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12.05.2010

My backyard

This is from almost a month ago, but I thought I'd share what my backyard looked like when the leaves were at their peak :-)

12.04.2010

Death and Re-Birth with Valentino

December 4, 2010

Wow, it’s really been two months since I wrote anything? You all must be wondering if it’s because I have such an interesting life I don’t have the time or energy to blog about it…the truth is I don’t have the will or resolve to sit down and re-live what has been happening to me every day because it has literally been a shit hole. Yes, I said it. SHITHOLE. School is the worst and so is my “love” life with extra quotes.

But…the semester is only a few weeks away from ending, and I can’t wait because I feel like I’m about to snap. Emotionally, physically, psychologically….spiritually? There are very few things that are keeping me afloat right now. But every time I felt knocked down and kicked again and again, I remembered that I had a really cute ball of white adorable-ness coming my way.

And that’s when things got really bad.

So I started my day with a very wonderful lap swim at the pool, followed by an extremely relaxing sauna session, then finished with a beyond-amazing brie omelet made by yours truly. I left to go get Valentino, a one-month old pink white chinchilla kit that was to be both the new man in my life, and a bundle of fluffy distraction to my downward-spiraling life. I had a huge stupid grin for the entire 2 ½ hour ride to Salem, Massachusetts. Then I knocked on the door the apartment where he was, only to hear heavy metal blasting in the background…and some really weird grunting noises. I was mortified and ran out the door…didn’t know what to do so I just drove around Salem for 30 minutes. When I came back, music was off and no more grunting…so I felt it was safe to try again.

Valentino was put in my arms, he is sniffing my hand and tries to crawl up my arm. He is the most adorable thing I have ever seen.

Anyways, I get him into his little cage, and I put him in the front seat of my car. He wanted so badly to get out…he was scratching at the corners of the box and making little peeping noises. So I figured, “Hey, what could happen? I’ll just let him run around the car! He’ll be so happy, and I’ll be happy and it’ll just be great”.

So, without going into too much detail, but getting into what happens next without sounding completely obtuse…Valentino got lost in the car. He climbed behind the radio, and started to explore a bit. I pull the car over to try and find him…and then he disappears for real. I can’t find him at all, I start to really freak out. Did he fall into the engine? Did he escape somehow? Did he get stuck and is now either freezing or heating to death? I thought I killed my first baby chinchilla, in less than 2 hours of having him. My whole world crumbled in my own hands…I can’t control anything around me, not even getting a baby chinchilla from one place to another.

I searched everywhere. I ripped out the carpets of my car, dug out the radio…today my hands are a scratched and bloody mess from reaching so far into the wires. I drove home with insanity. My head was spinning and my stomach was lurching, I had no idea what had happened…how could something so simple go so horribly wrong? I drove to my house, every minute seemed like an hour. Every minute the most horrible hour of my life.

We got to the house and my mom and sister weren’t there. I called their phones frantically, and they said they were on their way. I paced my living room for 30 minutes, feeling dizzy and nauseous. My mom came back and consoled me…we looked some more but without any luck. We decide to drive back to where I stopped at the exit…in case he somehow jumped out. I knew it was hopeless though. Meg stayed behind, and I got in the car to drive an hour back to where we were.

45 minutes later, Meg calls. She says, “I found him. I see him”. She had our dog Kaiser sniff him out.

The rush of relief was overwhelming; I still don’t think I’ve realized what has happened. All I know is that Valentino is safe, a little dirty around his ears, but otherwise ok. He’s scared and skittish, but I think it is because he is in a very new place and he probably misses his mother and sister. He’s eating the food and treats I give him, but he is still too afraid to take a dust bath…will try to do that before I go to work. They are nocturnal animals; I think that he must be exhausted. I am also exhausted, and I woke up to find giant bruises all over my knees and elbows from throwing myself around my car for 4 hours.


On the way home, I stopped at the brewery to refill my growler with some Münich Dünkel, a malty brown ale, to wash down the remnants of today’s anguish and trauma.

Today, I’m drinking tea and playing the Single Man soundtrack, because it’s pretty soothing and calming. I chin-proofed my room, and opened the door to the cage, but Valentino is still just hanging out inside of it. Hopefully he will come out so I can get a better picture…but this is what I have so far. He really is the fricken cutest thing I’ve ever seen.