I'm Such A Sucker!

We are pretty rural (45 mins. to town) and anyone with any unwanted animal or plant knows where to come knock. I now officially have:

• 4 dogs (no where near as many as our record) 

• 9 cats [including 6 kittens] (also not near our record) 

• 1 frog 

• 1 lizard 

• Several greedy little wild birds who tap on the windows when they run out of food (inherited with this homestead) 

• 1 "pet" black snake who comes and goes as she pleases (outside; she's the "rattlesnake shield"; also inherited) 

• 1 good-sized group of javalinas that also come and go as they please (through holes they dug the chain link fence and re-dig if we cover up)

That's not counting the skittish cats that come and go (at least 4 by our counts).

As for the plants, well, let's just say it's a good thing we have so much space. LOL

We bought a dozen crickets for my son's "new" (they'd been my son's outside buddies for a few months before we got them habitats) frog and lizard last night. I got one of those cool little "Critter Keeper" things so I wouldn't have to actually touch/grab them but then ... I couldn't get the crickets to come out the way they were supposed to. I upended the container to shake a few into the lizard's tank and bamo!

Two crickets ran away and three landed on the lizard (she only ate one and let the others bask on her). I grabbed the closest kitten and tossed it at the crickets. Soon, the other cats and kittens had gathered too. "Hmm, what are these things? I'm scared." or "Hmm, what are these things? They look interesting, so I think I'll just watch them." I guess that's what happens when they've got tummies full of cat food! LOL

When it was the frog's turn, I did a little better. The crickets cooperated and three plopped into the tank .. once again, on top of the frog (he/she is a piglet!).

You should have seen me trying to transfer the frog and lizard from their temporary habitats into their new ones. I almost screamed (um, well, I did scream) when he/she jumped. Nevermind it was trying to get away from me, not come at me. LOL

My son is still pestering me for a corn snake even though he couldn't stand to hold one (we were both a little freaked out) because it felt "weird". "It's okay, mom, you can take care of it."

Uhhh ... about that ...

My best friend is 7 months pregnant. When she called asking for help with "re-doing" her 4 year old daughter's room to make space for the newest little girl, I said "sure! I'll do anything I can to help you." I figured we'd rearrange furniture, spruce up a bit, and maybe add a few baby furniture type items.

Then she told me what she had in mind: since she was pregnant and couldn't be around the fumes .. would I mind "helping" to removed the old wallpaper, put some new one up, repaint, and add a border? Oooh, boy. I'd just started a cleanse and so ...  *sigh* I'll tolerate those fumes if you can tolerate mine.

The things we do for friendship! LOL

Wishing you much peace, happiness and success,