Rest in Peace Sashimi

 

Sashimi

2 years 3 months

Tears have been shed

You will be missed by all.

I think this time it was my fault.  I cleaned her bowl just hours ago. After 2 years I thought I had the hang of it.

Unplugged Week 1

On day 1 of the Unplugged Experiment our very, very tidy house reverted to its normal state. Moose declared that there would be clean up but he failed to follow through and by day 2 of the experiment the house was very messy - it still is.
On day 2 of the Unplugged Experiment Commander C received his Wolf badge at Pack Meeting. The photos of myself were very ill advised and I realized for the first time that I am much cuter in my mind than in reality.

On day 3 we went a visiting and I received much needed support with my Unplugged Experiment from homeschool friends.

On day 4 of the Unplugged Experiment I took a nap with Boba Fett, a long nap. Sometime while I was upstairs Nutmeg "fed" the fish by dumping the 3/4 full jar of fish food into our, you will remember, fairly small goldfish bowl. About 15 minutes after I woke up I passed by the goldfish bowl and noticed that it was orange.There was an immediate fish and rescue mission. Both Sashimi and Little Fishy are still alive 30 hours later. So far, so good.

On day 5 of the Unplugged Experiment I cheated. I needed to get online to pay the bills you see, and post the little bike and wagon for sale on Craigslist. And while I was there I checked my e-mail to see if there were any immediate responses to the ads. And then while I was waiting for those responses I just thought I would check my Facebook account really quickly. Then I was hooked all day I ran into the office to check if anything terribly important had happened on FB. Nope, but I still kept checking.
Later I silk screened my Tax Day Tea Party protest shirts.

In Which We See That I Should Not Be a Dog Owner

It has been a while since I told you about my fantail goldfish named Sashimi. That night Moose came home and we decided that Sashimi looked lonely in the bowl so we loaded up into the car and went back to PetSmart and bought a plant and a friend. Boba Fett picked him out, his name is Little Fishy. He is even tinier than Sashimi and is very cute.

As you can see it is good that I don't have a dog. If I think my fish is cute what would I think about my DOG? What kind of horrible dog lady would I be?

But, I digress. Sashimi is on the left and Little Fishy is on the right.

In Which I Purchase A Family Pet

I don't know why I did it. Somehow when I woke up this morning I just felt like today was the day. So when the boys were out rummaging through "The Dark Forest" looking for sticks for our bean tepee I called the neighbor to keep an eye on them, scooped up Nutmeg and whisked her away to the pet store.

We were looking for a fish, a pretty, "girdle" gold fish, and I already had the name picked out.
We stopped at Petco first because it is the closest pet store. The fish lady was not happy that I intended to keep a goldfish in a fish bowl. That's right folks I had the audacity to think that a fish could be kept in a bowl! I know, I know, there should be a tattoo on my forehead that reads "Animal Abuser."
I was then treated to a informational lecture about how goldfish can live for 20 years (it was only 10 years the last time we bought a one) and by keeping a gold fish in a bowl I would be shrinking it's internal organs.

All the while I am thinking "I don't want a goldfish to last a long time. I want it to die in 12-18 months so the next kid can have a turn picking out a fish or, alternatively, I can give up pet ownership completely when this one goes to the great aquarium in the sky. I eat fish! Why is she trying to make me feel bad about keeping it in a bowl?? At least I don't plan on eating it. Do you even think a fish wants to live for 20 years? Their life is pretty darn boring."

She tried to sell me on a beta and then reluctantly said she would sell me a goldfish but she couldn't guarantee it. Guarantee it? A goldfish needs a guarantee? Ultimately I didn't like any of the goldfish at Petco so we told the fish keeper that we would think about it a little more.

We got back into the Samurai Mom Mobile and went down the road to Pet Smart. There was quite a line in the aquarium section of Pet Smart. Personally I think they do so much business because they don't give you guilt trips about what kind of bowl you keep your pet in. We had ample time to choose and I nearly got 2 fish to cram in my sardine can of a fish bowl. I decided against getting 2 at the moment but may consider picking up one of those tiny 12 cent fish in the future. (Does it bother anyone else that there is no cent key on the keyboard?)

I ended up with one $1.99 fantail gold fish. I picked out the tiniest one because she was the cutest and I was still feeling a tiny bit guilty about the bowl I planned to keep her in.

Nutmeg was very excited and insisted on carrying her through the store and all the way home. Once we got home I took my yarn stash out of the goldfish bowl, washed it out, added rocks (left from when Cheddar was still with us) and filled it up with water. Then we put her in.

(Portrait courtesy of Commander C)

Nutmeg kept trying to say her name through the entire trip. She pronounced it differently every time, eventually she figured it out. Boba Fett thinks it is too hard and wants her to have a nickname. I told him he will get it in time. I like the name...

Sashimi.