pig

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She added "guinea pig" to her Christmas list, and since in M's eyes a guinea pig is light years better than a chicken (also on her Christmas list), he jumped at it. We looked at them Saturday at a couple different places, then went to a third today and pulled the trigger.

She's practically vibrating with happiness, and I have to admit the whole thing is making me pretty happy, too. Joy is contagious.

So please welcome Hershey to the family. Why Hershey? "Well, she's sweet, like candy, and Hershey's is candy. And she's a girl guinea pig and Her means girl and she means girl. And my best friend Katie has a guinea pig named Snickers so now we both have guinea pigs named like candy!" This litany of reasons is followed by a huge grin.

So despite M's assurances that we would NEVER add another living creature to our house, today we added one. Because, you know, we have so much extra space and time.

Honestly, who would've thought a little animal could make the three of us so happy? For me, Hershey is serving as a lovely distraction to the events of last Friday. She's a new little creature to love and care for. She makes my kid happy. She makes my husband happy. She makes me happy.

And we could all use more happiness.