Something's Fishy!

My kid has been pestering me about getting some fish for quite some time. "What's the fun in having fish?" I said, "After all, you have a fuzzy kitty you can pet and love on and a big ol' dog to play chase with and pester. All you can do with a fish is LOOK at it!" After months of debate I finally caved.

Sandy Cheeks is a squirrel from Texas,
but lives in an underwater tree dome in
Bikini Bottom. She wears an astronaut-like
suit since she can't breathe underwater.

So two weeks ago we bought a 10 gallon aquarium. Next we added some black gravel mixed with some neon stones for a splash of color. Then we added some faux plants and air stones for bubbles, and finally we put in some super cool SpongeBob aquarium accessories to fashion our aquarium after one of my kid's favorite shows—SpongeBob Squarepants. Here you can see we have SpongeBob and his pineapple house, his neighbor/co-worker Squidward and his Easter Island moai house, SpongeBob's best friends Patrick and Sandy, and SpongeBob's pet snail, Gary.

And... VOILA! Here is Bikini Bottom* in our dining room!

*Bikini Bottom is the name of the undersea town that SpongeBob lives in.

There's Gary, SpongeBob's pet snail, hiding behind SpongeBob's pineapple house!

Gilley

We conditioned our water and waited a couple of days before adding our fish. Our first inhabitant was a blue and turquoise Crown-tail Betta we named Gil, but we tend to refer to him as his sweetie-pie name, "Gilley", instead.

Then we added some Neon Tetras. We got five of them since this fish likes to school. What better name for them than the "The Furious Five" based on other beloved characters on another of my kid's favorite shows, Kung Fu Panda?

Meet "The Furious Five"—Willie, Silly, Billy, Nilly, and Sarah.

We also added a couple of ghost shrimp. They are very peculiar looking. You can see right through them! In fact, while the one in the image below appears to be pink, it is in fact standing in front of a neon pink pebble. In person, you can see it's stomach pulsing, sending food down to the next station in its digestive tract. The shrimps usually just crawl around the bottom of the tank scavenging and hiding (they're supposed to help keep the tank clean!), but yesterday I watched one of them swim vertically from the bottom of the tank to the top! ...oddly fascinating...

No name ghost shrimp   : (

Lastly, we added some GloFish, but sadly they are messing with the harmony in the tank. There are two of them now (there had been three—Strawberry Shortcake, Orange Blossom, and Lemon Merengue—named after some of my kid's favorite dolls. Regrettably, Orange Blossom went "belly up" the other afternoon.) and all they do is bicker all day long while everyone else just enjoys the tank and gets on with living. So they're going to be evicted—don't worry, I won't flush them. The pet store has a 14-day return policy on fish (dead or alive). Perhaps I'll post an update if we get new occupants!

So while I haven't been doing my OWN home improvements project per say, I have been doing our new fishes' home improvement projects!

So what's the fun in having fish (as you may recall I asked my kid)? I must admit, I do enjoy staring into their tank watching to see what they'll do next. The Betta is especially fun to watch—his tail is so magnificent—and I keep studying the Neon Tetras to see if I can see any imperfections, but I truly can't find a single difference to distinguish one from another! Now that I have the fish fairly settled, maybe I can get back to my own projects!

Living the Dream

A year or so ago I came across a website that really got me excited. It was a website begun by a fellow stay-at-home-mom and DIY'er named Ana White. Long story short, she began building and drawing up building plans of expensive furniture pieces she had admired in popular home decorating catalogs and started a blog on which to share them with fellow DIY'ers like me! In reviewing her site, I found SO MANY projects that I would love to try and build one day—bookcases, headboards, night stands, etc.

Well Sis and her handy husband have been looking around for a nice headboard for one of their guest beds. I told them about one of my favorite finds on the site (Ana's Farmhouse Bed) and he decided to make it for their guest room (I am so jealous!)!

Here sits the pile of lumber that will become the Farmhouse Bed.

I was too busy painting the master bedroom to get pics of Handy Hubs building the headboard and footboard, but here Sis is sanding away on the assembled pieces. I think they turned out pretty good!

That headboard is SO HEAVY!

I caulked some of the gaps where the boards came together.

Time to get the pieces painted up! Big Goonie wanted in on some of the action too, so we let her do some priming.

And... VOILA! Here they are with finish coat painted on them!

Sis will put on a second coat of finish paint before the pieces get moved to the bedroom.

I had to head back home across the mountain before they were moved into the room and can't wait to see them in place! Will post a pic of the finale when it comes!