Tag Archives: LadySkullshine

All, Pets

Pet Rat Babies!

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I haven’t written much about it, but our pet rats have been extremely time consuming recently. I think I only mentioned getting them here, then made a few posts on Instagram and Facebook. When we adopted them, Nora and Suzie were 5 weeks and Dollie was 7 weeks old.

A lot has changed since then. Long story short, ‘Suzie’ turned out to be a ‘Malakai’. The rattery offered to swap him out for a girl, but we felt bad about it. Not to mention, we assumed at least Nora or Dollie was already pregnant by that point. So we left them together and prepared to have some rat babies. We did a ton of research so we had an idea of what we were in for. Over time, you could really tell Nora and Dollie were both pregnant. I took pics to show their progression and notated a few things.

One note was that Nora literally looked like she was going to pop. The next morning, she had at least 15 babies. I could only tell that one didn’t survive. We kept an eye on things from afar, without disturbing her. We just wanted to make sure everything was going well. Later that day, Nora was right back on the move. But we had to be careful. She was a bit snippy if you got close to her babies.

A few days later, Dollie had her babies. She took longer to have hers. I’m not sure if she had some trouble, or was just taking a break. At one point, she seemed done and we counted eight babies. Next thing, there was at least 17! We had to wait a few days to actually count them. We couldn’t get anywhere near Dollie’s cage to do anything.

Our final count was 14 of Nora’s and 18 of Dollies. 32 rat babies total! Honestly from what I’ve read, I feel like we were really fortunate. I’ve read some horror stories and much smaller litters too. We have been taking Nora’s out when we can. Since Dollie gets extremely protective, we haven’t been interacting with hers as much. I hope to get some pics of Dollie’s later today.

Nora’s Babies

I took tons of Nora’s babies, but here’s just a few to show how much they’ve changed over the days.

Day 5
Their eyes are closed yet. No more pink, you can see patterns on them now. They’re starting to move around a bit. Oh & their little whiskers are also growing too.

Day 8
Starting to get some peach fuzz. Moving around a lot more. Mama’s letting us get closer to them without getting snippy.

Day 9
Eyes are still closed. Getting velvety soft. Look at those cute feet! They are starting to make little sprints away from the baby pile now too. Nora lets us in more now.

Day 11
So much cuteness! Their fur is growing in. Nora’s totally okay with us touching them. She will just snatch them up & put them back in the nest.

All, Updates

Photo Pages Coming Soon

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This is just a head’s up to let you know I went crazy again building new pages for my site. There will be some photo pages coming shortly, once I’m done setting it all up. For now, you may see a few partial pages floating around here and there. I’m undecided how I really want to do the layout.

Please be patient and excuse my mess in the meantime.

Thanks!

All, Pets, Random

Rats, Cars, and More

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I had full intentions of making more financial posts, but as usual, I’m all over the place. To be fair, we have had a lot going on recently.

Monday our pet rat Nora gave birth to at least 12 babies. Then Thursday, our other rat Dollie gave birth to about 17 babies. We haven’t been able to properly count yet. It’s been a bit crazy. We will be adopting them out in about six weeks.

I also have been trying to get my car fixed. That has been an ongoing debacle of sorts for nearly this entire year. I think we are finally getting somewhere with that. I’m hoping anyways. I already had to give up on one car this year after dumping a bunch of money into it. It just had too much going on. Now I’m running into a lot of the same issues. At least, this time, I think we are heading in the right direction.

Earlier this week, I made an attempt to focus on other things. I even took a few days off from my normal work tasks. Except, the election has me glued to the all sorts of media. So, I haven’t accomplished anything in the end. Besides, adding some more anxiety that I didn’t need.

I did actually create a few site pages that you will be seeing shortly. I’m constantly moving things and fixing them, then adding more. Sorry about that. This time, I decided to bring back a photos page to display some of my favorites. There will be a lot of old pics, with a few new ones mixed in.

That’s all for now. I really need some ice cream!

All, Random

Political Judgement Anxiety

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I made a post on Facebook today. I rarely do that. It was due to the politically enraged posts I’ve been seeing. I have enough anxiety as it is over who will win the election. I just felt the need to express myself. I actually wrote what I wanted to say about a day or two ago, then never shared it. Luckily it was still in my drafts. Of course I read it again and reworded it. Several times. Panic set in. I hesitated multiple times.

Then finally posted this…

I’m sorry for the long post but I feel the need to say this. It’s regarding the recent flood of political posts.

I see my friends and family members arguing either on their own pages or even on public news ones. Or those that say to unfriend them for this or that. I read and continue scrolling, knowing how that person feels. I don’t delete or comment. I don’t normally discuss politics anyways, but it’s to the point that I’ve been worried to even hint who I voted for. I’m afraid I will be judged and will lose some people that I truly consider friends.

That’s sad. It’s sad I’m worried about that, but it’s also sad that some of you would actually delete me just for that reason. I just know how strongly some of you feel and how savage you’ve been. I also know the friendships I’ve had with some of you that I’d hate to lose.

Honestly, I don’t unfriend for different views or ways of life. I do not judge anyone based on age, race, diet preference, religion, gender, music choice, sexual preference, profession, friend affiliation, political party, or what color narwhal you choose to be for the day.

I care that you are a decent human being. That’s it. That’s all. Be good to yourself and others.

Sorry again for the long post. Thanks for reading! 💖🇺🇲🤗✌

After I posted it, I couldn’t breathe. I closed my phone and made dinner. When I checked my notifications, I saw that a few others have agreed. I felt better. I understand having strong views and wanting to be heard, but things are so very out of control. People are only dividing themselves, creating hate and destruction on so many levels.

I’m sure I’ll be judged for wanting things to be all unicorns and sparkles, but then everyone already knows that about me LOL.

Thanks for visiting.

All, Random

I Should Be Sleeping

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I really should be sleeping. I know. I always should be doing something I’m not. Especially when it comes to sleeping. The regular world is sleeping. My household is sleeping. At least, I believe my children are asleep. I will be checking on them shortly before I do eventually go to sleep.

I do this every night. Every single night. I don’t mean to. My mind just doesnt stop. I can’t shut it off. Ever. Until it finally shuts down for a few hours to nap. I get up repeatedly. I finally nap for a few more hours.

Then when I finally wake up, I feel like I have to gradually attempt to function in general. On rare occasions, I sprint out of bed, ready to go. Regardless, once I do get myself together, I try to focus. But it doesn’t matter what I do. How I start off. What my mindset is. How determined I am. I always end up with my mind racing in all sorts of directions. I’m constantly doing multiple things at once. I can never seem to catch up.

By the end of the night, I’m freaking out. I’m angry with myself. I’ve accomplished nothing! I’ve accomplished a lot, actually. But nothing that should have been done. It’s very upsetting. I get side tracked. I forget what I was doing and go off to do something else. At some point I will actually wander back to that area and see the mess, then realize I was in the middle of something. Then I work on that for a bit until the next distraction. I’m constantly bouncing around from task to task.

I’ve tried so many things to help me get back on track. I feel bad because my fiance gets upset with me when he thinks I’m doing this on purpose. I try to explain to him that no, I just don’t get things done in general. I mean, it gets done. Just not always right away, not in the correct order, and not at the correct times. So basically, if it dawns on me at 10:30 PM that I wanted to vacuum, then I’ll quick get it done. That’s just a minor example. I do get out of control at times.

I’m pretty sure I would drive anyone crazy. My family knows all this and they love me bunches LOL. They must or they wouldn’t put up with me. Speaking of, I must check on my babies. Then, I need to somehow manage to get some sleep, so I can try to conquer another day. Hopefully I don’t fall into that dreaded trap once again.

My head is already swimming in all the things that need to get done. I just can’t ever make it stop. If it wouldn’t disrupt my household or my complete sleeping schedule, I would get up and do multiple things right now. I really wish I could, but I also do need to be up early. I must place my grocery order. Then I shall see one of my super awesome friends. Let’s hope I don’t jump out of bed minutes before she arrives.

I really should be sleeping already.

Thanks for reading my 1:30 AM ramblings. Good night.

All, Financial

Another $50 From YouGov

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I talked about YouGov before, but I’m mentioning it now because I just cashed out again. This time I got a $50 Amazon gift card.

When I first listed YouGov on my site, I had it in the passive apps section. I did this because I initially only installed the app that runs in the background on my phone. That’s all that’s needed to accumulate points. Then I would get an occasional email to do a survey. I often ignored them because I get frustrated with surveys in general.

I test a lot survey sites. They can get very involved at times. I lose my focus very easily. Sometimes I feel like it’s taking too long, so I get anxious. I give up on them very quickly. I’m trying to be much better about that.

I recently downloaded the YouGov survey app and I started paying more attention to the emails. I completed every survey right away so they wouldn’t expire. Like I said, there’s not that many. Then I noticed that they were pretty generous with points.

Back in February, I cashed out $15. I was somewhat new then. I didn’t realize that if you let your balance grow, you get more back later. I’m not sure when I started to pay more attention, but it really didn’t take me long to get to $50. I’ll have a better gauge next time I cash out.

If you are interested in trying it out, please use my referral link. When you complete 4 surveys, I will receive 2,000 points. Thank you!

All, Financial

Get Paid To Review Items

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***10/22/20 Update: This was originally posted a few months ago. I unpublished it in error.

I love to shop in general, especially on Amazon. I get packages several times a week. Most of which, I get my money back after I have reviewed them.

I was skeptical at first. I’m still checking into other sites as well. So far, there are three companies that I have had successful transactions with. There has only been one time that I didn’t get paid and it was my own fault. I didn’t act fast enough to qualify for my refund. I stay on top of it now to ensure I get my money back. It can be a process to keep track of, but honestly for me it’s been worth it.

Each site has specific rules that must be followed in order to have a successfully paid transaction. For the most part, they have the same basic idea. You would find the item you are interested in and apply for it, then purchase it on Amazon. Once you receive it, review the item. When all the terms are met, you will then be paid up to 100% of the amount you originally paid. Some also pay the PayPal fees.

So far, I have received the following items to review for cash back:

Clear Desk Mat
Metallic Markers
Laptop Stands
Laptop Fan
Jeweler’s Loupe
iPhone Power Cord
2 Sets Of Wireless Earbuds
Bluetooth Radio
Temperature/Humidity Thermostat
Kitchen Scissors
Child Proof Corner Guards
Mug Warmer
Bedside Organizer
Satin Sheet Set
Nightgown
Swimsuit
Beanie
Cami

If you’re interested in being paid to review items, click on my referral links found on the Financial Tips page.

Everyone’s results will vary. For the most accurate up to date information, see the individual company’s site/app. I’m in PA, US, using an Android phone and Windows laptop to access above mentioned. My only affiliation is that I have personally used these companies and share my referral links, which may pay an incentive.

All, Financial

$400+ In Free Products, So Far

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***10/22/20 Update: This was originally posted a few months ago. I unpublished it in error.

I have mentioned to a few of my friends and family members that I review items on Amazon. In return, I get my money back for those items. Not one of them have been the slightest bit interested. In hearing about it, and much less in participating themselves. I completely get it. It’s not for everyone.

The two responses I have received was that I make it seem so easy and they don’t have the money to pay for the items in the first place.

I get the money part, however there are things like phone chargers that I would think that anyone could use for free.

And well, it is pretty easy at this point. I’ve done all the work of researching and testing the companies that I deal with. They wouldn’t be on my site if I didn’t already do this and had successful transactions.

It really is a simple process.

Basically, you sign up for the site you want to try out. After your account is set up, you can choose the items you are interested in. In most cases, you need to accumulate points to be used towards your purchases. That can be done by checking in daily and various other tasks. Some deals will also give you points. Once your request is accepted, you can purchase it on Amazon. Follow any specific guidelines regarding leaving a review on their site, as well as on Amazon. If all steps were followed properly within the timelines given, you will then receive your money back.

I’ve been doing this for 4 months & so far, I have received the following:

* Clear Desk Mat * Metallic Markers * Laptop Stands * Laptop Fan * Jeweler’s Loupe * iPhone Power Cord * 2 Sets Of Wireless Earbuds * Bluetooth Radio * Temperature/Humidity Thermostat * Kitchen Scissors * Child Proof Corner Guards *
2 Pack Of Maze Puzzles * Mug Warmer * Bedside Organizers * Satin Sheet Set * Nightgown * Swimsuit * Beanie * Cami * 3 Pack Of Cooling Shirts *

That’s a total of $405.89 of useful items that I received my money back from!

I think it’s worth the little bit of time that it takes. If you’re interested in getting items for free in return for your review, you can try out the ones that I use. They are located on the Financial Tips page.

For similar pages, see:

* Get Paid To Review Items
* Small Financial Tips – It All Adds Up
* The Rewards Are The Reason

Everyone’s results will vary. For the most accurate up to date information, see the individual company’s site/app. I’m in PA, US, using an Android phone and Windows laptop to access above mentioned. My only affiliation is that I have personally used these companies and share my referral links, which may pay an incentive.