Ok ok - so it does appear to be an armadillo... but yes this means I'm looking up close and personal because she sent it home with me =) She also sent home with me the same crystal she sent with me the last time she left. =) =) and yes, i cried most the way home. *Sheepish grin*.

Right when I went in I picked up the *armadillo* (aardvark status lost) and curled up on the couch (i have CRAMPS - don't mess with me) and she said "Well, I'm glad you like that thing." Heh. So the lil's held on to him the whole session and messed with his fur - he is a more odd creature than I remembered. At the end of the session she told me to pick out which crystal I wanted - and I started to panic. I finally stuttered "I could just care of this guy". She said "Oh I thought I'd send him with you as well, since the littles seem to have taken to him so well." I think she said several other things about the armadillo, but the lil's were so happy, nary a word is remembered.

I did not, however, give over what I had written about her being gone and the effects of that on me. Some how it didn't seem the right time.

OH and the BEST NEWS... I had to abandon the "drop going away card on desk and run" since she wouldn't let me out of her sight. So i handed it to her and she was DELIGHTED. She opened it and loved the lil's picture, talked about the palm tree that was drawn and said there is one there just like it, and that she hopes to stay in a hut just like the one drawn (tho i think that was just special for the littles, cuz she did mention a hotel). ok - so the BEST part was that she said *She's taking it with her!!!*. The lil's are so happy. that was what it was meant for. oh and she was able to translate my spanish greeting on the back heh. ok ok ... i'll end this very sappy post now and show you the pic you've all been waiting for (as well as some fun facts).



"Armadillos are one of the oldest surviving mammals; they have been on earth for about fifty-five million years. Its ancestor, the glyptodon, arrived long after the extinction of the dinosaurs. This creature was about six and one-half to thirteen feet in length. Today’s small nine-banded armadillo measures up to thirty-three inches in length including its tail, and can weigh around seventeen pounds.

Common Nicknames include:
Hillbilly Speed Bump, Possum on the half-shell, Grave Robbers, "turtle-rabbit" (Aztec version), Pillbugs on steroids"

http://search.live.com/images/result...llo%252032.JPG

Thanks for reading!!