The fish are still here.

March Break is officially over.
   The nieces left a few days ago. I can tell because the cats re-emerged from hiding. At first they wandered the entire house searching out every corner for fear one was simple lurking behind, ready to pounce on them. And once the cats figured out that their home turf was free of screaming three foot tall fans - they celebrated. For more than an hour the two of them chased each other, their own, tails, anything they could find throughout the house; careening off the sides of walls, leaping over each other or launching themselves from the tops of furniture or people unfortunate enough to try taking a nap. Eventually even kitten energy runs down and they returned to hanging out in my room - just on top of the bed instead of under it.
   The dog looks decidedly calmer. But I figure he is missing the attention. If nothing else the little girls spent a lot of time with him, patting him, brushing him, admiring him. His love of being loved was evident. However even the dog can have too much of a good thing and towards the end of the visit, there were yelps and an occasional growl. I rescued him with a treat and an hour on the deck. Normally he hates being outside by himself but the weather was turning nicer and the sunlight and peacefulness enough to placate him.
   But the fish are still here. They are class room fish. Creatures purchased by teachers everywhere to help instill responsibility and confidence and empathy into their young charges. However there comes that point when the class finishes and the fish need new homes. Since it had been Arthur's idea to get the fish in the first place - I was pretty certain they'd eventually end up here - but June is still a ways off - and yet there are now fish in my home. Arthur's teacher suggested the day before the break started -that perhaps the fish might not return to school - but I reminded her we'd be away for two weeks and the fish would need care. She reluctantly agreed to let them return. But now Arthur wants to clean their tank at school - so the fish stayed home with me today while my son spends his recess doing his version of spring cleaning. Great.
   As for the rest of my time - I have a grand total of three days off before my husband's parent arrive for their visit. And that usually means getting the house clean - so I of course took it just a tad further. And as I write this there are polyfiller patches on the walls where the pictures used to hang and all the furniture is in the center of the room so that the walls can be painted! Oh joy. ( Actually yea Martin - he's my neighbour and he's painting them with/for me.) I know most people just run the vacumn around and perhaps dust the shelves. What can I say - oh and guess what - the cold's back!