You bunch of smart-asses.

I don't know whether to put words over here,

Or here,

or over here.

I guess I will try putting the pictures in the middle, and the text right-justified? Does that make everyone happy?

We found an Imperial Moth in the backyard this morning:

It was looking pretty rough...It had quite a bit of wing gone.

But how beautiful is that yellow and pink fuzz? Like a little cat with wings.

And a face that everyone should love.

The dope on Imperial Moths:

Family: Wild Silk Moths (Saturniidae) (Same family as Luna moths!)

Subfamily: Royal Moths (Citheroniinae)

Identification: Females are larger than males. Upperside is yellow with pinkish brown to purple-brown patches, bands, and cell spots, and tiny brown spots scattered overall. Males have larger patches on the forewings than females, except for some subspecies pini males which have reduced purple and are mostly yellow.

Life history: Adults emerge before sunrise and mate after midnight the next day. Females lay eggs at dusk singly or in groups of 2-5 on both surfaces of host plant leaves. The eggs hatch in about 2 weeks, and the caterpillars are solitary feeders. Pupation takes place in underground burrows.

Flight: One brood; in the north from June-August, in the south from April-October.

Wing span: 3 1/8 - 6 7/8 inches (8 - 17.4 cm).

Caterpillar hosts: Conifers and deciduous trees and shrubs including pine (Pinus), oak (Quercus), box elder (Acer negundo), maples (Acer), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), and sassafras (Sassafras albidum). Subspecies pini feeds only on conifers.

Adult food: Adults do not feed. (WOW! They don't EAT?)

Habitat: Deciduous and evergreen forests.

Range: Maine west to eastern Nebraska, south to the Florida Keys and central Texas. Subspecies pini occurs across the northern Great Lakes basin and the northern third of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

**********

This explains why I found it under one of our maple trees. Maybe it just laid eggs.
I have finally figured out why I feel so drawn to butterflies and moths. Same as why I am drawn to birds: They are beautiful and they can fly.

Sad news:
Lollipop, our blue parakeet, was dead at the bottom of his cage yesterday. When I removed him from the fishtank the other day, I checked him out and he didn't have any wounds, and seemed fine. But I guess the stress of being knocked out of his cage was too much for him. Echo is lonely, so we are giving him extra attention.
Hopeful news:
I am going over to visit my bestest bud, Shannon, tomorrow. She moved into an apartment today and I want to go over and give the place my approval. She is getting divorced, and it sucks. But she has her family and friends, and of course the most kick-ass best friend anyone could ask for. That would be me, by the way.
And I am hoping to bring a little something back with me. I will post about it tomorrow.
Today's Will-Yum:
Lorelei's pre-start-of-school physical was today. We saw the new nurse-practitioner and even though she had a great way with kids, Lorelei was so in her A-game. She chatted, answered all the questions posed to her, agreed to all the poking and prodding, smiling no less. I just had to sit there and translate a few words for the CNP. Like when Lorelei said the name of her new goldfish, which has been expanded to :Lipstick Flower Zip-It.
Not to toot my own horn, but...BEEP BEEP. We have done something right with these kids. They are smart, funny, outgoing, interesting.
YUM!

Remembering why

Tonight, I had a date with my husband.
*Ah-Oooooooo-Gaaaaa*
The in-laws took the girls for the night, and Geoff and I saw "1408".
Pretty good movie, if you want to wet your pants every 2.5 minutes.
Plus, it's one of those horror movies that make you think and feel.

It's always such a nice surprise to go out with my hubby and be adults. Well, we are adults when the kids are around, but it's different when it's just us. We remember what it's like to talk about subjects that do not include "Little Bear", "Dora the Explorer", Jell-O or "Why is the sky blue?".
We remember why we liked each other in the first place, to get us here, to remembering.

Even if you aren't married, you can get the same feeling when you reconnect with an old friend, laughing and trying not to wet yourself during a funny story that only they can tell.

Like Shannon.
Shannon has been my best friend since 1983. Fifth grade.
We met in Fourth grade, but we didn't like each other. She was a goody-two-shoes who wore matching purple oxford shirts with matching purple sweaters with matching purple corduroy pants, and I was a make-up-wearing, bra-training smart ass. The next year, we were in the same class, we forgot why we didn't like each other and so began our "Best Friendship".
For most of our friendship, she and I have lead parallel lives...whether it be boyfriends and how they treated us, or situations that we found ourselves in, it all ran together. In high school, teachers forgot which one was which, and frequently called us by each other's names.
The parallel lives began to diverge, but we have so much in common, and we have so many differences, we are fated to be friends till the end of time.
She is going through a very awful time right now, and she needs good vibes. So even though you don't know her, send up a good thought for a wonderful woman who is a kick-ass mother to an adorable boy, who is a kick-ass girlfriend to your truly, who has integrity and smarts and a kick-ass work ethic (she works 60 hours a week, and still manages to take college courses and be a good mom!), and who is dearly loved by so many people. Her only mistake was trusting someone who shouldn't have been trusted. And we have all done that.
Love you, Shannon! Keep that chin up.