A Dog Tale

There is an unfortunate combination in this family. We have a son who happens to leave the screen door open quite often, and we have a dog who loves an opportunity to bolt out the door whenever she can.

So, yesterday was interesting. Do you ever feel like your life is a bad sit-com? DQ has a friend staying with us, so we thought it would be fun to invite some of her other friends over last night for a barbecue in our backyard. Of course, DQ and Sweet Husband work on Saturdays, so that leaves Kellen and I home to get everything ready. In reality, that means I am the one getting ready while Kellen is the one driving me crazy.

Kellen was kind of off-kilter most of the day. He seemed hyper-sensitive which I found out when I tried to assist him in washing his hair. He just didn't want to be touched. Not only that, but he woke up with an agenda and failed to inform me of what that agenda was. I was trying to balance my agenda of getting the house ready, with his secret agenda which seemed to mainly consist of going out in the car to get various food and drink.

After the second trip out, I drew the line and said, "No more", then I went out to the backyard patio to sweep and spray it down. While I'm out there, I can hear someone knocking on our screen door and calling out to see if anyone is home. It turns out to be a man from the county going door to door to see if people have their pets licensed. His first question is, "Are there any problem dogs in the area?". I am silently thinking, "Only our OWN!" There's no denying we have a dog, as she is right there at the front door with me. I sheepishly purchase a license for $20, set the license down on the kitchen table and go back out to the patio for more cleaning.

A few minutes later I check on Kellen and he is sitting in the car trying to send me a message that yes, indeed, he does want to go somewhere (in case I've forgotten). I quietly say "dammit!" because I see that he's left the screen door open. I am picturing the guy from the county watching our "problem dog" romping throughout the neighborhood. I check the house quickly and see that Zoey is sleeping in the backyard and silently send up a prayer of thanks that for once she didn't bolt out the open door. I coax Kellen back into the house and go back to my cleaning.

A few minutes later, Kellen has left the front door open again and is out in the hot car waiting for me to take him some place. This time Zoey observed the open front door and is running down the street. I go outside and call for her, but she treats it like a game and romps just out of my reach. Meanwhile, our Mexican next door neighbors are outside watching my lame attempts to catch the dog as they wash their car. I never do catch Zoey and Kellen is not at all interested in coming back into the house with me. I move the car into a shady location, roll the windows down, leave Kellen there and go back into the house.

An hour later, Sweet Husband returns from work and coaxes Kellen out of the car. It is now 90 minutes until guests arrive and there is still a ton to be done. On the way into the house, our Mexican neighbors tell Sweet Husband that they saw a car at the end of our street, open their door, put Zoey on a leash and drive away. He comes into the house to tell me this scary news. I ask him for more details, but all the neighbor told him was that it was a four-door car. I get on the computer and start making a couple of signs to post at the end of the street while Sweet Husband starts cutting up tomatoes and onions for pico de gallo.

Our daughter and all of her guests arrive and want to know where the dog is. It tell them the saga of the dog-napping and they go off to check out my posted signs and to buy a watermelon. They come back with a very cute little watermelon and tease me about the wording on the signs. They say, "Our dog is MISSING from this spot". I thought it somehow important to let people know where she was last seen.

We go on to have a really fun party. There was eating, music, dancing, Balderdash!, and picture taking. Kellen enjoyed everyone, but especially the hamburgers. The new medication he is on increases his appetite and causes him to fixate on food. He ate two hamburgers and stood staring at the rest of the burgers until we finally took them back into the kitchen. Then he stood and stared at the spot where the burgers were last seen.During the party, I kept thinking, "I think I just paid $20 to license a dog that we no longer have.

Later that night, it was really sad to lock our doors knowing that somewhere our puppy was out in the world without us. I prayed that someone was taking good care of her.

This morning, Sweet Husband and DQ were back at work and Kellen was still in bed (no doubt dreaming about cheeseburgers). I took the phone into the bathroom with me so I would hear it in case anyone called about our dog. Sure enough, in the middle of a relaxing bath, the phone rings and it someone who found Zoey. I asked them were they were located and they said, "You know where you posted the sign? That is right where we live." Which of course, is at the end of our street. I dry off and while I am throwing on some clothes, there is a knock at the door. I am wondering if somehow the neighbors with our dog decided I was taking too long and brought her back to our house. I yell, "Just a minute!!" and quickly throw on a shirt and sweatpants (for respectability's sake).

I open the door and it is the mail carrier. Do you know Express Mail can be delivered on Sunday morning?! The slowest mail carrier in the world has me sign for the package (which is for our house guest) and asks me what time it is (for his records). Finally I get rid of him, grab a leash and walk up the street to "the spot" to retrieve Zoey. A woman with several piercings opens the door and hands me my dog. I am kind of thinking that the story of the four-door car and the dog-napping was rather false (or at least a miscommunication due to the Spanish-English translation). As I'm walking Zoey back home, I notice Kellen's unlicensed cat Max lounging on top of our Mexican neighbor's newly washed car.

p.s. After I get Zoey home, I give her food and water. After her meal, she licks her chops and then whines at the front door to go back out. She has never whined in her entire life! I am thinking she liked her "new home" better. Maybe there was less chaos?