Work and Play

Bartholomew, our betta fish, died this week. We were sad to see him go. Actually, though, I was surprised he survived as long as he did; I'm not a very confident fish-keeper. Bartholomew came to us by chance in January. I was walking out of the BX one day when someone asked me if I liked fish. Now, I was thinking of fish to eat, and said yes. He then showed me a little red Betta in a glass vase. He said he had received it as a door prize and didn't know what to do with it. I thought the kids would enjoy having a fish, so I happily accepted it. I went to check on him on Thursday morning and found him dead. I hope he had a happy life. I told the kids, and dug a little hole in the garden for him. We might just have to get another pet.

On a happier note, we had a busy day of work and play yesterday. In the morning we had signed up for Proposition 8 sign waving. There was a huge neighbourhood yardsale going on here, so we set up near the entrance with our signs and pamphlets. We had a lot of positive responses, particularly from the many latinos who came by.

After about an hour we had to hurry home to get ready for a baptism. Nathan was conducting the service, and Lily and I were singing as part of a musical number. The song was "If the Savior Stood Beside Me". I posted the words to this song recently, as it was our Song of the Week not long ago.

On the way home from the baptism we stopped by our community fall festival, and stayed for two hours. They had pony rides for the kids, and a mini train ride and other entertainment. The pony and the petting zoo were definitely the highlights. Kids always love animals. I do too, come to think of it. The petting zoo had chicks that Lily and Luke were actually able to pick up and hold, as well as goats, a sheep, guinea pigs, a young pot-bellied pig, and several rabbits. The pot-bellied pig was about the same size as the rabbits. There was a llama as well, but it wasn't very interested in being petted. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me.

By the time we got home, I really wanted to take the rest of the day to recoup, clean the house, maybe catch up on some laundry. Lily had other plans though--she knew there was a Halloween Pary/Trunk-or-Treat at the church in the evening, and was planning to go. I hadn't made any plans for Halloween costumes, but Lily said she wanted to be an angel, so we went to work making angel wings. You can see the results above. We went to the party, the kids came home with lots of candy. By the time we finally got everyone to bed, Mom and Dad felt like it had been a very long day!