This is Rosie. Notice how she's INSIDE her cage, where she's supposed to be. Unfortunately, this was not the case this morning! She managed to chew a hole in the floor of her cage and was chillin' on the ledge when I walked into the living room to grab my water before leaving for church. On one hand, I was thankful that I spotted her because who knows where she could have ended up. But on the other hand, this caused a HUGE problem because I'm a slightly terrified of them. They're cute, I guess... but only when I don't have to touch them.
I sat there for about 30 minutes trying to get her used to me (and me to her), letting her sniff me and feeding her sunflower seeds... but she was between 2 layers under the cage and I couldn't quite grab her. I tried a couple of times, but she was afraid of me and would scurry away, and I was just as afraid of her, so her quick movements freaked ME out! I tried calling Violet and Justin, but neither were answering their cells, and as time passed, my stress level continued to rise! Needless to say, "Lord, help me" was continually on my lips!! Finally, my phone rang and it was Violet, and I have to admit, I had a slight breakdown! It seems silly to be so scared of something so little and furry, but I'm just not a fan. Maybe some day. But not now. And then coupled with being almost an hour late for church... I was a little stressed. And shoot... for those that know me, it can take me 15-20 minutes to get up the nerve to kill a spider, so you can imagine the terror going on inside me with the thought of having to touch this rat!!
Anyway, Violet told me that the slanted shelves slide off and the place where Rosie was chillin' actually pulled out, so I was able to pull the tray out and have clear access to grab her! And that's what I did!! I grabbed her & put her in this plastic bucket I was holding... but silly me, I stood too close to the cage when I was trying to open the cage door, & that little rascal climbed up on the outside of the cage. They are FAST little boogers!! So, yet again, I freaked out a little bit and tried grabbing her a couple more times before I finally got ahold of her!!! She was hanging on for dear life on the top of the cage, but I got her and managed to throw her (not literally, of course) back into the cage... without letting Sparkle (the other rat) out!! And believe me, she was trying to get out!!! Goodness gracious!!!!
I was definitely relieved to finally have both rats in their cage! I stole some materials from Violet's recycling bin and managed to block the hole where she got out and I was finally off to church... after thoroughly washing my hands and arms up to my elbows!!! :-) I made it to the last 5 minutes of my church meeting, and just in time to greet the kids!!! God is good!! When I got back to the house after church, Rosie and Sparkle were both napping the day away in their cage... yeah, thank you JESUS!!!
So my morning got off to a rough start... but ended up A-OK, and to top it off... I had a GREAT time with my kindergarten class, and was able to come home and work on my tan... it was a good day!!!! When the Crafts came home that evening, they had 2 rats, 2 dogs & 1 Aunt Stacie VERY happy to see them!! Oh, and it was the cutest thing... Mia made sure to tell me that Rosie wasn't running away from me because she didn't like me... she just does that!!! It was so sweet that Mia didn't want my feelings to be hurt by Rosie's behavior!! :-)
Facing my fears aren't fun... but I survived. And I know I could do it again... hopefully with less fear. But let me tell ya... I wasn't too happy to face my fears AGAIN before bedtime when I found a big spider on the wall above my headboard. Lord, seriously? But I did kill it quicker and with less drama than I usually do... so maybe I'm getting better?
... nah.
I'll never be okay with spiders. But I can almost guarantee that I'll be holding Sparkle & Rosie before I leave the Craft household. But for now... I'm cool with just observing from afar!
1 comment:
That was a great story - I loved it!
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