My bf had two heater malfunctions : the first left his dinner plate-size discus frozen solid in the winter. The second cooked his most favorite catfish collection. He was most upset about his 8 year old feather fin catfish. Several months later I got him $100 worth of African cichlids as a surprise..not the best idea since his tank wasn't ready for them and they all died :( When I was young I had a plecostomus that started to creep me out the bigger it got. It had a crooked face, bulging/bug eyes, and would chase you as you walked by the tank. Worse: It started to jump out of the water and bark!!! I was ready to give it away, then one morning, although we have a hood, my brother found it dried up on the living room floor, several feet away from the tank. He decided to flush it down the toilet, which resulted in us having to call the plumbers. My kids crashed my tank of platies that were gifted to me. The gal had them for 13 years (highly inbred but she loved them, so I loved them). I saved about 7 out of 40+. The kids had accidentally dropped a stuffed animal in there when the lid was partially opened, I think whatever beans/beads were in the stuffed animal leached harmful chemicals into the tank because they died so quickly. Lastly, I had an upside down catfish that I really loved, he was shy at first but became so fun to watch. One day he disappeared without a trace. No body, no bones, nothing. I looked under decor, sifted through gravel, and gave up not knowing what had happened. Six months later, I decide to take out my under-gravel filter, and something sharp poked me. There he was!!! Alive and swimming. I'm not sure how he got down there, and I don't use the undergravel filters anymore :)

When I was little, I remember getting a big book of stories that I just loved. And I hated reading. What I loved about it was, it was a big book, probably 8" x 12" and an inch thick and filled with about 100 short stories. I didn't have to read it cover to cover. I could pick and choose which stories I wanted to read. I ended up reading the whole book many times. But to read a book with one story cover to cover took me until grade nine. "The Outsiders" by S. E. Hinton. I read it a dozen times over the years and watched the movie several times. It wasn't until I was in my 20's that I read another book and then became a bookworm with V. C. Andrews "Flowers In The Attic". Since the internet though, I've only read one book cover to cover. In TEN years! I'm working on book #2 right now. "The Iceman: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer" by Philip Carlo. It's a true story. Right now he's 26 and has killed about 65 people. Only 2 were for the mafia so far. The guy had some serious mental problems. But with a father like he had, it's no wonder. You have to read it. It's good. LOL I didn't watch the video posted. But I can well imagine what his reaction was. I was disappointed in my storybook too. But I did eventually read it all.

Lukki, such a great idea for a post - thank you! This post got me to finally set up a Flickr account to be able to post pics, somethinhg I've meant to do for a long time. So, here's my motley crew, who keep my life interesting, oh-so-busy and never, ever a 'normal day'. The matriarch is a Siamese mix, Annie, who at 20 years is still going strong, despite failing eyesight and being nearly stone deaf. I've had her since she adopted us at about 6 weeks old. My beloved Chow Chih Nu, who lost her battle with lymphoma cancer at 13 (one of the hardest times of my life) - 2 years later and I still miss her every day. She was a treasured member of the family for 13 years. In memory of Chih Nu, a year ago we adopted Tuscon, a BMC, rescued from the kill list from a high kill shelter - this is her at 4 mos, curled up in a cat bed. And a recent picture of her at 14 mos., in a rare calm moment (she's a tremendously high energy girl!) So high energy, in fact, we decided she needed a 'sister' to romp with, so a couple of months ago we adopted 4 mos old Sierra, a Chow pup. This is her doing her impersonation of a calm puppy - trust me, it's just an act! These two have to qualify as the world's worst garden dogs - it's amazing the damage they've done to my garden while romping at full speed! But, hey - they're also sweet, loving and true clowns that make me laugh daily, so I look at it this way - now there's no reason to not hire out the mulching, because there's nothing the yard guys can do to my plants that these two haven't already done! And then there's my Yellow Naped Amazon, Coqui - he's at the very center of the universe, just ask him and he'll confirm it! He's 10 years old now, and I've had him since he was 6 mos old - he really, truly does think he's in charge, and is often heard telling the pups to 'stop, stop' when they're barking or romping in the family room. The final furred/feathered member of the family is Aradia, my 16 year old Persian mix. It's impossible to take a good picture of her because she walks right up to the lens, even of a phone. She's been battling hyperthroidism for the past 2 years, and even with twice daily doses of thyroid meds has dropped from 16 lbs down to about 4.5 lbs. Think of the "Grisabella, the Glamour Cat' song from Cats and that's a good description of my poor Rady-girl. She knows she's still beautiful, and so do we. So, that's my merry band of hooligans - the Koi don't count in this because they stay nicely in their ponds and are only demanding at feeding time. :-)

Thanks for all your hard work Karen! Can't wait to read it in its entirety. Jodi-