Meet Gus

Gus is one of those blankies that has an animal head on top. My mom got this for Penny soon after she was born but hadn't really worked on introducing it to her.  While we were in Pensacola I noticed that while napping she would seem to be searching for something to snuggle on. A burp cloth made a good surrogate for that moment, but it was a good thing I had brough Gus along!

Ok, so you might be wondering how in the world we came up with the name Gus for a stuffed toy. Back in college, when Adam and I were engaged we got ourselves a little beta fish and named him Gus Gus, just like the mouse from the Disney movie.

Again, why would someone name their fish Gus Gus? I don't know. I liked it.

Unfortunately, that winter was a hard one for us and Gus Gus. It was by far the coldest winter I have ever experienced; one night we got over 18 inches of snow. Very uncharacteristic of Western Washington. And, being poor college kids saving up money for a wedding... well, keeping the house at a liveable comfortable temperature just wasn't in the budget. This scummy apartment that we lived in had single pane windows, zero insulation, baseboard heating, drafts in every corner and was always in the shade. Hey, it was what we could afford (and Adam would add that it had a garage, not very easy to come by in a college rental!).  Adam and I took care of ourselves by dressing in multiple layers (I'm talking thermals, sweatshirt and a Northface fleece), leaving the oven open after using it, space heaters, heated blankets, and of course spending more time at work because work had to be heated. Sad, but so very true. This went on for a few weeks and although we noticed that poor Gus Gus was getting more and more lethargic, we didn't think too much about it. I changed his water and fed him as I normally did.

Well, after one particularly cold night.. Our beautiful blue beta was no longer blue but a ghostly white and belly up. Since then, our families have never let us live it down and always call ahead when they come to visit to make sure the heat is on.

So as a throwback to our college days, and the fact that this Gus cannot be frozen, we have named Penny's lovie Gus.