Pet Adoption

I just adopted several new pets that were living in a basement storage room where Carla Kay works. I'm not sure how many really, since she used a litter scoop to dig them out of their home, which had decomposed quite a bit and was becoming unlivable.
After a quick lesson on proper care and feeding, I excitedly left for my office with my new friends snuggled into the bedding of their new home. It's filled with damp, freshly-shredded newspaper. (The shredder in the voter registration office is awesome, by the way. Thanks, gals!)
Thankfully, it's about 60 degrees and cloudy today, so I could leave my new pets in the back of my car while I was at work. Carla Kay said they are most happy between 50-80 degrees. They dry out in the sun. They like it dark and moist, just enough to keep their skin from drying out. They can't breathe when it's too wet.
It seems pretty easy to take care of them. I can't wait to feed them for the first time. They like vegetables, fruit, newspaper, egg shells, coffee grounds, and tea bags. Carla Kay said she doesn't feed them citrus, meat, fats, or dairy. Add new bedding every so often. After awhile, I'll need to change it out and remove the poop, which is a great fertilizer.
Like most animals, if they have food, shelter, and water, they'll reproduce. Carla Kay showed me what the eggs look like. She said one egg could have up to 10 babies in it!

girl power

"If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls."

Greg Mortenson from Three Cups of Tea

The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise

Inspired by my friend, Amy, who is aspiring to read 100 books this year, I've decided to try it also. I'm already a month behind, but today being an icy start to February seemed like as good a day as any to begin. I'd picked up book at the library this weekend, but only after finishing it, did I decide to do this project.

I began reading The Tower, The Zoo & The Tortoise by Julia Stuart last night at about 9 pm. I stopped reading at 2 am only because I thought I had bettered get some sleep, in case I did end up going to work this morning. After seeing that Punky's school was closed today due to the ice storm, I resumed reading at 8 am. Between fixing buckwheat pancakes for breakfast, assisting with a homework assignment and melting plastic pellets into a horse-shaped sun catcher, I kept reading. I finished after lunch this afternoon.

The book is a light, quick read that was throughly entertaining. I laughed and cried, but I'm a sap who got teary at an episode of Hannah Montana last night. It's full of interesting English trivia nicely woven throughout several intertwined story lines. Everything wraps up well. As the dust cover says, it is a "refreshingly delectable novel that you simply won't want to put down."