A Happy Meal & Wet Clothes

Today Liliana and I went on a quest to locate a suitable fish to replace Smooch, our recently departed goldfish. After doing a little research, I learned that God probably never intended for a goldfish to live in a fish bowl; hence, the short life span of poor Smooch (God rest his soul). Therefore, I chose to buy a male Betta, a species that tends to thrive in small quantities of water.

When we went to the store, I was surprised to find that Bettas are kept in individual containers, apparently because they are a type of fighting fish that don't play nicely with others. We selected a lovely specimen with blue, purple and red features. He was lively and quite beautiful (and bonus: his colors matched my kitchen decor). Liliana named the fish "Happy Meal." Although I tried to dissuade her from that particular name, she was set on it...and it was so.

As we brought the fish home, I wondered why Happy Meal was in a closed container in the store. Although the thought entered and exited my mind in a flash, I later learned that there was a very good reason for the lid. Just an hour after we put Happy Meal in his new home, he literally jumped out of the water and plummeted three feet to his untimely and unattractive death. Wade found him on the air vent of the kitchen floor, shriveling up like a dried bean. (Oh, how I wish I could have seen Wade's face as he happened upon the fish and realized what it was.)

Every day brings a new opportunity to learn and grow. Today I learned that a male Betta fish can swim and jump. I also learned that it takes just a split second for a clothes dryer to burn up and die...and it's a very stinky and inconvenient occurrence. Visit my laundry room, and you will find wet clothes lying all around in hopes that they'll air dry by tomorrow. Thankfully, Wade is picking up a used dryer as I write. Hopefully this one will outlast it's predecessor.

Here's to life's lessons! Ramona