the "B" word

Seems the "B" word could be a lot of things of late. Baby shower. Beer emoticons. Birthday dinner. Bears vs. Colts (Go Colts!). Super Bowl. I'm sure there's more. But when I talk about the "B" word these days, it's none of these.

Steven's birthday was on the first. Last night we finally did some real celebrating. (Thursday he opened cards and presents, but nothing terribly celebrational occurred.) He chose to go out to a restaurant we're both fond of this weekend: Black Angus. He had received a birthday coupon via e-mail that entitled him to any birthday steak free that was listed as $17.99 or less on the menu. Score!

And he agreed to a desert with a candle in his honor as long as there was no singing involved. I was elated. I got photo documentation!

I don't know how it came up, but L got on a fish-kick on some point (no, we did not have fish for dinner...) and we decided to drive a couple blocks down from the restaurant to a local pet shop for her to see the fish. What parent's joy isn't their child's joy? Seeing her squeel and squirm with delight over the "fishies" made our night. Then Steven suggested, "Let's get her one."

Okay, I thought to myself. The girl loves fish. It'll float her boat. She's going to be a big sis sharing the attention that used to be all hers soon, and she deserves something special. "A bowl and a fish, that's doable. Great idea!"

What started out as a simplistic fish bowl 'n' fish spiraled into a full-on aquarium production.

"Look at this one!" Steven exclaimed. "You know, if we're going to spend $15 bucks on a fish bowl, why not spend $10 more and get a really nice filtered one. It's better for the fish you know, and you wont' have to clean it as often."

Less cleaning, I think to myself. That's good. Then I got a flashback of my fish Maceo who committed suicide about 7 years ago. He jumped to his dry carpeted death, right out of the fish bowl. "If it will ensure the fish's health I'm all for it," I tell Steven. "I really don't want the fish to die."

Elapsed time. Pacing down the bowl and tank aisle. "But if you're going to shell out $25 dollars for a 2 gallon aquarium system that's mediocre, why not invest $15 dollars more for the really nice all-inclusive 10-gallon aquarium that is of truly outstanding quality?"

Yeah, that's right, we spent $40 damn dollars on a freakin fish bowl. $40 dollars, and that's not including the fish and the food. Alright, I know, it's not a fish bowl. It's an aquarium. And I confess it is really nice.

So what's the "B" word, ladies and gents?

Budget.

And we suck at it. (It was newly implemented at the onset of the new year because, honestly, we're in the hole. We've been in the hole. And the hole scares me.)

But L sure loves her fish.