Invasion of the rats!

I haven't been blogging lately. You may have noticed.

I went to a couple of the SMC rehearsals and decided that I wasn't going to sing in the next concert. A lot of it had to do with the music. First off, I didn't hate the music. In fact, I think the concert is going to sound amazing. But the music is very difficult to sing. If I had been having more fun with the music, it probably would have been worth the long bus rides to and from rehearsal, but I just decided against singing. I'll probably regret the decision, but there you go.

I have decided that since I won't be singing this concert, I'm going to devote the time I would have been rehearsing to writing. We'll see how that goes.

The only other thing in my life are the new additions to the household. Last week I bought two rats. I'm not allowed a cat or a dog in this apartment, but rats are okay. Actually, I only bought one at first, but then I started visiting websites with pet rat advice (surprisingly, there are many) and they all said the same thing: rats live better in pairs. It's just healthier for them to have a buddy. The next day, I went back to the store and bought a 2nd rat.

Slowly, I've been trying to get them used to me. So far, they just seem to be scared to death of me. I keep reading that eventually they'll start to trust me, not cower in the corner and look at me like I'm Satan. On Saturday, I decided to try holding them. Both of them freaked out and jumped from my hands. The first one jumped back into the cage. The second one jumped onto the floor and ran under the nearest furniture item: the coffee table.

For two hours, I crawled around on the floor trying to get the rat. TWO HOURS! Eventually I caught him, but not before literally chasing him all over the living room. By the end of it, he was more scared of me than ever.

Now, he just stares at me, watching my every move. If I sneeze, he panics. The other one is getting a little more trusting. He'll take a cheerio from my hand, but he quickly scampers away as though I'm going to bitch slap him for taking the food.

All the advice I've gotten agrees that I need to talk to them often, so I do. It will help them get used to hearing my voice. Frankly, the one that escaped on Saturday heard a LOT of my voice (and some choice sailor words). I was also advised that whenever they hear my voice I should put food near them so they'll associate my voice with a provider. Thankfully I have one more large box of cheerios.

Yesterday, I bought some strawberry yogurt and baby food. Some of the websites advised putting a little bit on a spoon and holding it near the rats to eat. So far, it hasn't worked. Maybe they just don't dig strawberries? They do like the cheerios, though, so I'm putting a few in whenever I talk to them.

I just hope that these rats start trusting me. I read that they are very smart and can be trained. Did you know that you can teach a rat to come when you call it's name? That would have been helpful Saturday morning.

Speaking of names, I went back and forth on what to call them. Originally the plan was to call them Adam and Steve. Get it? hehehe. Yes, they are both males, by the way. I also considered Chip and Dale, Bert and Ernie, Frick and Frack and finally Rat and Fink.

Yesterday morning, however, I hit inspiration. Though I have yet to determine which is which (they won't let me close enough to really tell them apart) I have decided I'm going to name them after two characters from my one of favorite shows, Scrubs. Their names are JD and Turk. I figure those two have a healthy bromance going on, so my original idea with Adam and Steve still figures in.

I'll keep updates posted on how the boys are doing and, eventually, I'll post pics if they'll stop hiding from me