Pictures of Brent's car with Christmas lights as requested by Stefannye.

Brent used several hundred suction cups to attach Christmas lights to his car. He used a 12 volt sealed lead acid battery that weighed 130 lbs, kept in the trunk, to power the lights. He also had some fancy light sequencing thing that he controlled from a box he made. All engineer stuff that I can't quite explain clearly. Anyway it was quite a sight to see. He put them on last Christmas 2007 which may be his last year. He started this Christmas car lighting tradition in 2002, also doing it in 2003, 2004, and 2005.

See, now we're like the parents who show pictures of their kids. Only, in this case, it's pictures of our little ratties. The first two pictures are of Maxie and [unnamed yet], the two new additions.



Oh, they're so cute!



And here is Patty with the other two.



-Brent

It has been an expensive weekend full of new things. Meredith and I have both been in need of new cell phones. Hers has gotten the Meredith treatment (sitting on it, dropping it, dropping it in water) and shows signs of age. Mine has been flaking out a bit. So it was time for new phones.

After careful consideration, we got crackberries, I mean Blackberries. Yes, that's right. We have joined the ranks of those email-checking, mini-typing, this-party-is-boring-so-I-will-check-my-Blackberry jerks. Well, I hope that we don't go quite that far.

Then on a different note, Meredith and I had to fulfill the need for companionship that Patty, our hairless rat, has. We got two more rats--the more furry kind. While Patty is 5-6 months old, the new ones are maybe 2 months. We thought Patty was cute; these little things have this sort of adorable cute-as-a-button thing going on.

Patty is not so happy though and does not get along with them. She is playing the part of the alpha female, and the new ones are squeaking in fear as Patty asserts herself. I sure hope that they get along. Meanwhile, the two little girls aren't as potty trained as Patty and mess up the cage. We have a little work to do. The personality of these friends makes it worth it.

-Brent

From The Ratty Dictionary:

Metamorfuzzus: A conditional response to spending too much time with one's rats, which results in the gradual transformation from human to more rat-like tendencies. e.g. stealing food out of other people's mouths, bruxing during romantic moments with your partner, and peeing on the sofa.

I sure hope we don't start peeing on the sofa.

-Brent