You just finished a particularly hectic day at work - 10 long hours, most of which were spent putting out a last-minute fire involving a client other than your own, but you have to pitch in because the people who normally work on this account are on vacation.
You're finally in your car driving home, only to find yourself stuck in a horrible traffic jam created by a combination of road construction and the influx of 100,000 people (that's an official estimate from the police dept.) who have come to see the tall ships that paraded into Duluth's harbor earlier in the day.
You call home to explain why you're running late. And that's when your beloved spouse delivers five magical words:
"We have a new pet."
WHAT?!?!? (Take a deep breath.) What, what, what?!?!?
"His name is Jack," Jeff continued. "The kids brought him home from daycare."
Did someone bring stray kittens to daycare? My mind raced with horrible possibilities. No, that couldn't be it. Daycare wouldn't have allowed that, and Jeff certainly wouldn't have agreed to bring another cat into our house.
Did they get a class pet that we're going to be caring for this weekend?
A fish. For some reason my over-worked mind started bracing itself for the news that we may now own a fish.
Alas, my fears were for nothing. Jeff finally revealed Jack's identity.
"He's a caterpillar."
Of course he is. I could have guessed that. (Never in a million years would my frazzled brain have come up with such a simple answer.)
Jack now resides in an Play-doh cup on our porch. Thankfully he was still alive when AJ checked on him this morning.
AJ was quite excited to see chunks of leaf that seem to be missing. "Look!" AJ exclaimed, "He ate part of his bed."
Now let's just all hope that Jack doesn't turn out to be an army worm. At least, based on where he's located, we can be fairly certain he won't be reproducing.
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