the Ralphie report...

Sorry you didn't get the Ralphie report yesterday. It seemed as though the lima beans were not the problem, but a stomach virus--either that or the lima beans were filled with laxatives. Anyway.
Ralphie has a girlfriend. We named her Manilow because her nose is longer than Ralphie's. We know Manilow is a girl because we caught them having a great time together right in our fireplace. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to my camera fast enough to capture the moment. The funny thing was Manilow was completely bored by Ralphie's tremendous efforts. She ate sunflower seeds while he did the work. Even the squirrels...
Ralphie is also a great communicator. When he runs out of water he jumps on the chain screen inside the fireplace door and causes a clatter. When you walk over he jumps down to the empty saucer and then jumps up on the top of the logs and looks at you while he swishes his tail as if to say, "Get me my water, you slacker! Chop! Chop!" Then he zips up the hole and lets us fill up the saucer. Down he (and sometimes Manilow with him) comes afterward to fresh water. He's a demanding little rodent. Truth be known, my husband does most of the Ralphie-tending.
	Rooney is quite spitooney these days. He's still not his old self, but he's definitely better. We're keeping the litterboxes super clean to encourage as much pooping as possible. He hates getting medicine twice a day, but that's the way the dookie crumbles.
Grayson got his third colloidal oatmeal sponge bath last night and is doing a lot better. He doesn't even fight much when I sponge him down--apparently it feels very soothing. He seems to be doing okay eating Rooney's super-high-fiber-poop-producing food (in fact, everyone is eating it, with vet approval of course). And, I turn 40 next Monday (about which I could not care less). And, I'm very behind in getting a custom hat done for someone. Grrr! And, I'm still broke. But, I'm not as angst-ridden about it as I was. And that's good.