The way to a girl's heart is through a guinea pig.

There are two kinds of people in this world....pet-people and non-pet people.  Just in case you weren't sure from the title of this post, we are in the former category.  More, specifically I am in the latter category.   I've always loved animals.  I majored in Animal Science.  I did pre-vet in college, but ultimately decided against veterinary school and went to grad school instead. 

My kids like to ask If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?

And, my answer has always and will always be the same.

If I could have anything in the world...I would have one of these.

Especially if it's a palomino...but I'd take any of these guys too.

 I got my first pet, when I was 7.  A shaggy dog named Cuddles that looked sorta like Benji. 

. 

And, over the years, there have been many other pets...some belonging to my whole family, and some to me specifically.

There have been the dogs...a beagle names PeeWee, another beagle named Coco, and an Australian Cattle dog named Hunter.  And, then there was the black lab named Molly that Ben and I adopted many years ago when we lived in TN and owned our own home.

Of course, we've had cats too...a big, white, fat cat named Xsy when I was a kid.....replaced by Lucy (whom my parents still have).

  And, many years ago when we lived in Louisville, shortly after Heidi was born, as a surprise, Ben took me to the animal shelter and we picked out an old 3-legged cat named Kiki.

 And, 5 years ago, I walked into my kitchen one night, saw a mouse, and ran out the next day and adopted our cat William (who we still have).

And then there have been the bunnies.

My first bunny was a bunny named Elydia (and my sister had one names Dellina)...then after Elydia died, I got another bun named Velvet, and we got Harry from a friend who moved...then later in college, I got Shea from my sister's friend...and then after we had kids, we adopted Billy and when he died, we adopted Benji (who we gave to a wonderful homeschooling family when we moved to FL in 2010). .  

We've had a few hamsters over the years too. My sister and I used to have a pair named Stormy and Desert

And, then there was Whitey..the albino hamster I had illegally in my dorm room in college.  

And, let's not forget the birds.

In college (not in the dorm, because it would be really hard to sneak these in a dorm) I had a pair of parakeets named Buddy and Bluey.   And, then when we were living in Fl, our neighbors were moving and looking for a home for their new parakeet

...and so of course we took it, and that's how we got Snowy (who we had to re-home when we moved out of FL).  And, when Ben and I first got married, we had a cockatiel named John Paul (JP for short).

I've loved all my pets of course...but of all the small caged animals I've had, the guinea pigs have been my favorite. I got my first guinea pig in college from some friends who couldn't keep it.  In fact, most of my pets were acquired in that way, because apparently when someone is looking for a new home for their pet, they call Amelia.  Her name was Winnie and she was super cute and brown and friendly.

And, then there was Little Dude.  Little Dude was an albino guinea pig that Ben gave me while we were still dating.  At that time, Ben didn't have car, so he had to take like 2 buses to go to the pet store and then carry the guinea pig back in a box on the bus.  That was true love I tell ya.  The way to this gal's heart is through a guinea pig.

And, that brings me to our latest acquisition. Earlier this summer, when we were in RI, my mom broke her leg and was laid up for quite some time.  She ended up paying Heidi rather well to help her out.  So, Heidi actually earned quite a bit of money this summer.....money that was just burning a hole in her pocket bank account.  So, she spent many hours discussing how she should spend it, and one thing she kept coming back to, is that she wanted a pet for her very own. 

So, we discussed it and decided that a guinea pig would be a great first pet.  I'm a huge fan of guinea pigs as first pets.  They are cute, cuddly and generally very docile and tame...and not a huge amount of work.

And, Ben just happened to mention to his class that his daughter wanted a guinea pig and one of his students just happened to have a guinea pig that needed a new home, so after a few phone calls with her parents it was all arranged.

Meet Pippin (so named for one of the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings).

who Ben brought home on Monday..and I got to feel all biological-pre-vet-student-like again as I had to examine it to determine if Pippin was a he or a she...since Ben apparently neglected to get that little bit of information from his previous owners (information that was vitally important to Heidi as she wanted to give him a new name).  In case you missed it, he's a he.

So far, Heidi has done a bang up job of taking care of Pippin and Pippin seems quite happy in his new home....well except for when William the cat jumps on top of his cage and terrorizes him.

We're working on that......


p.s. (don't worry..Pippin really is quite safe from William the WatchCat).

7 Quick Takes Friday from VA

1.

Blogging to you live here from VA.  We somehow managed to get it together to find a place to rent, find movers and move down to VA...all within the span of one week.  Whew...I'm tired just thinking about it.

2

During that time, we also, inherited,  were given via family transfer,  from my SUPER generous parents who don't need it anymore,...this vehicle.

I call it Gus the Bus...,short for Augustine...cause ya know, it has to be a Catholic van.   Our other van, which was in pretty bad shape, would not have passed inspection in VA, so we bid it a fond farewell, cried many tears and sold it for a few pennies. 

I was really scared to drive Gus as first, but I quickly got used to it.  Backing up is still a pain, but I'm getting better at it (knock on wood).  

The nicest thing about Gus.... unlike other vehicles, it has air conditioning. 

3.

On the drive down, we were once again stuck in major, major, major traffic in NY and NJ (amazingly CT was fine).  I think it took us like 3 hours to go 40 miles or something.   At least I found a news radio station that assured me that the "alternate" route would have been even worse due to a jackknifed tractor trailer. 

4.

Not to make this all doom and gloom...yesterday was a lovely day of driving...clear sailing, no traffic and a fun visit with a friend we stopped off to see on the way. 

5,

And, this is the best thing about the house we are renting.  See those things? 

 Those are trees!  TREES!!!  Nice, big, shady ones.  Something you don't really see in FL.   And, the swingset in the backyard is fun for the kids as well.  

6.

Today we had to make a run to WalMart and when we came back to the house, our cat was missing.  MISSING.  I KNEW he was in the house, (all closed up) when we left, and when we came back, he was nowhere to be found.  I called Ben up, crying and screaming and cursing the landlord who I was SURE had come to the house and let him out.   

Then I opened up a cabinet on top of the fridge...and who should appear, but the wayward cat. 

7.

Our furniture hasn't arrived from the moving truck yet, so this is how we are sleeping.  It's actually surprisingly comfortable...sleeping on the floor.  I have a foam mat, then a sleeping bag and a few blankets.  It's not too bad.

Now go see Jen for more quick takes. 

My Life is All Askew

Today's theme for Theme Thursday is askew...and when I saw that I was all- Ha...story of my life.   

So, it really wasn't all that hard for me to come up with some photos that are askew..that show things that are crooked, out of line or just plain not the way they are supposed to be. 

So, when I walked around, looking for askew pictures to take, this was the first thing I saw.

It's not really askew...other than the fact that disobedient kitty is totally out of line in a place he's not supposed to be. 

Then I saw this:

Check out those askew legs...and his whole body is a bit askew. 

And how askew is this?  A 10-month old happy baby sitting askew on the potty.

In case you were wondering, no, she didn't actually "go" on the potty..but we're working on it!

And, finally I will end by saying that I sincerely hope you will not askew these askew pictures. 

Go forth and check out more askew-ness with Cari and the Clan. 

Theme Thursday: Animals

This weeks Theme Thursday is Animals.   Yay..one of my favorite topics.  I basically think there are two types of people in this world...pet people and non-pet people.  We are definitely pet people.  I was an animal science major in college and for a long time wanted to be a vet, before realizing that I'm NOT cut out the handle the stress of that.   So, I ended up going to graduate school instead and studying reproductive physiology of dairy cows.  Yep...you can actually study that.    This involved spending lots of time wearing long gloves with my arm up the wrong end up of a cow, feeling or ultra-sounding her ovaries.   Fun times, I tell you. 

Fortunately, or unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of that, so I shall not subject you, dear readers, to such an atrocity.

Instead I shall tell you the tale of a striped, orange cat. 

It was a rainy night, that night back in May, 2008.  I casually strolled into the kitchen, in search of a bedtime snack, unaware of the horror my eyes were about to see.   I was just reaching for a glass, when I saw IT.  A small brown thing scurrying across the floor.  I screamed in horror, dropping the glass.   That was the beginning of the stuff nightmares are made of.  A horrific mouse infestation.  We set traps out, we cleaned, we disinfected.  I HATE mice.   And, the very next day, I ran right out to our local animal shelter and picked out a big, orange, striped cat.  

We named him William, after this delightful children's story. 

William is not obedient. 

William is always getting into trouble. 

William is polydactyl.

William has sneaked out of the house several times...but the prodigal cat has always returned. 

William has never actually caught a mouse...but we love him anyway. 

Isn't he a handsome cat??  And, yes, that is the refrigerator he is on top of!

Now, go see Cari for more awesome animal photos.