Our Fish succombs to Evil, and Lindsey Leavitt's book signing: Come hang with me!

Today's crazy. I spent the morning at the salon, cheering on my stylist as she tried to fix my latest hair fryage disaster. Sorry so late. Longer letter later.

Thing 1:
Our fish, Chopie, died. 
(Chopie, in happier times)

Yesterday, Kid C walks past the tank with my sister, when he stops and says -- with instant tears in his eyes, "Chopie's dead."

me calling from the other room: "Don't be silly. Betta fish live for years. You have to work to kill them."

my sister: "Oh yeah, he's totally fine." But behind Kid C's back, she's looking at me and shaking her head, and mouthing the words He's totally not fine.

So I take a look. Chopie's upside down, floating in the center of the tank (not the top... who knew?) and his eyes are literally bugging out of his head.

I shoo Kid C out the door, and tell him everything will be okay. Then I call Sam and order him to grab another Chopie asap.

Sam comes home with this:
Most decidedly, this is not a Chopie lookalike. In fact, it's the opposite of Chopie. 

So, I did what any other mother would do when presented with a learning opportunity. At some point, every kid has to learn about life and death.

I told Kid C that Chopie had a rough day, glimpsed the afterlife, saw a light at the end of the tunnel, and decided against going toward it. Instead, Chopie turned to the dark side. 

He is now known as "Chopester", Chopie's evil alter-ego, much like Angel vs. Angelus.

 Don't worry. I told Kid C that someday, if Chopester works really hard, he just may earn his soul back and return to his original colors.

2. Wanna hang with me?
Tomorrow (Saturday), Lindsey Leavitt is signing books at The King's English at 2:00. I'll be there, as will most of my writer peeps. I met Lindsay in L.A. at the SCBWI conference, and she very much rocks.

Her book PRINCESS FOR HIRE looks fabulous and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy.

So, if you're available, come to the party and find me and say hello. 

Okay, back to the madness. Anyone else's husband turn into a completely different person during March Madness? Sam's coming home early today. He never comes home early. Methinks it hast something to do with 10 grown men trying to put a ball through a hoop.