Adele

Not long ago, you Sasha introduced me to Adele.  I didn't know who Adele was, but have since heard a lot about her.  It turns out is an English singer & songwriter.  I learned on-line that she grew up mostly near London, and is an award-winning artist in both Britain and the United States.  The picture above was taken at the 2012 Grammy Awards.

So, here are two songs Sasha likes - performed and co-written by Adele.  Very powerful!

Recently Overheard.....

• "They're hard as a rock!" - You, Brock, referring to gummy vitamins offered one morning when I decided we really must start taking our vitamins faithfully.  The (very) old bottle of vitamins has since been replaced with a fresh one.  For all to note, we have been doing much better lately with our daily vitamin routine.

• "1,2 Skidoo Quickie" - Our new term for brief (and completely inadequate) teeth-brushing effort.  Even shorter that the "1,2,3 Quickie" which has sometimes occurred late evenings e.g., on a Friday night.

• "A kid at school owes me $70", Brock said to me. (What?)  Upon further inquiry it was revealed that you Brock and your friend Stephen made a $10 bet, which Stephen lost.  When I asked you what the bet was over, you said "It's complicated".  OK....  Brock, you further explained that Stephen did not pay up - so you're now charging him $10 in interest per week, recently accrued to $70 total.  Yikes!!  Maybe you will go into banking or, though I sincerely hope not, organized crime.

• "Are you a Marine or a little boy??" - Steve's question to Brock, who was ready to turn back after only a three quarter mile walk & scooter ride on the dike behind Midway Shopping Center. Brock's reply?  "A little boy!"  When Steve asked his young daughters the Marine question (substituting "girl" for "boy"), amazingly enough, he always got the same answer.

• "Maybe they can make a fashionable pink one for you!" - Text from Steve received as I was going for an x-ray on my hand, regarding potential cast if it was fractured.  Thankfully, turned out not to be broken (just bruised).  Yahoo!  Lesson Learned: especially when past age 40, avoid falls in rocky creek beds. 

• "..., My Love" - Brock's very affectionate wife talking to him on the game Skyrim, which Brock and Sasha play regularly.  Skyrim is a video game, which impresses me all the more having realized how complex it is (Read here -->  The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim).  I've watched you fighting dragons, ogres, and trolls, as well as talking to various characters.  In my opinion, Brock doesn't appreciate wife Lydia enough.....  you say she "blabs", but to me she seems quite loyal.   You've also told me about your dog Viglance, and more recently a new dog Barbos.  I was quite disappointed to find out that your name on the game is Robby (!) - thought for sure it would be "Dogmar" or something equally old-fashioned.  You've further told me the you are a Redguard (Redguards) and Sasha is a Wood Elf (Wood Elves).  Very cool, and what-a-ya know, here's Lydia!

Our Gecko - Hermie

For close to 3 years, you boys have shared your room with a special pet - Hermie!!  Sasha especially wanted a lizard and after much debate on the merits of different breeds, we decided on a gecko.  Geckos are very happy in a dry, sandy environment, which was a big factor for me.  (For example, we considered turtles, but according to Aunt Di they can be very smelly - so not viable option.)

Here are some nice recollections about Hermie:

• We couldn't agree on a name..... when I started calling him "Hermie", it became his permanent name (unfortunately for him). 

• He lives under the hockey table, in a 10 gallon tank.  His home is complete with a water dish, a hut to hide in, some driftwood he can climb on, and a heating pad under one end of the tank.  Gecko poop is completely dry and can be easily scooped out.

• Hermie eats crickets....  after getting one in his sights, he stalks and pounces on it.  They get swallowed whole, typically with their antennae still wiggling.  He can eat 6-8 at a time in warmer weather.  As a special treat, Hermie also gets wax worms.  He seems to love them, and can gobble down close to 20 at a time.  

• Hermie is nocturnal, so enjoys time with you boys during the evenings.  And summer is his favorite time of year, when he's most active.  In the fall & winter he seems sluggish, generally eats less, and wants to be inside his hut most of the time.  

• When out with one of you boys, he likes to be sit on your shoulder and sometimes up toward your neck.  He's only abut 6" long, so occasionally has gotten lost on the couch or in wraps such as blankets. 

• Then....  there are the crickets.  Crickets will live 7-10 days, or less in extremely hot/cold weather.  So, we must buy them frequently.  Our most common pet haunts are Pet Zone (Pittston) and Petco (near Barnes & Noble).  I have found it disturbing when, a few times, pet store staff have stuck their bare hands into the cricket bin to bag our usual order of 20.  Yuk !!

• Additional cricket issues: 

1. At our house, they live in a clear plastic box, complete with cricket jello to keep them "fresh".  Unfortunately, they poop lots and in the course of a week or so a number of them die.  Gets a bit stinky.
2. In order for Hermie to remain healthy (we discovered after a sickly period), the crickets must be coated in vitamin powder.  To successfully powder a live cricket, I've found the best approach is to tilt the cricket box and encourage crickets to hop into a powdering bag.  I have spent 10-15 minutes at at time tilting the box up/down, waiting semi-patiently for crickets to cooperate.  Once in the bag, they get shaken up in powder (think of the "Shake and Bake" concept) and deposited into the gecko tank.
3. However, every few feedings a cricket (or sometimes two) escape.  Lately this situation is a relatively good thing, since Tiger gets to play with the cricket i.e., bat it around, try to bite it etc. until it's quite easy to catch & dispose of.  Before Tiger though, I would keep a plastic cup and tissues around to make catching a hopping cricket a bit easier.  I couldn't always get them before they found a crevasse or made into the closet..... and we would sometimes find crickets coming downstairs, jumping across the kitchen or living room, and a few times in the basement.  
4. And guess what???  Crickets like to chirp, most especially on hot summer nights.  They can be VERY loud.  Once I was so annoyed that I dumped them out my bedroom window, where they landed on the back porch roof....  and then continued to chirp for the next couple nights (not a successful solution).  We eventually found it best to put the cricket box in the bathroom, so chirping was muted for sleepers in nearby bedrooms.  Yep, and how about them escaped crickets?  Well, that's a big problem since they can be almost impossible to find!!  One sleepless night @ 3 a.m., Sasha and I dug around & pulled stuff out of the closet until we finally caught the pesky bug and flushed it down the toilet.

Well, cricket issues aside, Hermie has been a pleasant, cheerful and well-behaved pet.  Here's a picture of our handsome leopard gecko, taken at JC Penney's not long after he came to live on Sharpe Street.