New friends...

My last post was a little heavy to say the least, so here is more of a lighthearted note to reassure you....life goes on, we are fine. Sad, but fine and still enjoying this sometimes pretty wild ride.

And this is a special post dedicated to my dear friend Jer, husband to my best best friend Meg, loyal reader, and just all around one of the best, most thoughtful, and fun friends you could ever have (after of course Meg!). Don't worry, our new friends will never replace any of you. We miss all of our nearest and dearest every single day, so to fill the void in your absence we have found a filler....

I am pleased to introduce Chi Chi the fish and Rollo Tony the funny little frog.

So what if we bought them for their love and attention, bribe them with food, and they do nothing to return the affection....I still adore them.

And how exactly did these random little animals end up in our life? We got stranded in the rain and the only place to run for cover was the neighborhood pet store. I wish this store sold puppies, but probably best for all involved, they only sold little aquatic animals. Ten minutes later when the rain stopped, guess who we were going home with?!?!?

Chi Chi is beautiful, but really dumb. He can never find his food. Sadly I don't think he would make it in the wild....so I guess it is a good thing that we adopted him. As for Rollo Tony, I really hated him at first. He wouldn't eat his frog food and just sat at the bottom of the bowl, moping. Who wants to love a pet like that?!?!? Then by some miracle we found the right food for him and he has come alive! Doing flips around the bowl, biting Chi Chi's tail and just being an overall menace....hysterical. I do wish he was fluffy like a puppy, but I have come around.

But now that I have fallen in love with these weird little critters, what are we supposed to do when we move? What does anyone in the FS service do with their pets? Poor Chi Chi and Rollo, I am already shopping them around to people who will be at post longer than us. We have about a year longer to go, but I want to make sure they have a good home to go to because how are we ever going to move with water creatures? And lets face it, they have no idea we even exist, they just need someone to feed them. And honestly, if you couldn't already tell, I am dying for a puppy. But cannot stand the idea of having to put the poor thing in quarantine between posts....it just seems so mean. And some countries won't even let you take a pet....so do you pass, perhaps what could be the post of a lifetime because you can't bring the family pet? But how can you not have a family pet? I guess we will cross that bridge when we get there.

So back living in the moment...don't you love our new friends?!?!?!?