I'm sitting here with the biggest grin on my face.
 
For the past two and a half weeks, I was suffering from Major Ferret
Withdrawal.  At the beginning of this month, I had to go to Buffalo to
defend my dissertation.  It took longer than I thought it would because I
had to slog through a bunch of revisions (but I'm done now!).  Because I
was staying at the house of my advisor and his wife, who have a hyper-spaz
puppy (30 lbs.  at 3 months!) that likes to use various body parts as chew
toys (and I have the holes in my clothing and welts on my arms and legs to
prove it!), I thought it wiser not to take my fuzzy girl Felicia with me to
Buffalo.  My boyfriend watched her in my absence, and I'm ecstatic to say
that he did a wonderful job.  I had prepared him beforehand and had printed
him a sheet with contact numbers, and things to watch out for (i.e.,
diarrhea, etc.).  He let her have plenty of play time every day, and
updated me on the phone almost every day while I was gone.  During these
conversations, Felicia almost always pushed a few buttons on the telephone
with her nose to let me know she was still being a handful.  Yesterday, I
finally arrived home to a bouncy furball that was full of kisses for me
before she plunged into my suitcases.  I had a few new toys for her hidden
in my bags, which she found with glee before she decided that she liked my
socks better.
 
 -- Oh, on a side note, that gave me an idea on what to do regarding worn
toys: she loves this rubber "dumbell" toy that has a bell embedded in it,
but I had to take it away from her recently because a small part of it
cracked and I was afraid she might ingest part of it.  Well, I shoved the
toy down into the toe of a tightly-woven sock, tied the open part of the
sock into a tight knot, and gave it back to her.  She still loves it
because of the bell, and can carry it around in her mouth without me
worrying about her eating the rubber.  Just my two cents on what to do
with those single socks whose partners disappear in the laundry!  --
 
Anyway, she looks wonderful and healthy, and has been following me around
all day.  She's lounging sleepily in my desk drawer staring up at me while
I've been catching up on reading all of the FML issues that I missed.  I've
been alternating reading and staring back at her or petting her.  A good
ferret-sitter is an invaluable thing.
 
It's good to be back!
Helen & Felicia
 
 --Oh, a question: She's finally started to shed a bit.  I've been giving
her some hairball paste everyday, which she loves, but she HATES to be
brushed.  I read somewhere that you should (???) actually pluck out their
loose hairs during shedding season instead of brushing, but she HATES that
also.  Is there anything else I can do for her besides giving her the
hairball remedy?
 
Thanks!!!
[Posted in FML issue 2653]