hop the bunny, part 2

While we were back in the States, Emma got some pictures taken with an easter bunny. No, not the easter bunny, a real-live, furry with big floppy ears easter bunny. She liked it so much (and we got such great pictures from the photo shoot) that emma's daddy decided she needed her own, full-time bunny. So, "Hop" the bunny (as he was so aptly named by emma) came to our house and began his initiation of becoming an eggroll.

Unfortunately, josh and I are not really "pet" people. It's not that we don't like pets, it's just that we seldom remember to do all those things that pets need. Kids, obviously, are different. Fear not - we remember to feed, clothe and clean up after our babies. It's just that pets are a different story.

All the eggrolls, including hop, weathered one hot oklahoma summer and though hop seemed a tad bit worse for wear, he made it through.

Then it came time for us to return to asia, leaving an unspoken question looming largely in the air: what will become of hop?

He was sort of just "left" at the house we were living, under the care of Josh's very-capable-but-often-quite-full hands. We aren't sure what has become of hop (nor have we asked...), but we are sure that whether he made to the PetsMart social club or has gone to bunny heaven, or is still sitting on the front porch chewing on his grass, he is probably ok.

Then yesterday...

Some girls that I meet with each week had come to visit, this time bringing a surprise gift for emma.

Of all the things they could have chosen to bring, why in the world they chose to bring something live, something that would require my daily attention,I have no idea. They bounced through the door, and enthusiastically presented emma with a bowl full of fish. Six fish. Two goldfish and two hammerhead looking fish.

truly, emma loved them. She sat around the fish bowl, neck craned towards the ground to get up as close as possible, and watched them flutter around for ages.

Tough somewhat disgruntled from yet another addition to my daily routine (do I not already have enough mouths to feed around here?), I quietly resolved that since emma was so enamored with the fish, I would do my best to keep them around as long as possible.

Who knew how long that would be?

As I was laying in bed last night, I found myself wondering about when and if fish sleep. If they sleep, do they just float, suspended in the air, or do they settle down towards the floor? I was truly curious (and still am, if any readers know the answer. I am just too lazy to look it up on wikipedia.) I also wondered if they fish would get cold in our house, because we turn the heater off in the living room while we sleep. (Each room in our house has its own seperate heat system)

This morning I awoke to the usual morning sounds - emma's pitter-pattering feet and mantha's hungry cry - and stumbled to the kitchen to get emma some milk. I glanced over at the fishbowl, and subconsciously quieted my steps. I had my answer - several of the fish were sleeping, sort of rested against the edge of the bowl, laying peacefully in the water.

I returned to an excited Emma, waiting anxiously for her morning milk. After a while, we returned to the dining room, where the fish bowl was situated. As Josh started studying the fish, I cautioned him, "Shh...some of them are sleeping."

"Uh, yeah, Rachel, " he replied sarcastically. "If that's what you want to call it!"

I looked closer. It was true. One of the fish was dead. His little black body was floating upside down, a crucial fact I had somehow failed to notice on my morning milk run. the other black fish looked perilously close to death as well, but roused as we tapped the bowl.

I dont' know how it happened. Maybe he was weak when we received him. Maybe it was too cold in our living room. Maybe he was self-conscious and Emma's constant perusal of him was just too much. I'm not sure, but one thing is certain: we are not pet people!