This has been an eventful week. Exciting at times, stressful at others, downright crazyville a few times. But it is finally Friday night – finally- and I am fitting in some me time while my husband and son are in the living room, probably making a mess. It’s fine though, it’s Friday night.

Most importantly, we finished moving everything out of my mom’s house and she did the closing this morning! It’s done, with the exception of some financial moving money around business. So, I am enjoying a well earned glass of wine right now. It was a bit of a marathon this week, with all hands on deck, Billy and my brother Devin and SIL Chrissy and I each playing our roles. We are a great team and have fantastic supports as well, from the rest of the family. Next up, finding my mom the perfect little place to live that checks most of the boxes. But we are taking a two week break and enjoying a little quiet time first.

It has been so stressful that I indulged in a new reptile! Ah, the different forms of self care. Is buying reptiles a weird one? I don’t go too nuts, I am not like a hoarder, but they make me happy. And since Dash died, I have been sad seeing the empty table where she used to live. So, I started looking around online for a crested gecko. I knew I wanted one from a reputable place, a breeder that does all the right things and is not part of the yucky underbelly of the reptile trade. And I decided on Josh’s Frogs, which is actually located right here in Michigan. Owosso, Michigan to be exact, a little less than two hours away! I pored over pictures of their babies, debating, going back and forth for weeks, should I, shouldn’t I? Then I realized, my birthday is two weeksish away! Once I realized that, I was like, ok, let’s do this thing. And pulled the trigger on this sweet little baby!

Meet Applejack, the newest member of our menagerie! She is a crested gecko, a flame dalmation morph. They come in so many different colors and patterns, I was almost overwhelmed. I decided of all the colors, I really liked this reddish autumnal color of crestie. Isn’t she pretty? If you look close you can see her little black spots that deem her a dalmation.

Can you believe she was just delivered FedEx, like a little package? The company I got her from are pretty serious about it, which made me feel more comfortable with both the company and the process. Josh’s Frogs sends a scheduling email that asks a billion questions, you have to check the weather, pick a day you will be home and can wait for your live animal to arrive. I picked last Wednesday as her arrival date and she was here by noon that day. I sat by the window waiting (well not really all day) but Wyatt and I did choose to do our schoolwork for the day in the den so we could keep an eye out for her arrival. You know I took a bunch of photos.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

She ate right away! I guess she was hungry from her overnight journey. She was also in “fired up” mode. Cresties will “fire up” and their color is more vibrant at this time. It is usually in the evening and at night when they are most active that they are this color. Then they “fire down” and become more muted for daytime and sleeping. This is Applejack fired down.

And then this is her looking crazy. But super cute.

We had two names in mind for her – Applejack and Charlie. I still sort of like Charlie better but Applejack won. Wyatt was pretty adamant about it. So Applejack it is. And it fits her. So far she is still settling in and getting used to being here, so I am giving her space but I am excited to see what her personality will be like! Harry is really laid back and sweet, and Luna is a bit shy but she loves to curl up in my hand or on my lap. She just lets me carry her all over the place. Harry likes to be held but only for a short time and when he is done he is done.

I also finished up my Boo Boxes! I am not much of an artist or a sewer (sewist?) but I like to do both. I find it very calming. I especially like sewing up my little critters I am making on rainy afternoons while listening to Camp Monsters on Spotify. It’s just very relaxing. I started making little kittens for the kids for Christmas, but then switched to these little ghosts for Halloween! I will go back to the kitties next month. And then being me, decided they needed little “haunted houses”, and names, and personalities. Wyatt and each of my nieces has a different ghost, with a different house, name, etc. I made a Giggles, Sunny, Honey, and Coco. These were super fun to make!

I can hear my crazy boyo singing at the top of his lungs, but then that is just Friday night around here. I am going to go round him up, video chat my mum, and then we are going to go watch Charlie Brown’s Halloween.

Enjoy your Friday night everyone!