Scorpio

Kenner was apparently the toy company for Daddy when he was growing up. Obviously, there was the entire Star Wars collection - Daddy saw to it that certain employees of Kenner never had to worry about losing a job. We bought a metric ton of Star Wars toys.

But then there were other toys, like this one here, the Megabug Scorpion. Only today did I find out what exactly this is called, but it's been in our basement for quite some time, intimidating all the other smaller megabugs.

Recently, Madison discovered this as we were cleaning up the basement and straightening things out a bit. She liked it so much that it now resides upstairs with us, lurking in the kitchen. It crawls out onto the kitchen table and joins Madison for breakfast, holding in its pinchers a makeup brush or a plastic spoon. It seems content not to eat anything, but rather just sit there and keep Madison company. It's like a pet! We'll probably have to name it soon, maybe something like "Scorpio."

A slight rabbit trail here, but Scorpio of course is Daddy's zodiac sign (as he's born in late October). Now: based on her birthday, Madison's would be "Gemini." We don't believe what time of year you are born has any bearing on your personality, but just for fun, I looked up what Madison's positive attributes should be, according to indisputable internet resources that talk about the zodiac*. She's energetic, witty, clever, adaptable and imaginative. We kind of already knew that. But I think most people would say that about their five-year old daughter.

Other famous Geminis include Bob Hope, Bob Dylan, Clint Eastwood, Drew Carey, George Bush, Helena Bonham Carter, Joe Montana, John Wayne, Johnny Depp, Marilyn Monroe, Morgan Freeman, Natalie Portman, Paul Lynde, Patrick Henry, Paula Abdul, Paul McCartney, Queen Victoria, Tim Allen and Walt Whitman.

So she's in good company there, at least in regards to the time of year she was born. As I look over to kitchen table, I see our megabug scorpion nodding in agreement.

"The stars predict tomorrow you'll wake up, do a bunch of stuff, and then go back to sleep."

- Weird Al, "That's Your Horoscope for Today"

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* Tongue firmly in cheek.