Morning ramblings

[yendi]

For those keeping score at home, Elayna now wants to be a teacher, a policewoman (although she occasionally switches that to traffic cop or crossing guard), and an astronaut. Yes, all of them. No, I've got no plans to discourage that. Given the current job market, I want her gaining as many marketable skills as she can. :-)

And in other news, both of the new goldfish died. I took 'em back to the petstore and got a replacement for the fantail (they've got a two-week guarentee) and a refund on the tiny goldfish. The guy who was there yesterday suggested not replacing the other fish, as three in that tank was probably pushing it. I also got a syphon hose/gravel cleaner, so I can do a better job of changing the water. Keeping up with fish is tough. And Elayna was sad about losing the fish, but she understands that three fish might survive better than four.

Diet is going well. I've discovered two other good low-Point foods. Wasa crispbreads -- which I like a lot, anyway -- are one point for 2-4 slices (depending on flavor). And Ms. Meringue Cappuccino Meringue Cookies are two Points for four cookies, and the cookies are filling and take a long time to eat.

Last night, we had a brief visit from martinhesselius and bluefirekali (both of whom, alas, had to leave too soon). We then settled down with mightwombat, gladstone, mousegrrl, and bheansidhe to watch the season premiere of Buffy (which was damned good, although given how weak the season premieres were during the best seasons, and how strong last season's was, that may not bode well), and Smallville. We ended up staying up until midnight to catch Gilmore Girls as well (hooray for Dish and multiple feeds!), which was as good as usual. Much fun was had by all. Little sleep was had by 'song and myself.

I think that's about it. Today is more documentation, but I'm doing it from the office, not home. And the fever seems gone, at least.

Comments

[technomom]

Elayna is old enough to be helping a great deal with the water changing, and should be moving up to doing it herself before long :-)

[yendi]

Up until now, changing the water in the tank meant using a huge pitcher to scoop water out, taking it to the sink, dumping it, etc. I wanted Elayna doing that about as much as I wanted water all over her floor. :-)

With the siphon, I do expect her to be able to help out a lot more (although she's still too short to safely reach the top of the tank with the hose -- remember that, although her age is seven, her height is that of a typical five-year-old). I had a Talk with her this morning about her feeding of the fish, which has not been happening as often as it should. Because she definitely needs to be picking up more responsibilities around the house (she's not spoiled or lazy, per se, but she doesn't always comprehend that she should be the one doing things).

Re:

[technomom]

Chore lists can be very helpful - noting when things need to be done. At times we've used index cards that explain how some things need to be done, too.

[yendi]

A spaceship?

[yendi]

Hunh. Not bad logic. Although it's a bit disturbing that he wanted fire to come out of his butt. :-)

[tanaise.livejournal.com]

Ohmygod! Wasn't that a kick ass opening to GG? loved it. I was sitting there suspending my disbelief at little at a time, and then all of a sudden *woof* they dropped the ceiling on me. :) I love that show.

[yendi]

Yeah, it was an awesome opening. Although only that final moment really struck me as "it has to be a dream." Up until then, I could believe a lot of it (including Luke hiding her coffee).

[tanaise.livejournal.com]

Exactly! Nothing quite fit with the end of last season, but still nothing was glaringly wrong with it, esp as they'd had three months pass same as us. And then the way they eased us into it was all totally believable steps. Oh, okay, she asked him to make sure she got up--weird, but hello, it's lorelai--I figured it was something like Rory was coming back that day, and Luke was being nice. And once he's there, it makes sense that he'd make her breakfast, cause well, hello, he cooks, and once he's in the kitchen, of course he'd hide the coffee. It didn't seem at all wrong really till he asked if she needed him to bring anything from town...

[sage-and-sea.livejournal.com]

ask at the fish store if your sized tank (I dunno what it is, but I'm assuming small) could handle a two fish/one sucker ratio. Suckers (plecos, god knows I don't know the real name of them, we change it every time we say it) are really cool to watch, and do an incredible job keeping the algae down.

[yendi]

Thanks! I'll ask about this next time.

[martinhesselius.livejournal.com]

'Twas very good to meet you!
/Martin wishes much (better) luck for you with da fishes.

about the fish,

[sexyshrooma.livejournal.com]

try a betta. the male betta's are EXTREAMLY durable, low maintance, inexpensive, and they're very colorful. i have two, and one i've had a year and a half and it's survived like 6 moves so far, the only downfall is you can't put more than one in a tank, but the smaller 2 gallon tanks are plenty big for a betta and dont cost that much, and are easier to clean. trust me, i can barely keep up with myself, but i've managed to hang on to a betta this long, its well worth it! good luck!

Re: about the fish,

[yendi]

I'd thought about Bettas before. I may have to go that route next time (although the tank's big enough that it would probably overwhelm the fish -- from what I've seen, bettas get by in small bowls).

Re: about the fish,

[sexyshrooma.livejournal.com]

how big is the tank? i had a friend keep a betta in a 5gallon just fine, they can survive in small bowls, but mine were much happier once they had a bit of room to swim around in......the stores keep them in tiny cups where they have no room :(