Once you become a parent, you gaze in awe at the small, amazing creature that is made up of half your DNA, and you wonder, what will this little person be like once they grow?  Will they like pickled eggs like cousin Kevin?  Will they be athletic?  Will they be practical jokers? Where will their passions lie?  These questions and more are in abundance as one embarks on the parental journey.  You stare at that tiny face and allow yourself to dream about the person this infant will become.

The reason I'm waxing sentimental in this manner is because of the pride I've been feeling recently regarding my children's interests.  For instance, all those hundreds of pounds of rocks and minerals I've been lugging around for the past 20 years are now the current interest of  Harrison.  He is positively enthralled by rocks, minerals, gems and fossils.  He wanted a rock tumbler for his birthday and now he polishes rocks and makes them into jewelry.  Some of it quite nice, really.  We took him out to central Oregon a week or so ago to do some rock hounding, and he had a blast as we found stained basalt, jasper and crystals.  I have given him my super cool fluorescing  mineral collection from none other than the Franklin Mineral mine in Franklin, NJ.  Of course I also gave him the UV light one needs to witness the beautiful colors of the fluorescing rocks.  To quote Harrison:  "These rocks, ROCK!"

That brings us to the little girl.  Leni is a hardcore ruffian, but also the most princessy of little girls.  I love seeing her dressed to the nines in satin and lace….but also covered head to toe in dirt and grass stains at the exact same moment.  She is a wonderful mix of fluff girl and ruff girl and I adore her for it.

I bought her birthday present today.  She has been asking for this specific present for well over a year now.  I had put it off and put if off time after time because I wanted to see if she was really serious about what she was asking for.  Well, it's been about 18 months since she first broached the subject, and if anything, her interest has grown stronger.  So, today was the day.  I surprised her with her gift when she got home from school today and she is SO excited and happy.  Hell, I'm excited and happy.

Now, you are probably dying to know what this gift was.  What on earth could a just barely seven year old girl be so focused on as to ask for this gift for over a year?

It's a snake.  A Black Rat Snake, to be exact.   Leni proclaimed her name to be "Rockie".  She is a beautiful snake and friendly too.  Leni held her right off the bat.

I couldn't be prouder.