Fidget things

One of the first things I requested that Joe print for me from the new printer was anything for fidgeting.  He promptly printed these for me.  I love them all, but my favorite is the joystick.  I like having these to play with while I work.  Fidgeting helps me focus, which is why I specifically always wear at least one cheap ring that I can mess with (otherwise I play with my wedding rings 😅).  More than once I have fallen asleep while holding my fidget ring.  Thankfully I don't move too much in my sleep and can find it easily in the covers after I wake up.  Haha!

Last weekend I saw Haleth just curled up in a box instead of sleeping in her nest.  I really didn't think she'd make it to the next day, but I gave her some lettuce and other treats, and she happily ate them which is a good sign that she's not given up quite yet.  I know she really doesn't have long left, so I'm doing what I can to love on her and give her all the treats she could want.  💗

Glorfindel truly has become a ghost ham.  I miss having him with me while I drink my coffee in the morning, but I'm sure once school starts up and I'm getting up early again, I'll see him way more often.  I love how curious he is about everything.  Although he tends to use his teeth to investigate something new.  Good thing he is cute!  Hahaha!  

Squishy Turtle

It's been a while since I've posted because I've been busy and now that it's summer, my priority has shifted to spending as much time as I can with Joe.  We have been spending our free time playing Tears of the Kingdom, watching movies, and playing board games.  Joe got a new 3D printer a few weeks ago, so he's been printing things while I work.  He found a file preloaded on the printer of a squishy turtle and decided to see what it was.  It's pretty much the cutest turtle I've seen.  It's head moves in and out of its shell, and it's legs move so it can go from standing to squished flat.  I feel like this little guy needs a name.  What would you call the squishy turtle?

Haleth is surprisingly still alive.  She's now over 28 months old.  She does the old lady waddle, but despite being much slower, she still gets around okay.  I don't think she has much time left, but I've been saying that daily for over a month now, so I guess time will tell.

I haven't been seeing my big boi, Glorfindel, that much recently.  He tends to stay in bed until we go to bed so I only see him every few days.  He's become quite the chonker.  I need to weigh him because he feels hefty.  Hahahaha!

Wooden Box

I have wedding pictures from Saturday that I began editing today, but I figured I could take a little break from that to post these cute hams.  I did finally get some new pictures of them last week, but the pictures below are from a few months ago that I hadn't posted yet.

Fun fact: Whimzees (which are dog treats) are safe for hamsters to eat.  All my hams love them, and they are such a great treat for them to have.  Haleth goes nuts for Whimzees and will frantically run around her tank to find the perfect spot to stash it to keep it safe.  Although with how old she is now, she doesn't do much running anymore.  I love spoiling my sweet old lady.

Glorfindel tried so very hard to get this Whimzee to fit into his cheek pouch.  But no matter how much he turned it around and rearranged it, the end was still sticking out of his mouth.  I felt a little bad for laughing at him, but he was being just so silly!

Grey Chair

I had just gotten into the rhythm of regularly posting pictures of my hamsters for the whole month of March, and then I managed to miss the entire month of April and the beginning of May.  😐  But I got behind on posting because I've been busy with photo jobs which has been really good. 

I'm honestly surprised to share with you that Haleth is still alive and well at now 27 months old!  These pictures were taken a couple months ago, and Haleth's fur is much grayer now.  She officially looks and acts like an old lady. But she made her own burrow for the first time a couple of weeks ago, which gave me an odd sense of pride.  I've always given her a tissue box full of bedding in the corner and she typically would "build" her nest in there.  But she actually dug a tunnel through the bedding down to the front corner of the aquarium which I love because I can kinda see her while she sleeps.  She's so cute!

Glorfindel sleeps very soundly and does not appreciate when he gets woken up for me to clean out his aquarium each week.  But I make sure he gets yummy treats and he seems to forgive me for the intrusion. 

Gold Chair

Today is one of those days where I'm going from one thing to the next and setting an alarm on my phone to ensure I don't lose track of time (which I'm definitely known to do... 😅).  Since I am so task focused, I actually kinda like days like today.  I get so much satisfaction if I actually pull it off.  But I also have a tendency to get myself overworked stressing before days like today because I feel that extra pressure to make it work out smoothly.  So I'm grateful that not only am I on track so far, but that I also have a moment to sit and blog until I need to leave for the next thing.

A couple weeks ago I noticed that Haleth has moved her nest to a new spot which I find incredibly weird because she has used the same corner for the last two years that I have had her.  I am assuming this has something to do with her age as it seems she isn't quite as mobile as she used to be.  Her new nest spot is much closer to her water, and she does get up often for water, so it could also be for convenience.  She's my sweet old lady, and I love that I can spoil her so much.  💗

 

The time change does seem to have helped me see Glorfindel more often which I am grateful for!  I love being able to give him kisses and treats in the morning when he is getting ready to go to bed and I'm getting ready to start my day.  💗

St. Patrick's Day

This week has been busy with extra things and with my focus on managing the extra stuff, I have been forgetting all week that Joe would have today off.  So every time I looked at the calendar on the fridge and saw it written there, I'd get excited all over again because I had managed to forget again.  😂  We have a busy weekend too, so I'm hoping I can quickly finish the housework and extra baking for hosting friends on Saturday and Sunday so that Joe and I have some time to chill today before we head to the monthly board game night at church this evening. 

Today marks exactly 2 years since I brought Haleth home from the Allen County SPCA!  I remember I went there to pick out a little greyish boy I had been told about who was only a few weeks old.  Instead I was presented with two baby girls, one of which looked more brown than grey.  She was so beautiful, but she was the most terrified hamster I've ever met.  Regardless, I decided that she was the one I wanted.  She showed her appreciation of being chosen by peeing on me when I moved her into the carrier to go home.  It took me a long time of intentionally working with her in order to tame her.  Now she is the sweetest old lady who waddles out of her nest when she hears me.  I don't know how much time she has left, but I am gonna spoil her as much as I can!

I think Glorfindel looks absolutely amazing in his little hat!  I love that big boi so much!

Pots and Pans

I recently got new pots and pans.  It was LONG overdo.  We were still using the non-stick pots and pans that we had gotten for wedding presents 10 years ago that were scratched up.  😬  I knew they weren't good anymore, but I just didn't really think about it enough to do anything about it.  That is until Joe was doing some online shopping to get white tees from Walmart.  He was browsing through sales to see what else he could add to the order for free shipping and saw a set of non-stick pans for sale that he suggested we get.  I was looking through the reviews on the set he found and realized I had no desire to get more non-stick pans when they really don't last long.  

I became hyper-focused on finding a solution to this apparent problem, and my research consumed much of the my time over the span of a couple days.  I had quickly decided I needed to make the switch to stainless steel as it is about the only non toxic option out there and it lasts a lifetime, which is amazing!  However, I didn't want to go with a cheap, thin set that could warp, and I also wasn't willing to pay for high quality All-Clad either.  Since stainless steel lasts forever, I also wanted to be sure that I got a set that could be used with electric induction as my dream is to eventually replace my crappy electric coil stovetop that has a conventional oven to an electric induction stovetop that has a convection oven.  Anyways, after spending hours reading through Reddit's Cookware sub, I decided that I wanted the Tramontina tri-ply 12-piece set that Costco sells for $200.  I don't have a membership, but a few days later my friend took me, and I bought the set!  😊

I have been using my awesome new pots and pans for a month or so now, and I really love them!!  I'll admit I'm still not the best with them yet.  I mostly blame that on my crappy electric coil stovetop though.  😅  

I had to bust out my tiny set of pots and pans for the hams to commemorate with me the monumental day when I finally bought new pans.  Haha!  Haleth pretty much didn't seem to care about them at all.  But she sure is cute!  The last couple of weeks she has been active at random times throughout the day.  I have been sensing that she probably doesn't have a lot of time left so I'm giving her all the extra love and treats.  💗

I have not seen much of Glorfindel recently as his schedule seems to have completely changed.  I wonder if the upcoming time change on Sunday will help me see him in the evenings now instead of mornings.  We'll see.  Anyways, I finally decided to wake him up today to check on him.  I swear he had a growth spurt in the last week.  He's turning into quite the big boi!  I gave him treats as an apology for waking him.  😊

I didn't quite get the AI to do the pots and pans as miniature as I was going for, but we kinda got there on a couple of these.  Haha!