"Hurricane Grays"

I think they should start naming hurricanes after puppies instead of women. In the middle of December, I came home one day after working for 12 hours...to THIS!

It was a really snowy day so I decided to leave the dogs in the house. Since Grays cannot be trusted in any room except for the kitchen (which is mostly puppy-proof), I put Grays in the kitchen and left Sophie in the front room. I closed the pocket door between the two rooms and only left a small opening so they could see each other. Evidently Grays was very "mouse-like" in squeezing her way through the door and wreaking havoc in the front room.

I lost 3 strings of Christmas lights,

a library book from my school library (it's SO embarrassing when this happens at the LIBRARY TEACHER'S house...a parent came in the next day and was aplogizing profusely because her son had lost a book which she came to pay for and I was VERY understanding as I confessed what had happened at my very own house the day before), and the cover to my scriptures was chewed up. Luckily the book inside was OK.

I went to plug in the string of lights in the front window. Oops. Can't. No plug!

How can a puppy this cute be so destructive??? Actually, if you look at the bright side, I didn't lose any furniture that day, or drapes, and she didn't touch the small Christmas tree or my nativity set which I brought back from Mali. I suppose there's always a silver lining.

All I Want for Christmas...

My wishes for Christmas are so much simpler than when I was a kid. Nowadays all I hope for is...

to be around kids...

...and dogs,
children smashed in a cupboard,
to spend time with my family,

and to keep my focus on the Savior.

I guess my big brother's priorities are a little different than mine. But, hey, each to his own.

Canine Escape Artists

What a week! Apparently I have a little black escape artist (remind you of another dog, Kathy?) On Monday when I got home from work Sophie met me at the gate, but no Grays. I looked around the yard then in the house. Just when my throat was starting to freeze up and I forced myself to take a deep breath, out of the corner of my eye I saw the phone flashing indicating there was a message. It was from the UPS guy. "Um, yeah. Your puppy was running back and forth across 17th South and almost got hit so I just found a fenced yard and put her in there. Here's the address."

After I got her back to our yard, I went over into the the neighbor's driveway, called to her, and watched her do a soldier crawl under the wire out through this hole. So I patched it up with more fencing.

Next morning at 5 am when I was out stealing bagged leaves for the garden, Sophie gets out through the gate and starts ripping up the neighbor's garbage. I go over to get her. Grays, not one to be left out, comes shooting through the bushes through a NEW hole. So dad put an old stump in that hole. Don't you like the way we Joneses monkey-rig things?

You GOTTA love THIS fence which, at one time was sufficient to keep Sophie and Addison out of the garden...withOUT the extra support of the lawn chairs and garbage cans. But little Grays just puts her front paws on it and bounces until something gives way.

Dad came over the other day and rigged up a "trolley" during the rain and snowstorm so that at least I won't be getting any more calls from the UPS guy or find my cute puppy squished in the street. And guess who dad found in the front yard sitting on the lawn when he arrived? Sophie!

Yesterday I had a guy come and give me a bid on taking out the hedge and putting up a REAL fence! I'm getting serious now! Luckily, my new neighbors were thinking about asking me if I wanted to split the cost of putting up a fence. YES! YES! YES!