Conditioned responses*

I was having a discussion on Facebook today. It started out about spiders and morphed into snakes -- two creatures people (especially women) are afraid of.  Just a glance, a thought, and they're shuddering.

Why?

I understand many spiders and snakes are poisonous, so I imagine we humans have discouraged hanging out with the creatures as a safety issue since Neanderthal days.  Still, we have brains don't we?  Why can't we reason?  "Wolf spiders are harmless and, in fact, are actually beneficial to have around."  Or, "Garter snakes are warm, smooth and harmless and are even kind of pretty."

Why does a photo like this of a Wolf Spider taking good care of her babies make most folks want to run screaming:

When a photo like this, of a duck mama doing exactly the same thing elicit "Awwww... how sweet" responses?

Isn't it a shame that we can't break free from this conditioned response?  Isn't it too bad that so many folks can't see past the outside of something in order to see that they're really not so bad?

It goes further than bugs. 

This animal is frequently feared and vilified:

Whereas we see a dog like my puppy, and everyone assumes she's a sweetheart:

And it's about people, too.  We look and see a kid with a Mohawk and tats and think the worst.  We judge based on size, clothes, race...

For some reason, hearing the folks hating on spiders and snakes really made me sad today.  So I felt the need to share.

Warning: Spider Story

No spiders were harmed in the writing of this tale, though two humans and a dog nearly were.

Yesterday, DD, Dd and I were driving home from school when I saw a movement on the frame of my door. I jumped and grabbed at my heart, giving a little yelp. Understandable, right, when something is moving where it shouldn't be.

It was a spider. Not a very big one, and I'm not really spider phobic, but I didn't want the thing dropping on my head, so I kept blowing on it to make it freeze in place until I could pull over and put him outside.

Apparently, he decided he'd deal with the wind, though, and started making his way up the frame and close to where my head was. This was unacceptable and I picked up a pack of cough drops I had nearby and put it up where he was to block him.

That didn't work, so I decided it was time for him to take his chances with the great outdoors and rolled down my window, then tried to brush him out (yes, I was driving the entire time... ::hangs head in shame:::).

That was when he dropped ... dangling above me from a silken thread.

I screamed like a little girl and whapped at him. He landed on the door frame and scurried into a crack.

Finally, I was able to pull off the road and get him the h-e-double toothpicks OUT OF MY CAR. But even that was a trial. First I had to find him. Then I had to make him understand that he would be much better outside. He disagreed. Finally, though, he fell on the floor mat and I picked it up and shook it off outside, then leaped into the car and took off before he could hitch a ride again.

I know, I know -- I could have squished him, but honestly that never occurred to me until after all the drama. I'm a catch and release kinda gal, so it didn't enter my thought stream at all.

I do wonder what all the cars that passed me on the side of the road thought, though.

So that was my excitement yesterday. Anything exciting happen with you that you'd like to share?

==============

Sleep, Ah Sleep ...

Sleeping is no mean art: for its sake one must stay awake all day. ~Friedrich Nietzsche

I'm tired.

Here's the thing: I'm not a good sleeper. I don't know if I was as a kid (well... except when my brother would threaten to wait until I was sleeping and then push in the "drawer" of the trundle bed I was sleeping in), Mom would have to answer that -- but the last 15 years or so, I don't sleep well. If I get more than a couple hours solid sleep in a row, I call it victory. OH, I stay in bed a good solid eight hours (mostly), but I spend much of that staring at the walls.

Part of that is because I'm a light sleeper and I acknowledge that, but the other part ... ? I have no idea. Last night was no exception. Bed at nine-thirty, read until ten, lights off. DH comes home from work around eleven and I wake up when he comes to bed. I did get a solid hour of unconsciousness, which was good. Then, because I'm awake, he gets gabby and we talk for awhile until he nods off (DH could sleep through a nuclear war -- comes from being stationed on an aircraft carrier in the Navy). I lay there, wide awake. Finally, after listening to him snore ("I don't snore") I get up. The dog gets up with me. I wander around the house, have a drink, stuff a rag in DD's door because it's thumping just a bit from the wind, check the emails on my new phone (*G*), curl up on the couch with the dog. By now it's well after midnight. I stare at the ceiling a bit, brain is going a hundred MPH and won't slow down...

Eventually I nodded off, but this morning five a.m. came WAY too early.

In other news, the friend from yesterday with the swallowtail butterbabies on her fennel reported MORE swallowtails on her parsley! AND, she said her kidlets found two monarch pillars on her milkweed (yes, I've indoctrinated her and her boys to the dark side ... of pillar ranching). She's not THAT far from me (a couple hours), so I guess it's about time to start looking for monarch eggs. YAY!

Brandy had asked about the field Cigna owns with all the milkweed. I haven't seen the woman who was going to work with them on NOT mowing until the first frost for several weeks, but I'm hoping to see her this weekend at the dog park (she's owned by a goofy Golden Retriever). Hopefully, that's all settled and there won't be a mass pillar-cide this year.

DD found the coolest spider in her schoolroom the other day. He was fairly small with a bright yellow butt.



I've never seen one like it before. We scooped and released. Anyone know what he is?

And now I need more coffee.

Have a great day!

=========================

You Have Depth

You are the ultimate escapist. If you can't escape physically, you escape with your thoughts. You love the idea of travel and faraway lands. If you could, you would travel constantly and see the world. While you are a bit on the quiet side, you're a great partner. You are supportive, devoted, and loyal. More than any other type, you honestly still believe in true love. You hold on to your ideals.

The Cookie Test

Mostly right.

=================

Random Thoughts from a Random Mind

I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself. ~Marlene Dietrich

It's raining! Color me happy, happy, happy. It's supposed to rain on and off all day long. I'm so thrilled. :::happy dancing:::

I've been watching the female crab spider we have outside. At first, I thought she was hiding underneath the milkweed leaf to hunt (they don't spin webs, exactly, they wait for an insect to get near and then - WHAM! - they nab it). She's there every day, legs outstretched just looking like she's ready to grab something. But I finally looked closer and realized ... she's guarding her egg sac. The tip of the milkweed leaf is folded over and then sealed with webbing, and she backs up onto it and guards it. The sad thing is that she'll die before her babies are born. I was worried about her eggs over the winter (I'm feeling very "Wilbur-ish"), since the milkweed dies down, but I discovered that they hatch in summer (which means I won't have her to watch much longer) and grow to be about 5mm, then overwinter in the ground as spiders. I hope I get some again next summer. They're fascinating.

Yesterday, while walking Dakota, we encountered the Schnauzer at the end of the street again. I don't think I mentioned our last encounter with him a week or so ago, but it was ... interesting. He came charging out, barking and posturing as always, and I had Dakota on a short leash behind me (because he attacks her) and was slowly backing him into his driveway like I do when -- BAM! -- Dakota slipped between my legs and attacked! I guess she'd just had enough of him and gave this low-throated bark-bark-bark and lunged. He lunged and we had an old-fashioned dog fight on our hands. Thankfully, all it took was me yelling at them to knock it off, but it was a little dicey since my dog's leash was wrapped around one leg (why she had to got THROUGH my legs, I have no idea).

In any case, when we saw him yesterday, he was about 100 yds away and started barking. I refuse to be forced to not walk anywhere on my street, so I put Dakota on a short leash (and warned her very sternly to be good this time) and walked around the circle. That's when the most incredible thing happened -- when we got about 75 feet away he shut up. And at about 50 feet he slowly retreated into his driveway, watched us walk past with nary a yip, and let us pass completely unmolested. He's always been afraid/cautious of me, and won't challenge me, but I guess Dakota putting him in his place finally showed him that we weren't to be messed with.

I told DD -- that's the perfect example of a bully. He picked on Dakota as long as she was weak. But the moment she showed her strength, he backed down. Fascinating.

I've picked five nice, long cucumbers from my garden (I grow the burpless kind that are long and skinny, with few seeds) and have about a dozen more that will be ready in a week or so. My squash is growing like crazy ... BUT... I saw another squash borer moth yesterday, so don't expect it to live much longer. I've been spraying the base of it with an organic pesticide that will kill the worms if they ingest it and it doesn't affect beneficial bugs like ladybugs (though it will kill bees, so I've been careful not to spray the flowers and pulled all the blossoms from the base of the plant). I don't know if it will work or not, but I'm doing the best I can. These stupid borers are the only bugs I can't "pick" and it frustrates me to feel so helpless.

In Pillar Place: Monarch, all the pillars are growing like weeds. It's truly amazing how quickly they grow! While getting food for them yesterday (had to pick TEN milkweed leaves), I found two more teeny, newly hatched pillars, so we have a new Upsilon and a Matthew. 25 monarch caterpillars. I'm a little afraid to look for them at the library ... but we have to go there today to drop off/pick up books and it's become a bit of a compulsion to at least glance at the milkweed.

We have four pupae thus far: Xi, Rho, Pi and Omicron. They take 10 - 14 days to emerge, and Xi became a pupa on the 11th ... so earliest will be the 21st. I can't wait.

I'm so thrilled it's cooled off outside.. and there's a break in the rain for an hour or so, so I think I'm going to take a walk! YAY!

Have a great day.

========================

You Are Mild

You get as many thrills as wild people do, however your thrills tend to be more of the laid back variety. You believe that the deeper you get into something, the more you enjoy it. And you need calm to do that. You are one of the least superficial people around. You have intense and passionate interests. You don't get bored easily. How could you? There is so much to learn about and think about!

Are You Wild or Mild?

Yep ... that's quite true.

====================

Observing Nature

Drinking nature is an unquenchable thirst. ~ Berri Clove

I'm sitting her with monarch pillar, Xi, watching him munch. It's truly amazing they eat as much as they do -- he's about two-thirds grown, and is going through two HUGE milkweed leaves a day.

We found eight more monarch eggs yesterday -- I don't have enough containers, though, so need to go out and get some more Gladware-type containers. Lots of people raise monarchs in one huge box, but I find that it's easier to put them each in their own so the chrysalis isn't disturbed. I also prefer a plastic container so the milkweed leaves stay fresh and moist (I also put a bit of floral foam at the tip of each stem to help keep the leaves fresh -- yes, I spoil the pillars).

I'm encouraged by the number of eggs we're finding this year. And, once we can get back to the library (if it's ever not 90+ degrees outside), I suspect I'll see even more.

Here's a picture or two of Xi I took this morning... isn't he gorgeous?




And a photo of one of the five swallowtail butterflies we released a couple days ago (it's on my DD's swimsuit):



We have the coolest spider outside on one of the milkweed plants ... it's a female goldenrod crab spider: pure white with a little splash of red. She's fascinating to watch.

In fact, IMHO, nature is fascinating. Sometimes I think people just don't bother to notice, but I've found that my DH is starting to get into the groove. This morning, he watched Xi eat for several minutes, and then later as he was getting his boat ready, he noticed a small green spider spinning a web on on of the metal fixtures and stared, then commented on how perfect its web was. I had to wreck the web to move it, but I was still tickled that DH had stopped long enough to observe and be interested.

Have you taken the time to watch nature lately? It's pretty amazing.

====================

In other news, they're predicting a LOT of rain to hit us tomorrow. Yay! The only problem is, there may be flash floods in some areas. Still, it's going to be a HUGE help. Unfortunately, the hot weather will return after the rain.

I picked my first squash yesterday. My cucumbers are getting huge. So ... while this heat has been drying things out tremendously, it's also causing things to grow (we won't talk about the weeds ... it's just been too hot to get outside and weed, so things are a little crazy).

=====================

In writing news, this story is going really well. It's been fairly easy to write, which must mean it's the one I'm supposed to be working on. Setting the timer for 20 - 30 mins each day has been helping, too. It keeps me focused AND gives me a goal to strive for.

=====================

You Are Egg Sushi

You aren't the most adventurous person in the world, but you're trying to step out of your comfort zone. New things tend to freak you out a bit, especially if they are very different from what you're used to. You prefer to take baby steps whenever you undertake something challenging. Too much at once can overwhelm you. You tend to be cautious and disciplined. You think through every action you take, even if evaluating your options slows you down a bit.

What Type of Sushi Are You?

That's about right...

====================

Weather, Bugs and Gardening

Dear beautiful Spring weather, I miss you. Was it something I said? ~"Skipper" Kim Corbin

So... It's HOT here. Yesterday was nearly ninety and today will be more of the same and then it's going to cool by about twenty degrees for the rest of the weekend. It's wreaked havoc on my body and my garden.

My cucumbers didn't come through the cold as well as I would have liked -- I've lost a couple of them, and the others don't look very healthy, but I hope they'll bounce back.

We have hummingbirds again -- so I put out my feeders! The coral bells are blooming, and are a favorite natural food for them, so they should be happy as clams. A few days ago, I watched a black swallowtail--perhaps the one we released?--lay eggs on my rue. It takes 3-5 days for the eggs to hatch, so I've started looking for the babies. Yay!

Life is a science experiment, don't you think? Yesterday, we had two mosquitoes, an ant and a spider on the wall of my dining room (ugh.. bugs). While I was getting the ant first, the spider--maybe a wolf spider?--hunted the mosquito nearest it. Fascinating! And, since he proved himself so useful (and he doesn't spin webs) we let him be. Kind of like keeping a cat for a mouse problem, yes? LOL... and now no one wants to come stay at my house since I let spideys run amok!

Allie asked if I'm finding time to write with all the craziness. The answer is yes... but I'm struggling with things just not flowing. That's okay. At some point, I'll hit my stride and go crazy!

DD and DH are out on the boat today. They're going to cook! The air temps are hot, but the water is still far too cold for swimming, so how will they cool down? I wish them well...

And so, it's time for me to sign off and get to work. But first, a walk with the dog before it's too hot to do so. Have a wonderful day!

===========================

You Know Your States

You got 7/10 correct. You've got a pretty good handle on US geography. There's a good chance you've visited at least a dozen of the fifty states.

How Well Do You Know Your States?

Science, Sales and School

The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives. ~Robert Maynard Hutchins

We did an inadvertent science experiment the other day. My DH had picked a bunch of wild blueberries at his uncle's, and brought them home in a sealed, plastic container which I popped into my fridge.

Three days later, I realized I needed to wash and freeze them or they were going to rot away into a massive blob of purple goo. So, I dumped them into my colander and began the sorting process: berries vs. sticks and stems and leaves and... ACK! A spidey. A very much alive and active spidey, despite being deprived of air and left in a fridge for three days!

I put his happy little self outside and went back to work sorting: berries vs. sticks and stems and leaves and... ACK! A Japanese beetle! A sluggish, all but dead Japanese beetle. His little legs moved VERY weakly as I grabbed him (ick,ick,ick -- they have pokey little legs and they crunch and EWWWW... I do NOT like them). His not-so happy self got thrown into my potty and sent to the septic. Blech.

Still... it was amazing at the difference between the two. Happy, healthy, active spidey vs. all but dead Japanese beetle.

Okay, so maybe y'all aren't as fascinated by it as I was... lol...

==========================

I've been contemplating online promotion -- what works and what doesn't. I had an author approach me regarding advertising on LASR and she asked what I would suggest.

Now, I love the LASR site and we get quite a bit of traffic (yay!), but I am also an author on limited funds, and so try to balance the two and be honest.

So... truth is, a good many people who visit our site are looking to enter the contests. BUT, they are all voracious readers (I've gotten to know a good many of them and they're incredibly sweet) and probably buy more than they try to win.

Of the LASR advertising, what works best? Most likely the author spotlight -- the potential readers get to know you AS A PERSON, and I think that can make a significant difference in whether they eventually buy your stuff.

Same goes for the author interview and the Q&A session in the Yahoo group the following day IF (and this is the kicker) --IF you handle the Q&A the right way. We have several hundred members in our group, but most are lurkers. This is probably true of most promotional Yahoo groups. You need to entice them to come forward and gab. You need to keep the conversation moving. It is up to the AUTHOR to make sure it is a successful day, not the group members. And, again, this enables your potential readers to get to know you. People support folks they know and like.

What about the book cover/banner ads and the author pages? We're working hard to direct traffic to both of those places by asking contest questions pertaining to them. As a reader, I find that if I keep seeing an author's name or book cover eventually I'll get curious enough to look into what it's all about. So, although you may not get zillions of click-throughs or sales immediately following or during your ad run, each time your cover or banner is viewed it adds to the exposure.

The biggest thing though? Websites and blogs. And, PROFESSIONAL websites. Nowadays, as cheaply as you can buy hosting, there is NO reason to have your website on a freeweb (with all those stinky ads and unprofessional setups). The company who hosts both my personal site and the LASR site is only $4 a month. Four. Dollars. I know that as a reader, when I click through and see freeweb sites, I am completely turned off. If the author doesn't take themselves seriously enough to have a "real" site, then I can't take them seriously either.

And there you have all my sage wisdom for the day.

Ha.

===============================

We're struggling with DD's curriculum. When I originally installed it, I had disabled her ability to access the internet (for obvious reasons). Now, her curriculum has links built in to the reading, but I figured they were just additional information and not absolutely necessary to the lesson. I figured wrong. Yesterday she took a quiz and could NOT answer one question. I looked in her reading and couldn't find the answer either, so I checked and discovered that the ONLY way she could get the answer was by clicking on an internet link.

Well... I'm not thrilled about that, but okay. I increased all the security to the maximum available and changed it in the admin part. But it didn't take. And when I tried to go back in... nothing happened. Click. Clickety-click. Nothing. Zip. Zilch.

Okay... rebooting. Dang... it decides to auto-install updates. Two hours later, it's finally done.

Okay. Open up the admin software, click on the link. Nothing. Like the link wasn't there.

By this time, it's 3:00, DD hasn't gotten much of her school done and I can't get the stupid teacher software to do anything.

**sigh**

Maybe computer based learning wasn't the best idea after all.

=============================

What Your Taste in Chocolate Says About You

You are sophisticated, modern, and high class. Your taste is refined, but you are not picky. You are often the first to try something new. You are energetic and quick to act. You are open minded, and you easily adopt new social causes. While your heart is in the right place, you often can't follow through with your dreams. You love being around people. Friendships are important to you. You feel lost when you're by yourself... so you tend to avoid being alone.

The Chocolate Oracle

Okay.. so TOTALLY not me.

==========================

This and That

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” - Dr. Seuss

It's so cool: it's getting light before 6 a.m. now!!! Yay! Of course, the sunrise reflected off of all that snow out there helps.

Urgh.

We have so much snow around that most people's mailboxes are buried--you'll see these enormous snowbanks in front of their houses, and a little mailbox front showing. Hope they never have to mail anything out, because they sure as heck can't find their flag. It's just crazy.

Hey... My interview with Dee Knight went out in her newsletter yesterday, but here's a link to it. Dee is very sweet and gracious, and I'm indebted to her for including me.

I'm nowhere for the next few days but HERE... sigh... I have a few openings left on my virtual tour. Anyone want to host me? I'm a neat guest, I wipe my feet and clean up after myself... :-)

==============================

My first guest blogger will be here on Wednesday. I'm excited!! If you want to visit here on Wednesday's, go here for more information. I'd sure love to fill up the entire year's schedule and not have to worry about it.

===============================

Congratulations to last month's contest winner: Cindi Hoppes!!!

Remember, I started a new, identical, contest for 3/1 - 3/14, so go enter :-)

===============================

I really don't have much else mind-boggling to say. I worked like a dog on the LASR website yesterday. For some reason, nothing went easily on anything I did, and I still have a ton of work to do.

Dakota is getting bigger, and she's still a pill. Yesterday morning, she found a pair of DD's socks somewhere on the floor, grabbed them and started trotting around the house. It's funny, she knows she's not supposed to do that, so her ears and tail are down and she just trots and trots and won't settle. She's really good about coming to me and giving them up, but she still DOES it, which is frustrating. She's also good about coming over and letting me dig stuff out of her mouth. If I see her pick something up, I'll just say, "Dakota, what are you eating?" and her ears go down and she trots over and sits in front of me. But she still DOES it.

I don't get it.

================================

For the record, DD's ladybugs are still alive. It's amazing. I also have this spider in a web in the corner of my ceiling in the stairwell out to the back door. He's not going to find anything to eat (though I've been looking for something to feed the poor guy). Every morning when I take Dakota out, I look up and ... there he is. I wonder how long they can live without eating?

My blog is just oozing with bug love.

=================================

Your Values Profile

Loyalty: You value loyalty a fair amount. You're loyal to your friends... to a point. But if they cross you, you will reconsider your loyalties. Staying true to others is important to you, but you also stay true to yourself. Honesty: You value honesty a fair amount. You're honest when you can be, but you aren't a stickler for it. If a little white lie will make a situation more comfortable, you'll go for it. In the end, you mostly care about "situational integrity." Generosity: You value generosity highly. So much so that you often put your own needs last. There's nothing wrong with having a caring heart... But you may want to rethink your "open wallet" policy. Humility: You don't really value humility. You don't have much to be humble about! And you might as well promote yourself, because no one else will. You're a pretty special person, and you let everyone know it. Tolerance: You value tolerance a fair amount. You are open to new cultures, beliefs, and ideas. You have very few prejudices that you're aware of. And while you are tolerant, you do stand true to what you believe.

The Five Factor Values Test

So, except for the fact I'm conceited, I'm a pretty decent person! LOL...

Tagged!

Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons. ~ Ruth Ann Schabacker

Diana tagged me yesterday for a seven things post ... sneaky wench.

I think I've done this before, but it's been a LONG time, so I decided to do it again. First off, let's get this part out of the way:

The rules:

Link to the person who tagged you;
Leave a comment on their blog so that their readers can visit yours;
Post the rules on your blog;
Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog;
Tag 7 random people at the end of your post;
Include links to their blogs;
Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Now, on to the really important stuff...

1. I have NO fear of spiders. In fact, one fell off the bit of firewood I carried inside today and I picked him up and put him on the unfinished side of my basement. I didn't want to put him outside, cuz he would die. He might still... I don't know how much food he'll find in the basement, but at least he has a chance. Truthfully, I prefer that the creatures with more than four legs live outside (and will scoop and relocate), but in the winter--what's a girl to do?

2. If I could have any pet, I would choose a rat. I love rats. Rats are one of the best pets EVAH. They bond to you. They come when you call. You can potty train them. They're wicked smart. They're cute. No, really... stop laughing. I loved my rats: Pouncequick and Roofshadow. Good boys. The only bad part is that they don't live very long.

3. I find weeding cathartic. Really. I'm a compulsive weeder. My neighbors love me. If I'm visiting someone, I can't just talk. I have to weed. I can't NOT weed. if you want to torture me, forget the rubber hose. Just put me in a garden full of weeds and tie my hands.

4. I get up, without an alarm, sometime between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. every day. Sometimes, I make myself "sleep in" (aka stay in bed) until 4:30 or 5 a.m. on the weekends. Of course, this means that I'm ready for bed by 8 p.m. Sometimes, I can manage to stay awake until 9, but by then I'm so low on brain juice I'm all but incoherent.

5. I chew on the ragged skin around my fingernails, and have for as long as I can remember. I took a two-year vacation from it when I had braces, because I couldn't get to the skin with my teeth, but started right back up with the braces came off. I've tried to break the habit, but I can't. It's the only thing I've ever done that I can't stop doing. Except, yanno, breathing. And eating.

6. I collected and showed plastic model horses for several years. Breyers mostly, but I also showed other brands as well. I did quite well at it, but stopped when the cost became prohibitive. I still have most of my horses, photos, tack and other supplies.

7. I had the lead role in my senior high school drama production. The play was "Get Bill Shakespeare Off The Stage" and included some great lines like, "TB or not TB, that is the congestion. Consumption be done about it? Of cough, of cough, but not for lung." or "Out, out, damn Spot! Out, out I say. The living room's not where a dog should play!"

I also messed up a line in a way I'll never forget. I played a teacher, and was counseling a student who was having boy problems with a kid named Roy. I was supposed to say, "I had A Roy once myself." instead, it came out, "I had Roy once myself."

Best memory of doing the play? Getting to say "Bastard" on stage when I told Roy off, and getting a standing ovation on opening night for that scene. Ah... the good old days.

I'm not tagging anyone, but if you'd like to play, please do -- and then leave me a comment so I can come see.

==================================

I got BOOKS in the mail yesterday!! And presents! Life is good.

One of the coolest parts about having a reviews site is getting books before they are released. I have THREE!! I'm doing a happy dance because they are books I've been dying to read (and I shamelessly begged very professionally requested them from their respective authors, who then took pity on me sent them to me for a review.

I also spent most of my B&N gift cards on ALL of Lyndsay Sands Argeneau series because I read "The Accidental Vampire" and fell in love with her writing and the entire premise. **sigh**

For PRESENTS, my very, very good friend Kathy out in Minnesota sent me stuff from Ninth Moon! I've died and gone to heaven.

So, despite the twelve feet inches of snow we got yesterday, all-in-all I can't complain.

================================

Your Daily Dakota:

Since she loves to play with my bunny slippers AND DD's fuzzy red pillow, we decided to get her a big hunking fuzzy toy of her very own. She loves it! See? Death to the giant blue bug!! (Sorry it's blurry... action shots, you know):






================================

Another random quiz (I have to put that disclaimer because I SO did not choose this one!!):

Your Drag Queen Name Is:

Sugar Snatch

Drag Queen Name Generator

Um... oh... well...

I'm not touching that one.