A Tale of Two Goldfish

Here's just a little sample of how weird my life has become lately: my kitchen is infested with goldfish.


For a school project (mine, not the munchkins) I am keeping goldfish at a variety of temperatures and measuring the effect on their metabolism. How easy is it to keep four different fishbowls at four different constant temperatures in the same room? Not easy, my friends. The things we do for science. So preparing dinner involves working around a jerry-rigged crockpot/heater and a weird cooling contraption that involves an ice chest I have to refill twice a day. Among other things.


The effect of different temperatures on a goldfish's metabolism is important in a world with a changing climate. Goldfish are fairly typical freshwater fish, the lab rats of the pescine world (is pescine a word? doesn't it make me sound smart either way?) so my results can be used to make broader predictions. I may even get it published in a real scientific journal, or at least a homeschooling magazine. Not bad for a housewife!


This is one of two weeks before finals. After finals, I plan to:

• nurture my garden beyond it's current neglected state
• finish sewing two skirts for my oldest daughter.
• reconnect with neglected family and friends.
• revamp my website (http://www.sagemommy.com/) and, yes, this includes doing something with the nine months old daily freebies page. It's nice to know you all are still looking.
• work on getting some real publishing credits and not just the usual copy. If you would like a parenting or green living article written by the ever-opinionated, ever-interesting Emily Marshall, email me at shastamarshalls@sbcglobal.net . And I'll get that email because I am going to:
• clean out my inbox, which has like 10,000+ messages. I wish that was an exaggeration.

See you all in two weeks!