Sammy the Sauropod Finds a New Home

Bowl games have started, and the animals in the house were very, very excited.

And we have a new dinosaur! Sammy the Sauropod. Mike spied him at the museum a few weeks ago and rescued him.

Stayed tuned for more on Sammy...

Evidence of Why Mike and I Should Probably Not Have Children

Completely crocked.

Mr. Happy Dinosaur's Day on the Town

Mr. Happy Dinosaur? He doesn't get out much. It's not that he's scared of the big, bad world. On the contrary - he's a fucking dinosaur. Nothing scares him.

No, he just likes human companionship. And to be perfectly honest, that Lamby Lamb character gets on his nerves once in a while. You see, Mr. Happy Dinosaur has been through so much - meteorites falling from the sky, the age of mammals, Woodstock... And Lamby Lamb is only a few years old and therefore just doesn't "get it."

In happier times...

So Mr. Happy D tagged along with me (and later Mike) for the day. There were places to go and people and things to see! Food to eat and things to drink!

First off, he accompanied me to my brother's house, and realized that the passenger seat was a pretty sweet place to be.

Watching the Detroit Lions lose - again - was too much for him to bear. He needed a beer.

Later that day, he accompanied me and Mike to dinner. As we drove past the construction site of a Walmart going in near Mike's house, he could barely contain his disgust:

I think that he felt more comfortable in Mike's new car:

At Dos Pesos, it was clear that all he really needed was a Coke:

Oh, and some jicama:

But really, he was most interested in Mike's enchiladas:

On the drive home, he got a hold of the iPod:

All in all, it was a banner day for Mr. Happy D. He got good food and drinks, lots of time in the car, and time away from Lamby Lamb. A good day.

Mr. Happy Dinosaur Makes a Friend and Builds a Pillow Fort

That's Lamby Lamb. MISTER Lamby Lamb to you. He is a lamb, but thinks he's a ram. He rams everything. EVERYTHING.

Mike says that ramming people in the FACE is his way of saying "hello," and also, "I love you."

But let me tell you - he KNOWS that it hurts when he rams me in the face when I am wearing my glasses. Oh, HE KNOWS.

Mr. Happy Dinosaur Considers a Swim

The other people at the pool probably thought that I was completely normal.

Exasperated.

So, Mr. Happy Dinosaur got into the scotch.

Does anyone know the best way to spot-clean a stuffed dinosaur? Because he smells like the town drunk.

What you lookin' at? I am millions of years old.
I CAN HOLD MY LIQUOR, BITCHES.

I Call This, "Mr. Happy Dinosaur Surfs the Web"

I left the room for a few minutes, and when I came back, Mr. Happy Dinosaur had commandeered my laptop and refused to give it back. I think that he wanted to see some familiar faces.

Also, my boyfriend cracks me up.

A Light at the End of the Tunnel

About a year ago, I was going through a little something, and was feeling pretty down. It was understandable, what with not having a full-time job, having only bare-bones health insurance (with the added bonus of no prescription coverage!), and constantly worrying that maybe I made the wrong choice by getting a degree in such a small, specialized field.

This was before all of those fears were blasted away, of course. But at the time, it didn't matter how optimistic as I tried to be (stop laughing!), it was really hard to see the end of the tunnel when I felt like I was stuck in the dark.

It was in the midst of this darkness that I finally started to move past the pain and confusion in my head. I pulled up to Mike's house just as he was arriving home from work. Once we got inside, he still had his coat on and was clearly hiding something within. He surprised me with a cute little stuffed dinosaur.

Protecting a sleeping Mike.

And that's how Mr. Happy Dinosaur entered my life. It was probably one of the sweetest, most thoughtful gifts I've ever received, and while I can't fully explain it, that's the point when I started to turn it all around.

Since then, Mike has given him a name, a personality, and an awesome dinosaur gait. He mainly communicates with Mike, but occasionally shares secrets with me.

Mike had to go to Orlando for work yesterday, and he sent me this picture before he left his house. The quote? "He is in charge now."

This probably sounds ridiculous, I mean, how can people in their late twenties play with stuffed dinosaurs? And I perhaps you think that Mike and I are insane, but that's okay. Mr. Happy Dinosaur is just one of a million little things to remind me how lucky I am to have found my match in Mike. He really is my light.