The New Arrival

I was in the shower finishing off on my morning routine, when Debra comes in and says. "Mike, OMGosh, we have a little brown rodent in the guinea pigs cage."

I can tell you this... one way to have an interesting morning is to hear that statement. I dry off get my robe and walk over to the other side of the house.

Sure enough, there is a small little brown rodent in the cage. No tail... no mouse looking ears... I know how gross to see a mouse... but here is my thought process.

The first guinea pig passes away shortly after Christmas. Saint Nic brought him so I searched high and low for a jet black replacement. Located him... but him was a her. We had a him, but the vet said the kids will never know. We converted in name only Timathena to Timothy. No big deal. Several weeks later, we decided to get a second GP. The first pet store I go into had a jet black GP. Smaller - just out of babyhood, but would work. I bought a girl. I asked the pet shop to double check. I purchased went home... got on the Internet... doubled checked how to check. I checked the pig "named Austin" even though we knew it was really Austina. Two boys... makes it consistent for the kids. All we needed was a new baby or even that conversation to surface. We thought we were so smart! For those not following... we have 2 girls before yesterday.

Ok. Two girls yesterday... and now a baby. Hmmmmm... Unless the Wonder pets GP arrived and jumped our pigs.... WTF is going on.

Ok. At this point, I guessed the pet shop and I were wrong in our sex assessment. I bought a dude and he jumped Timothena. I can handle that. Mistake. It can be fixed.

Problem.

#2 GP - Austin (remember really Austina) is nursing the new arrival. #1 GP - Timothy (remember Timothena) is brushing off the new arrival. Internet says... mom will nurse all other pigs will naturally push off so mom and baby hook up. In some cases, the large GP will consume babies... please do not go there. But that is what the Internet said.

I have one Vet sexed pet. GP #1. We have an obvious scientific fact GP #2 is a girl. How the heck did we have a baby.

Internet.... gestation takes just about as long as we have had GP #2. We bought a knocked up pig. I did not purchase a little slut. I did not ask her to be heavy one kid. But, we have one now... and there is no turning back.

We have a trip to the vet scheduled for Friday. The new arrival is doing well. Our big problem will be the sex of the new arrival. If it is male... Internet says some sick stuff about a full grown male GP's. There is one for sure... but even if it is Mom... - no matter. Well lets just say.... that will be avoided but at a cost to me. Not happy, I will be, knowing I could buy a third chick for 39 instead of a surgery will be much more than that!

The 4th!

I had a pleasant conversation with my four year old yesterday. He asked me what this holiday is about!

I could not have been more proud.

I told him the story of our country is still being written. After a good amount of definitions which he had never heard before... we settled on July 4th standing for our country's birthday.

His next two questions were as predictable as the sun setting and the fireworks to follow...

Will there be a cake?
Who will open the presents?

The best part of the conversation was playing the email I sent most of my readers. Even better, Michael recognized six or so pictures from the presentation. We talked about our country and my desire to see every single landmark noted in the slide show. (I'm about 60 percent there already.) Mike immediately said... Dad I want to see them with you.

Although I wanted so badly to make that promise, I simply said we will try and if we do not complete it together, let's decide now that we complete that journey for each other regardless of how. Again, having no idea what he just agreed to... we hugged and he went about his way.

Yesterday was such a spectacular day. The day became much more than it was intended to become. I was scheduled to work 8-5. Thankfully, we were overstaffed and I bolted without even double checking. I love it when I get to act on readily available information before the minion's. I heard there were at least three people stuck due to poor information exchange. (Sucks for them) I returned home by 8:40 am. I went right back to bed... already apart of a spectacular day recipe.

After I woke up I played some xbox. We went to the store(s) to get our activities completed for the day. After we got back home, I finished crown molding in my new office, finished all the wiring in there as well, the kids swam, and Debra prepared for our feast.

Shortly after that I had my conversation with Mike.

The kids all took naps in preparation for the long night ahead of us. Debra and I had dinner and my mom came over for the fireworks. I started our outdoor fire and set up the smores for dessert. Now that was a real treat... we were fairly unique yesterday as we got to see every one's fireworks on the block as we roasted marsh mellows and made smores. After we were done watching and enjoying the fire, I started the fireworks. It was fun fun fun! Especially since the kids were really into it. Nobody got hurt. Everyone enjoyed sparklers individually and we all sat back and took in the color and sounds of celebrating independence day.

July 4th 2008 will not be soon forgotten.