Updates

Thanksgiving went well - it only took me 2 hours to get through Cincinnati on the way North, and 40 mins to get out traffic caused by an accident just south of Cincinnati on the way back to TN.

I could definitely see how hard and utterly lonely it would have been this past year without my guinea pigs. This week it's been rather lonely around my apartment since they're at my parents house.

I went for my glucose test today to test for Gestational Diabetes. I have no instant gratification though, since they have to send my blood to a lab for testing. Only if there is a problem, will they call me (in about a week). On the plus side, I've only gained one pound since my last visit on Oct 29, so I really doubt I have GD. If you do have it, you tend to gain a lot of weight at once, and while I've gotten noticeably bigger, I haven't gotten any heavier, and my fundal height (the height of my uterus) is right on track.

The ladies at work threw me a surprise baby shower on Wednesday! It was nice - I got some really cute stuff, plus a lot of people chipped in and they gave me a gift card (so I wouldn't have to haul bigger presents back with me).

Tonight I will be flying in to Cleveland for Justin's company's Christmas party (it's tomorrow), and I will be flying back on Sunday, later afternoon. Hopefully my flights aren't going to be delayed at all!

Vale Lightning

This afternoon, when I went to clean the guinea pig cages, I found Lightning had passed away in his (and Peanut Thunder's) cage. He was 6 years and somewhere between 1-2 months.

Remaining "family" members are Peanut Thunder (4 years) and Moonbeam (about 5 years).

His favorite activity was begging for treats. He particularly liked to sit with me (specifically on my "shelf") and share a pomegranate.

You can read his story on this post: http://citygirlinaredneckworld.blogspot.com/2008/06/lightning.html

Rest in peace, my dear little friend.

My friend June made me this mug about 2 years ago. I'm really glad that I have it, since he will never be forgotten now.

Lightning

Finally, the Lightning post. I know it's been long overdue, but I've been busy procrastinating.

I got Lightning one rainy afternoon in the fall of 2002. Justin and I were walking in the mall, and he needed to use the bathroom. We went over to McDonalds, and while he was waiting to use the bathroom, I wandered over to the pet store (next door), and saw they had cute little guinea pigs in the center. Well, I was hooked. By the time Justin got back, I had already picked out the one I wanted, and there was no dissuading me. We stopped at PetCo on the way home and picked up some "essentials" (like treats, bedding, pellets, and a water bottle). He was the cutest little thing. I don't have any pictures from when I first got him (no digital camera then). Justin and I used to put him in a cardboard tube and let him run around on the living room floor. The reason I named him Lightning was because he has a white blaze on his face, plus he was super fast when he was young. Based on what I know now, he was probably about 4-5 weeks old, and fit in my hand. For the first month or two, he lived in a huge rubbermaid container in my bedroom, then my mom warmed up to him and made him a cage for in the kitchen, where he then lived until I got married and moved in early 2004.

Today he's nearly 6 years old, has some stiff back legs at times, and is not as heavy as he used to be, but he is still going strong.

Isn't he just adorable?

Hay!

My friend Dane stopped by to drop off my key (he took care of the piggies for me this past weekend when I was visiting Justin and my family), and he brought me this:



Fresh hay just cleaned from the baler. mmm...good! The piggies surely enjoy it!

(that's Lightning in the box of hay - yes, I know I owe you his story!)

Peanut Thunder

Peanut Thunder is the "baby" (and by baby, I mean he's the youngest, but he's also the biggest & fattest piggy of them all ;-) ).

I got him when he was 3 weeks old from a lady in Pittsburgh (hi Lisa!). She had gotten either 1 or 2 female guinea pigs (called "sows"), and it turned out that one of them was pregnant. At the time, I had only Lightning (who will be introduced in my next guinea pig post), and was looking to get him a friend. Well, when Lisa posted that her sow had 3 boys & 1 girl on Christmas Eve 2004, I was happy for her. She was going to have 2 cages - one for the boys (boars) and one for the girls. Alas, the Evil Cavy Fairy struck, and the sexes of her baby piggies were reversed! What was she going to do with just ONE boar? That's right, let me adopt him!

Hubby, Lightning, and I drove to Pittsburgh (from Cleveland, OH where we lived at the time) on a chilly January Saturday to meet Lightning's possible new "brother." If the meeting did not go well, then we were not going to take him. Luckily, Lightning is an easygoing fella and took all of the abuse from the baby boar.

How did Peanut Thunder get his name, you ask? Well, Lisa's kids had already named him "Peanut," and since I already had "Lightning," I needed a "Thunder!" Therefore to help make the transition from being their gp to being mine, he was named "Peanut Thunder." When I first got him he was this small (Lightning is the one with the white blaze going up his nose):

Now? He outweighs Lightning by a good 3/4 lb:

PT also makes the cutest dang sounds. He likes to "bok-bok-bok" all around the cage. When he was a baby, he would literally sound like Pac-Man.

He's a Red White Crested American Boar.

Sunshine

Sunshine was a TSW American who lived from roughly March 2003 - Thanksgiving Day 2007. She passed away from...something, I'll never know. Basically, one day she quit eating and I didn't notice until the next day. With cavies, 24-hours is the difference between life & death. Heck, even just a few hours can make a difference.

She was sister to Moonbeam.

Moonbeam

I currently have 3 guinea pigs - Lightning, Peanut Thunder, and Moonbeam. I will tell you about Moonbeam today.

I got Moonbeam (along with her late sister, Sunshine) from a grad student who was moving from Pittsburgh to Florida and would barely be able to afford rent & food for herself, let alone 2 guinea pigs. She had posted to a guinea pig group that I am still on to this day (I actually became one of the owners), and Justin agreed to let me get them.

Moonbeam is around 5 years old, and is a sweet girl - as long as she's living by herself. She was actually agressive to her sister, Sunshine, so we had to permanently separate them. She is a TSW (TortioseShell & White) American and weighs in at just under 3lbs. She loves to lay in her pink pigloo and eat celery.