What I want for Valentine's Day

So normally I wait until Timothy is half asleep to have important conversations where I want to buy something/go somewhere/ win an argument.  In past experiences, he usually just cedes to what I want in his half asleep stupor, because if not I just beg incessantly and get really annoying.  So for the sake of getting me to shut up so he can fall back asleep, he exasperatedly says fine, ok, sure, or some other variation of an affirmative response, and I drift off into dreamland thinking of the wonderful thing I'm going to get to buy/do/gloat about being right over.  Upon waking, I automatically start detailing my plan to buy/do the thing he unwittingly agreed to a mere 8 hours earlier, and if he starts to argue, I just say but honey, remember last night you said I could?  Occasionally, I win.  Ever wonder how I got a gecko?  Well, there's your answer.

After viewing that video I linked to on my post last night (credit for the discovery of that video goes to another blogger, The Blogess) of the hedgehog taking a bath, I naturally decided that my next pet has to be a hedgehog.  So I waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Until I knew Timothy was right on the precipice of sleep.  And I pounced!  Here's roughly how that conversation went:

Me: Hey!  Hey!  (poking his shoulder 'till he wakes) Will you get me a hedgehog for Valemtimes Day?  (and yes I did replace the n's with m's thinking I would sound cuter, and thus procure a hedgehog)

Timothy:  (with a confused face and a laugh)  No.

Me:  But whyyyy not?

Timothy:  Because

Me:  But then I could play with it in a tub of water, and it would be cute!

Timothy:  No

Me:  Why?!  (I thought about saying "you never let me have anything I want!!!  But that only works on moms)

Timothy:  Because they have pinchers (proof that he was half asleep)

Me:  (with a reeeeeally confused look)  What?

Timothy:  I mean those spikey things

Me:  They're not procupines.  They don't have hard spikey things

Timothy:  Quills, that's what they're called.  The babies might have soft ones, but the adults will hurt you

Me:  (seeing a chance to extol some of the perks of owning a hedgehog)  Oh the babies are so cute!!!  They're like this big  (uses palm of hand to pantomime holding a teeny tiny hedgehoglet, and then petting it on the head with one finger)

Timothy:  (laughs)  No they're not!

Me:  Yes they are!  Give me your phone, I'll show you a picture.

Timothy:  No, it's charging

Me:  Well they really are that small

Timothy:  Whatever, they'll quill you to death (now fully awake)

Me:  No they won't!

Timothy:  Yes huh, look it up 

Me:  Give me your phone and I will!

Timothy:  No, go to bed.

Me:  Pleeeease get me a hedgehog!  He would be so squishy!  And he'd be like the hedgehog in that video, so happy and flipping around and stuff!

Timothy:  I'm not getting you a hedgehog.  You have a gecko and a cat already.

Me:  Well then can I have a ferret instead?  I've always wanted a ferret.

Timothy:  No, I might as well get you a sewer rat.  Ferrets are gross.

Me:  Ok, what about a slow loris?  (ok, side note...if you don't know what a slow loris is, go and watch this video of a slow loris with an umbrella.  Right now!  Please pay particular attention to this thing's face between the 0:20 and 0:30 second mark.  I laugh so hard at this that I cannot breath.)

Timothy:  No

And this goes on for about 5 more minutes with me listing off about 10 more equally ridiculous pet options.  

Needless to say, I totally lost that fight, so me and my pouty lip just went to bed.  Well today I said "I'm gonna get on wikipedia and prove him wrong, that these cute little hedgehogs wouldn't hurt me!"

And fail.

According to wikipedia:

"Hedgehogs are easily recognized by their spines, which are hollow hairs made stiff with keratin.  Their spines are not poisonous or barbed and, unlike the quills of a porcupine, cannot easily be removed from the hedgehog.  However, spines normally come out when a hedgehog sheds baby spines and replaced them with adult spines.  This is called "quilling"....A defense that all species of hedgehogs possess is the ability to roll into a tight ball, causing all of the spines to point outwards."

At least I was right about the little babies being so small.  This is a baby hedgehog (photo credit to here)

But apparently my cute little baby hedgehog would grow up to be a mean and spikey hedgehog.  And it would quill me to death.  Maybe.

The Honorable Martin Gecko and his crooner brother Bing Clawsby

Today I thought I would post about my pets, since they are kinda in the name of my blog! 

This is the honorable Martin Gecko.  He is a Leopard Gecko who has been with us for 1 ½ years.  A friend of Timothy’s mom had a Jumbo Leopard Gecko and after meeting the big guy (rest his soul, he had to be put down about a year ago), I just had to have one!  I’ve never liked reptiles, so who knows what was going through my head, but I’m glad I got Martin.  He is a cool addition to our family and an extremely easy pet.  They can go months without food.  Believe me, I’ve tested that theory, and it’s totally true. (Maybe not months, but definitely a month. At least.)

He was really little when we got him.  See?  (Yes that is my giant hand, no I do not have man hands…he was just that small!)

 And another

 

Martin has now matured into a strapping young lad and now looks like this:  

He is a very tame gecko.  He’s not skittish, and I think he actually likes being held now.  My sister told me that he’s gotten depressed since we moved into our house.  He used to be in the living room with us (you can see his terrarium beside the tv in this post), and now he’s tucked away in his own little room.  He subsists on a diet of crickets, meal worms, and his own skin.  Gross!  I know!  When geckos shed they eat their skin so it doesn’t lead predators to them to make a nice little afternoon snack.  I used to be paranoid that I was going to kill the poor guy, but he’s actually been a pretty tough fella!  They can live to be 30 years old.  Yeah, I could possibly have this little reptile in my 50s. 

And now, one of the sweetest cats I know, Bing Clawsby!  After reading in a blog about a lady's 24 fingered polydactyl cat named Ferris Mewler (yes I did just use 8 words for a hyperlink), I knew that my next cat MUST have an awesome celebrity name.  Since I used to swing dance, and love old music (especially this gentleman), I knew Bing Clawsby would totally work.

Enter, Bing as a kitten.

Isn’t he the cutest?!  He's much bigger and MUCH fluffier now, I kind of feel sorry for him, cause it's still so warm down here.

Bing as a grown cat.

And even though this one is not very focused, I like that you can see his tag that I got him.  He's the only cat I've ever had who is fine with a collar.

 In the past, I have gotten pretty cats that are ridiculously ill tempered, but I totally scored with this one.  He is pretty AND sweet!  Seriously, this cat has never been in a bad mood, which is pretty much unheard of in cats.  Bing’s favorite activities include: sitting in Timothy’s lap (yes my cat hating husband lets him sit in his lap, that’s how ridiculously sweet Bing is), roll around on the floor attacking his stuffed duck, and grabbing at my legs while I play my Wii Just Dance game.  He totally goes nuts while I’m trying to play that game, and I’m going to try to get a video of that soon.  

(Oh and for those concerned about my combination of pets...they don't know each other exists.  So we're safe for now!)

In this post I feel like I should also give a shout out to my main man Budgie and my sweet Lucy girl.  Budgie and Lucy still live at home with my parents, but they have both been around longer than Bing and Martin.  Lucy was the first dog my parents ever got.  She is 12 years old (seriously, she is that old?!), and still runs around like a puppy…well, when her arthritis is not bothering her.  :)  She has been a great dog and has more lives than a cat.  She has survived parvo, drinking termite poisining, jumping out of a moving vehicle, being trapped for 2 weeks with no food, and many more possible game enders.  I dare say she’s an even tougher cookie than Martin.

This is Lucy.  And buddy, she has earned that grey hair!

And Budgie…oh sweet Budgie.  Budgie weighs about 20 pounds, cannot meow, and drools more than a new baby.  But he. is. the. bomb.   My family refers to him as a “friend to all animals” and anybody who has met him could attest to his mild mannerdness  (I know it’s not a word) and overall awesomeness.  Did I mention that he can stretch like superman?  Yup legs out straight behind him, arms straight in front.  Pretty cool kid.

This is Budgie Pudge.

And now for my last and greatest pet.  Timothy.  Baha!  Just kidding, he’s great :)

 Happy Tuesday everybody!  Hope your week is going well!