Fishy Fishy in the Sea

Ok, I’m about to make a few confessions here that I hope won’t turn any of my dear blog friends away. You see, I’m all about honesty in this happy chaos called Life that I am living. This will not come as a surprise to some of you. Others may think they have been completely misled by my overall compassion and joy for life. All life. Or so you think.

The truth is . . . I am not a warm and cozy pet loving individual. Shocking, right? I understand they can be cute, and my heart has warmed up to one photo or another of a golden retriever (or something of the like). Yes, I will admit that some of those darn cat calendars make me feel like a kid again. But, in reality, the whole idea of having some creature (other than the human kind) living in my house sort makes me cringe.

You see, in my book . . . if you walk on four legs, I think you should walk on all four of them . . . outside.

If you have fins, I think you should live in water . . . outside.

If you fly, I think you should live in snazzy little house . . . on a tree . . . outside.

I won’t go as far to say that if you don’t speak my language, you should live outside. But I will say if you are unable to communicate in some human way with me . . . outside you go. I would even prefer some of our plants be permanently moved to an outdoor life, however the rough Chicago winters might not fit in their lives very well, so we do have one or two that dwell within our walls.

PG was raised with pets – dogs, primarily. When I met him, he had a fish tank. Nothing big, maybe 15 gallons. However, he understood and accepted my lack of a pet lifestyle, and married me all the same. He has never really pushed to adding a four legged friend to our family – probably because he knew that I might have to draw the line. However, recently there has been much talk about adding fish to our home. You know the little ones that swim in a tank - a tank that you can pucker your mouth up to - and make fish faces with? Not the kind of fish you put on the grill at dinner time. Katie has been asking for a fish for a while, and you know, I’m a softy for those girls.

So, I agreed.

Of course, I had some rules.

Rules of the House (as it pertains to these fishies)

1. I will not clean the tank . . . EVER (and I mean EVER. Seriously. I think if God intended for me to clean a fish tank, he would have thrown a few scales on me and added a couple fins, perhaps making me an algae eating fish, don’t you? Seriously. EVER.)

2. I will not dispose of any fish whose fishy soul has left our universe. I mean, if PG is out of town . . . dear fishy will have a proper burial (I’m sure our new ejector pump will see to it.) I may even sing a few lines of “Amazing Grace”, but I will not be able to do the flushing of said fishy down the toilet. Uncle may have to be on speed dial when Daddy is out of town. That’s just how it has to be.

3. I must be able to name two of the fishies. In honor of the recent Royal Wedding, I requested we name one fishy Prince William and one fishy Princess Catherine. I think it's time we had some royalty in our house, don't you?

And that, my friends, is pretty much all I am demanding when it comes to the fishies in our house.

So, a couple of weeks ago, PG, Katie and Ella went to the pet store. There they selected the perfect home for our new family members. Lots of thought was put into their surroundings, and Katie and Ella did a fantastic job picking out everything from the rock to the plants to the shells inside. Here is a look at the tank.

It took PG almost 5 days to prep the water in the tank, and about a week later, the four of us hopped in the mini-van to pick out our newest family members. (I knew having a mini-van would come in handy for our growing family.) ;)

The young college aged girl who was working in the fish area really knew her stuff. Her jet black hair and nose ring had a comforting feeling to me – she had to be some sort of artist . . . like a Fish Artist. She was cool. And she was so familiar with all types of fish. She new exactly which ones would suite our family (and our tank) best. The minute she showed me the TEQUILA SUNRISE guppy fish, I knew I had found my new babies. ;)

So, without further adieu, I introduce you to our new additions . . .

I think there is a "Snoopy" floating around in the bottom there somewhere, too (Katie named a few more Snoopy and Snappy. Not sure where that came from, but it's all good). We have to go back and pick up the algae eater, and a few more fishies. But our fish friend (the girl from the pet store) recommended we introduce them in two batches.

So, here they are . . . Batch #1 and the newest members of our family.

Don't tell anyone, but here's one more confession for you . . .

I am secretly enjoying them.

Those late nights when the house is quiet (and all my human babies are in bed), I have found myself kneeling up to the tank, sneaking a few minutes of quiet time with my soothing fishies. They are polite and respectable and really, just lovely lovely fishies. The sound of the water is so relaxing, and I really could watch them for hours. I think they are so peaceful . . . hmmm . . . . but remember - that part is a secret just between us, ok? And I stand firm on my "NO WAY!!" to Ella's request for a hamster. That, my friends, will NEVER change.

Wishing you peaceful moments, my friends. With or without pets.