MerrinDonahue.com

That’s right: I just have to make it through one more day, and then I know that everything’s gonna be alright. This morning was rough: Our power was intermittent during the night because of the storm. I did, however, have the foresight to set the alarm on my cell phone, just in case. It was still storming pretty bad when I got up, so I just let the dogs out the back, instead of going out there with them. Approximately two minutes later, I called them, and only two showed up. Muttering to myself, I grabbed the newspaper, threw it over my just-coiffed hair (I couldn’t find the umbrella), and went outside to retrieve dog #3. Now here’s the part of the story where you’d think I’d already learned the lesson: You guessed it! The fence had blown down. Not the same section, mind you, but it was down nonetheless. To make matters worse, ANOTHER section of the neighbor’s fence was also down, giving unrestricted access to the great beyond. So I dashed in the house, yelling for Kevin (still peacefully asleep, as this all transpired before 6:00 AM), jumped in my truck, and drove around the neighborhood. All to no avail. No dog. My heart was sinking fast. I got back home and kept calling for the Flight Risk (this is not the first time she’s been Born Free). Kevin, by this time, was already out looking, too. Guess what? He found her. In the neighbor’s pool. She’s a Shar-Pei mix. She doesn’t exactly float. The story has a happy ending, though. He fished her out and brought her home. Greg Louganis is doing just fine after her morning exploits. Between this and work, my nerves are shot.