The Snake Incident

In my last post I mentioned that I had a snake incident. At the moment I am waiting for "Little Mark" to finish an assignment so I thought I would go ahead and write about it. I had so many people contact me I thought I would put your minds at ease.

OK, so NO ONE contacted me, but it gives me something to post and I'm trying to blog more. Bare with me.

A couple of weeks ago I was home alone. I had been enjoying a nice afternoon of catching up on Facebook, watching a movie on Netflix streaming and eating pizza. In other words, having a very productive day. :-) I went to the back of the house to use the restroom and noticed something on my bedroom floor. I stopped in the doorway, because I KNEW that nothing had been there a couple of hours ago.

I turned on the light only then watch a snake slither into the closet, under the door. The closet that holds a lot of clothes and bags. All of the "emergency bags" we keep packed just in case we have to leave quickly. (It's one of FlyLady's suggestions) The thought of that snake being in one of those bags freaked me out almost as much as witnessing it slither in there to begin with.

Now, I have to tell you that this thing was not very big around. It wasn't HUGE, or extremely long, but at that moment it looked like an Anaconda! It was a snake, that's all I needed to know.

Thankfully, I had my cell phone with me. So, I called my family, who was in a car 2 hours away. I know they wouldn't be much help, but I needed to tell someone, anyone that "THERE IS A SNAKE IN MY CLOSET!"

To my credit, I was calm. I was still in the doorway, and my eyes never left the closet door. And I STILL needed to go the bathroom.

My family reminded me to call Animal Control, so I hung up with them and called the non-emergency police number to ask for Animal Control. They put me through.... to a voice mail. Did I mention this was a Saturday? Because that is important. Our animal control officer is OFF on the weekend, and apparently there isn't enough money in the budget to hire a "weekend guy."

I attempted to leave a message and forgot to leave my phone number, but did leave my address and name. I was very calm as I let them know that a snake was in my closet and I needed someone to call me back very soon, please.

10 minutes later I still had not heard from them. It was then that I realized I forgot to leave my number. SO, I called the police again, very calmly told them I had a snake in my closet and that I was so nervous I forgot to leave my phone number. I must have been TOO calm, because the lady officer connected me with the voice mail, again, without even questioning the fact I had just said "THERE IS A SNAKE IN MY CLOSET."

I again left a message and this time listened to all of the options, even pushing the button letting them know this was an emergency. That might be helpful.

20 minutes later, still no phone call. At this point I needed contact with the outside world. I was still standing in the doorway, and my eyes still never left the closet door. I still needed to go to the bathroom.

I backed all of the way down the hall, never taking my eyes off of the closet door and went into to my sisters room turning only long enough to grab her laptop which was just inside her door. I then went back to my room, mustered up enough nerve to sit on the edge of the bed and still watched the door. I got on Facebook and told everyone of my friends THERE IS A SNAKE IN MY CLOSET.

I then called "Angel's" Mom and Dad and asked them to come get the snake out because Animal Control STILL had not called back. I had already called the police 3 times and did not want to call them again. I still did not know what kind of snake it was, or where it was as this point. I only knew it was "somewhere" in the closet.

Withing 20 minutes "Angel" and her parents were at my front door. I ran to open it and led them to the closet. "Angel's" dad did find the snake coiled up in a corner and determined it was THIS:



A Ground Rattlesnake. Approximately a foot long. "Angel's" Dad then took it outside and let it loose in the neighboring field, but not before "Angel" had a chance to touch it while Daddy held the held. The girl has NO FEAR. I was just glad it was out of the house.

They stayed a few moments to visit and left. I, FINALLY went to the bathroom and the rest of the weekend was rather uneventful. And the Animal Control people? They finally called... at 8:30 Monday morning. I'm sure glad it wasn't an emergency situation or anything.

Love,
Wendy Darling

Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap

Hello, again!! Well, I've been meaning to blog for several weeks and just haven't made it yet. I even have some blogging topics, such as "the snake", "some pictures to share", etc. But, I'll get to those. :-) I thought a recipe might be a good way to get me back into "the swing of things".

I'm doing some baking this week, to help out the youth of our church with their fundraiser. I decided to make some "Rice Krispie Cookies" because they are SO GOOD and they might bring in a little money. The fact that I doubled the recipe so we could have a few as well had absolutely nothing to do with my decision. :-)

I got the recipe from this cookbook:





If you ever get a chance to look at it please do; there are many recipes in the book, not just desserts. For you "healthy food" people out there they even have a bran muffin recipe. If you make it, please let me know how it tastes. :-)

After you leave here, please hop over to Gayle's and check out the other awesome recipes linked there. If you would like to join the recipe swap just post a recipe and follow the directions to Mr. Linky at Gayle's. :-)

Rice Krispie Cookies

Ingredients:

1 C flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/ 4 tsp. salt

1/2 C butter or margarine, softened

1/2 C granulated sugar

1/2 C firmly packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 C Kellog's Rice Krispies

1 C quick-cooking oats

1/2 C shredded coconut

Preheat 350 degrees F

Lightly coat two large cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray, or line with parchment paper. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

Cream butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add both sugars and cream together. Add the egg and vanilla, beating to incorporate. Stir in the reserved flour mixture. Combine well. Stir in the oatmeal, cereal and coconut.

Drop the mixture by level measuring tablespoon onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake 12 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned. Cool completely and store in airtight container.

Enjoy!! :-)

Love,

Wendy Darling