Wednesday, August 25, 2004

Day for Looking Back

Hmmm. Maybe I should have titled this – Don’t eat the mealworms. I just read a cartoon from Baby Blues that brought back memories.

http://www.babyblues.com/Testing/index.php?formname=getstrip&GoToDay=08/24/04

Though it said you have to wait two weeks to see it on-line. It is the one were Zoe shouts “Tadpoles in the Toilet!! Nobody Flush!!”. I should have one that says “Mealworms in the Fridge, nobody eat them.” Though Zoe is a toddler and I was in my 20s when this happened. Image a grown woman, attending college but still living at home. (side note: cheap cheap). I decided to raise Finches. Then I decided to make a business of it. Do I have simple finches? No, I had to have exotic finches that required live food if they are to breed and raise babies.

My Mom, Mamaw, didn’t care and my Dad, Papa, didn’t notice. Which means I went ahead with my plans and purchased some 1 inch mealworms to start feeding them to my exotic finches. For the fishermen out there – these are TINY compared to the ones you buy for fishing. When you get the 5000 mealworms, they are in a container in size and shape similar to tub butter. Similar to the ones Mamaw used to put leftovers inside. Inside the mealworm container is oatmeal or similar substance to give them food and some pinholes in the top of the container for air. But to slow down their growth, you are to put them in the refrigerator. Mind you, they don’t stop moving and eating… they just don’t eat or move as much. Finches don’t like BIG mealworms, they want them when they are still small in size. So into the fridge went the tub of mealworms.

Did I mention Papa didn’t notice what was going on? One morning around 7am, I hear a yell that could have caused the dead to sit up. I walk into the kitchen to see 5000 mealworms all over the kitchen floor. Papa was looking for something to eat, opened the tub and saw that whatever was in it was moving. You can guess the rest. I had a huge clean up job and Papa started asking me about stuff in the fridge. I still feel like ROTFL every time I remember his face.

Another time, he wasn’t there the day one of my finches died and I put in the freezer. I wasn’t going to be able to get to the Vet’s till the next day for the necropsy (fancy word for autopsy for a bird) and the Vet said to freeze it. So I wrapped it in a paper towel, put it in a freezer bag and put it in the freezer. Poor Papa. He got home from work before I did that night. Mamaw said next time I had to label it “Dead Finch” so he wouldn’t open it looking for something to eat. To think I did this stuff as an adult. What do I have to look forward to happening with my own kids??? It certainly keeps life fun.

1 comment:

Bou said...

LOL! Yeah, we are in trouble.

Last time I went home, my Mom had frozen a banana for banana bread. She froze it in pink saran wrap. So there is this big pink banana in their freezer. :) We get a lot of mileage out of that one. It's still there.