Risa's Pieces: Guess What I Got in the Mail Yesterday?

ANTS! My much anticipated new pets. All 25-30 of them that I ordered weeks ago. Its time to bust out that gel farm that has been sitting neglected in the corner of my bedroom for the last month.

How do I get this damn lid off??

The directions suggest that you stick the tube, their turbulent home over the last few days, into the refrigerator for 15 minutes to sedate the ants before attempting any relocation process. But after their long, jostling trek to my house via the USPS, I figured further torture would just be cruel. They needed liberation. And soon.

However, as I tried to open the tube and accidentally shook it a little too vigorously, they got all riled up and pissed and started scrambling way too quickly for my liking. I lost my nerve. So into the fridge they went for 10 minutes. And guess what. It totally worked. They were in a little coma-like state, so much so that I was afraid I might have killed them. But no, I saw their little limbs barely twitching so my conscience was cleared.

I tapped them out onto the gel, and just as I was about to try retrieving that little bit of carrot, they suddenly awakened to more frenzied creepy crawling. Forget the carrot, get the lid on. Pronto!

Locked and loaded

My sister and I tried to count them, but they're a bit too stealthy for census-taking. We think there are 25. And they're all ladies. And they're my new babies. The least I can do is name them.

So... Please allow me to introduce you to the clan: Eunice, Geraldine, Mabel, Beatrice, Imogene, Phyllis, Loretta, Mae, Gertrude, Edna, Mildred, Marjorie, Gladys, Thelma, Ethel, Wilma, Agnes, Bertha, Viola, Louella, Francine, Hilda, Flo, Delores, and Winifred. They will be our house guests for the next 1 to 3 months.