Not on my watch

I had no idea it was so exhausting taking care of a friggin' fish.

The water was cloudy this morning, so I set to work changing out 25% of the water and put E to the task of visiting the pet store while he was out with Tess today.

In the meantime, Jack started acting weird (why the hell did I let Tess name him and get all attached to him? Dammit). I haven't done all my reading yet, but I'm pretty sure it's not a good sign to have him lying on his side at the bottom of the tank, barely moving.

Took him out and put him in freshly declorinated water, which slowly clouded too. When E got home with the anti-amonnia treatment, I put it in both the tank and betta bowl. Clear within seconds. Jack's still not really eating, but he's been through a lot in the last two days, so I'm cutting him some slack in that department.

Later we amused ourselves by putting a mirror in the betta bowl -- they really don't know what they look like. Jack immediately puffed out his gills, as did the "other" male betta.

Minutes of amusement.

Note to Lisa: My dad's tumor is benign. Like cats, my parents. On life five or six by now...he still has surgery to get through, though...no word on when that will be. Soon, but still not soon enough to hook up in Vegas in January.

Meet the Fishies

Meet the Fishies
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile.

My first pet-buying-as-a-parent experience, yikes. I've never kept fish before. I hope they're not as finicky as the literature makes them sound. I found a children's book on fish keeping to be the most useful.

I wasn't going to get Tess a fish tank for Christmas, because I know eventually it will end up being MY fish tank, or at least that I will have to take responsibility for their care. Then again, I'm the adult here, so it makes sense that I should take charge.

But once she got the thought in her head, she kept talking about Santa bringing her a fish tank. Since I don't want any more itty bitty toys and toy pieces in the house, though, a fish tank made the most sense as a gift.

Not that she didn't get the fiddley little stuff I hate. She does have grandparents, after all.

From right to left (three fish in all), there's Winter, the goldfish, Rocksha, the white goldfish, and Jack the betta -- we have a 2 1/2 gallon tank with a divider for the betta. Although he seems pretty non-agressive, hanging out around the filter and light for more warmth.

We'll see how long the names stick.

Apparently, I'm a Girl

Apparently...
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile.

Judging by my two very pink gifts this morning. A completely unsuspected Ipod Nano (having way too much fun with that right now) and a new cell phone cover, both picked out by Santa E.

I had to change the wallpaper on my phone; the sunset shot just wasn't jivving with the sunburst and hearts on my new cover. The teddy bear makes the whole package look like it belongs to some young Japanese girl.

Hope you all had a happy holiday.

Season of Giving

Season of Giving
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile.

I think I've told the story of my Dad inspiring me to give blood regularly, but here it is again...I was in high school, and my Dad came home from work, where they'd had a blood drive that day. He had a little teardrop pin on with the number 3 and a red cross. My Mom asked him, "What's the 3 for?" and Dad said, "I've given 3 gallons of blood." Mom said, "Today?!"

We still laugh at that.

I have my 1 and 2 gallon pins, but I'm still working on #3. Ever since Tess was born, I've been rejected because of low iron. I think I've been able to give once since 2002.

I tried again on Saturday, but right on the cover of the info booklet it said, "If you have a cold or other infection, you cannot give today."

Bummer! Especially since it would have been so meaningful at this moment in time. My father in law is now getting blood transfusions every week for his cancer. Granted, he's an AB type, and I'm O, but it would have been nice to know I was helping someone somewhere in a similar situation.

Spectacularly Uninspired

My picture-of-the-day project is dragging me down today. Tess is getting over a cold, I am just starting it. It's gray and dull outside and I can't think of a thing to take a picture of.

Perhaps I'll go to Knit In tonight; although a recent post on the list lamented the fact that no one (except the poster) showed up last week. I picked up my Twisted Rib sock from last fall's Interweave Knits and I've found I once again have the brain power for knitting. It was completely gone from my fifth month into my postpartum period.

I ordered the gorgeous Jo Sharp Knit 1 magazine from my friend Warren; he's been in business one year now and I wanted to help him celebrate. Too bad I have no craft budget until spring 2007 to purchase yarn for any of the projects.

I won't be able to crop for a while yet -- that's just depressing. I can't seem to get into it at home; Tess crowds me in the laundry room/scrap room downstairs, wanting a stamp, wanting decorative scissors, etc. I have her work upstairs when she does crafty stuff; there's just no room in my scrap area. But if I want to scrap with her I have to haul all my stuff up and since I never know what I need I'm constantly running up and down the stairs.

I was hoping to set up my sewing area in our living room when our new couch arrived yesterday. Alas, it arrived, but our old loveseat and sofabed were still in the living room.

Despite promises from The Furniture Store That Cannot Be Named that the delivery guys would move the old stuff "out" (not just "out of the way" as the incompetent sales person THOUGHT I was asking earlier -- duh! I could do that myself, if I had room!), the delivery guys said they could not lay a hand on our old stuff for liability reasons (gah!) so we had to refuse delivery.

So, despite my re-found interest in knitting, I'm in a rut. I don't even want to think about our lack of a Christmas tree or any decorations save what Tess has made at school recently. Hopefully I can pick up my spirits soon.

We're VIPs. Who knew.

Chocolate Fountain
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile.

I'm participating in a Picture A Day challenge over at ScrapVillage...don't know how I stumbled upon it, but I happened to have taken pictures on the 1st AND 2nd and decided to join in.

This is our picture from yesterday. Tess has been looking forward to attending Weber's VIP part just for their chocolate fountain (me too, actually...that, and the free spiked eggnog). E is has had a Frequent Diner (aka the "Frequent Feeder") card there for so long, they really need to issue him a new one. His original one is in shreds.

He goes there two or three times a week for their lunch buffet, and we took everyone there for Ben's baptismal brunch over Thanksgiving weekend because it's awesome (and cheaper than Gandy Dancer, which is more awesome -- awesomer? -- but ex-PAHN-sive, as my friend Gabrielle would say).

So far I've had no trouble remembering to take a picture or coming up with different picture ideas, but it's early yet. I created the album cover last night (found an 8x8 album at Hancock Fabrics, which has one. stinking. carousel. of scrapbooking stuff), and that took me an hour and a half. Geez. I'd better come up with a simple layout idea for each day, or this is never going to get done.

Speaking of gittin 'er done, I finally took a picture of Ben that (somewhat) matches one I took of Tess on the changing table at the exact same age. If it weren't for the Princess in Training onesie, I wouldn't be able to tell my own babies apart.

Or is that just me?


Side by Side at 2 Months
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile.