welcome home

hello, blogosphere... i'm back! if i had a nickel for every time during lent that i wanted to blog something, i'd at least have enough for a soda from the vending machine! i really ought to have kept a list of all the interesting things that happened, but i didn't... so let's start off with the most recent events, and if anything from the past couple months occurs to me, i'll throw it in. :)

sadly, colonel reverend doctor captain chips - our 6 year old "just won't frickin' die" goldfish - finally gave up the ghost, and went to the big goldfish bowl in the sky. honestly, i can't say that i'll miss him. after the mourning period had passed (roughly 2 minutes), a passionate argument for our need to replace him with some african dwarf frogs was put forth by meg, who had experienced their glories in her classroom this year. so, gamely, vincent loaded The Girls into his car and headed off to the pet store to get a couple of frogs.

an hour later, i got a call from vinny telling me to meet them in the driveway. i'm sure you can tell where this is going. cautiously, i stepped out on the porch, and as they pulled up, his head poked out the window and he said, "we got a replacement for chips... but i don't think it'll fit in the bowl!" 3 joyous faces beamed out of the car at me as i opened the cardboard box proffered me from the backseat. and inside said box? a rat. not a small one, either.

truth be told, though, i have a soft spot for living things of all kinds. and the rat is surprisingly cute! his name is 'pippin le bref', after a 17th century king of france, because he sort of has a fleur de lis shaped marking on his back. i have already developed a shocking fondness for pip, as we call him. at least you can pick him and pet him... that's a lot more than you can say about a goldfish!