Holy cow! Things are crazy around here. Last night, somewhere around 7pm last night, I looked around and noticed there were no pups anywhere to be seen. I asked the kids where they were, and they looked around and didn’t see them. Now, I know there were there just a little bit before this because I was playing with Echo. Ashley must have let them out when she went outside. How none of us noticed this is beyond me, but they must have gone out as the rest of the kids were coming in. In the short time that Ashley was out there before I went to get her, they must have climbed the fence to get out.
Sierra before she got lost
Frustrated that I had to chase them again, I grabbed the leash and headed out the door. They had a nice head start on me, so when I didn’t see them right away, I was not alarmed. I would have climbed into the van and drove after them to make up that lost time, but Jason had taken it to work since his car is still out of commission. At this point, I wasn’t too worried, we have never lost pups before, and I wasn’t planning on starting now.
Echo before he was a lost puppy.
I made Jason and Troy get into the bath. I told Derek to stay with them, and I put Ashley into her crib so she wouldn’t wander out while I was gone. Jason was in charge, and that usually works pretty well. I headed off into the usual direction. When I got to the end of the street, I was a little concerned that I hadn’t seen them yet, but not too much. I continued walking. As I got halfway around the block, I started to get nervous. They had never been gone this long, and they had never gone this far. I was really wishing I had my van. I walked all the way back to our house and still saw no sign of the dogs. I have a neighbor, (actually, several neighbors that hate my kids and my dogs just because they exist, and not for anything either have ever done to them) that I think may have called Animal Control. I called to see if this had in fact been the case, but they told me that they wouldn’t pick up any stray dogs after 4pm unless it was an emergency. Well, my dogs are sweet as pie and would never create an emergency, so I was hopeful. I didn’t see any evidence that any dogs had been hit by a car or anything, so chances were, they were still running around or maybe someone found them and would take them to the shelter down the street in the morning.
Well, with Jason at work and no van, I knew I had to stay home. My heart was heavy at this point. I was starting to really miss my pups, and I was getting worried. We can’t have lost pups. We just can’t. I walked in the door, and two wet and naked kiddos met me there, asking about their lost pups. The little ones still had their clothes on, but were also quite concerned. Ashley kept saying, “Mama! Puppy! Mama! Puppy!” As hard as it was, I had to tell them that I didn’t know where they were. They were crushed.
Among tears and questions, I bathed the other two kiddos and got everyone into bed. I promised them I would keep an eye out for the lost pups and that I would look for them again when they were asleep. I lived up to my promise, too, but things got worse.
I went back out and walked along, calling to the pups. Nothing. Not a sound nor movement. Nothing. It was ominous. But then I started feeling light-headed and dizzy. I was really starting to get tired. And I mean REALLY tired. I got home, and decided to sit on the porch and drink a cup of coffee while looking out for the dogs in case they wandered home on their own. I sat down, feeling really woozy. You see, I have Fibromyalgia. It is a syndrome that has decided to make my already crazy life just that much crazier, and last night, it did a number on me! I take a medication called Pramipexole. I had just decided to reduce my dose a little bit a few days prior, and all of a sudden, I was getting very dizzy and light-headed. I sat down and felt better. I was looking for the dogs, sipping my coffee, and all of a sudden, I woke up. I had fallen asleep on my front porch, in my clothes, without any warning. It was 3:30am. I immediately went inside, but I felt really wierd. I laid down oin the couch and fell back to sleep. Apparently Jason had called me and I was talking all crazy to him, telling him I was up and walking around, but he knew I was not. He told me later that he had been really worried about me.
Well, since I had fallen asleep so suddenly and felt so bad that I laid down right away, I had not taken my meds that night. That ALWAYS has a bad effect on me. Sure enough, when Jason got home, he tried to get me up and couldn’t. When he finally did, I guess I was talking crazy, was all confused, and started yelling at him for no reason. I had severe hypotension (low blood sugar), so I got up to get a bowl of cereal that I ate whenever I had this side effect occur. I tried to carry the bowl into the living room, but my legs and arms kept giving out. If it hadn’t been me this was happening to, it would have been hysterical! :) It’s OK. Laugh! Imagine seeing a woman trying to carry a bowl into a room and her right leg just gives out. As soon as it comes back to life, her left leg gives out. Then her arm carrying the bowl, dumping milk and cereal all over the floor. I looked like a marionette being worked by a toddler! I am laughing out loud as I write this, just picturing myself. Poor Jason tried to help me, but I would have none of it. I just jolted around until I got to the couch and ate what was left in my bowl. Then I passed out and went to sleep again. About an hour or so later (I think) Jason tried to wake me up again and I freaked out on him! I jumped up and did the whole marionette act again as I tried to get into the bathroom, away from him. I am not sure why I was so angry and scared of him, he was just being helpful and kind and trying to help me, but I had some weird thing going on in my head, and I was accusing him of all kinds of weird atrocities. Poor guy. There is certainly a steak in his near future. A big, fat, juicy one with all the trimmings. I owe him at least that.
I think I ate more cereal and drank a big glass of pink grapefruit juice, which usually helps me out in these situations, but only curbed it for a small amount of time this time. In that tiny window of normalcy, I informed Jason of the missing dogs. He knew they were gone, but wasn’t sure what had already been done. He immediately got up and called Animal Control and the doctor. Neither one had an actual human on the other line, so he had to leave a message. Animal Control called right back and told him no one had turned in two huskies yet, but that they would call if anyone did. In my freaked out mind, I was not really sure what that meant, and it hurt to much to think about it, so I just didn’t. I fell back to sleep. Jason woke me up again a little later, and I went off on him again. I jolted around to the bathroom to take a shower, but I was a little better this time. He followed me and calmed me down. I started to come out of it and started acting a bit more normal. The kids were pretty freaked out by this time, so he had to go and settle them down and let them know I was going to be OK. He was so great to me and to the kids. I feel so bad for the kiddos. That must have been so scary for them.
Eventually Jason went to bed. Somehow I made lunch for the kiddos after my shower. After lunch, I got everyone into the car. I was feeling about 75% myself now, and the muscle spasms were comepletely over. I felt weak and cloudy in the head, but otherwise functional. We went to the shelter down the street (Animal Control) and walked in. They told me no huskies had been in yet, but they would call me instead of my husband now. I drove around looking for the lost pups when I realized I didn’t have my phone with me. I vaguely remembered hiding it from Jason during one of my freak-out episodes, so I went home and looked for it. Sure enough, there it was. What a nut-ball I was! Poor Jason…I got back in the car and looked at my phone. It was almost dead, but it also had a missed call from Animal Control. I plugged it into the car charger and called the lady. She informed me that someone had called and said they had two husky puppies that fit my description and that I should call. I went down and got the number and called the person while still in the parking lot of Animal Control. She told me that they were at her house with her boyfriend and three girls. She said she would call them and let them know I was on my way. It turns out that the pups were at a house just one street over from ours. I just couldn’t see them because the people brought them inside. I went up and got the dogs and thanked the people profusely. Then we went home.
Lost dogs are now found. Yay!
Obviously I have to get off this medication. The side effects are too severe and I have too many people depending on me to go through another episode like that. We also have to come up with a bigger and better plan to get these dogs to stay in the yard. I have a few ideas, so I am going to try them out. Pray for me! I don’t want to lose these dogs. We all love them too much. Thank God for my husband. He was a life-saver today. He took care of the kids in every way. He tended to their needs, get them ready, and eased their fears and concerns about their mom and their dogs. He was amazing. I am back to normal now, and I plan to stay that way. I got laundry done, cleaned up the house a bit, and made dinner. I am back from the crazy farm and the lost pups are now found. A crazy, horrible, awful day ended up pretty darn good! Jason is now up, and I owe this man a steak, so I have to go. Have a great rest of the day!!!
Don’t forget to vote! I lost ground yesterday while going crazy, so I need you more than ever! Click on the juggling chick! She is located at the top right-hand side of the site. Thank you!!!!!!!
