CrossingRhodes Adventures: The Gift that Gives off Light??

Thursday, February 14, 2008

The Gift that Gives off Light?? - GloFish

What mother wouldn't love to get a Glo Fish ecosystem for Valentine's Day??? Yes, only a gift that a mother could love. At least the mother of an animal/fish loving boy like B!!!

So what is it exactly that I got? I got a partially self sustaining ecosystem. Inside my ecosytem there lives 2 GloFish, a snail, a plant and a ghost shrimp. Plus a lovely, self made Valentine that described my gift. Below are the pictures of my actual ecosystem:

The fish are circled below.

So inside this styrofoam cube is an almost complete ecosystem for the 2 fish. The snail and ghost shrimp will do all the cleaning, the plant will provide the necessary oxygen, and all I need to do is feed the fish every other day. Simple and a very unique table center piece! (wonder what our realtor will think of this on the kitchen table?!) B definately gets credit for the most unique Valentine gift that I recieved.

Here is what my Valentine said (and below what it looked like):

"To: Mom, This present is a partially self sustaining ecosystem. It also shows our realtionship and our future. The fish are us; they are pink to show our love betwen each other. The plant is our house that shelters us from the weather. The snail is the garbage man and sewer system. The shrimp is the doctor and the dentist. The open water is opportunities awaiting us. From: B"

B says the opportunities are about selling our house. I've decided to name the two fish after us. They are Learning and Example. Can you guess which of these is who???

These fish were originally just plain Zebra Danios. But some scientist had the bright idea to genetically modify a zebra danio, and the result was GloFish - which come in three colors: red, green and orange. Now that was thinking - danios sell for .99 each, and GloFish sell for $5 each. Not a bad way to make a profit from genetic modification. That's not exactly why they were made fluorescent, but it sounds good, right?! Actually they were bred this way to be used in contaiminated waterways and the fluorescence made them easy for researchers to see. Then they became popular in the tropical fish markets.

Hope you are loved as much as I am, and that someone showed you!!! And I wasn't the only one who got treats today. I ordered B a heart shaped pizza for lunch with pepperoni and black olives (his favorite) and he got a small bag of Valentine treat candy. He probably would have preferred a live animal, but I wasn't that creative :) Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Oh, and an update on my live Christmas present. Remember my pink pea puffers? I'm happy to say that I still have 3 out of 4 alive. Thankfully, B takes very good care of them for me.

2 comments:

lifejourneys2 said...: M and I thought B's note was very sweet.

(And we are learning so much from the both of you! If you add more danios, we want to be Learning Thing 1, and Learning Thing 2 in your ecosystem).

Happy Valentine's Day to you, T and B!!!; February 14, 2008 at 5:49 PM
lifejourneys2 said...: Oh... I forgot to add that we were wondering what aquatic animals you will be getting for St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day.... ;-D; February 15, 2008 at 10:43 AM

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New Adventures!

2011 CHANGES - again, life keeps changing. I moved from a marketing job into a full time job as the school principal (just finished my first year). B dropped out of WTMC (yes, I did say dropped out), spent several months not in school (weak attempt at justifying homeschooling) and then enrolled at Clonlara (where hopefully he will graduate from 6/2012). My divorce is final. I am single. I'm am excited and scared. Life it not without bumps, but we get over them - sometime not unscathed - but we get over them!

2010 CHANGES - Many changes, which gives me a host of new topics to blog about! I returned to work in a professional career (more info to come). B has made it through the first year at WTMC - not without some bumps, but overall he did fairly well. And now, B and I live as a family of two. Many changes indeed.

This fall, 2009, B started a dual enrolled program for high school students at our local community college. The program is called Washtenaw Technical Middle College (WTMC) and he goes to the Washtenaw Community College campus (WCC). Watch the blog posts of more details. www.themiddlecollege.org

This has been a big adjustment for both of us!!! We are proud of B's willingness to undertake this program.

Relocating is an Adventure too!

7/7/2010 UPDATE - Well B and I made it through the winter, spring and we're back into summer - all while living at the cottage. For now, that is where we are going to stay. B has a little less than 2 years in his current school program - and if possible we are going to try to stay at the lake. It still means driving to AA 6 days a week - but I've traded my truck in for a small, fuel efficient car (which I hate, miss my truck). For now the cottage is HOME!

9/16/09 - B and I are still living at the cottage (which is normally where we spend our summers). It is our intent to stay there, at least for now. It means 2 hrs a day, 6 days a week, in the car going to and from AA (work and school). But we are safe and comfortable. Time, and probably the winter weather, will tell if we can stay in this location long term. If it does work out, we'll probably end up living at the lake house until B is done with the WTMC program - which will be 5/12.

As of 05/18/09 - DONE DEAL. All stuff moved out, closing done, check cashed, Dexter chapter closed. We are now homeless!

As of 5/09 - the Dexter house is empty and I have reveiwed the closing papers. As long as the buyer comes to the table on closing day, it's a done deal! Long time coming, for sure. Relief is felt, for sure.

As of 04/09 - we have an offer pending on the Dexter house. Deal is moving SUPER S L O W. Frustrating to both B and I. Fingers crossed we will soon know if we should be moving/storing our junk or not. Then it's off to the cottage for the 2 of us. No decisions on our next living location - we'll worry about that in August. Need a break from those thoughts!

As of now 10/08 - the house in Dexter still has not sold, so B and I are still living there. T is still in Champaign. It seems with the current market, it's going to be awhile. Given that - our options for relocation are wide open. There has been talk of B and I not moving to IL, but staying in MI while B finished high school. There has also been crazy talk about B and I moving to Hawaii to establish residency for college - not a bad choice in terms of environment the teacher says! TIME will tell in all of this.

Old Info - We are moving from Dexter, MI to Champaign/Urbana, IL. T is already living and working in IL. B and I are waiting for the house in Dexter to sell.

CrossingRhodes Adventures

Thursday, February 14, 2008

The Gift that Gives off Light?? - GloFish

2 comments:

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