I need to talk to a man about a fish.

I know I have disappeared for awhile. My sister was in town, so I have been in a hole. So much happened “on the outside” that I had no idea. I didn’t know until noon on Wednesday that President Obama was in Costa Mesa (where Chris and I used to live). It was pretty weird thinking of him hanging out at the Orange County Fairgrounds.

Since I work in Long Beach, I thought it would be cool to take Francesca to the Aquarium of the Pacific. It was neat, but we both thought it was more like a small version of Sea World (San Antonio, not San Diego). There was this crazy water snake, though. If you can’t read what the pic says, it is so poisonous that the Aquarium keeps the antivenom on hand at the closest hospital and only two people have the keys to the exhibit. I really don’t think that is a "fun fact."



Anyone who has spent a little too much time with me knows that I have an irrational fear of sharks. I used to live in an area where the nearest shark-infested body of water was a solid 12 hours away. Now, however, I live a mere 2 ½ miles from one. While I realize it is not shark-infested, someone was killed by a shark last year a few miles away. So I would like to think my fear is now a lot less irrational and more cautious. (Nonetheless, my sister and husband think putting on a wet suit (that makes them resemble a seal) and hanging out in the ocean to surf sounds like a good time. While I disagree, Chris’ “dream” death is to be taken out by a shark. Who am I to get between me and his dream?) At the Aquarium, they had sharks. Even though they were little and had no reason to want to maim me, I was uncomfortable. I preferred the cute little otters that resemble a dog more than a shark.

The Aquarium also had stingrays (with their stinger removed) to pet. I had two occasions in which to pet them, but I just couldn’t do it. There were little kids and soccer moms petting them - there was a child not a day over two running around the little stingray aquarium trying to pet as many as possible. Did it embarrass me enough to do it ? No. Finally, Francesca agreed to take a pic of me pretending to do pet one. Even though my hand didn’t actually get in the water, I jumped when one swam by. It’s official – I admit it – I’m a big baby. I also would like to say Francesca didn’t pet them either. She claims she pet one in high school and is therefore exempt from having to do it again. I think she might have been big baby #2.





Some of the other exhibits were really interesting. The octopus was creepy looking. We couldn’t decide which would be more scary to discover in the wild – the octopus or the crab. For such a yummy meal, the crab is not very pretty.