So, life has been what I would call interesting these past few weeks. Not easy, especially for my in-laws who are dealing with ailments and my husband and his sister who are juggling them. But we are blessed with a side a humor that not many have, thanks especially to my husband. I knew it when I first met him; that his humor would be the tie that binds us & keeps me sane. But his was not the only humor to be enjoyed during these stress-filled weeks. It also involved these 4 stinkers. Here's a breakdown of my 2 weeks with them:
1. The first 2 days are enjoyable with watching the "cousin dogs" play. Daisy & Rocky are PaPa's dogs.
2. Once PaPa leaves to stay elsewhere for a while Rocky becomes depressed & begins growling at the children. He's out. Moma bear rules. Let the insanity commence.
3. The 3-4th afternoon we return to the laundry room strewn with small pieces of a folded up queen-size air mattress.
4.The next afternoon we are greeted in the same place with a destroyed Kirby vacuum. Some of you can especially appreciate what exactly that means.
5. The first night PaPa is gone, as usual we let the dogs out before bed and when we return to retrieve them, I see them roaming in the cow field. With the cows. And the bull. And the coyotes. Of course Greg is at work. And I'm out. I don't do bulls & coyotes.
6. After much prayer & a surprisingly good night's sleep not knowing if my father-in-law's "babies" would return, they miraculously did - right at the front door. Whew! Praise God!
7. Now that these 2 know how to get out (I guess our 2 were just cheering them on?), they enjoy the adventure and so continue to do so off and on until we acquire 2 dog kennels after some desperate pleading of our church family. Thank you Kathy, Gene, Bill & Lorie!
8. The toots are no longer allowed outside alone so we must watch them like a guard watches prisoners in the yard. Not at all convenient, but necessary none-the-less.
9. This strategy still is not fool-proof (guess I'm the fool) and yet again they go. And go. And they go so far that I just let them. Of course Greg is at work. Thankfully a man calls Ken who calls me and I get to pick them both up in the neighborhood around the corner, with kids in p.j.s and all.
9. Alas, 2 weeks is over, the last morning has arrived. Now all left to do is let them pee, put them up, take the kids to school, & they'd be on their way home by 4 p.m. But apparently by now 10 minutes is too long to let them alone in their now perfected knowledge of fence-escaping. Greg, of course, is at work. They go, man-rescuer calls PaPa, PaPa calls me, I leave, Greg comes, Greg calls man, Greg picks up dogs. Later dogs go home. We all breath a sigh of relief.
10. Now I have a long, funny story to tell others. See, good CAN come from all things!
(I didn't have the room to include the embarrassing dog-retrieval from the yard of our landlord, the chewed-through leashes I used to try and tie them up, & the unfortunate fall of my mother-in-law ensuing a broken leg. But I digress.)
