Introducing: Oscar!

I was bored Saturday and decided I definitely needed a fish. This is what happened! Above is his humble fishy home, nice and cozy next to the printer. Below is a picture of all he did the first day - stay at the very top of the water. He would occassionaly swin around, but I think he was used to his tiny cup/home and wasn't used to all the water!
I named him Oscar. I was thinking of Thaddeus, but it just didn't work. It took me 2 DAYS to pick his name. Partly because I was fresh out of ideas, partly because I kept forgetting.
He really is very pretty.

THE END!

I will probably post pictures of my crabs soon. They are so ugly, it will be a fun photoshoot.

fishes? maybe.

I got me a new layout! AND I FIGURED EVERYTHING OUT BY MYSELF! No having to ask anyone anything! This is a first for me - usually I can't figure blog-related things out. :)

I went to PetCo today - I love looking at all the different animals they have. Did you know there are puffer fish that look like dogs? Anyway, I've been thinking about getting a Beta. My hermit crabs are ever so boring (all they do is hide all day) and I think a fish would spice things up. Plus, it would be decorative if I got a cute bowl - right? Well anyway I was reading about them on the internet and found out their water needs to be changed once a week. "Sounds pretty easy to me!" were my thoughts at the time. Then I looked up at my windowsill where all my plants are and realized - "my plants are kind of dying, and it's probably because I haven't watered them for a long time." You see, I have an orchid which only needs to be watered once a week and because it can go a long while without water, I tend forget to water the other plants more often!
The connection was made in my brain - water a fish once a week, water plants once a week . . . Wait a second, if I can't even remember to water plants, am I really ready to take on a fish?
I know, I know - fish are supposed to be easy pets, but I'm scared I'm a bad pet owner! You see, it all started with my first pet . . . .

Amy (my step-sister) came up to me while I was watching a movie. I had just turned 8. "Aariel, do you want my guinea pig? I don't want it anymore and the parents think that since you're 8 now you could be responsible for a pet."
I was SO excited! YES! This meant I got to name it whatever I wanted! (One of th more exciting parts of getting a new pet is naming it - for my Beta, I'm thinking of Ruffio, like from Hook). I named her (him?!) Babe. Don't know why, it's really a lame name.
Anyway, Babe was kept in her little cage in the garage. Pretty much all I did was refill the water bottle and give her food. Ummm....I was 8. I Forgot about her all the time, sitting there in her little prison in the garage. Sometimes when I went to fill the water bottle up, it was completely dry and I wondered how long it had been empty for. I don't even remember cleaning her cage. I never took her out, except one time I remember I put her in my fanny pack and gave her a bicycle ride in the driveway - don't worry, I let her pole her head out for air! ;) Another time I let her go on the lawn and she inhaled all the grass she could. I noticed her hair was getting kind of thin. Hmmm...wonder why that could be?
Then one day I realized she was gone! No cage, no guinea pig . . . Oh well!

Part of me wants to blame my parents for letting me slowly kill Babe - after all they should have reminded me to take care of her or threaten me if I didn't! It's all . . . their . . . okay, not really. After all, they had 10 crazy kids to worry about. I never found out what really happened to Babe. Maybe she died and they threw her body away? Maybe a neighborhood kid snuck into our garage and stole her? Maybe my parents gave her away? I'm guessing she died.

Anyway, my whole life I've felt guilty for this because I didn't realize until years later 0h hey, I starved my first pet! An innocent little living being.

What kind of mother am I?!

That's just the way I am.

"I am disheartened and disturbed when I hear people avoiding the blessings and challenges of life by indicating to themselves, their associates, and their family, "I'm sorry, but that's just the way I am." This is an attitude that brings not only complacency but also a lack of progress. It is a prime cause of unhappiness."

- Marvin J Ashton



I'm bored of people excusing their behavior by saying "that's just the way I am." Isn't the purpose of this life to better ourselves? To learn how to grow and sacrifice and change? Using this excuse is a cop-out. I know because I do it myself. "I'm not a people person" "I'm not outgoing" "I'm a procrastinator" Honestly? Say you're trying to tone your body and you notice your legs are a lot stronger than your arms - do you say "my arms are weak, and that's just the way they are." and then only do leg exercises because they're easier? Nope! You make an effort to work the weak areas and make them stronger.

Just because something's easy doesn't mean it's better than something that requires more effort. In our society we want everything to be fast, effortless and simple. But even though the easy way can be nicer, it's not always going to help us.