Where have I been?

Evidently I am terrible with commitment. Oh, blog, where have I been? Too bad the answer to that isn't something fantastical. Yes, drat, I didn't take an actual vacation or something relaxing or interesting like that. I just got busy doing "stuff."

Of course, if you all knew how much stuff I technically possess, then the idea that I was distracted by my stuff for over a week wouldn't seem unusual... that, and you're probably about to call the people who produce "Hoarders" for A&E. Don't do that. Seriously, I don't have that much stuff, and I certainly don't have any dead cats at the bottom of my stuff.

I'm actually not a cat person, or a dog person... I have fish. And yet, I would not consider myself a "fish person." I don't do aquariums, and I don't do goldfish. I have bettas. And last week I bought 2 new fish, as one of my fish (Eli) had died, and Kaleb was all by himself on the kitchen table. Yes, Kaleb needed some other life form to direct scornful displays of aggression at, because otherwise he'd just be all sulky.

Yes, just like your cat or dog: fish have personalities. Kaleb is my sulky fish. He spends copious amounts of time at the bottom of the bowl, presumably napping, and knows he's the alpha fish... and really was not interested in being photographed for the purpose of a blog entry... in the lower left-hand corner, he looks at me sternly as if to imply that my need for him to look at me and the goofy thing I am holding (camera) is interrupting his nap.

Algernon is Eli's replacement. He enjoys eating, and otherwise sitting on the bottom of the bowl. As some of you may know, he's named after a character in a book: "Flowers for Algernon." I admit fully to never having actually read this book, and yet, I will never forget the title, it is emblazoned in my memory because "Flowers for Algernon" sat in a pile with other notable books such as "Silent Spring," "Mister God, This Is Anna," and "The Bell Jar" in the linen closet of my childhood. The paper that I drew on as a child, as well as the tupperware box containing all the stamps & stamp pads were also kept in that linen closet... Sorry, but "Bell Jar" is just not an awesome fish name.

Rhomany is "mommas little princess" (okay, so were Veruca, Tallulah, Esme, Zizzy, and every other female fish that proceeded her). Rhomany is the token female. She's feisty, and she enjoys eating... and for the purposes of these photos, while she conveniently did not swim to the other side of the bowl (*ahem* Kaleb & Algernon) she did not understand why the hand was not dropping food into the bowl and kept turning around to look for sustenance. That, and I think I dazed her with the flash on the camera...

Hopefully, if you have pets, you spend some quality time with them : )