Well, it has been a most interesting day today. I of course woke up almost an hour late this morning and everyone knows how that can throw a person off. I have just been dragging butt the last few weeks. This week has got to be the worst by far. Pulling myself out of bed is like pulling a piece of dried up gum off the carpet!
Awhile back, our daughter came home from the store with a beta fish. White with coral sprinkled throughout. He was really pretty. She named him Angel. Don't ask, don't tell. Needless to say, he started a trend in the house.
I have always loved fish but since we have cats, have never really thought that it would be a good idea. Sure we have had chickens, ducks, and hamsters and of course our cats have proven to be the savage beasts that they are and stalked them, but that was the extent. They never dared hurt them, they were just too big.
Anyway, I went out a couple months later and purchased a couple for the younger two kids. One of them is a blue one which our son quickly named 'Squiggles' . Our daughters' was a reddish pink one but the name is simply lost on me at the moment. Anyway, these fish intrigued me. I often wonder why the male of much of any animal species is so much prettier than the female.
Things were going along really well with the fish, regular feedings, cleaning out their little tanks, and watching them grow a little more each day. Until one morning I walked out of the bedroom and my daughter was crying and said that her fish was dead. I couldn't figure it out. I just cleaned their tank the night before and they were both just fine. Eating, swimming fine. But I had to take on the task removing the fish and talking her through her very sad state and in the end assured her that I would replace him with another.
A couple of weeks later I did just that. The blue fish is getting really big and flowing. Almost too big for his little tank I think. So, the new fish is pink and blue but has yet to be named. But he is really pretty. There are various colors in his fin and tail and he is very active. Quite entertaining for me to watch when all the kiddies are napping in the afternoon. I wonder if fish get bored and play. He does acrobats, darts back and forth, up and down...he is active. And eats like a shark.
So, a couple of weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to add to the beta collection. I got two more. They have tanks that hold two fish but of course there is a makeshift wall in the middle so that the two don't puff up at each other all day. The new ones I got we named Jade and Pearl for obvious reasons. Pearl was pure white while Jade is different colors of turquoise, greens, reds etc.
The other night, I changed their water before Pat and I sat down to watch a movie. Pearl was really freaking out on me when I was attempting to get him back in his side of the tank. But eventually I succeeded. When I finally got everything put away and settled down for the movie, I noticed that he was swimming really weird. His back end would not stay down no matter how hard he fought is. In the end, yes, he died. I was really bummed. These two particular fish were just wee little things when I got them. And to find an all white one out here is pretty rare. But Jade remained the same. I just replaced that one last night with a new baby. I call him Wicked because he looks that way. Too odd to explain really.
So today, well, today I cried. Not for the loss of a fish but because it is official. I am a jinx!
Back to my daughter's fish, Angel. The tank was long overdue for a cleaning! The water was absolutely disgusting. So I thought that I would help my daughter out by cleaning his tank. If I had a dime for everytime I felt like I was just one big jinx, I would be richer than a lottery winner!
Things were going just fine. I rinsed the rocks, rinsed the tank, put fresh water in and upon returning the fish to his humble abode, he wiggled out of the spoon, (yes, spoon because the damn store doesn't have any nets that would fit in these miniscule tanks) and into the drain of our sink. My heart just sank! We have a drain catcher so I quickly picked it up and dumped the fish into his tank but the worst part of that was that I had the cold water running to rinse out the sink so the fish got a really big dose of cold water.
Within 2 minutes of watching Angel, I knew that he was destined for fishy heaven. Same thing as Pearl, he couldn't keep his tail down, swimming straight up and down. I felt absolutely horrible! I was going to surprise her by cleaning out his tank and wound up killing her fish. I called her immediately and broke the news to her. I started to cry because I felt so terrible. She loved her fish. In the end, she laughed at me and told me that before I did the routine burial of flushing him down the toilet to tell him that she loved him. She told me that she was ok and thanked me for trying to help and that she got to go to the store with me to pick out a new one.
I still feel terrible! I told one of my daycare mom's and she made me feel a little better by telling me a story about how she killed a guinea pig by feeding it water. It drowned.
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