Mouse-cicles are a Must for Hibernation

Kaileigh came to visit us Thursday night.  Had I had some warning, I don't think I would have made the pot roast (she's a vegetarian), but I was able to feed her a hearty meal of tomato soup, salad, and roasted fingerling potatoes. 

It must have been hearty, because after dinner, around 9 pm, she fell asleep on the couch.  At around 11 I moved her to the guest room (or more accurately had her move, since it's been a few years since I could pick up a sleeping Kaileigh and put her to bed).

My oldest child proceeded to sleep till 2 pm that next afternoon.  That's 17 freaking hours!  My record was somewhere around 13 hours when I was a teenager.

I had the girls sneak in to check her breathing a couple of times.  At noon, we decided that she might be beginning her hibernation, since winter had just started a few days ago.  I don't know that vegetarianism is the best choice for mammals who hibernate, though, as she hasn't stored up a bunch of protein.

When she woke up, she lumbered into the kitchen and stated: "My mice have probably defrosted."

Now, there are several sentences a father never wants to hear from his daughter. I will not name them here for fear of inviting them, but you can imagine that have to do with pregnancy tests (before a certain age), drugs one snorts or injects, and boys named "Pain" or "Dirt."  Frozen mice does not make that list.  It was certainly not what I was expecting, but it made some sense when I thought about it.  Frozen mice might be a good protein-rich snack for the hibernating young adult.

She explained that the mice weren't for her, they were for the giant boa constrictor she now has as a pet.  Which replaced the rattlesnake pet she lived with when she moved out from her last apartment (it was her roommate's rattlesnake).

I feel so, so much better about the frozen mice.  And have added a new sentence that I never want to hear from a daughter again, which includes the words "rattlesnake" and "pet."