TOO MUCH EXCITEMENT!

We love Olympics as much as the next guinea pig, but today with all the speedskating, long and short track, we are worn out! Mom gets excited, then she gets quiet, then she starts screaming (some nice words, some not so nice) and then she gets quiet and tells us, "I don't believe it!"

We don't believe it, either.

The following (or preceding?) post is only a small sample of what we are putting up with.

We miss Edwin. He doesn't sleep at night and he taught us how not to sleeep at night, too. Because our cages are right next to mom's bed, she is not completely happy with Edwin.

We used to sleep at night when she turned out the lights and said, "Good night, all you little piggies. I love you, sweet dreams, see you in the morning."

Not any more. Since Edwin was here, nights have become a BigPigaPaLooza!

Wu-Hoooo! She is not completely happy with Edwin. But Ohno did good.

PIGGIES SCREAM "OH, NO!"

Slideshow | Apolo Ohno over the years | NBC Olympics

SO, we're all hacked into the final 1,000 meter men's short-track when the screen goes blank and mom starts saying naughty, naughty things to whoever keeps blacking out the hackers right before the premiere races start.

Seriously, naughty words.

She's on the phone with Edwin because he is in Seattle in front of a television and, because NBC is gaga, he cannot watch the race live, even though he is only hours away, in the same time zone.

Mom's naughty words work, and the screen flashes back on as they are introducing the skaters. Two Koreans, two Canadians, and our hero, Apolo.

She watches the race with Edwin on the phone and it starts out with Ohno in gold-medal position behind the two Canadian brothers, Ohno starts passing, and it appears the two Koreans are going to be left in the dust.

Not.

Then a melee on the screen and mom starts SCREAMING "NOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooo!" as the two Koreans pass everybody, one of the Canadians pushes Ohno, and it looks like a melee, an imminent crash...

Then mom says lots more naughty words.

Then her friend Ann calls, watching it live on Camano Island and mom takes the call, loses Edwin, whose cell phone battery has died, and the two scream and shout that at least Ohno got bronze and made Olympic history.

Personally, as a guinea pig, I think Eric Heiden's performance at Lake Placid is Epic. Not to mention Bonnie Blair, and especially the heroic story of Dan Jensen! But Ohno did good, he did real good. And all those other things happened before we were born. We just heard about them on  GPSN (GuineaPigSportsNetwork.)

People can be inspiring. We might share the other stories with you later. Mom might let Yum-Yum see her skates and sit in them if he promises not to chew the laces, the leather, pee, or poo in them.

Mom just changed her mind.

Humans can be inspiring.  And they can baffle us.  It's all part of the fun, I guess.  Panda Out!

THAT WOMAN'S HAND

Video | Stephen Colbert with Bob Costas | NBC Olympics

Video | Stephen Colbert with Bob Costas | NBC Olympics

Video | Stephen Colbert: The Full Mountie | NBC Olympics

Video | Stephen Colbert: The Full Mountie | NBC Olympics

We all want to be Mounties! We want the hats, the neat pants, the, the...the...MOOSE!

ACCUSTOM YOURSELF TO LOVE

"Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul."
-St. Teresa of Avila
1515-1582

Mom's friend, Susan, always teases her about us over the phone from Seattle. Upon learning of Bear's adoption Christmas Eve, she gasped: "YOU GOT ANOTHER ONE?!" and she was only watching out for mom, who doesn't have a lot of energy.

"He smiled at me," mom told her. It was the truth. How can you explain it?

But once Susan found herself holding Bear in her lap, it became clear that he had smiled at her, too. Bear just loved Susan: He could not get enough!

And just like he did with mom, his love enkindled and melted her soul.

Mom says all of us melt her soul.

Then she gives us carrots, special lettuce we love, apples, and those little sweet orange things you can get at the market in winter. And we each get a little pat on the head.

Guinea Pig Connection

Guinea Pig Connection 

We finally figured out how to include a link to one of our favorite sites...this is a wonderful resource for all you piggie lovers and the pigs who love you!  Our favorite part is about toys and cuddle cups, food, and fun ways to make us happy.  Our other favorite part is their work as a rescue.  So, take a look!  Who knows, you just might find a nice present to give us, like a donation to support their work!

WHAT'S UP WITH FIGURE SKATING?

WHY IS THAT MAN CRYING?

Video | Men's Short: Evan Lysacek | NBC Olympics

We really love the Olympics, as you know. But, sports aside, we discovered it's an interesting place to learn more about humans. Like, how opposite they are from us sometimes. We watched the speedskating LIVE (take THAT, NBC!) from Singapore (we think) sportscasted by Australians (who said Apolo Ohno was Italian-born?!) and that was very cool. And the half-pipe and stuff. Very cool, y'all.

But what is up with Men's figure-skating? When this man did good, he cried. Mom cries when she screws up, and, well, we're kind of used to that...sigh...like the time she called her best friend to talk about her boyfriend but accidently dialed his number instead (it was late at night, but what a BIG OOPSY!) and left the message (in which, apparently, the word "monster" may have been used, but in a good way, as in, "It was amazing! He didn't behave like a monster!")  She didn't find out until the next morning.

When He left Her a message.  And she cried.

We get that.  In fact, living with mom, we're actually used to it.

So, we three watched Mr. Evan skate majestically (during an NBC rebroadcast, of course; we save hacking only for speedskating) and...
we didn't get it.

Mom's eyes widened with ours as he performed flawlessly, with drama and flair, so we thought it was really good...until he started crying. So, we asked mom why.

"I don't get men," she said.

We don't get figure-skating.

But we will continue to watch. And learn. Bear just escaped mom's lap, so I gotta go help her catch him!

You humans are really weird!

YUM-YUM: ZEN AT DAWN

"Watching the moon
at dawn,
solitary, mid-sky,
I knew myself completely:
no part left out."

-Izumi Shikibu (974-1034)








from The Enlightened Heart
An Anthology of Sacred Poetry
Edited by Stephen Mitchell

Sometimes when YumYum
wonders why he is still such
a small pig, he becomes
very Zen in his struggle to
accept that small outside
still contains Infinity inside.
This he knows. The moon
only reminds him.

SOCIAL BUTTERFLY

Today YumYum and I observed that Bear seems to attract the most attention (and treats and lap-time) between the three of us and YumYum casually remarked, "That's because he's a social butterfly." YumYum didn't know what that meant, he'd just overheard mom say it about each of us at one time or other, so he blurted it out since Bear's lettuce was bigger than his!

Truth is, we know Bear is an older pig (5 years +) and has never really been loved, cared for, or appreciated and included as a member of a family.

We enjoy how much he delights in the discovery of how precious love feels when you've been neglected and smelly your whole life, and your toes grow misshapen because nobody will trim your nails, and it becomes hard to walk, and life feels dismal...alone in a cage with nothing but a glimmer of hope,
deep inside,
that you really are a beautiful guinea pig; and that maybe before you die someone will see how special you truly are.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR BEAR

(NOTE FROM EDITOR: Today is Bear's first blog post.)

After all the Olympics hullaballoo, we felt the need for quietude and love. Mom's oldest friend, Susan (holding me for the first time) brought her daughter, Shaina, and Shaina's brand new sparkling baby boy, Seamus, to meet us! Mom used to babysit Shaina when she was 5 years old and they all went camping and hiked up to Cascade Pass one summer together. It was the first time mom ever saw a glacier up close and personal. And now Shaina is all grown up with a baby of her own! They live in Seattle, where mom used to live.

Susan had heard a lot about me but we had never met. I think we are in love. I match her hair. And she knew all the right places to pet me and make me purrrrrr.....she chucked my chin and petted my jolly jowls and they wiggled back and forth and I was so happy I popcorned right in her embrace! I love Susan and Shaina and Seamus and hope they come back soon. Mom was blissed out to have her favorite girls (and Seamus) here at one time; she just couldn't stop beaming!

It seems like our family just keeps growing and PandaPig and YumYum got treats while we all received compliments on how handsome we are and how much YumYum has grown. We love it when mom's friends visit us, especially after mom hasn't been feeling well for awhile and she got to hold Seamus which cured everything, especially when she smelled his baby head.

It was a perfect day. We were sad Edwin had to go back home to Seattle but Chai, the Bengal Cat and Sami, Chai's gorgeous Tortie Girlfriend missed him and now they are all together again, too.

So, today was girly day. Epic Love. Girly style: PURELY EPIC!