bubble and make her bed and sleep alone. After the females were separated all was better.

If you have Syrian hamsters you will want to give each one it's own cage as they are not social animals and will fight terribly. Dwarf hamsters are social animals and can stay together as long as you have females in one cage and males in another.

Sometimes you have to plan for unforeseen things to happen when you have hamsters. Most times though the unexpected can be good.

Product Warning Labels

Product Warning labels which are meant to protect you from dangers are being put on products after people try things and they get hurt. These people then sue the company for not having a warning label telling them they shouldn't have done the stupid thing they did in the first place.

That's why manufacturers have to be liberal with their warning labels now a days because they are afraid of getting sued. Some warnings on labels seem so obvious to most of us and we laugh at them as we read them, but the sad fact is the warnings are there because someone, somewhere did it and now we have to be warned not to do it again.

Take these warnings for instance:

"For external use only!" --which was on a curling iron.

"This product not intended for use as a dental drill."-- Which was on a rotary tool.

"Do not eat toner."-- Which was on a toner cartridge for laser printers.

"Do not use orally"--Which was found on a toilet cleaning brush.

"Do not use for drying pets."--Which was found in the manual for a microwave oven.

"Beware! To touch these wires is instant death. Anyone found doing so will be prosecuted." --Which was
found on a sign at a railroad station.

"Do not orally after using rectally."--Which is in the instructions for an electric thermometer.

Now is it just me or do these seem obvious? But Americans are too eager to sue when something goes wrong so Manufacturers put these warning labels on products to save themselves from viscous lawsuits from the not so smart among us. Lawsuits brought on by people who have used the product in such a way that even a first grader would know not to do it. These lawsuits are leading to labels so strange that most people laugh at them or ignore the warning labels all together.

Is that what we really want? As the labels get longer and more laughable people are going to get hurt because they aren't going to take the time to read the warning labels. While most of us are thinking, "Duh!" when we read these labels the fact is that they have been deemed necessary because of the actions of some who weren't smart enough to know better.

I guess Americans are the dumbest people on earth or at least it seems that way from the amount of warning labels we have now and will have in the future.

People think these warning labels are so laughable that there was even a Wacky Warning Label Contest. The first place winner won $500.00 and a copy of "The Death of Common Sense," By Phillip K. Howard. His winning entry was a label on the toilet brush.

Judges need to be tougher on these frivolous lawsuits so our warning labels don't get longer than they already are.

A Plus Sized Guide To Buying Women's Clothing

No longer are we second class citizens without a place to shop for nice clothing. It used to be that Modern, Stylish and Sexy full figured clothing wasn't readily available to us, but things have changed and now we can find Lingerie as well as everyday and work clothes that don't look like moo-moo's.

The very first thing I would suggest getting is a Bra that fits. Full Figured women like myself have a hard time finding the right Bra that doesn't pinch, poke or bind up on the sides. But if you don't want to end up looking like your 80 year old Great Aunt Ethel who decided twenty years ago she didn't need to wear a Bra anymore and now has what men like to call "The Tube Sock Breasts" then I would suggest finding a Bra that fits and buying new one's every three months, because they do stretch out and won't hold you in place the way you might want after they become stretched.

I don't know why they have 'Minimizer Bra's on the market. If you have an asset show it off I say. Do you have 44DD's and think you need to 'Minimize' them to look better? I say get a pretty lacy under wire Bra that lifts and supports you, then find a sexy shirt of the same color that's either partly see through or low cut and have fun. You have cleavage, show it off.

I may not be able to do anything about gravity, but I don't want to be like Great Aunt Ethel who would knock herself out with her own breast if she were to jump up and down for some reason. Now if you don't know what I'm talking about take a tube sock and put a small apple in it and let it fall to the bottom. Now take a look at that. That's what gravity will do to your breasts if you don't wear a Bra that keeps you lifted. We Full Figured women have heavy breasts and if you don't wear your Bra, they will fall down to your knee's.

Do you think you have to wear 'Granny Panties' just because your full figured? Well think again, you can find sexy silky and lacy under things at most department stores that cater to Full-Figured women. One such store is Lane Bryant. Every time I shop in their store I find myself looking at the silky nighties and lacy panties. What better way to feel good about yourself than to be wearing something sexy under your clothes. You can even wear them under your work clothes and feel a little naughty.

Now let's talk about dresses. Manufacturers have made dresses that accentuate your lovely curvy figure. Don't buy big baggy dresses that droop down to your ankles, they won't make you feel like the sexy woman you are. Instead show off your figure, show off you curves, buy a dress that will show off what that new Bra is accentuating. A low cut dress if the perfect thing to show off one of your assets, cleavage! If you have long beautiful legs, buy a dress that's cut just above the knee and show them off and be sure to wear a pair of sheer stockings with your sexy dress.

Now you have your under things and the dress, what about shoes? Heels will make you look sexy and you don't have to get 4" spiked heels to pull this look off. Get a pedicure or paint your toenails a pretty dark pink or reddish color and they will show through the sheer stockings you bought. An open toed shoe or heeled sandal is your best bet. It will accentuate your stocking feet, show off your pretty toes and the heel will make you look sexy. Make sure to get a color that goes good with your new dress. If you're buying a black dress buy black shoes. If you're buying a white dress buy white shoes. Don't pair green shoes with a pink dress unless your trying out for the Circus College.

Now that you're all dressed up, it's time to go out. Get some friends together and go out to dinner, go to a club, go have some fun.

Top Ten Reasons To Buy A Bread Machine

Have you ever stopped and inhaled deeply when you step inside a store that bakes it's own bread daily? That warm inviting aroma of fresh baked bread is unlike any other you will ever smell.
Here are my top ten reasons for buying a bread machine.

1. Everyone loves fresh, warm baked bread. Consider how much praise you would get from friends and family when you pull a hot loaf of bread out of the machine and slice it up to serve with dinner. Why buy store bought rolls, or canned biscuits when you can make a whole loaf of soft mouth watering bread.

2. Not only can you make bread but most bread machines come with a recipe book so that you can make homemade pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, raisin bread and all kinds of other specialty breads. My families favorite is Raisin bread but my favorite is sourdough bread.

3. If you buy your bread making supplies in bulk, you will end up saving money making bread in your machine instead of buying pre-baked loaves from the store. Now who doesn't love to save money?

4. Making bread in the bread machine is a lot easier than you might think. In my machine I just add all the ingredients, set the machine for the appropriate time for what bread I'm making and the machine does the rest. It even shuts off automatically after it's done baking, so if you need to run out for a while you can do so without worrying the bread will burn.

5. Making fresh bread is something you can do with your kids. It's so easy to make fresh bread and your kids will have fun getting the ingredients and adding them to the machine so they can tell their friends that they made homemade bread.

6. The bread machine will make cinnamon roll dough for you. No more rolling, pounding, waiting for the dough to rise and rolling again. Now you just add the ingredients, and let the machine do the rest. The buzzer will go off when the dough is ready and you can immediately use it to roll out dough for cinnamon rolls.

7. You can also make whole wheat bread using most machines. Do you like to have whole wheat bread instead of regular white bread? Well you can make it yourself and it's easy.

8. Have fresh warm bread waiting for you when you get up in the morning or when you get home from work. Most Bread Machines have timers you can set to start at a certain time so the bread is done when you want.

9. You can buy an assortment of mixes for very little money right from your grocery store. Store them for months in your cabinet and make a different bread everyday. You can have homemade warm Rye, Sourdough, wheat, white, honey cinnamon, French, and Italian all in the same week.

10. Easy to clean. Most Bread machines are non stick. All you have to do is pull the bucket out and wipe it down. Put the bucket back inside the machine and your done.

Now is all of this doesn't change your mind, why not by a Bread Machine for you Mother or daughter or even your brother or father and watch how excited they get after they've tried the different breads they've made. Don't let your misconceptions prevent you from enjoying and experiencing the joys of freshly baked bread. It's so affordable, delicious and convenient.

Things To Consider Before Buying A Hamster

After having had several dozen hamsters over the past several years there comes a time when they get old or sick and all the attention and care you give them won't help them from dying. I do believe with my whole heart that when you decide to adopt a pet, no matter what kind of pet it is, you are responsible for the health and welfare of that pet. That means when your pet becomes sick you should take it to a veterinarian instead of letting it suffer.

I've had to take several of my Hamsters to the Vet's office and have them humanely put to sleep. Some of my family and friends can't understand why I would spend money on a rodent in that way. But they became part of the family and I loved them, so I could do nothing else.

I've heard and read that people think the humane thing to do for rodents is to gas them using your car's tailpipe and letting them slowly suffocate from carbon Monoxide. But this not a humane thing to do to any animal. My next door neighbor told me he would chop off my hamsters head and put him out of his misery and it wouldn't cost me a thing.

I just thought that was the most disgusting thing I had ever heard. Most people unless they have hamsters as pets don't understand how attached we get to them and I think if you are going to take care of a hamster, then you have a responsibility to make sure they don't suffer when they get sick. It doesn't cost all that much to take them to the vet's office and have them put to sleep and it's the most humane thing you can do.

So before you think about getting a pet, consider whether or not you are willing to take care of it if it gets sick, or if your going to let it suffer.

Another thing to consider is who is the Hamster or other animal for? If you are buying the animal for a relative as a gift, they may not want it after a while and the animal may get taken to a shelter or given away.

I personally have rescued many hamsters from my neighbors and daughters friends after they were given the hamsters by their parents or relatives and the kids got tired or bored with them. The parents didn't want to be bothered with the animal since it was supposed to be the child's animal and they end up giving it away. Thankfully these animals were given to a good home.

Most times people just don't consider all that goes into owning a pet. For instance they think they can buy a hamster and leave it in it's cage and everything will be fine. But hamsters just like other pets need and thrive on stimulation and love.

One of my neighbors was going to just throw away her sick and dying hamster, just put it in the dumpster and go buy and new one. I took the sick hamster and tried feeding it canned dog food. Sometimes they get old and weak and can't chew the seeds anymore. The hamster perked up and lived for five more months. Probably more happy than it had ever been.

Then when he started having trouble walking I made the appointment and asked the Vet if I should have him put to sleep. I told her how I got him and we both cried as I put him in the box I brought with me to the Vet's office after he had been put to sleep using the small gas chamber. It only took seconds and he felt no pain. I took him to a spot in the mountains that I take all my hamsters to and dug a hole and buried him next to all the other hamsters I'd had.

Even though I had only had this hamster for five months I grieved for him, just as I had for all my other hamsters. But thankfully I know that he was happy for a little while and died knowing he was loved.

So before you buy a pet think about what you would do if it gets sick. If the answer is nothing, then reconsider getting a pet at all.

Frankencage

When we adopted Flower she was tiny, about the size of an adult teddy bear hamster and she hasn't grown much at all. She's still a dainty little girl but we wanted to give her more room to run around. So Ken decided to wire together two cages and give her twice as much room. We already had both cages. 

So Ken cute some of the wires off the top of the cage to make a hole for her to get to the second story and used a metal file to file the edges so they wouldn't cut her.

Then he wired both top and bottom together and she started exploring immediately.

I think she approves. 

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a 'Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to samples like these at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received:

Several samples of diapers and wipes from Huggies.
An autographed picture of Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel.
2 Nexcare bandages.

What freebies did you receive this week?

Double Post!: Yahoo Contributor Network Has Shut Down and How To Make A Dreamcatcher

The site that I have been publishing my articles since 2006 has shut down and is no longer online which means all of my articles are no longer online. Therefore I'll be posting most of them here on my blog over the next few months.

Because I have so many articles to post I may not be posting the Freebie Friday, Happy Raturday and Weekly Rat Facts posts each week but I will try to post them at least once during the month. I had over 200 articles published between December of 2006 and June of 2014 and had almost made it to 1 Million page views on my articles. I'm happy to have had the experience of Associated Content when it first began and then YCN when it was bought by Yahoo and they changed the name. But I'm bummed that my source of extra income has now been squashed.

But this is a wake up call for people who write for sites such as this one. Always back up your articles in a file in case the website disappears over night. Not only writing sites but other sites as well, you have to make sure you do things like cash out as soon as possible if you are making money on them or points that can be turned into money or gift cards. This is the 4th website that I was making money on that has closed down in a relatively short amount of time and some sites will disappear over night and not let you have time to cash out the points you have accumulated.

Like with the survey sites I get points on, I always make sure to cash out as soon as possible in case they decide to close up shop overnight and my points could be lost. It's happened before.

Anyway, I'll be posting a lot of rat and hamster related articles as well as a few other subjects here over the next few months.

Hope you enjoy them. Here's the first one...

How To Make A Dreamcatcher

To make a dream catcher is a lot easier than you might think.

Here's what you'll need:

About 7 feet of thin suede 

glue 

6 inch metal or wooden ring 

waxed nylon string (I've used dental floss and it works great) 

12-16 pony beads in the colors you want 

12-16 feather in the colors you want 

scissors 

clothes pin

First glue one side of the thin suede to the ring and affix the clothes pin to hold it in place until it dries. When it's dry take the clothes pin off and wrap the suede around the ring tightly until you reach where you started. Cut off any remaining suede and glue it in place. Again place the clothes pin over it to hold it until it dries.

After it has thoroughly dried your ready to make the webbing on the inside. Tie one end of the waxed nylon sting or dental floss to the ring, make 8-9 half hitch knots around the ring spacing them about 1 1/2 - 2 inches apart, keeping the thread pulled snug between the knots. (If you don't know how to make a Half hitch knot, go here and look at the diagrams. That website is where I learned how to make them. It's easier to learn by pictures than by someone trying to explain to you what a Half hitch knot is, I think.

Begin the next row of the web in the middle of the string that you just weaved. You should begin to see a spider web forming. As your weaving you can add small buttons or pony beads to the string that will hang in the spider web after it's done. Continue weaving the same way until you have a small hole left in the center of your dreamcatcher. Then tie a double knot and add a small drop of glue so it holds and let dry. You now have a beautiful dreamcatcher.

Now cut three 7" pieces of the thin suede and tie two of them on either side of your ring about half way up using a double knot, then tie the remaining one to the bottom in the center. You can now add whatever color pony beads you wish. Add 2-4 beads to each piece of suede and tie a small knot, push 2-3 feathers up inside the beads, securing them with a small amount of glue.

To make the loop to hang your Dream Catcher, use a 8" piece of suede. Fold it in half and tie a knot in the open end. At the top of the ring, attach the lacing slipping the loop end through the ring and then around the ring and over the knot. Pull the lacing tight to secure it in place.

After you've gotten good at it you can make themed dream catchers. I've made one for Halloween using black suede and black and white feathers and attached a skull button to the webbing. I also made a Valentines one using red and white feathers, maroon suede and heart shaped buttons in the webbing. Have fun with it.

If you don't know where to get the supplies I would suggest any craft or hobby store. I personally use Joannes.

I realize there are people out there that think it's rude and disrespectful to make 'themed' dreamcatchers for holidays like Halloween and quite frankly, I don't care. This is a craft and being such, it can be made to fit any theme or holiday that someone wants to make it fit for. 

The Birthday Menace

Oh dear gawd nooo. What is this creepy little elf doing at birthday parties now? It's not bad enough that I see pictures and hear stories about this weirdo little elf around Christmas time but now he's creeping into birthday's as well?

He's supposed to be one of Santa's elves so what is he doing at a birthday party, ya know other than being a total creeper?

To me this shows just how damned greedy the company that makes this little treasure really is. It's not good enough that families all over are getting little Tommy an Elf on The Shelf to hang around and spy on the family all Christmas long and report back to the fat man, noooo now the little bastard has to invade other aspects of our childs life and be around for their birthday parties too? Next we'll be seeing the High School Graduation Elf. Nope, retailers and product companies can just calm the hell down and wait their turn or until their holiday comes around. No cheating!

Sorry but that Elf is a creepy little bastard.

Stop Throwing A Party For Every Event In Your Life!

If you know a lot of people and have a lot of friends, you've probably received some interesting party invitations for parties like the one above. It's a Gender Reveal Party. Yes, that's where the proud parents throw a party to reveal the sex of their baby. 

WTF?

No one but you, the grandparents and maybe your closest friends are going to give a flying *&^% as long as it's a baby and not a dinosaur or half alien from another planet. There's really no need for all these weird ass parties. 

How about a "My First Menstruation" party? No? Too much? I bet someone out there had had one. 

Hey, I'm going through menopause..let's have a party for that! I'll serve ice water and give out fans and some xanax for the mood swings. 

Oh and there's the "Divorce Party" You get divorced and throw yourself and reverse wedding reception. Yes, this is a real thing.

Oh and maybe the best one yet..."The Potty Parties" Yes, the parents want everyone and their uncle to know their little pride and joy has learned how to use the toilet. O.o

When did we start having parties for every event in our lives? When did this become a thing?

Happy Raturday!

Welcome to a new weekly blog post I'm calling, Raturday! I've seen Caturday and while that's really cute, I think the rats needs some photo time so everyone can see how cute these little animals are. I've gotten permission from Rat Logic's fb page to share their pictures on my blog. So get ready to smile because these are cute. 

*click pictures to enlarge*

Dealing With Menopause- Signs, Symptoms and Relief

So a few months ago I noticed the beginning signs of menopause and I thought to myself, ok no biggie I'll just let nature take it's course and be done with it. 

That is until the hot flashes, headaches, mood swings, itching and nausea started. I'd already decided not to take a prescription hormone therapy drug because most of those drugs like Premarin are made by keeping horses pregnant all the time and collecting their urine to make the pills. Most of the foals are fattened and sent to slaughter houses or sent to meat auctions. I don't condone the abuse and horrendous conditions these horses are kept in therefore I would never take the medicine made from it.

What I have been taking are herbal supplements, herbal tea and eating crackers. 

The two herbal supplements I've been taking are Black Cohosh which gets rid of the hot flashes and St Johns Wart which helps with fatigue, mood swings and depression often caused by menopause. 

After doing some research I also found that some women experience nausea during menopause. This is actually my biggest problem right now. After reading more about it, I found that drinking less coffee and more herbal teas as well as eating crackers will help settle the stomach. I had some herbal tea in the back on one of my cabinets and went ahead and tried it along with some crackers and I was amazed the difference it made. I really didn't expect it to make any difference but I've since bought a lot more herbal teas and don't drink coffee hardly at all now which has helped to settle my stomach so much. 

It's also been 30 days since I've eaten beef. 

That may not sound like a big deal to you but I read that meats high in protein like beef can trigger hot flashes and they were very right, so can caffeine and a lot of extra sugar.  I hardly ate meat before this but I'm eating a lot less now. Hubby eats meat so we still get some just not as much and he's ok with not eating beef  anymore at least for a while. 

So more vegetables and fruits, less caffeine and sugar and more herbal supplements and herbal teas for me. I never would have thought that I would be doing any of this but it's helping and that's what matters. Plus I'm having fun trying out all the herbal teas I had no idea about.

I had been drinking around 12 cups of coffee a day and I've never taken a vitamin or herbal supplement in my life other than the flintstone's vitamins my mom gave me as a kid. So you can see that this is a huge change for me. Hope the info helps out someone else who is going through this. 

Weekly Rat Facts: They Learn To Ignore You

Usually when I go to the cages in the morning to do a spot cleaning and clean out the potty areas, they all come running to play and see what treat I've brought. But sometimes they will ignore me, play hard to get and stay in their beds to see if I will come to them. Flower did that to me the other day. She stuck her head out of the cube to see what I was doing... and when I didn't give her a treat...

She laid back down inside the cube but kept peeking at me until she heard the crackle of the food bags and then she came running over. I found it quite amusing.

Freebie Friday!

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a 'Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to samples like these at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received:

A notebook and pen set from Chatabout
Diapers and Wipes
Tums chewables
Tums Refreshers

Las Vegas Sky

Last week we had rain clouds right as the sun was setting and I thought they would make good pictures. I was right.

This was taken from the alley behind my apartment complex.

The clouds let out a little rain and a few bolts of lightning but then went away.

I live really close to a few stores, that's why there are so many signs. Plus on the far left is the off ramp to the freeway.

I thought the sky looked pretty cool though.

And I got a pretty good shot of the moon.

Recipe: Chayote Squash

When Ken went to the store I asked him to pick up some more fresh fruits and vegetables and even some we hadn't tried before so I was excited when he came back with this squash because I've never made it or eaten it before. 

I asked a few friends on fb if they knew any good recipes for it but they were no help..LOL So I decided to make mine with some onion.

So I looked online and found a few ways to make it but no real good recipes so I made my own way to make it.

First I peeled and diced it into large chunks.

Then I boiled it for a few minutes to get it soft.

In the mean time I diced a yellow onion and sauteed it in a little butter.

I added a little more butter when I added the squash.

When the Chayote was softer, I drained it and added it to the onions and sauteed them for about 10 more minutes until cooked all the way through. I added salt, pepper and season salt to this and served it with the rest of the dinner I made. I came out really good. It has a mild apple/pear flavor but it's very mild and this would soak up and flavors you added to the pan to cook it in. 

Rats Eating Ice Cream

I grabbed an ice cream cone out of the freezer and turned around and all the rats were starring at me. So I gave them all a bite. each video is only a few seconds long because they all did the same thing...grab as much in their mouth and spit it out to eat in their cage. lol


Flower grabbed a good mouthful.



I think Scribbles grabbed more than the rest and he spit it out to eat.

They were happy.

Happy Raturday!

Welcome to a new weekly blog post I'm calling, Raturday! I've seen Caturday and while that's really cute, I think the rats needs some photo time so everyone can see how cute these little animals are. I've gotten permission from Rat Logic's fb page to share their pictures on my blog. So get ready to smile because these are cute. 

*click pictures to enlarge*

Medical Marijuana, Guns and Child Abuse

So recently I read an article that stated that in Las Vegas the laws are such that you can have a Medical Marijuana Card or a gun but you can't legally have both. According to 8 News Now, "Essentially, anyone who has a medical marijuana card can legally possess marijuana in southern Nevada, but not a gun. And a card holder who bought a gun legally -- and then obtained a card -- is supposed to give that gun up. It's a problem that's just beginning to take shape but is likely to grow as legal marijuana dispensaries open and more people obtain medical marijuana cards. Under federal law, you can't buy any kind of firearm if you have a state-issued medical marijuana card because marijuana is still illegal federally."

Now I don't have a problem with this law as you probably could guess. I've been stating my opposition for regulated, legal marijuana for a long time and will not stop because it shouldn't be legal. It's not a medicine it's a drug that people use to get high...simple as that. 

I know someone who started smoking "medical marijuana" a few years ago because they needed it for supposed anxiety, back pain, headaches, and PTSD related symptoms. So how come a few years later after having been smoking themselves silly they still don't have relief from any of these things? They still don't go out because they still have anxiety, still have supposed back and head pain and still supposedly are suffering from PTSD..so how is it working? It's not! That's my whole point. Omg open your drugged out, blood shot eyes and realize it's not working. 

Recently I read another article that tells of people who are losing their kids because they have medical marijuana in the house with minor children. Some don't see this as child abuse but if you've been reading my blog for any amount of time you know that I do, as I've talked about just this subject before. I consider it child abuse because no matter what room in your house you smoke it, the smoke is going to drift into other parts of the house and your minor children ARE going to be exposed to pot which is a drug and that in and of itself should be enough for child abuse charges to be brought against you. 

I would actually like a law that went a step further and banned anyone who had minor children from getting a Medical Marijuana Card until the minor children were over the age of 18. It doesn't even matter if the kids don't live with the parents full time because parents have weekend visitation at times when couples have split up or divorced and kids should never be exposed to marijuana.

It looks as though pot is here to stay but the laws governing it need to play catch up so that kids, pets, and people who don't want to be exposed to drugs, aren't.