The Big Freeze

Tomorrow, we plan on leaving for our midnight race into the new year. We will overnight near the race, so we won't be back until Saturday. With temps around 15 degrees, it will be slightly chilly, and perhaps even a bit miserable.

However, we will not be deterred.

Maybe we should be, but we will not.

This is Bonnie's third race and Clyde's first. I am really going to enjoy watching The Clyde run this race with his Dad. He has even asked to go out a few times and practice. And, he's done very well on his practice runs, which has totally shocked me. He usually gets annoyed with me if we walk too far, so I didn't imagine he would be much into running a mile.

But, he's been running just fine this week, and I am sure he will run well tomorrow night.

Fireworks will go off at midnight during the run - which the kids will love, and hopefully both of them will receive finisher's medals. There's going to be inflatables for them to jump in while I finish my race, since it kicks off a little later. If its warm enough, that will be very fun for them. If not, I expect Brian and the kids will be waiting for me to finish in the nice, warm truck.

My personal goal is to run three half-marathons this year. My first one isn't until May, so how I handle that one will greatly impact whether or not I complete the other two. However, I feel travel to these races is a good excuse to get out and see parts of the country that I wouldn't see otherwise. So, hopefully I'll keep the training up throughout the year, and we can have some good road trips as a family.

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Croquetas

This week has been great. I've been off from work this week (can you tell from my posts about sitting in a chair?), and so has Brian. This whole tag-team parenting thing is so nice.

For example, today the kids came running into the kitchen from outside.

"Mommy, there is a thpider in the playhouthe!!" (Translation: There is a spider in the playhouse. Clyde is missing his two front teeth)

Normally in this situation, I would have to put on my spider-fighting snowboots, leftover from Alaska, and find at least two cans of Raid to handle.

But, this time? I simply told them that any and all bugs, dead or alive, real or imaginary, are Daddy's territory. I told them I was sorry I could not help them at this time.

"What about anths?" Clyde asked. He always wants to know the specifics of any new rules.

"Ants are in the bug category. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day. Please fill out a comment card on your way out."

Two sets of feet sprinted for the living room, where I heard Brian sigh from the chair, put down his book, and head for the door to made the playhouse safe for children once again.

This is awesome! Nothing like relaxing at home for the week with the family.

So, for my brave family today, I made Croquetas. I had leftover meat from the rib recipe I made earlier this week, so I decided to use it for the Croquetas (inspired from this post). The idea of these is that you can use any meat, any veggies, a few potatoes, and create something new from leftovers. These are really cool - I think I'll experiment with different types of meats and veggies.

Croquetas






















ingredients:
potatoes
leftover vegetables
leftover meat
1 - 2 eggs
cooking oil
bread crumbs

instructions:

First, you want to start by cooking a few potatoes. Once they're cooked, go ahead and mash them up.



















Next, chop up some meat that you have in the fridge.

















Add the meat to the potatoes, along with a veggie of your choice, seasonings of your choice, and whatever else you might want to put in. Today, I chose shredded carrots, simple salt and pepper, and sour cream.


















Add 1 - 2 eggs (depends on how much you're making), and stir together. For this recipe, I used two eggs.

Note: If you begin cooking these and they start to fall apart, add another egg.





















Shape into patties, roll in bread crumbs, and shallow fry in a pan. At this point, I forgot to coat with bread crumbs. Mine turned out fine, but I would really recommend the bread crumbs.

























I set these on paper towels to drain off some of the oil, and served.

They are excellent!



















Enjoy!

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Chair Day

So, I deemed yesterday "Chair Day". In case you've never had a Chair Day, I highly suggest you try it. Chair Day is a day that I stay in my fuzzy purple pajamas, my warm slippers, with a blanket, and watch Food Network all day long in my Laz-E-Boy recliner. Chair Day is sacred, and it is highly important that you don't move from the chair, or else you might start doing housework or something else crazy.

Nope, you have to stay in the chair.

You might wonder, how can I possibly have a Chair Day, when I have two children at home? Well, let me tell you, my friends, the beauty of having an 8 -year old. She knows how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! And not only that - she can get a corn dog out of the freezer, push one minute on the microwave, and have herself a corn dog for lunch. And, she loves to do this for herself, and she even makes one for her brother.

All without me leaving my chair.

So, that's what I did yesterday. Except, that, according to my half-marathon training schedule, yesterday was a run day for me.

And, that totally disrupted Chair day. It was contradictory to the idea of not leaving my chair.

I struggled with it until noon. I argued with myself that I can't have a run day while having a Chair Day. It would be ridiculous. Un-American, even.

But then, I started thinking about the chocolate cookies in the kitchen, and how I could have more of them if I went for a run. And that would make Chair Day even better.

I still was not convinced, so I went upstairs and put on my running gear. See, this is a trick I use with myself sometimes. If I walk around in my running gear, I will eventually, actually, RUN. Because I will feel weird wearing running gear all day long and sitting in a chair.

But anyways, after sitting in my chair watching Paula Deen in my running gear for an hour, the guilt got to me, and I laced up my sneakers for a quick 4-miler.

And, I wish I could tell you that it was a beautiful, amazing run, and I felt a million times better after I did it.

But, the truth was that I had a bad run. I felt sick the first two miles - probably due to the cookies I had already eaten. I decided to slow everything down quite a bit, since I wasn't feeling well, and snap a few pictures.


























































After slowing down, I felt the nausea subside, and I was able to run comfortably at a slower pace. In fact, before I knew it, I had finished my mileage, and I was ready to go home.

And, can you guess what I did when I got home?

Yes, of course. I immediately showered, put my pajamas back on at 3 p.m , returned to The Chair and flipped the TV back to Food Network. I only paused to get up and get my cookies.

It was the best Chair Day ever. And, I totally earned it.

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Running Into The New Year

Now that Christmas is over, we are looking forward to the new year.

We decided to sign up for a run that begins at 11:45 on New Year's Eve, and will allow us to run into the new year. There will be champagne on the course for the adults, and cider for the kiddos. I anticipate that it will be freezing, but if I have enough champagne, I probably won't mind. So, that's my game plan. Drink enough champagne to keep me warm, but not enough to make me puke.

Classy.

I am going to run a 5K, and Brian and the kids are going to do a one-mile fun run. I am concerned about the temperatures being so cold for the kids, but they are begging to race, so we relented and are planning to double layer the two of them in preparation.

This will be Clyde's first run. Bonnie has run several so far, but Clyde has never expressed interest in running. In fact, he has expressed dis-interest, telling me a few weeks ago, "Mom, I would like to do a different race. One with cars, where we can see which car is the fastest. That way I wouldn't have to run and I could drive a car very fast."

That was his attitude, until he saw Bonnie come home with her finisher's medals. Now, she is very proud of her medals, with good reason. And, Clyde just can't stand that she is walking around with medals around her neck and he doesn't have any.




In fact, he's so bothered by it that he has asked to run this race.

The Clyde.

Who hates to run.

Who sits in a lawn chair and watches his DVD player while everyone else runs.

The Clyde is running a mile on Friday night in frigid temperatures.

You can bet Mama will have her camera.

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Mixed Grill with Sweet and Spicy Bourbon Sauce

Did I tell you that I have a freezer full of pork? I am not exaggerating. My in-laws slaughtered a pig a while back, and I have a wonderful supply of all pork products. I have bacon. I have pork chops. I have ground pork. I have a package called "skins" that I refuse to open. I even have ribs. Oh, and the hams. I have hams and hams.

As a result, I have been trying to figure out creative ways to cook different pork recipes.

And, one of my many new year's resolutions is to cook more. Well, let's be honest. To cook at all, period. Hence, the cooking posts on this site lately.

Anyways, I ran across this recipe in Bon Appetit magazine, and I had to try it.

You are probably thinking, Wow, she is so sophisticated. She reads Bon Appetit magazine.

You are right. I am sophisticated.

I modified this recipe for what I had in the freezer, but the original bon appetit recipe is here.

You will need an afternoon (no I am not kidding, this takes about four hours), and the following ingredients:

marinade:

• 1 1/4 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
• 18 garlic cloves, peeled, pressed
• 1/2 cup mile-flavored (light) molasses
• 3/4 cup soy sauce (do not use low sodium)
• 6 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons chopped peeled fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon (or more) hot chili sauce
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 9 green onions, chopped
  

meats

• 1 rack of pork spare ribs
• 2 tablespoons of bourbon
• nonstick cooking spray

preparation:

Place sugar, next 8 ingredients, and 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly gorund black pepper in large bowl. Whisk until salt dissolves. Mix in green onions.

This is a lot of garlic. Everything will smell like garlic. Your hands. Your kitchen. But, trust me, its worth it.

I prefer to use a zester for the ginger instead of chopping it. Because, if you get a bite of ginger, you really know you've just had a bite of ginger. So, I zest it instead until it looks like this:

Here's a look at the marinade before adding the green onions:

Lots and lots of garlic. YUM.

Sprinkle ribs on all sides very lightly with coarse salt and pepper. Let them stand for 30 minutes.
















These are a beauty, for sure.

Arrange pork rib racks in single layer in a 9 x 13 pan. Pour 1 cup marinade over the ribs. Marinate 1 hour at room temperature. Cover, chill, and reserve remaining marinade for grilling.

Position 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 350°F. Cover pork ribs pans tightly with foil. Place pork on lower rack. Bake pork until tender, about 2 hours. Then, reduce heat to 225 and bake for another 50 minutes. Remove from oven; open foil.

This smells really good. And, if you are like me, you want to take a taste test just to make sure its going to taste okay. I love how the ends of the ribs stick out after they come out of the oven.

Now, remove the ribs from the pan and pour the pan juices from the ribs into a medium saucepan.

Admire your work and have yourself a Food Network moment.

Pour pan juices into medium saucepan. Spoon off fat and add bourbon. Boil until reduced to 1 1/2 cups sauce, 15 to 20 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and more hot chili sauce, if desired. Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Rewarm before serving.

Coat grill racks with nonstick spray and prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush all meat with some of reserved marinade. Grill pork until slightly charred, brushing with more marinade and turning occasionally, 12 to 15 minutes.
















If you have an indoor grill, they really come in handy for these kinds of recipes. I received mine as a wedding gift nearly 13 years ago, and I still use it regularly. They're not that expensive, and they save frostbite in the winter!

Yes, we get frostbite in Oklahoma.

Seriously.

Mound pork on platter. Pass bourbon sauce alongside.

I served this with steamed rice, since the meat was already really heavy. It was hit, even with the kids. (And, no, I didn't give them the bourbon sauce. Although, there are days when I would have been tempted.)

Enjoy!

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The Magician's Nephew

Did you get everything you want for Christmas? I have to give my hubby credit this year. He surprised me completely and got me a Kindle. Now, I am one who is constantly reading, so I was ecstatic over this gift. If I am not reading online, I am reading a magazine or a book. I rarely watch television, as I'd rather read the news instead of watch it. The Kindle is ideal, because I can have all of my books in progress with me, in one little device.

I heart my Kindle.

As many of you know, my daughter is legally blind. She has rod/cone dystrophy, so her sight is largely dependent upon the lighting in a room. She can read words that are larger than 16 point font, but its not coming easily to her. She is in second grade now, so the reading at school is ramping up. Along with the sight issues that are with reading, she is struggling with the overall concepts of sentence structure, etc. This is expected, as English is truly her second language, unlike my son.

I am trying to find a way to get her to enjoy reading. Or at least spark an interest.

When Brian gave me the Kindle, I decided to share it with her. I was inspired by my 4th grade teacher, who read to our class, Where The Red Fern Grows. I can remember that experience setting off a fire in me to read like I've never known. I was on the edge of my seat every day, wanting to know what happened next. I contemplated checking the book out from the library, so I didn't have to wait for the daily readings. I still remember our teacher weeping with us at the end Where The Red Fern Grows, an experience that bonded our entire 4th grade class.

We read all of the time with Bonnie, but it is with books she brings home from school as homework. Small, educational books, that have words at her reading level. I want to read to her, take away the struggle of sounding out words, and let her feel what its like to be enthralled by a story like I was.

So, and for the past two nights, we have been reading The Magician's Nephew, the first book in C.S. Lewis' series The Chronicles of Narnia. I wasn't sure how she would respond. Would she be completely bored? Would she dread reading time with me until she could return to playtime? I didn't want to force her into reading and cause her distaste for it to worsen.

But, I have been totally shocked by her response. She is enthralled by the book so far, and has been begging to read more of it throughout the day.

Thank you, C.S. Lewis, for your incredible descriptions and your talent for capturing a child's imagination. And, thank you, my 4th grade teacher, who taught me what how to really feel a book.

Anyway, if Bonnie's interest holds, my plan is to see The Chronicles of Narnia movies as we complete the books together.

I hope this ignites a passion for reading in Bonnie. I know I enjoy the time together with her, watching her expressions, remembering the first time I read these same books as a kid. I have forgotten how fun it is to get lost in another world, letting your imagination run wild.

Here's to our great adventure together.

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3 Firemen, 2 Plumbers, and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

So, my Mom is the greatest. She traveled hours to Oklahoma, babysat my kids while I was in Calgary, and cooked. Its like having a live-in nanny that you don't have to pay. And, she will tuck you in at night and rub your feet if you ask nicely.

I was disappointed that I had to return to work on Monday after returning from Canada. I'd planned on taking the week off to spend with Mom, but there was simply too much to do. So, I went off to work on Monday morning.

I was feeling a bit sorry for myself for being in the office, when I received an interesting e-mail from Brian that said the following:

So far this morning, we've needed the fire department and a plumber. Your Mom is having a rough morning.

It was followed by pictures of a smoking burner with flour all over the top of it. I immediately texted back and asked Brian for the whole story.

It turns out that Mom was making mashed potatoes from scratch and she decided to put the potato peelings down the garbage disposal. It would have been fine for a house that wasn't built in the sixties, such as her house. But, that isn't the case with our home. So, it stopped up the plumbing in the kitchen.

While Brian was under the sink working on the plumbing issue, somehow, while Mom was cooking, one of the burners on the stove caught on fire. It was a grease fire that ignited from some grease that had been in the bottom of the burner.

Luckily, Brian was already in the kitchen and grabbed a bag of flour. He kept pouring the flour over the fire until it went out completely. I guess the flames were getting pretty aggressive and it melted some of the plastic on the underside of the microwave above the stove.

At that point, I think Mom was pretty much discouraged about her day in the kitchen.

Brian was able to repair the stove, but we had to call a plumber the next day to handle the
stopped drain.

Mom decided to go to bed early that night.

The plumber was obliging the following day, and he was able to clear the blockage. He told us to make sure we invite Mom back sometime soon, as he appreciated the extra income. Of course, Brian and I found that hilarious.

A few days later, we had Christmas at my aunt's house. For a gift, my mom got a Mother'-in-law kit, complete with a bowl to store potato peelings and flour for the next fire.

All joking aside, we really appreciate all my Mom did for us last week. And we don't want to discourage her cooking whatsoever. So, we have a fire extinguisher now in the kitchen for the next visit. You know, just in case.

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Cookie of the week

My Mom bought me a cookie cookbook a few years ago, and I have been trying to cook one cookie per week out of it. It contains well over a thousand cookie recipes, but with my schedule, one cookie per week is probably the fastest I can get through it.

Lucky for me, I haven't ran into a shortage of taste testers. They are mostly co-workers of Brian, because I have to ship cookies off pretty quickly around here. Or else someone eats them. And I can't say for sure who, because you might think less of me.

Without further ado, this week's cookie of the week is....

Glazed Oatmeal Raisin Coffee Cookies.

















Don't those look excellent?

They taste excellent, too.

I think its because they have a secret ingredient.























Kahlua makes everything better. And, if you don't use it in these cookies, you can also use it in coffee. Or ice cream.

Or heck, just drink it straight from the bottle. While you're cooking. But I wouldn't know anything about that.

You need:

1 1/4 Butter Flavor Crisco Stick
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup coffee flavored liqueur
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 1/2 cups raisins
3/4 cup sliced almonds

Drizzle:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon coffee flavor liqueur
1 teaspoon cold coffee

This makes 4 dozen small cookies.

Directions, along with my helpful additions, in italics:
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

2. For cookies, combine 1 1/4 cups shortening, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well-blended. Beat in egg, 1/4 cup liqueur and vanilla.

At this point, I could not find my Kahlua. I thought I might have left it in the car, so I left the mixer running and looked in my car.

It wasn't there, so I had to come back inside and go through my grocery sacks to find it.

It still wasn't there.

So, I checked the car again. Sure enough, it had rolled under the seat.

I then remembered I had left the mixer running with the shortening, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and egg. Turns out, when you do that, it makes your cookie mixture kind of "puffy". Or "airy".

This is okay, according to my Mom, and you can proceed on if this happens to you too. Or maybe its just me.

3. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and nutmeg. Add gradually to creamed mixture at low speed. Stir in oats, raising and nuts. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet.

I also think you should sample the Kahlua at this point. Just to make sure its okay.

4. Bake at 375 for 9 to 10 minutes. Do not overbake. cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to foil to cook completely.

OK, so here it says Do not overbake. But. If you accidentally overbake, and cook them for like, hypothetically, 12 to 13 minutes, they are still good. They are just not as soft and have some crunch to them.

Now, if you, hypothetically speaking, cook them for 15 minutes or longer, they are a lost cause. Or so I've heard.

Here is a picture of an appropriately cooked cookie after it comes out of the oven.


















If yours don't look like this, don't worry. The first batch is only practice anyways, if you ask me.

5. For drizzle, combine confectioners' sugar, 1 tablespoon liqueur, and coffee in medium bowl. Add additional liquid if needed to make thick drizzle. Stir until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cookies.

I wasn't sure what this meant by "additional liquid", so I assumed it was Kahlua. I added a little bit more, and my glaze looked like this:





















So I just drizzled it over the cookies and they turned out great.

Here's the final product:

















Can you smell them?
















They are divine.

They are also really good with coffee. Or, Kahlua. Or by themselves, for that matter.

Enjoy and have a very Merry Christmas!

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I made it home!

Canada was a lot of fun, but there were times that I thought that I was going to freeze to death walking to the office every morning from the hotel.

Several things I have learned about Canada:

-Tim Horton's coffee is our equivalent of Starbucks. But, I have to tell you - I brought home a can of Tim's coffee, and my family is still raving about it. I think they are onto something here.

They really do say eh.

They say "for sure" instead of yes.

They do not seem to realize how cold it is there.

They are warm, wonderful, well-dressed people.

They take chocolate very seriously. Some of the best chocolate I've ever had, hands down.

They also take steak seriously.

I enjoyed myself tremendously. My only complaint was with our airline. We had a flight delay out of Calgary that lasted 7 hours. We finally departed Calgary, caught a connecting flight into Dallas, and made it back to Tulsa. And wouldn't you know - our luggage didn't come with us.

Once I got home, though, it didn't matter. I have a week off for Christmas to spend with the family.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

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Bookmark

So, I am all sentimental about leaving this week. The kids have been telling me all day that they are going to miss me.

"Mom, its going to be like, six WHOLE days," Bonnie lamented.

And then, in church this morning, the choir sang I'll Be Home For Christmas. I held it together until the next line if only in my dreams. Yep, that was me sobbing in church during the Christmas carols.

This isn't new, I have traveled for my job many times. But, my Mom will be here, and I want to hang around while she's here. And its Christmas-time. And Bonnie is struggling in school. Sigh.

It doesn't help that this project is, by far, the biggest task of my career. In every other job I've had, I've felt certain I will succeed when I have taken it. This one does not have my confidence. It will be a very long week, working every waking hour, to get through this. And, it will continue on through January, with a few days off for Christmas.

Anyways.

Earlier today, I was finding a book to read on the flight to Calgary. I reminded myself to pick up a bookmark at Wal-Mart for the flight. Of course, I forgot while shopping for travel-sized shampoos and mid-flight snacks. I remembered after we got home from Wal-Mart, but there was no way I was returning to stand in line for thirty minutes to buy a bookmark.

Later this evening, during our usual Sunday ritual, Clyde was showing me all of his artwork from school. There were some nice leaves. A Christmas tree. A few math problems. At the end of the stack, he'd cut out some snowflakes. Pretty good for a week's worth of work, and I told him so.

After we'd reviewed all homework/schoolwork, I sent the kids to bed. As I was thumbing through Clyde's pile of artwork, a bookmark fell out between the leaf and the Christmas tree. It had his name on the back, drawn in his kindergarten handwriting, and the words "Ho Ho Ho" in red and green on the front.

I went upstairs and flipped his light on, hoping he wasn't asleep yet.

"Clyde," I told him, "I would like to take this bookmark to Canada with me tomorrow. Do you mind?"

His face lit up.

"Mom, do you think you can show it to your friends?"

"I am sure I can. I bet they will all love my bookmark that you made."

He laid back down in bed and smiled.

"Thanks Mom, for taking it with you."

I turned off his light and told him goodnight once again.

Now, as I type this, the bookmark sits in front of me, ready to be slid into my book.

I know I have to get on the plane tomorrow. I know I'll have to do it a few more times next month. And, I know I'll have to find some determination that doesn't seem to be showing up right about now. But, I'll do it.

And, when things get tough this week? I will have my bookmark.

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Oh Canada

I had a bit of a suprise at work last week and found out that I will be doing quite a bit of travel back and forth to Canada over the next few months.

I am excited about the new opportunity, but I have to admit that I'm not really that excited about the time away from my family. Especially around the holidays.

I fly out tomorrow morning for Calgary, and I fly back on the following Saturday. Thank goodness for my Mom, who is coming down and saving the day for me. Without her, I don't know how we'd manage sometimes.

So, it got me to thinking about how I can stay in touch with the fam while in Calgary. I am planning to Skype in from the hotel room in the evenings, so I don't feel so far away. It wouldn't be such a big deal if it was only one week, but I know I will be gone several weeks in January, As a result, I cannot and will not even try to stop myself from buying all kinds of gifts. I know that its just guilt but I reserve the right to spoil my family anyways.

Today's activities are mostly focused around preparation for my trip.

My packing list includes my long undies, my shearling lined boots, and of course, my warmest gloves. Its a good thing I had an assignment in Alaska - I am totally prepared for this.

The only downside is that Canada doesn't allow you to bring in any fruits or vegetables. I will have to find a market once I get there - I cannot survive without fresh fruit!

As a joke, my group gave me these as a going away gift:























Even though it was a joke, I will be taking these with me. I used them in Alaska all of the time - I even put them in my shoes.

My only concern is that they said if you have traveled to certain countries, you can be detained as you come through customs. Russia is on that list, so I am slightly concerned since I have Russia stamped all over my passport. However, since it was from 2006, I would think its okay. If not, it will make a great blog post.

Canada - here I come. I will post pics from Calgary next week.

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Running Pic

At the Route 66 races

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Fish Gone Awry

Or however you spell awry, I am not sure.

So, Bonnie has been begging for a new pet ever since one of our lab-mixes died a few months ago. I loved that dog a lot, but I am in no hurry to replace her, as the shedding wasn't my favorite thing to deal with. Especially since I am a softie and have to let the dogs into the house, after all.

It seemed like the obvious conclusion was to buy her a couple of goldfish.

Off to Wal-Mart we went, in search of Bonnie's new pets. Brian and I high-fived each other on the way over there, so proud that we'd come up with a pet that requires very little maintenance, no shedding, and does not bark.

Bonnie picked out two fish that she loved.

And, we had a happy ending.

Fast forward to a week ago, when I took a day off of work to relax with Brian. He went to the gym, so I decided to clean Bonnie's fish tank while he was gone.

Easy task, its not like goldfish are very picky about things like water changes.

So, I drained most of the water from the aquarium and refilled an empty trash can from the bathtub. I checked the water temperature to make sure it was close to what was in the tank. It was a little bit warmer, but still within an acceptable range. I poured the new water into the tank.

I congratulated myself on a clean tank and fixed myself a sandwich.

A few hours later, Bonnie came home from school and went up to her room. She came downstairs and said, "Mom, my fish are swimming funny. They are upside down and at the top of the water."

I rushed upstairs and confirmed Bonnie's observation. Those fish were dead as doornails.

"I don't understand," Bonnie stated matter-of-factly, "they were fine this morning when I fed them before school."

I explained to Bonnie that I had cleaned her fish tank and I think something might have happened to her fish. I left out the part where I thought maybe I might have, possibly, somehow overheated them because I put the water in that was too warm.

I came downstairs from Bonnie's room and told Brian the news.

He couldn't hide his amusement. "You killed her fish?", he asked me.

"It was an accident. The word 'killed' implies premeditation."

"How did you kill them?" he asked me.

"I might have put in water that was too warm."

"So you COOKED her fish?"

"I overheated her fish", I corrected him.

I didn't understand what he said next because he was laughing loudly as he said it. All I know is that if I had something to throw at him, I would have done it.

After doing some internet research, it turns out that goldfish respond better to cold water. Who knew?

I feel terrible about killing her new pets, and we are going shopping for more golfish tomorrow morning. Bonnie still hasn't quite put it together that I killed her fish. She keeps saying she can't believe how quickly golfish get old (we explained to her that our dog, Lady, was an aging dog when she died).

This weekend we'll replace the fish. I am sure that Bonnie will love the replacements as much as the originals.

And, from now on? Brian is going to have to clean out the tank.

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