Five Dogs I Love

1.  Mrs. Wigglebottom–when I laid down for a nap this afternoon, Mrs. Wigglebottom leaped into the bed and curled up facing the door.  Who would she need to watch for, coming up the stairs?  I don’t know.  Still, the fact that she guards my room while I sleep brings me a lot of comfort.  Not to mention that she looks like a tiny hippopotamus.  Who does not love that?

2.  My friend M.’s dog from when we were kids–part German Shepherd, part Doberman.  She looked like a squatty Doberman, except for when you ran your hands backwards and under her black fur was a thick white undercoat.  You could lay your head on her belly and watch horror movies into the wee hours of the morning unafraid.

3.  Fritz–When I was one, my parents brought home a little black and tan dachshund.  He was my constant stinky companion until he died my senior year of high school.  Everyone should have one dachshund in their lives.

4.  Rocky–Rocky has a stub where his tail should be, but when he’s excited that little wiggly stub is just about the silliest thing you’ve ever seen. 

5.  Dr. Phil–I’m not sure what Dr. Phil’s real name is.  And I’m pretty sure Dr. Phil may actually be a girl.  But I’ll be damned if the dog two blocks over doesn’t bear a striking resemblance to Dr. Phil.  And there’s nothing funnier than seeing Dr. Phil in a play position barking at you first thing in the morning.

My Mom

Y’all, I cannot tell you how yesterday just knocked me to my knees.  I was already having kind of a wobbly couple of days there and my dad on the phone being all like “I’m in the car, following an ambulance on the way to Carle.  Your mom’s in that ambulance” really about did me in.

I don’t know.  I started out wanting to talk about it.  But I’ve just spent the last fifteen minutes staring off into space, trying to decide whether to just delete this.

I thought I would feel more relief today, more grateful that she’s fine, but frankly, it scared the shit out of me and that feeling of being scared is what lingers.