Mistaken identity

Don't all yellow labs look the same to you? I mean, I had never seen this dog before in my life. I was just the clever detective who put 2 and 2 together and returned the dog to the rightful owner by putting it in the yard and letting him get rain soaked all day and then locking him in a filthy cluttered garage (with the cops' help). Two different neighbors and two cops both confirmed that he was this lady's dog. Imagine coming home with your dog and finding it's twin locked in your garage, howling and confused. Kind of funny, except now I don't feel so smart.

I got a call yesterday afternoon from a man named Kevin. He got my number in a very round about way from talking to his daughter who heard from her classmate about the dog who followed the kids home. So by his detective work he asked around until he got my number. He said that he thought I found his dog Jake. I told him that no, it was a dog named Rocky and I returned him to his rightful owner by putting him in that person's garage. But what a coincidence! He lost a yellow lab on the same day, what are the chances? I told him good luck and maybe call the animal shelter. He wasn't buying it. I didn't get it. I mean, there were at least 4 people who confirmed that it was Rocky and helped me lock him up. So I described the blue choke collar and he said "yep, that's Jake." It finally started to sink in and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry (I laughed hard). So I met him and took him to the house. Jake was back in the yard. We asked the neighbor what happened and she apologized to him and said that she really thought it was Rocky. I bet that Rocky's owner was really confused. I know I was.

Pretty sure the Bothell PD will demote me now.

Cagney and Lacey and the bloody paw

It all started after school when the girls came home from school and I could hear Drew screaming from downstairs for me to come quickly. I looked downstairs and saw a huge yellow lab in my living room pacing around. I was confused and for a split second thought that maybe Holly had morphed into a bigger version of herself. The girls excitedly told me about how this dog followed them home. So now he was in my front room leaving muddy paw prints. One of his paws was bloody so every other muddy paw print was a muddy-bloody paw print. (Muddy-bloody rhymes, I know). I had never seen this dog before but he seemed nice. So I decided we could keep him. I mean, I need 3 dogs, really. JUST KIDDING! So anyway.....where was I?..... Oh yeah, we walked him around the neighborhood on a leash, no luck. I had this weird feeling that I could figure out where this dog belonged (he had no tag on his collar). I remembered a story that my friend Rebecca had told me about one of the 911 calls she got last week to the mobile home park. A lady was complaining about kids playing outside. Yes, that qualifies as an emergency here in Bothell apparently. I remember her saying that the lady had a really cool yellow lab that was trained to open doors for her (she has MS). So I called Rebecca as she was getting ready to go to work and asked her exactly what house it was. Lo and behold I found the house, asked the neighbor and he confirmed that it was the lady's dog. She wasn't there so I put the dog in the yard and closed the chicken wire fence. Good deed done..... NOT!

Later in the evening I took George and Holly on a walk (11pm). It was raining and cold but I really wanted Holly to potty in the great outdoors. Bec texted and asked if I was up so she could come get a snack and show me her cool cop car. So I said yeah, I'm walking in Hollyhills. I had heard a dog howling most of the evening so I went down to check and see if it was the yellow lab. As I was getting near the house a cop car pulled up and spotlighted me, so cool. It's almost like she's playing cop or something, but it's real. Anyway she asked if I had called 911 about the dog cause someone just called about it. Coincidence. So we went and checked it out. I asked her if I could break in to the house and let the poor dog in. We giggled as we maneuvered through the yard avoiding dog poop, old sinks, garbage, etc.... She had her cool cop flashlight as we pounded on all the doors and peeked in windows. No luck. So we put the dog in the garage, talked to the neighbor who called it in. She's worried that something happened to the lady and filed a missing person's report. Then went to my house for a snack. Kind of crazy that it was Rebecca that helped me return the dog earlier in the day and ran in to me on the way to the 911 call. I think we should be partners, like Cagney and Lacey. It was kind of fun, but then it was 11:30pm and I got to change into dry pj's and Bec had to go to the station to write up a huge report on the case of the dog and the missing lady. I'll keep my detective work limited at this time. I've got laundry to do.

Longest day ever

It's funny how one things leads to another. First of all I've been sick for 5 days-sore throat, stuffy nose, etc.... Drew was in a parade with her gymnastics team today (Saturday). Fun. Lots of animals dressed in clothes. Weird. And the clowns, also weird. The parade route ended at Petsmart in Woodinville.

Drew wanted to go in and look at all of the rescue dogs. Harmless, or so I thought. Then I called Darren (who was taking an implant course) and asked him if he thought that George could use a sister dog. We have talked about it before many times. I guess the only way to really tell is to bring a dog home. So we found the perfect (or so it seems) dog for George. She is a smallish shephard mix dog named Holly. She came with the name and we decided to keep it since it's a cute name and we like people names for our animals. She is 9 months old and mostly trained. At least that's what her foster mom said. Am I a sucker or what? She just arrived here last week from death row for dogs in Oakland, seriously, death row. How appropriate that she's a Bay Area dog.

Then I took the girls to see Alice in Wonderland. I'm not sure if it was the Sudafed or what but that was a very trippy movie. And of course I popped off a veneer while eating an m&m. So as Darren and I were going up to the office this evening to re-cement my veneer we decided to stop at Walmart to get a dog crate. As we began to walk toward the store I felt in my pocket for my veneer and it wasn't there. We scoured the car, searched my pants pockets and looked in the parking lot. How appropriate that I so to Walmart with a peg tooth. I looked like I fit right in with all the other freaks at Walmart. I even went back up this evening with a powerful flashlight and looked again. No luck. No tooth. Luckily I'm married to my dentist. He doesn't seem all that excited to make me a new tooth and I don't blame him. Maybe I'll just stick with my new hillbilly look.

So that was my very very long day.

Good night.

Crazy Hair Day

Friday was Woodin Elementary's much anticipated crazy hair day. Drew set her alarm clock for 6:50am to make sure that we would have enough time to craft her hair into something spectacular. She was jealous of Gillian's bangs because I was able to make them stick straight up and Drew's hair was too long. I'm sure that my brother Rob would have known how to make it happen. He had some gravity defying hair in high school. She was upset that she couldn't have her hair cut just for the day and I found it ridiculous that I was reasoning with someone who is 10 and should know better. Sometimes you just can't have it all. Her hair still turned out pretty darn crazy if I do say so myself. She was sulking quite a bit before school because of her jealousy over Gillian's bangs. Speaking of bangs, I have yet to take a good picture of my bangs. I think that I like them for now. Will post a picture soon. They hide forehead wrinkles. Now, if only I could have bangs around my mouth.

29

This past Sunday I turned 41. It sounds kind of old to me and it made me think about how my grandmother (Dera) used to say on each of her birthdays that she was 29. I knew that 29 was pretty old but I knew that she wasn't 29. I get it now. Denial. I can't possibly be 41! In my mind I'm in my 20's and when I see other 40 year olds I think that they look older than me. DENIAL! I think that it's all a state of mind. I refuse to feel old, even when my body aches and tells me that I'm about 70 years old. Maybe not 70, but certainly not a spry 20 something year old.

So well, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu

We sold the Suburban yesterday to make way for the new Denali. And by new I mean a 2007 GMC Yukon Denali. We've had 7 great years with my sweet Suburban. It had 160,000 miles on it and a nice worn-in interior. My favorite part was the sock I put over the armrest to save my arm from getting scratched up by the cracked leather. We were very lucky with this vehicle, no major problems. So we decided not to push our luck as lots of little things started acting up and our mechanic said it was probably time to look for something newer. I was sad to see it go but I am enjoying the new car and all of the gadgets that go with it.

Being 10 years old is serious business

My sweet middle child Drew is very intense. She is the peacemaker of the family, and the overachiever.

Let me start by listing the kids extracurricular activities:

Gavin

-just trying to get through 8th grade.

-sometimes plays his bass guitar.

-scouts

Gillian

-gymnastics

Drew

-safety patrol

-gymnastics

-track

-math club

-orchestra

-choir

-guitar

-drama club

-activity days

Today was especially difficult for her because she started at 7am catching the bus to the junior high for orchestra. After school she did safety patrol, math club, drama club and then informed me at 6:30pm that she needed to be at the Northshore Performing Arts center for a concert for orchestra (she plays violin.) She had forgotten about it and we barely made it in time. By this evening she was frantically trying to do her homework. I told her to just go to bed and do it in the morning. She was in tears as I saw her smuggling her homework into her room under her robe. She can't bear the thought of not finishing her homework. She also has a hard time passing up an opportunity to do something new. I wish I could spread some of her determination to Gavin. I think that she and I are going to have to have a discussion about thinning out her schedule.

Charades

For Family Home Evening tonight I read a story about a squirrel family. It was about preparedness. Mama squirrel told her two kid squirrels to gather as many nuts as they could because there was a snow storm coming. One kid gathered lots of nuts and the other one played and didn't gather any. Sure enough the snow came and the one that didn't gather any had to rely on his mom and brother to feed him and he felt ashamed that he hadn't done what he was told. My kids said that they got the point of the story. They all said that they should listen to mom and always be prepared. That led to a brief discussion about what to do in case of an emergency at our home. If there is a fire, flood, earthquake, etc... Gillian did not like the direction of this discussion at all and she said that it really freaks her out. (She is currently asleep in my bed right now (11pm) just in case there is a fire). Then she perked up after the discussion and said that for an activity she would like to play charades. I said that the charades should have something to do with preparedness or a church type of something. So we started youngest to oldest and here's what we got...

Gillian- acted out reading the scriptures.

Drew- acted out helping an old lady who had fallen.

Gavin- acted out killing zombies, first with a machine gun, then with his Gerber LMF 2 knife.

Me- acted out planting seeds for a garden.

Darren- stood up and mimicked the way I've been limping around with my sore hip and back.

I'm pretty sure that the girls in this family were the only ones that really got the meaning of our Family Home Evening activity tonight.

Satan on Sunday mornings

Now that church starts at 9:00am our lives are sorta crazy on Sunday morning. I think that Satan sends his little helpers to my house to keep us from getting to church on time. They whisper in Gillian's ear that none of her dresses or skirts are acceptable to wear today. She demands that I find her a new dress right away. Darren is ready to go and takes Gavin to church on time as I battle with Gillian who is now in hysterics and beyond any rational behavior. Then, standing there in a dress that I talked her into wearing, she said she really needed a nap. It was 9:00am, Drew was waiting patiently. So I tell Gill that if she is still tired after Sacrament meeting I will take her home for a nap. I was secretly hoping that she would take me up on it, but as soon as she saw her little friend after the meeting she happily scurried off to Primary. Bummer, no nap for me. And this seems to happen every Sunday. Same kid, same fashion drama.