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We had some friends over this weekend and were telling them the story of how we got our Beta....
The story of our fish all starts with the story of a goat. My Step-Mom tells the story best so here is installment one.
August 22, 2006
It was, hands down, the funniest practical joke I’ve ever seen.
A few days ago a Chinese person called us, speaking no English, and asked where we live. I told him I didn’t know him and wouldn’t be telling him where I live! He asked if any Chinese people lived with us, and I assured him they did not. The rest of what he tried to say was lost on me. After I hung up, I said aloud, “I hope that wasn’t a package delivery company.”
Yesterday afternoon I received another phone call, this time from a gal who spoke fair English. She said she had a package for “Mr. Garry” and wanted directions to our apartment and to know if we’d be home between 7 and 8 pm.
At 7:30, we all heard a funny cry outside our apartment door. I went to the door, but the sound was so pathetic, I was afraid to open the door. I was afraid something was injured in our hall. Garry came to open the door, and at the same time the phone rang. Manda answered and a gal told her, “Your package is outside your door.” Oh.
Garry started to laugh, and Manda ran out with him. They brought in, on a leash, a goat. A kid, less than a foot tall and bleating for all it was worth. Around the little darling’s neck was a cardboard sign tied on with a bit of green plastic bag: “To Gary Shultz, From Emmanuel Agbovi. Note: Payment for my wife.” On the reverse it said, “Give me milk 6 times per day for 2 months… I eat grass!” With him was a pet bottle.
We laughed till we cried. Nicole looked on the Internet for whether a goat can drink cow’s milk. I alternately sat and paced, realizing that there was no way we could keep the goat. We live in an apartment, with no outside space and very thin walls. By now all of our neighbors knew we had a goat! In order to have a cat in the house, we had filled out a lot of paperwork, gotten permission from the apartment owners, and paid a hefty deposit. What would they say about a goat? Manda called her friends to come and see it. Garry called people who might know someone who would want a goat. Nicole tried to feed the baby. It drank a little and fell asleep with her petting it. Manda’s friends came by to see it.
Who sent the goat? Oh, we knew quite well who sent it: our new son-in-law! For over a year, Garry has been teasing him that if he wanted to marry his daughter, Mary, he would need to pay a dowry. Since he was a poor college student, Garry said one goat would be sufficient. I asked Garry this morning if he had learned his lesson about saying such things, and his reply was, “I’m thinking about Christmas…”
Now for the glory part of the story, the part where Father’s amazing hand shows through it all.
My friend Kristen called asking if it were true that we had a goat. I said it was indeed true, and she laughed to hear it bleating in the background. We talked about what we could do with this little treasure, whom Manda had now named Rupert. Options included finding a friend of a friend out in the country who would be thrilled with a goat or driving along the freeway until we saw a goat herder and giving him a gift. As we talked, between us we came up with a possible family for the goat – the Vanderlaans. They have been known to raise pigs and chickens in the past, so just maybe… I called them. They were excited! They said it was an answer to their recent Thoughts, and that their daughter is allergic to cow’s milk and they have been contemplating learning to raise a goat to provide the milk they need. They were willing to take the little fur ball within the hour! So we bundled it up in a towel and all of us got in a taxi for the end of this fun story.
We passed the bundle off to the Vanderlaans successfully, and everyone involved was happy. Their goat was delivered to our address!
August 24, 2006
Today, Garry spoke to Elizabeth Vanderlaan, who says they think our goat is a female sheep, but that it is certainly well-loved by her children! The little girl is taken for walks five times a day and cuddled and played with in between. A home-schooling family appears to be the perfect place for the little darling! Yeah!
It was, hands down, the funniest practical joke I’ve ever seen.
A few days ago a Chinese person called us, speaking no English, and asked where we live. I told him I didn’t know him and wouldn’t be telling him where I live! He asked if any Chinese people lived with us, and I assured him they did not. The rest of what he tried to say was lost on me. After I hung up, I said aloud, “I hope that wasn’t a package delivery company.”
Yesterday afternoon I received another phone call, this time from a gal who spoke fair English. She said she had a package for “Mr. Garry” and wanted directions to our apartment and to know if we’d be home between 7 and 8 pm.
At 7:30, we all heard a funny cry outside our apartment door. I went to the door, but the sound was so pathetic, I was afraid to open the door. I was afraid something was injured in our hall. Garry came to open the door, and at the same time the phone rang. Manda answered and a gal told her, “Your package is outside your door.” Oh.
Garry started to laugh, and Manda ran out with him. They brought in, on a leash, a goat. A kid, less than a foot tall and bleating for all it was worth. Around the little darling’s neck was a cardboard sign tied on with a bit of green plastic bag: “To Gary Shultz, From Emmanuel Agbovi. Note: Payment for my wife.” On the reverse it said, “Give me milk 6 times per day for 2 months… I eat grass!” With him was a pet bottle.
We laughed till we cried. Nicole looked on the Internet for whether a goat can drink cow’s milk. I alternately sat and paced, realizing that there was no way we could keep the goat. We live in an apartment, with no outside space and very thin walls. By now all of our neighbors knew we had a goat! In order to have a cat in the house, we had filled out a lot of paperwork, gotten permission from the apartment owners, and paid a hefty deposit. What would they say about a goat? Manda called her friends to come and see it. Garry called people who might know someone who would want a goat. Nicole tried to feed the baby. It drank a little and fell asleep with her petting it. Manda’s friends came by to see it.
Who sent the goat? Oh, we knew quite well who sent it: our new son-in-law! For over a year, Garry has been teasing him that if he wanted to marry his daughter, Mary, he would need to pay a dowry. Since he was a poor college student, Garry said one goat would be sufficient. I asked Garry this morning if he had learned his lesson about saying such things, and his reply was, “I’m thinking about Christmas…”
Now for the glory part of the story, the part where Father’s amazing hand shows through it all.
My friend Kristen called asking if it were true that we had a goat. I said it was indeed true, and she laughed to hear it bleating in the background. We talked about what we could do with this little treasure, whom Manda had now named Rupert. Options included finding a friend of a friend out in the country who would be thrilled with a goat or driving along the freeway until we saw a goat herder and giving him a gift. As we talked, between us we came up with a possible family for the goat – the Vanderlaans. They have been known to raise pigs and chickens in the past, so just maybe… I called them. They were excited! They said it was an answer to their recent Thoughts, and that their daughter is allergic to cow’s milk and they have been contemplating learning to raise a goat to provide the milk they need. They were willing to take the little fur ball within the hour! So we bundled it up in a towel and all of us got in a taxi for the end of this fun story.
We passed the bundle off to the Vanderlaans successfully, and everyone involved was happy. Their goat was delivered to our address!
August 24, 2006
Today, Garry spoke to Elizabeth Vanderlaan, who says they think our goat is a female sheep, but that it is certainly well-loved by her children! The little girl is taken for walks five times a day and cuddled and played with in between. A home-schooling family appears to be the perfect place for the little darling! Yeah!
1 comment:
Had to say I love the little sheep! Lol. So cute :)
~Just a random surfer on blogger.
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