Broken Marriage Vows

11 years ago, as Cindy and I looked tenderly into each other’s eyes and set the ground-rules that would serve as guideposts to the rest of our lives, there were few disagreements and many whole-hearted agreements.

Well, the honeymoon is now officially over, and I am sad to say that Cindy was the one who caved in on what was one of our core vows. It's sad, really, as she tends to be more hardline on such fundamental issues.

Yes, I wish she would have consulted with me before breaking the vow of ‘No Pets--Not in this life, nor in the next!’

Still, I guess it's not the end of the world, and someday, heaven willing, the remaining goldfish will die--hopefully sooner rather than later.

You see, last night at the church Trunk-or-Treat activity there was a 'Fish Pond' booth, and they were giving out real goldfish. As it was the only event that Cameron would do, Cindy finally gave in (I was running the 'Cupcake Walk' the entire night).

We ended up going home with 1 for each of the 3 older kids, and they chose names on the way home—Sparkle (Cameron), Lisa (Makenna), and [to be inserted later] (Erin) (they all vetoed Cindy's suggestions of 'Flush' and 'Moaning Myrtle,' and Erin was quite offended that we were so callous). Upon arrival, Cindy temporarily put them in a glass vase for the night.

This morning I found one of them belly-up already. I smiled quietly to myself. (I later learned that it was either Sparkle or Erin's fish.)

However, this small smile changed to a frozen rictus of terror at approx. 10 AM when Cindy emailed me a picture of the aquarium kit she was thinking of buying.

Stay tuned for further news about this survivor challenge. Which one will be floated off at the next tribal council? Will one of them be nicknamed Bobber? Will mysterious 'Others' be introduced to the environment as the current group dwindles in number? And will these 'Others' also have a submarine?

On the bright side, the kids can never say that they never had a pet!