When I woke up this morning, I found Curry had passed away in his favorite spot in the cage. It must have been sometime in the middle of the night. I feel bad, because I had a bad day yesterday so I went to bed right away after coming home from work, instead of greeting all the rats like I normally do... so I didn't get to even say goodbye to him. We adopted him from Star's Rat Rescue of South Dakota in April 2011, along with his brother Aspen. Curry was around 2 1/2 years old. He passed away from old age, though he was starting to get degenerative osteoarthritis, and his back legs were not working like they used too. :-( Curry was featured in an article in my work's newsletter along with his brother back in April.


On top of finding Curry this morning... Templeton had a sprain and the swelling had gotten worse, his little back foot looked like a rubber glove it was so swollen. My vet wasn't in so the nurse gave me a number for a 24 hour emergency vet- only the rat doctor wasn't there today & they referred me back to my own vet! So I called our vet again and the nurse tried contacting another vet (which their doctor that treats rats wasn't in either- weekends are so bad!), so eventually she just told me to come over and the doctor that was there would see Templeton, even though she doesn't normally treat rats, (though she did mention she has had them as pets before).

She gave Templeton a anti-inflammatory steroid injection and some Baytril antibiotics to take home. So hopefully the swelling will go down now. That's the same treatment- Lily had before for an extremely swollen sprained foot and it worked. If it doesn't get better he will have to go back to the vet Mon or Tues.

ETA (9/14/12): Templeton is doing just fine! The swelling in his foot was down by the next day and he moved back into the big cage with his brother's on Thursday. :-) 

My Templeton

 

So excited! I've been following the news very closely about the release of a newer bigger Kindle Fire from Amazon.com. I've owned the original Kindle Fire since it came out on it's release date in 2011. I love it, I use it every day, on the train commuting, at home in bed, etc. (Here's my blog entry on the original Kindle Fire).

This afternoon was Amazon.com's press release to talk about the new products. (I was following along on Twitter for all the updates!) They are releasing 3 different new Kindle Fires. Kindle Fire HD 7" & 8.9". Plus a Kindle Fire HD 4G. Kindle Fire HD 8.9" also comes in either 16GB or 32GB storage. (I ordered the 16GB). They are available for pre-order on Amazon.com and will be released November 20th, 2012. I will be selling my original Kindle Fire once my new one arrives. :-)

• 1920x1200 HD display with polarizing filter and anti-glare technology for rich color and deep contrast from any viewing angle
• Exclusive Dolby audio and dual stereo speakers for crisp, booming sound without distortion
• High performance 1.5Ghz dual-core processor with Imagination PowerVR 3D graphics core for fast and fluid performance
• Dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi for 40% faster downloads and streaming
• Over 22 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, books, audiobooks, and popular apps and games such as Facebook, Netflix, Twitter, HBO GO, Pandora, and Angry Birds
• Integrated support for Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! and more, as well as Exchange calendar, contacts, and email
• Free Skype video calls with front-facing HD camera
• Free unlimited cloud storage for all your Amazon content 

Photos from my birthday weekend/week. (The big 3-0). These are all Instagram & cell phone photos.


 
 

I have a bit of an obsession with nail polish. My collection has grown quite a bit in the past few months. I got a few new colors for my birthday. (Which is today! But, more on that in another post!)

I wanted to post a picture of my current nail polish collection. You can click on all the photos to make them full size. (My flash didn't go off in a few photos, sorry for that.)

The entire collection! At least it still fits in a small plastic shoe bin! :-p

I favor Sally Hansen, can you tell?

Layla Hologram Effect, love these so much!

Essie!

China Glaze and OPI

Butter London

So, here's my opinion on Butter London nail polish-  it's not worth $15. They have gorgeous colors, but the darker colors stain your nails & your skin horribly when you take it off. (For days! And yes I've used a base coat). They also take a really long time to dry. I'm lucky I just bought Seche Vite fast dry top coat, because I hate waiting for my polish to dry. Also Disco Biscuit drys with a gritty finish. You need a topcoat to make it look shiny. I don't think I'll be getting any more Butter London, unless I find them for a super cheap price.

Layla Hologram Effect: Cloudy Violet

Layla Hologram Effect: Red Taboo

Butter London: Disco Biscuit

Nail art with a dotting tool. China Glaze: For Audrey & Sally Hansen: Insta-Dri White.

This is the 2nd time I've made this. It's super yummy!

PRE-STEP: You'll want to prep your dough at least 1 or 2 days before. You can follow my Dad's homemade pizza crust tutorial here.

You can also prep the meat filling the day before. This saves time. You can store the meat mixture in the fridge in an airtight container. Then heat for 2-3 minutes in the microwave when you're ready to assemble your Stromboli.

Things you'll need for this recipe:

• Already prepared pizza dough
• 1/2 Pound of Ground Beef (or Ground Turkey)
• 1 Jar Ragu Double Cheddar Sauce.
• 6-8 slices of bacon cooked & crumpled. (I used Gwaltney brand bacon)
• 1 medium onion   
• Goya Adobo All Purpose Seasoning- Red Lid (It tastes good on everything!) 
• Salt 
• Pepper 
• Ketchup 
• Mozzarella Cheese (Optional) 
• 1 Egg (To egg wash the Stromboli crust with) 

(These are the deep cookie sheets I use, I love them! I got them from Walmart. They are $5.97 a piece. Better Homes and Gardens Non-Stick Bakeware 15" x 10" Baking Pan)

STEP ONE: Brown ground beef in a frying pan. Add about 1 teaspoon of Goya Adobe Seasoning to the meat. Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt and a few shakes of pepper. (Drain out fat).


STEP TWO: Cut up your onion into small slices and fry until caramelized with a little bit of Olive Oil.

You want these nice and caramelized!

STEP THREE: Cook your bacon. What I do is line a deep pan with foil (makes clean up easier,) and then I cook my bacon in the oven 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. You want the bacon to be nice & crisp. After the bacon comes out of the oven, drain the slices on a plate with paper towels. Crumble when cool.

Before the oven.

After the oven.

STEP FOUR: Once cool, combine your ground beef, crumbled bacon and fried onions in a bowl together. Add 3/4 cup of Ketchup and mix well.


STEP FIVE: Roll out your dough on a square cookie sheet, then pour some of the Ragu cheese sauce on the dough close to the edges. Place your meat mixture next, squirt a little more ketchup and drizzle some more cheesy sauce on top. You can also place a few slices of mozzarella cheese (Optional). 

I took the handles off my rolling pin, lol. I find it easier to use that way.

STEP SIX: Slowly fold and pinch your Stromboli closed- be gentle when doing this so the dough doesn't tear. (I fold one side & then the other- towards each other- meeting in the middle). If your seam isn't perfect- don't worry, it won't show when it's on the bottom! Clean up any sauce leaks or extra flour with a paper towel. To flip- gently place another cookie sheet over your Stromboli. Pick up and gently turn so your Stromboli is now on the clean cookie sheet!

Mozzarella on mine too! (Optional)

STEP SEVEN: Slice three air holes in the top of the Stromboli. Brush with egg wash (1 egg mixed together in a bowl), sprinkle some garlic salt or Goya adobo seasoning on top. Cook in the oven on 350 for about 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Let cool before slicing!

Time for an egg wash & then into the oven!

Just out of the oven!

Time to eat!!! Yum! :-)