jesirose

On Saturday I drove from Plano, TX to Little Rock, AR to pick up two rats and bring them back to Plano. They were picked up today for the next leg of the trip down to Houston. They started in St. Louis, MO.

We left at about 7am, to meet Kendra in Little Rock. I outfitted the front seat with towels to make it Sadie-proof so she could come along, and set out.

For the first 50 miles out of Plano, there were state troopers EVERYWHERE! I saw at least 6 tractor trailers pulled over. I think I counted 12 trooper cars.

Once we hit 1-30, we passed a ton of tractor trailers. Every time a loud one would go by, Sadie would wake up and watch them.

We met up with Kendra in Little Rock around 12:30. The boys were adorable, but very hot and sleepy. I put the jar of ice water Kendra gave me in the cage with them and they snuggled up next to it. I decided after 5 and a half hours on the road I really needed a bathroom break! (Sadie had gotten a few on the way up but I didn’t want to leave her in the car alone too long)I found a McDonalds and parked as close to the door as I could, ran inside, ran out and blasted the air back on. It was HOT out there! I hardly ever eat at McDonalds but since it was a road trip I figured I’d splurge. I pulled into the drive through behind a couple in a little car, and while we were stopped, the guy got out and dumped THREE huge McDonalds bags in the trash. Three. Holy cow. How often do you eat McDonalds that you have three bags in your car and you’re going back for more? At least spice it up with some Burger King, geez.

Anyway, we headed back and Sadie fell right back to sleep.

We got home around 6:00pm and were all very tired. The next morning I cleaned out the cage for the next person in the train and made the boys a makeshift hammock - and they knew just what to do!

I handed them over at 10am on Sunday, and they got to their new owner later that day.

On another note, Bailey is up to 125g and Kahlua is 94g. They are such little sweethearts. I’m going to move them into the bottom of the FN tomorrow!

How cute are these babies? This is Kahlua

Cameron:

I love Cameron’s paws in this one

The always photogenic Sophie:

Below is a letter I sent out to my friends and family, edited for the web. I have started training for the walk (yes, it’s only 3 miles but I’m out of shape). Plus, the walks in the morning REALLY tire out the little white monster fluffball. The park near us is almost exactly 1/3 mile. To get there and back is .3 as well. So the other day we did one lap, so we went .6 miles. Today we did TWO laps and we even ran for about 1/4 of the last lap. So we got up to almost a mile. We should be ready to go by the time the walk comes! (Sadie won’t be walking with me in the Walk, but she helps get me out of the house to walk since she needs the walk just as much as I do.)

Dear Friends and Family,

I am writing you today to tell you about an upcoming event that I am participating in that is both very important and very exciting to me. It is NAMIWalks for the Mind of America, NAMI’s signature walkathon event that is being held in Austin, TX at Auditorium Shores on October 4, 2008.

Some of you may already know that my mother and I will both be walking for this event. (She will be walking in Virginia and I in Texas) I chose to participate to support my mother who recently became more open about her struggles with bipolar disorder. This led to me seeking help as well and being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and ADD, which has completely changed my life. By being able to accept the fact that I have this condition to live with I was able to take the steps I need to live better in both mental and physical health. It has helped me get back on track with my work and develop better relationships with my friends and family.

I would like to ask you to come and walk with me or to donate to support my participation in this great event. Visit my personal walker page to sign up: http://www.nami.org/namiwalks08/TEX/jessicagrady. There is also a link so you can donate directly to me online. Donating online is fast and secure, and I’ll get immediate notification via e-mail of your donation. [If you'd prefer to donate offline, please leave a comment and I will email you with instructions]

NAMI, the Nation’s Voice on Mental Illness, formerly the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, is the largest education, support and advocacy organization that serves the needs of all those whose lives are touched by these illnesses. This includes persons with mental illness, their families, friends, employers, the law enforcement community and policy makers. The NAMI organization is composed of approximately 1100 local affiliates, 50 state offices and a national office.

The goals of the NAMIWalks program are: to fight the stigma that surrounds mental illness, to build awareness of the fact that the mental health system in this country needs to be improved and to raise funds for NAMI so that they can continue their mission.

NAMI is a 501(c)3 charity and any donation you make to support my participation in this event is tax deductible. NAMI has been rated by Worth magazine as among the top 100 charities “most likely to save the world” and has been given an “A+” rating by The American Institute of Philanthropy for efficient and effective use of charitable dollars. NAMI has also been given 4 out of 4 stars by The Charity Navigator for short-term spending practices and long-term sustainability. For more information on NAMI please visit http://www.nami.org/

Thank you in advance for your support.

Sincerely,
Jessica Grady

The rats had quite a lot of fun with a handful of grapes!

Sophie reaching down to steal one

Addie was happy to have some

Thirteen wasn’t sure about these…

Yesterday was the annual block party for my street. Most of the people on the street have dogs so I was excited to take Sadie and see how she did. At first I took her out on her 30′ leash, and let her play. After a while I took it off so she could run around with the other dogs and she did wonderful. She stayed in the yard most of the time, and came to anyone who called her.

They also had a kiddie pool out for the dogs to play in. Sadie has never liked going in our pool, but I put her in the little wading pool and she finally realized what she was missing! She splashed all over the place, tried to eat the water, and then got back in several times on her own! I was so excited.

We had a great time with everyone too. I had helped organize a tie-dye area for people to do shirts and the kids had a good time with that. I got to go swimming with a few of my neighbors, who then spent about an hour trying to launch water balloons over a house, and only got about 2 over

All in all, a great day!

Tomorrow is my birthday and I got to have a present early! Colin got me this awesome mouse I’d wanted. It’s so cool. It’s bigger than my old one so my hand has to get used to it, but finally I have a mouse that middle-clicks again!