fishy don't die!

For our son's birthday, J and I wanted to give him some pet fish. He's has so many toys we could open up a small day care, so we figured no toys this time. But my mom said she'd get the fish since she had no clue what to get him. Cool beans. So the other day, we got the tank and then the fish came after to give time for the water to de-chlorinate. I picked out 2 freshwater angel fish because it reminded me of "Gill" in Finding Nemo. He happens to be obsessed with that movie which is fine with me. I'm SO OVER watching Spiderman 1, 2, and 3! Moving along. So we took the 2 home and did as the saleslady instructed. So far so good. Until about 12:30 a.m. J woke up because he had to go into work at 3 :00 and woke me with what he discovered. This is how it went (from what I can remember anyway):

J: Iris.

me: what?

J: One of the fish is dead.

me: what?

J: Is a fish supposed to swim on it's side?

me: what? no. i don't know. it's not dead. leave me alone.

J: you sure?

me: yeah! shut up and let me sleep!

An hour later.....

J: Iris.

me: what?!

J: It's dead. It's on it's side at the bottom of the tank.

me: (grunting)

J: You want me to take it out and flush it?

me: no, I can return it.

J: Cool. Want me to take it out?

me: no, I'll do it. crap.

So yeah. I had to take the poor feller out, put it in a plastic bag and into the "morgue" (the refrigerator) it went, so I could return it. Good thing they have a 15 day guarantee. And so we got a brand-spankin' new one that just arrived this morning from the waters of South America. Too bad I don't know the exact cause of death. Homicide? Possibly. Suicide? Maybe. If this new one turns belly up too, I'm going to have to go with the first. Man I hope this one lives! Well both of them or else I'll be really depressed. Esaias probably won't mind because that means another trip to the pet store and drive mommy crazy! Woohoo!

down memory lane

My lil man turned 3 years old today. I know how everyone says the same ol' saying "It feels just like yesterday when I gave birth and held him in my arms." Well, it does. I don't realize how fast he's grown until I look at pictures of him over the last 3 years. The "monkey face" he would make when he was a baby. His first time sitting, walking, and taste of a popsicle. And today while he was playing away with this Spongebob game at Dave & Busters, did it hit me that he's going to one day be a grown man in this crazy world we live in, have a family of his own, and go through whatever obstacles may come his way. I want him to take his childhood by the horns and have a blast! It saddens me to see how a lot of kids nowadays try to grow up too fast. I on the other hand, am still a kid at heart and plan on staying that way!

Today has made me think of my own childhood and reminisce of the good ol days when I didn't have a care in the world! Not all of it was happy-go-lucky, but it's the good ones that I hold on to. Sometimes it seems so long ago that it could have all been a dream, until a familiar smell in the air of cherry flavored tobacco and I'm back at grandpa's and tutu's house in Kailua. Or the smell of "swimming pool" that brings me back to when my sis, our bestest and one of our oldest buds Mischa, and I would walk to the local pool. And after about 5 fun-filled hours of Marco Polo and "who can hold their breath underwater longer", we would walk our sunburned bodies to Taco Bell or Jack in the Box to get a drink we would all share, and play some "ice hockey" on the tables. We got in trouble once for doing that. heehee! I would have to say alot of my favorite childhood memories were from living and visiting my grandparents in Oahu. My tutu was an artist and so we always had access to art supplies to play with. Once during one of our many barbecues, Kat, Mischa, and I decided to make the lower level of the house an "art gallery" and so we drew all kinds of pictures for the display. To this day, I still get teased for my "Dorky of Oz" picture. I hate you guys. Nah, you know I love ya! One afternoon with painted faces, we made scary faces at drivers down busy Oneawa Street. I'm surprised we didn't cause any accidents that day. What a bunch or dorks. So many happy days of going to the beach, buying Sanrio at Liberty House, "panty hunts", barbie doll soap operas, and playing detective, will forever be locked away in a special place in my memory.

And of course I had very memorable moments on Kaua'i as well. Voting season was always fun! Holding signs and waving for Cayetano, Hirano, Kouchi, and whatever candidate signs happened to be posted by our house without permission. It was hilarious to see the confused faces of passersby. Our backyard was abundant with a variety of vegetables. We could've had a stand at the farmers market! There was corn, sweet potato, papaya, peanuts, eggplant, ginger, starfruit, avocado, jackfruit, typical filipino spread of malunggay, saluyot, and some kind of something that I still to this day, am not sure what it was. All I knew it was good for was throwing at cars that drove on the highway. They were a little larger than dates so don't be so appalled! Something I really miss was riding our bikes after school and stopping by the 7-eleven to get our Big Gulp and Big Hunk fix. But we always had to be home by 5:00 to cook rice. Good times.

Now I'm an adult and the life of bills, responsibility, picking up after the family has taken over! But it's okay. I love my family. I have some great memories to look back on, and new ones to make with my son. Happy birthday lil guy!