Rock Fever

Monday, February 13, 2006

Drop Dead Fred

I don't think I have ever mentioned our Betta fish, Fred. It's pretty likely that I haven't mentioned him before, because Fred just doesn't lead a very exciting life. He pretty much does the same thing everyday. He eats, he swims, he poops...You know, the usual fish type activities...Well at least up until yesterday morning he did.

It started out like any other morning. I woke up, brushed my teeth, grabbed something to drink, posted my blog entry and did some blog surfing...Which, by the way, was interrupted by a commotion in the kitchen. I went to see what the ruckus was all about. Turned out that Hunk Daddy produced a bit of a flame on the stove and the kids flipped out, like our kids tend to do! For it to be so early, our house was entirely too noisy, so I went to turn the TV off for starters and that's when I saw it. Fred was taking the dirt nap...or maybe I should call it the old water nap. In any event, Fred was dead and Fred was afloat. I started to panic almost instantly! I knew Karsen would freak out if she saw him, because Fred is hers and she doesn't deal well when pets bite the dust and to make matters worse, this fish was given to her by her friend Christy, who recently moved away. Little Fred just couldn't make the trip. So after the panic state set in, I managed a little quick thinking. I turned off the light in the aquarium and she never noticed it. Brilliant!

After Karsen left for school, I informed Hunk Daddy of Freds demise. The three of us, Hunkdaddy, Caden and I sat there staring at poor Fred until we just couldn't look anymore, so I lovingly put a towel over the tank and we devised a plan to replace Fred with a Fred look alike! Whaaat??? It was a good plan! Right up until I fell asleep after lunch...And slept for three hours... Until Karsen got off the bus...And then it was time to panic again!

Karsen walks in and the first thing out of Cadens mouth is "Kawsen, Feds dead". Thankfully, she ignored him [mostly because she couldn't understand him I think] and I wanted to strangle that child. Who's bright idea was it to teach that kid to talk anyway?!? Luckily my quick thinking kicked in and I remembered that we have popsicles! Yessss! A popsicle can keep a yappy little mouth busy for at least a few minutes! I quickly ran to the kitchen, grabbed one, shoved it into his mouth and tried to think of something to distract them both until it was time for Karsen to go home! I figured if I could get them into the horse trough again and let them swim, I could at least scoop Freds remains out and get the towel off the tank, which she was bound to notice if I didn't do something. Karsen and Caden both jumped at the opportunity to swim and after a few minutes, I had Karsen watch the child with the big mouth while I went inside. I grabbed the net and a ziploc bag, removed the towel and... Oh.My.God...Fred was alive and swimming!!! Our beloved little fishy had been resurrected! Well, I dunno what exactly happened. Maybe Fred just fainted or had a little fishy seizure or something, but our Fred was, and still is, a happy, swimming little fish and that's all that matters!