Meet Manny - Our Gender Confused Guinea Pig (Blogged By JME)


This is Manny, our little guinea pig and a little addition to our family. Manny is an interesting little guy. Manny adds a lot of entertainment and keeps JME company while N8 has been away.



When we first got Manny, the pet store sold him to us as a male. We named him Manny after the Mammoth because he has such a long coat that reminded us of the Manny character from 'Ice Age'. We felt like that was a perfect name for out little guy. We became attached very quickly and started giving him terms of endearment like, 'Manford,' 'monster,' 'Manny, Manny, bo banny,' 'Mann,' and we would always tell Manny to guard our house when we would leave for work.

Months later, N8 and I were walking through a pet store buying food, shampoo, and other supplies for our little Manny. We happened to be looking at one of the guinea pigs they had for sell there and it was VERY apparent that he was a boy. It made us question whether our Manny was a boy or not. When we got home, Manny got a bath and on further examination, we discovered that our little boy did not come with the complete 'package' that we noticed the guinea pig in the store had. So we came to the conclusion that our guinea pig was really a girl.

Very disappointed that we would now have to change Manny's name since she was now a girl, I asked N8 what we would do. N8 came to the rescue, suggesting we name her Samantha instead and still use the name Manny for short.

It was quite the adjustment to go from saying 'He' to 'She' and to stop calling him 'little man' or 'little guy,' but finally we got it down and our little guinea pig, Samantha, has been a girl for about a good five months.

Then, the other day, as I was walking through the pet store getting food for 'Samantha,' I noticed some other guinea pigs and went over to say hello. They had both boy and girl cavy there and as I looked at the males, I noticed they were missing the complete 'package' like Manny was. Confused, I asked an attendant for his help in identifying a guinea pig's gender. He was so nice and took a male out to show me his anatomy and then took a female out to show me her anatomy. It was clear that N8 and I had made a terrible mistake and found that Manny was really a male after all.

It makes me wonder what kind of parents we will be. . .



Manny has a fun little personality. He likes to climb up on his igloo house and look around. He also can be very shy and so sometimes when I feed him, he goes in his house and moves it with his nose all the way across his cage over to his food, then lifts his house over his food so he can eat his food in his house in complete privacy.

Manny is fun to watch when he gets excited and 'popcorns.' He also oinks when he is hungry and chirps when we pet him. He loves his bath and loves the attention of being groomed. After having two 40 lbs each basset hounds, Manny is pretty low maintenance and easy to take care of.

Celebrities!!! Blogged by N8

Well everyone. I just want to say that being in the military does have it's perks at times. Especially being stationed where I am right now. We get the opportunity to meet a lot of neat people. The Saturday before Thanksgiving I had the opportunity to meet several celebrities.



First was Milo Ventimiglia. He's most well-known for playing Peter in "Heroes" and roles in such movies as "Rocky Balboa" and "Stay Alive".



Next was Sophia Bush and Austin Nichols. They are both from the TV series "One Tree Hill". She was also in "The Hitcher" and "Stay Alive". He was also in "Glory Road" and "The Day After Tomorrow".




Later in the evening we were visited by a whole crew of celebrities. First was Leeann Tweeden. She's a Swimsuit Model that has been featured in FHM and Maxim. She is also a correspondent on "The Best Damn Sports Show Period".



Along with them was Kristy Swanson. She was the original "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". She's also known for roles in "Big Daddy" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off".



This celebrity really threw me for a loop. I had a brief conversation with him in the hallway of the hospital on my way to the USO and had no clue of who he was until I read the back of his shirt which depicted a "shrimpin' boat" on the back. This is Mykelti Williamson, aka "Bubba" from Forrest Gump. He also had roles in "Lucky Number Slevin" and "August Rush".


I hurried and took one final picture with three of the celebrities together. I've already mentioned Mykelti Williamson. Also in this picture with me is Kevin Farley. Yes, he is the brother of Chris Farley. He's been featured in movies like "Black Sheep", "Joe Dirt", and "The Waterboy".

Probably the biggest celebrity of the evening was Gary Sinise. He played "Lieutenant Dan" in Forrest Gump and is currently starring in "CSI: New York". When I first walked up to him I said, "My mother has the biggest crush on you and she would be very disappointed if I didn't get my picture with you." He gave me a nervous laugh and said,"Well, then I must oblige." After we snapped the picture and I was walking off he yelled to me, "Hey! Say 'hi' to your mom for me!" I guess letting him know about my mom's crush on him left a bit of an impression...

Anyway, it was a wonderful day. Every single one of those celebrities were very accomidating and friendly. It really makes you feel good about what you do when they take the time to come and shake our hands and offer their support.