Monday, December 7, 2009

Alien Invasion

It has been brought to my attention by my faithful reader (singular), on more than one occasion, that my last post is over a month old. What have I been doing with my days?! Honestly, I can't tell you, all I know is that is time to regale my reader with another riveting account of life in my world.

When I was a child, we went through several toy crazes, including, but not limited to, Cabbage Patch Kids, Care Bears, My Little Ponies, Strawberry Shortcake, etc. I can't speak for the boys my age, although my younger brothers were seriously into Pogs for about five minutes a long time ago. And, how could I forget? Beanie Babies. Wow, can't believe that almost slipped my mind. At a young age, I invested heavily in what I predicted would be a gold mine, which went by the name of Ty Beanie Babies. I tell you, I knew that some day I would retire a millionaire, living off the interest of the monies earned from the sale of my vast collection of Beanie Babies. Turns out, I was not the financial wizard I thought. So now, the hundreds of Beanie Babies have taken up residence in my daughter's bedroom, and they taunt me every time I walk by...

Now that I've wandered down the garden path on the way to my point, my story can begin. About a month ago, my child and one of her buddies came running up to me after school, yelling and jabbering on about aliens. Took me a good five minutes to understand what they were talking about, mostly because they were talking at the same time, at a rate of speed that would put Alvin & The Chipmunks to shame. Turns out her friend's mom was perusing a site for handmade items, and came across Adopt An Alien, and the boy was hooked. Line and sinker. So naturally, once he regaled my daughter with vivid descriptions of the mysterious and wondrous creatures, she was hooked as well. Let the nagging begin!

I'm so proud of the girl, because she has saved some major cash over the last six months. This was not an easy task for her, because money burns a hole in her pocket like none other. She had motivation, however. She wanted a Chinchilla. Actually, two Chinchillas, because our neighbor told her they do better in pairs. Now, not being familiar with these little critters, I told her she could purchase one (I mean, two) with her own money. Her daddy and I were not shelling out big bucks for the little rodents; I don't care how cute they are! We also stipulated that she must save 10% of the total purchase, to put back into her savings account. Bless her little heart, she went to work making as many dollars as she could, and when it was all said and done, she had close to $200. That was all fine and dandy until momma discovered that the dang things need huge cages. I began to try to persuade the girl that perhaps Chinchillas weren't the best bang for her buck, and right about that time, these little aliens came into our world. The timing couldn't have been better! She immediately purchased FOUR aliens with her savings, and I got out of having to care for little balls of fur. Score one for momma!

When they arrived, they had to sleep in her bed, of course, which meant the ol' gourds got the boot! (Actually, they went to the great pie crust in the sky long before that.) But, when I went to get in bed to read bedtime stories, there wasn't any room for me! This is a full-size bed, mind you, and I was clinging to the edge as though my life depended on it, all because the aliens HAD TO BE IN BED!!! But I'll admit it, they're pretty cute, and she loves the heck out of 'em. The craze has spread to another of her little buds, so now he has one, and has given the girl a design for another one, which she is working tirelessly on as we speak.

Hey, I'll take a half dozen stuffed aliens over two live Chinchillas any day of the week. Bring on the invaders!