When in Wemindji...: The Unveiling

2 WEEKS!! 2 weeks have come and gone (tomorrow technically but I can't wait any longer!) since my grandhammies have been born. So much has happened in the past week. They grew hair! They grew teeth! They grew eyes!! They wander around the cage, stumbling and bumping into things, exploring what the new world has to offer! So cute. I figured it was time to separate when I: a) realized I could no longer control my impulses to cuddle these babies and would need to take care of it stat, b) I saw them eating food pellets (they can survive without feeding off Carmonika) and c) I have to cuddle them.

Carmonika seems to be doing a good job as mother, I feel bad taking her babies away from her but I have to think of the children. It is getting tight in their house and soon I need to separate the babies further by gender so they don't reproduce! However that wouldn't be the most upsetting thing to ever happen...

That being said, the MOST upsetting thing DID happen. This Friday night was the staff Halloween party. It was awesome, lots of fun with a theme of Superheroes and Villains. I, of course had the best costume going as The Hamburglar but people really went all out! It was a lot of fun, good games, good music and great company. ANYWAYS. It was blizzarding that cold and stormy night and I should have known something awful was about to happen (as when it snows something terrible usually is happening in my experience anyways). As I came home I put down my things, got changed out of my costume into more comfortable attire, grabbed some water and went over to the cage to check on the kids. I was greeted by a terrible sight. One of the babies had DROWNED in the water bowl. DROWNED!!!!! I was DEVASTATED. I still am. So so sad. I remember this baby being a rambunctious chap, running around the cage chased by Carmonika trying to pull him back into the house. He obviously got a little too explor-y and tried to take a dip in the water dish. The hamsters are quite small right now so even the small amount of water in a small dish was too deep to climb out of and this poor little feller died :( So I immediately got him out, cleaned up and refilled the dish with just a small amount of water, hopefully shallow enough that there would be no more casualties. So far so good but the damage has been done.

I can say with confidence now that I have 5 babies left, 3 albinos and 2 grey/brown ones. They are adorable and I can't wait to let them run around their fenced in yard and play with their new toys!! And cuddle them of course. I've got a home for one of them, 2 will go as classroom pets (I have to secure permission first but I think it'll be fine) and that leaves 2 more. I might keep one for myself but I need to get another cage if that's the case and I am still waiting on an express order from an online pet store with a cage included so that needs to happen! I have to assume that 2 died of natural causes although we will see if I find any teeny bones when I clean the cage tonight. Ehhh... :S

Otherwise another busy week has passed. Halloween with the kids was hectic but very fun. Carmen, Monika and I didn't get very many trick or treaters this year (it was a wet kind of night and we weren't in the best location) but it was fun nonetheless. Report cards are due this week and I haven't started so that's going to be a lot of fun but that's the life!! Christmas vacation starts in 7 weeks and I am very excited to drive home and visit with all my friends and family and enjoy some time off!

Last night Carmen, Brandi and Shauna's students held the first of many fundraisers for a summer trip to Nicaragua. These ambitious and awesome teachers are organizing a trip through Me to We to South America with some high school students to participate in community improvement projects that will benefit that particular southern region and enhance the lives of the locals as well as provide Wemindji students with a life-changing, character building experience. The monetary cost is high so fundraising has begun on a grassroots level and all help is appreciated! Contact me if you want more details!

Anyways I am going to spend the day cleaning, cooking, maybe starting report cards and celebrating the extra hour of sleep I got (although I spent it with a splitting headache so really it counts for nothing). Oh yah, it hasn't stopped snowing since last week so my hermitism has officially begun!