Once Upon a Time . . .: Critters

So - if you know me AT ALL - you know that I love animals. Always have. We have a dog - she is spoiled rotten and lives in the house with us. Part of the family. Not as spoiled as our first dog, Ritz, but Lucy has it pretty good. She regularly gets one of the two chairs in our living room while one of us sits on the floor! Spoiled.

When we were first married, we had quite the collections. 2 fish tanks, a cockatiel, several parakeets (only 2 at a time, but I think we had a total of 3 - or 4. Let's say 3, shall we?) a poodle (Ritz!) and a hamster. All in our tiny apartment that we affectionately (and accurately!) referred to as "the Milleson Zoo." You will notice if you are paying attention, that there are no reptiles on that list. That is the one creature we have avoided. Although Josh did look seriously at getting an iguana at one time, but decided, since we didn't have children yet, and were preparing to start our family, that it would be too time consuming and take up too much space when we added a baby to the mix.

Well, from that time to this, all those sweet creatures have past on to wherever beloved pets go (don't get me started, because I'm telling you - Ritz will be waiting for me when I get there!) Well - with the exception of the cockatiel. We gave him away years ago because of Sadie's allergies to bird dander, and he is still making a house his home, and loving ruling his home! I got that bird when I was 16 years old - so he's doing amazing!

We now share our home with Lucy dog -

and 2 gerbils (Shadow and Brownie) that live in Sadie's room - sorry - I can't find any pics of them on this computer! I know that makes you sad. .

But I fear we are about to embark on a new adventure. Luke Calton discovered the leopard geckos at Petsmart last night, and he's in love. He has big plans for getting one on his birthday. As we priced all the stuff you need to start a reptile home, we decided it would probably be within his budget and started seriously considering this endeavor. Then it occurred to Josh to check craigslist.

We love craigslist. Bought Luke's loft bed (with slide!) for $50 there, and have sold many things through cyber-world and that wonderful site.

Soooo - Josh hops on last night and BAM! 2 Free Leopard Geckos - complete with cage and food and everything! Did you see that? FREE!!!! Whoo-hoo!!!!! They are already tame, and the dude was going to give them to a teacher that decided they didn't want them after all. But Luke sure does! And he can still have $ left for his birthday! (Unless we spend it all on crickets!)

We are supposed to pick up the new critters on Sunday. I look forward to posting some pics of our actual dudes then! Until then - this is what they look like!