Ratso

Its cold in New York! I've got the woodstove cranking and Kyle is sacked out on the couch next to it. I'm grateful for warmth, although on days like today you wonder if you'll ever be warm again. We've been enjoying soup with our dinner the last few days. I haven't been using any special recipe, I've just been sauteing some onions and whatever other veggies I have on hand and then adding either vegetable broth or miso or tomato puree. I've been very whimsical in my approach to the soup.

We tried the Mexican Chocolate Rice Pudding from Vegan with a Vengeance last night. Rob helped me make it. We subbed carob powder for the cocoa powder and omitted the chocolate chips, because I didn't have any. It was really good in spite of these changes. The cinnamon really lent something to the flavor. A few nights earlier, Kyle had helped make a carob pudding that came out very good as well. Both boys enjoy creating surprise desserts (meaning they pick them out) for the family.

In other news I must share the story of Ratso the guinea pig. Ratso was the guinea pig of a coworker's daughter. When the daughter left for college, Ratso was left behind and taken to a day care center where my coworker worked. The kids loved Ratso but the daycare owner did not and when my coworker quit her job at the day care Ratso was in big trouble. My coworker refused to take the guinea pig home and the daycare owner refused to feed Ratso or clean his cage. My coworker would sneak over once or twice a month to feed and change Ratso, all the while the daycare owner threatened to "get rid of Ratso" whatever that meant. Needless to say, hearing about this drove me crazy.

I finally convinced my coworker to bring Ratso to live in our daycare room at the gym where I new the kids and the staff would love him. Ratso moved in last Wednesday and is doing well. As expected, he is loved by the kids and he seems to be enjoying all the attention he's getting, as well as the regular feedings and cage cleanings.

The transition hasn't been without trauma. Ratso came to us with nails that curled in circles that the guy in the Guiness Book of World Records. With the help of my sister, I trimmed them on Friday. (Let me tell you the challenges of winding a pet nail clipper around nails that curl around like that!) They're still too long but they are so much better. We're putting some sandpaper on the bottom of his cage to hopefully wear them down a bit more.

I'm suprised by how affected I was by this little guinea pig's plight but I feel very good about the way its all turned out.