Do you remember these ducks, Ronda? (Or are they geese, I can never remember) We saw them when I came up for dentist appointments. Now that I see it on here, it shrank so much that you can not see the part on which I had focused. Sorry for anyone that may feel a bit jipped on that.
Author: Marcia
Quiz 50
This is a piece of a bigger picture. I welcome one and all to guess at what it is. In one week I’ll give the answer, and post a new one. Good luck and may the guessing begin.
Esta es una parte de la foto grande. Hay que adivinar lo que es. En una semana regreso con la respuesta y otra foto. ¡Suerte!
Edit June 2nd: I have decided to leave the quiz up for another week, so people can have a chance to guess, like Ronda who just had a baby and was unavailable last week for commentary.
One Month Ago
Cher had 71 babies. 53 are surviving as far as I know. That is how many babies there were when I let them out of the confining smaller floating tanks into the big tank to “swim free”. I have been checking the filter to make sure no babies have been sucked up, and I have not found any in there yet. I also have not seen Sonny or Cher eating any of the babies, so I can only assume that there are still 53 babies in the tank. I also have not found any dead ones. The babies are growing pretty well, and swim out there with mom and dad.
I finally returned to the project of putting the birthing video together. This is only a few of the babies coming out. Some are born faster and some go slower, I guess it just depends on the size of the baby fish. In part of the video we can see dad hanging around trying to get to the tasty little fry.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IwjSXejMN8[/youtube]
By the way, Cher is pregnant again. I can see little baby eyes in her, and guessing on the size they are and how big she is not compared to last month, I do not think she will be having 71 this time. Good for her.
Update May 19th: I woke up this morning and she had her babies, there were 8 of them and I think only 5 will make it. So, now is the chance for anyone to speak up if their little one wants to name a baby fish. Noah, what do you think?
I Still Call It A Flower
Quiz 49
This is a piece of a bigger picture. I welcome one and all to guess at what it is. In one week I’ll give the answer, and post a new one. Good luck and may the guessing begin.
Esta es una parte de la foto grande. Hay que adivinar lo que es. En una semana regreso con la respuesta y otra foto. ¡Suerte!
A Nasty DVD
A few weeks ago Jacob received an advertisement in the mail in the form of a DVD. The print on the package indicated that it would not be appropriate to watch. He said that I could put it in the microwave and see what happens, but upon research we decided we didn’t want to risk the safety of our microwave. We turned the oven on to 550 degrees and put the disc in, and all that ever happened in the conventional oven is that it got soft and became pliable. No cool shattering that would have been likely in the microwave. Too bad. However this is a picture of the disc right as it came out of the oven after 20 minutes or so.
In February I Was Tagged
By Shaunita. Now, 3 months later, I am getting around to filling it out.
Tag…
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves
C. At the end of the post, the player tags 4 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they are tagged
10 years ago I was: Rehearsing for Carnegie Hall under the direction of John Leavitt.
5 things on my ‘to do’ list today:
1. Mow the yard
2. Wash some dishes
3. Girl’s
4. Kick this cough
5. Walk at least 5 miles
Things I would do if I became a billionaire:
1. Pay off student loans
2. Buy or build a nice house
3. Buy a Mini Cooper ZIG and/or an Isetta and/or a Smart Car I would take any of these in red and white
4. Spend lots of money at The Container Store and The Viking Store
5. Have babies
3 of my bad habits:
1. Obsessive-compulsiveness
2. Impatience- I get frustrated too easily, especially with inanimate objects
3. Thinking logically
5 places I’ve lived:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
5 jobs I’ve had:
1. Television/Video Production
2.
3.
4.
5.
Things most people don’t know about me:
1. My bellybutton is off-center
2. I can learn to do almost anything if I can see it
3. I have moved more times than years I am old
You’ve been tagged:
1. Ronda
2. Rick
3. Jessie
4. Fiona
By the way, guys, don’t feel like you have to do the tag today, cause it took me 3 months to do it.
A Diamond Is A Piece Of Coal That Stuck With The Job
So this morning was pretty exciting for us. We got up (not the exciting part) and we were reading and talking (still not the exciting part) when Jacob looked at the fish tank (now for the excitement).
Last night when we went to bed this is what Cher looked like (Sonny is in the background). The dark spots on her belly are the babies inside her, more specifically their eyes. Poor girl, her belly used to be as flat as Sonny’s.
When I got up this morning and turned on the fish light, I didn’t really look at the breeding tank (I got used to the disappointment of there not being babies in the tank) but I thought there was “too much food at the bottom of the tank, perhaps she wasn’t hungry last night.” So, when Jacob told me there were some babies in the tank it made sense to me, I wasn’t seeing food at the bottom, it was babies! when we first looked there were 18 babies in there. We set up the video camera (video coming soon of some fry birthing), and made breakfast.
After at least six and a half hours of delivery she pushed out 71 fry (baby fish). One died right away and three were not fully formed, so there were 67 moving around. I put Cher in the big tank again and she was happy. After two hours of the fry being alone in the floating tank, there are 51 still in there. The other 16 must have been small enough to swim out the side slits and decided to become lunch for some bigger fish (aka mom and dad).
About a week and a half ago I put Cher in the birthing tank thinking she was ready to pop. This was her first school of fry, so I was not sure when she got pregnant; they gestate for about 4 weeks. This was based on her size and I was thinking she had about 35-45 babies in her. My last fish that had 34 babies was the size Cher was a week or two ago. Now that I know she had twice as many in her I realize that she just was bigger because she had so many more fry to house. She did a good job and is swimming around happy and free. I expect that in about 4-5 weeks we will see more fry in the tank.
It is amazing that Cher had that much room in her body to store 71 babies for so long. Think that over Ronda, Camara, Fiona, Brittany, Theresa, Karen, Mindy (and anyone else who might read this who has multiples. Aren’t we glad we are not fish? I know I am.
Side note: Mallory helped me pick out fish and she named Sonny and Cher, Skyler named the snail Cat and the algae eater Dog, so I only thought it right that Gavyn get to name the boy fry his choice after seeing pictures of them, Yellows. I told Ronda to ask Gretchyn and Geneva what they think would be a good name for the girl fry, it appears Gretchyn didn’t have and opinion, and Geneva said Hammer. So there you have it, we have some little Yellowses and Hammers in our tank. When they are big enough to see which ones are boys and which are girls I will let you know the numbers.
Just so you know, Cat has been trying to climb into the fry tank, so they have a lid to keep them safe.
If anyone else out there has little ones (I know Mallory you are not a little one) that want to name my pets, you have four weeks or so to work on submitting names for the next batch of fry.
Love & Compassion
I was working at the preschool today, and there are stories to come later about that. When I got home and looked at my inbox, I learned that a very dear man passed away yesterday morning. His name is John Hadfield. He was my first Mission President. Most of you don’t know him, so let me take a stroll down memory lane.
When I arrived in Chile, he greeted me with a smile and a handshake, and his lovely wife took me in as if I were her daughter. The first place we went after the airport was the big hill with the huge statue of the Virgin Mary. There was a beautiful view as we could see Santiago from up there. He gave us some loving words up there and we headed to the mission home to prepare to meet our companions. Elders upstairs, Hermanas downstairs for showers and naps. I insisted I was not tired, and the Hermana told me I would be, and to take advantage of it, as it would be my last opportunity for 18 months. I had no idea just how true that was at the time. They told us they love us and sent us off with our trainers.
Three months later, less than a week with my second companion, and I had an accident. Carbon monoxide poisoning put me in the hospital. (At some future point I will write more about that.) I was in and out of conciousness, but the first face I saw that I knew, was Presidente. It was a scary time for me, I did not understand what was going on or really even where I was, but I saw Presidente and Hermana, and the love and hope I saw on their faces gave me strength. They brought me three roses when I was recovering. I kept the roses have and dried them and have them laminated in my album as a special reminder.
Almost two months later Presidente called me to let me know that my Grandpa had passed away (and some other bad news). He had me come into the office and gave me a blessing and told me to call my family. The compassion he had for me and my family was immense.
A couple weeks later we had our final Mission Conference with Presidente and Hermana Hadfield. They had served a beautiful mission with us. And we all love them dearly. As his final act of love for his missionaires, Presidente shined our shoes and gave us each a blessing and a hug. I will always look up to him and the memories I have of him and Hermana.
Living in the Midwest doesn’t really give me many opportunities to see people from the mission. However one day when I was at the Nauvoo Temple, I turned a corner, and what do you know but Presidente and Hermana were there. It was a delightful surprise. They called me by my name and gave me a huge abrazo. A year had passed since I had returned home, (and at least two since they had returned), and it was as if time had not changed anything. The love we shared in Chile is the same love we shared in 2003 and it is the same tomorrow (if not stronger). That was the first time I had run into anybody from the mission and since then I have only had the fortune of seeing one companion, Kathie (Slade) Longmore (in person-so if anyone else wants to come and get a tour of Nauvoo, let me know).
Quiz 48
This is a piece of a bigger picture. I welcome one and all to guess at what it is. In one week I’ll give the answer, and post a new one. Good luck and may the guessing begin.
Esta es una parte de la foto grande. Hay que adivinar lo que es. En una semana regreso con la respuesta y otra foto. ¡Suerte!