Meet Steeeve

Some years ago, about eight or so I guess, I scored some really cheap tickets to fly south to visit my side of the family in Southern California in February.  Heaven, I thought.  Totally heaven.  The round trip tickets from Seattle to San Diego were under a hundred dollars total.  Not each way, mind you, but total.  The tickets were the right price, and leaving our below zero degrees for weeks and fogged in for months home wasn't a bit hard to do....or so I thought!

My first inkling of a problem showed up in my inbox.  The message was something along the lines of Danger Will Robinson, Danger. Please call now.  Turned out, the flight was cancelled, but they could put us on another one.  This flight left from the airport at 5 am.  Not a big deal, unless that airport is about three hours away...

Oh, and now there's a layover in San Francisco. Okay...

Still, for a hundred bucks round trip, not a big deal. 

The helpful man on the phone in the call center told me his name was Steeeve.  I asked him, because I was curious, which part of India he was from.  "The call center." he replied.  Oh.  "What's your real name?" I asked.  "Steeeve," he said. "My name is St-eeeve."

So, when this pretty little lady showed up at our house the other day, I asked Chirp Chirp what we should call the new houseguest.  The immediate answer was Steeeve.  Okay then.

Meet Steeeve, the gravid praying mantis.

"Thank you for calling. My name is Steeeve.  How may I help you today?"

Any day now, she'll lay her eggs.  Now we just need to come up with 10-400 names for all the little Steeeves.