Secret or no secret, I have this blog and I might as well use it! Since I have stopped conventionally journaling (and now keep a prayer journal instead), I have also lamented the fact that the only time periods of my life I have written about are the depressing, anguish-filled years before I met Justin. Then for Christmas, Dan and Alicia gave us a *real* book copy of the wedding blog, and now I know I can keep a blog and get an honest to goodness book out of it whenever I desire! And so, we begin...
Six months in to our wonderful marriage, we finally got some pets! Last Friday night I asked Justin if he would like a fish tank for Valentine's Day, since I've known he's always wanted one. He excitedly agreed, and we set out to PetSmart with hopes of bring home some wonderful fish that very evening. Sadly, that's not how things work, so we came home with an aquarium, a stand, a net, some fun decorations, and the anticipation of picking out our fish on Sunday or Monday night. Did I mention the aquarium and stand were so big neither one fit in the trunk? I got to sit in the back and pretend I was a little kid again so that we could get our new set up home.
Since I met up with Tiff and Nicole at Mohegan Sun on Saturday, Justin set up the tank on his own and did an awesome (and much better than I probably could have) job! Sunday was church in the morning, snowshoeing with Drew and Erica in the afternoon, and so Monday was the day for fish!
Picking out the fish we brought home wasn't very difficult. We each picked out one large (4 inch? 5 inch? I have no concept of size) fish, and let the very helpful PetSmart employee pick out four smaller fish for us. The ride home was a little nerve-racking, since I was convinced the fish were going to die from stress. Luckily, that was not the case! We got them home, let their bags float around for 15 minutes, then set them free and went about naming them, which went something like this:
Monica: So I was thinking we should give them all stereotypical men's names.
Justin: Oh yeah? Like what?
M: I don't know...Larry, Steve, Bob. Stuff like that.
J: Okay - that one's Larry.
M: Then the other one gets to be Bob ("other one" is the big orange and white one.) Can the black one be Frank?
J: Sure.
M: Okay, it's your turn.
J: Hmm......the gold one is Twitch.
M: That's not a man's name!
J: But look at him! He twitches when he swims.
M: Fine. Okay that one has a red head. What's a good redheaded man's name?
J: I don't know...
M: Archie! Can we name him Archie.
J: Okay fine.
M: It's your turn.
J: I'm thinking! I need to look at him. You have to take their personalities into account! His head looks like a brain! We'll call him The Brain.
M: Okay, fine.
So what's the big deal about all this? Well, pets are pets, and if fish are what we can have, then fish are what we will love. Sure, we both wish we could have something a little more fuzzy and robust, but it's nice to not have to hear my husband sniffle all the time. I've loved every moment of this new venture because it gives us something to explore and learn about together. Plus, staring at a tank of swimming, floating, carefree fish really is as relaxing as people say it is.
Except for when the fish are getting sucked into the filter, which the very helpful PetSmart employee had assured me couldn't happen. I feel partially responsible for Frank's accident, because I was watching the fish swim, didn't see Frank, and waited a solid five minutes before I went to investigate why I hadn't seen him. When I saw him, caught in the just-the-right-size-for-one-of-the-small-fish-to-get-sucked-into opening, I freaked out, grabbed a stool, and stuck my entire but just not long enough arm into the tank. With no success, I dashed out to the deck, yelled "JUSTIN!!" four times until he heard me over the snowblower (did I mention it's the storm of the century outside? Oh. It is.), and he rushed to Frank's rescue and....turned off the filter. Brilliant. Definitely hadn't thought of that.
After my adrenaline rush started to wear off and Justin headed back to the tundra, I decided to take a shower. I turned the water on, decided to check on our poor Frank and - gasp! - found The Brain was now stuck! I pulled the plug, he swam away, and offending extension piece was removed by my super husband when he came in and defrosted.
And now, I worry that both of these fish are blind because they won't eat from the top of tank like the others. And with this worrying, I realize that my veterinary assistant past and my "big heart," as Justin likes to call it, will make me worry about fish, even though last week I thought I could never care about a fish. But, alive is alive, and in our care is in our care, and we will do our very, very best to care for what ever is in our care!
