Mushroom, Potato, and Puddy

Over the weekend Nick and I were at Meijer and I had a fabulous idea. I suggested we both buy each other a gift for under $5 just for fun. We gave ourselves 30 minutes and went our separate ways in the store. I had no idea what to get him but finally decided on a glade plug-in for his new house that he'll be moving into because it currently smells like cat from the previous owner. Even though it wasn't the most exciting 5 dollar present, I was still pretty happy with my purchase because I knew he needed it and would use it.

Well, that was n o t h i n g compared to what he found for me. I knew from the devious smile on his face that it was no glade plug-in. He bought me...two goldfish. The look on my face was probably priceless because I have no idea why he thought I would ever want a fish, let alone two.

Here's a quick recap of my history with goldfish:
My sisters and I had numerous fish growing up and I always liked them just fine. Until...Ross. He was the last fish I ever owned. One day when I was cleaning out his bowl, he flew out of the little net and was just flopping all over the bathroom floor. For whatever reason I froze and all I could do was scream. Luckily my dad heard the commotion and ran upstairs to save Ross. And he did survive. But ever since then I've been a little nervous about the whole fish as pets thing.

Back to the story...

I decided to name the two little guys Mellow and Mushroom after the pizza place Nick and I ate at earlier that day. My two year old nephew was in town and he LOVED them! But instead of calling the white one Mellow, he called him Potato. So Mellow's name was officially changed and they became Mushroom and Potato.

However, this story has a very unhappy ending. I used bottled water in their bowl because I figured it would be safe, but I guess the water wasn't right and they didn't make it through the night. I just feel so awful and guilty and cannot believe I did that. I know I didn't even have them for 24 hours but I actually started to really like them and was excited to have pets again, even if they were fish.

On Sunday Nick took me to the petstore and I decided to get a new fish. I did my research this time and made sure I got the drops that make the water safe and all that good stuff because I really did feel terrible about what happened to Mushroom and Potato. We picked out a pretty blue betta fish.

I asked my nephew what to name the fish and he said, "Puddy." It sounds like pudding except a 'y' instead of the 'ing." Random, I know.

Puddy is alive and kickin and seems to be having as much fun as one can while living in a tiny bowl. So thanks to Nick and my brilliant idea at Meijer, I am a pet owner again, ha!