Pixel died of salmonella poisoning from contaminated pet food sold by Kaytee. The company recalled a batch of its Forti-Diet Pro Health Mouse, Rat and Hamster food, and the bag we were feeding Pixel was from this poisoned batch. We didn’t even know about the recall until after she suddenly became very ill and then very lethargic. It was too late when we got her to a veterinarian the next day. Poor Pixel. Poor Maegan.

We had to scrub down and disinfect pretty much everything in Maegan’s room and we’re now keeping a close eye on all the girls (especially Maegan) because humans can get salmonella poisoning from handling the infected animal and/or food.

Patty contacted the Kaytee company that sold the poison pet food. They asked a lot of questions about the batch we had fed Pixel but showed little interest in our sick rat. Our trip to the vet cost well over a hundred dollars. They’d better be paying our vet bill, but even that won’t make things better for Maegan who lost her pet.

Here’s some video I took when Maegan first got Pixel, just a few months ago. This was before we got her a larger cage.

This reminded me of when Maegan took dance lessons. Here’s a photo from a 2005 blog post, which would make Darah the same age as Maegan was at the time:

So now we have both a rat and a rat terrier (bred to hunt and kill rats). This sounds horribly cruel to both animals, and could have been, but Boomer doesn’t seem to care about the rat. Perhaps because we already trained him not to go after Maegan’s other pet rodent, a hamster named Peaches.

Along with Darah’s fish, Atlas, the house has become a zoo.

^{(*This was intentionally not posted on her birthday.)}

The weather was absolutely perfect and you could see for miles and miles in every direction. From over 500 feet up we could look down on the White House, Capitol Hill (with FedEx Field in Maryland in the background), the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial (with Reagan airport in the background), and tons more. I took a bunch of shots on the north side and stitched them together to make this giant panorama.

On the elevator ride back down, the glass doors changed from opaque to translucent and we were able  to see the inside of the monument. We had no idea, but the inside is filled with 192 engraved commemorative stones.  All of these stones were completely different like a haphazardly mismatched collage. They were donated from different cities, states, territories, and foreign nations. Many were just local lodges and even individuals. And there are even a few stones that they don’t have any idea of where they came from or why.

Then on Sunday we all went for a private tour of the west wing of the White House. Amy’s good friend was able to take us on a private tour. I’ve been on a private tour of the White House before in 1987 during a family reunion, thanks to my cousin who was a U.S. Representative from the state of Washington at the time. This time I had a full understanding of everything around me and could really appreciate where I was.

We were just outside the Oval Office but the door was closed because Obama was inside (possibly working on the debt ceiling). Then a few minutes later Obama walked out of the Oval Office (outside) and past the windows of the adjacent Cabinet Room. Unfortunately at that moment we were all looking at the Roosevelt Room across the hall so most of us had our backs turned and we just missed him. This photo was taken the same day so this was perhaps the very moment that he walked by the window.

After Obama left the Oval Office the door was opened so we got to see it. (We didn’t get to walk in.) I couldn’t see it from my angle but it was pretty cool to know that the actual Emancipation Proclamation was just inches away, hanging next to the door on the inside.

On our way out we were appreciating a Norman Rockwell painting, “The Problem We All Live With“, hanging in the hallway. Little did we know that the little girl in the painting, Ruby Bridges Hall, was standing right there in that spot just two days earlier.

I went to work on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday Patty, Maegan, and Darah took the Metro into the city with me and continued past my stop to go to the National Zoo. (Sorry, Idon’t have any of the photos taken at the zoo.) Thursday night we all went to Rockville Town Center, and Friday night we went to Downtown Silver Spring. Each place was really nice with live music.

Bigger activities are planned for the weekend.