Teeny Tiny pays us a visit and a Thankfulness Freebie!

Hello there, Teacher to the Core Followers! I'm Kristin and I blog over at A Teeny Tiny Teacher. But, for today, Katie is letting me post over here! :) Thanks, Katie!

Happy Extra Hour of Sleep Day!

I feel like a Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory person today. I woke up so early . . . according to the new time on my clock. I've already taken Murphie to the park, had coffee, changed the sheets, and watched an 11 minute First Look at the Beverly Hills Housewives.

I'd say I've accomplished more than enough tasks for the day, and it's time to make another cup of coffee and possibly take a nap.

This Going to Church at Night thing is sort of genius, I think.

Anywho, I have a little story for you. I'm going to start right off by telling you that it has a happy ending so don't freak out. I did that enough for everybody, believe me.

Yesterday, I did a bunch of school stuff while the hubby did some projects. Then he left to go upgrade his phone. I was supposed to upgrade my phone because he always gets to upgrade first, but I decided to be the bigger person and let him have it again.

I have no idea why.

But this is an important part of the story so besides bragging about what a wonderful, selfless human being I am, you also need to know that the mister was getting a new phone.

I was upstairs folding clothes and talking on the phone to my mom. She was asking how long I'd been married. I don't know why, but I'm hoping she is going to send me an overdue 16th wedding anniversary present or something. While I was folding clothes, Murphie kept jumping up on the bed and knocking my piles down.

I kissed her, I called her a stinker, I re-folded them.

A few minutes later, I went downstairs and checked my email or Facebook or Instagram or something . . . I don't know. I live a very busy virtual life so I know I was checking something.

And then I decided I needed to check on Murphie because it had been a few minutes and this is what I do every few minutes. I check on her. It's instinct. Pour a glass of wine, check on Murphie. Dry a dish, check on Murphie. Begin to watch a show, press pause, check on Murphie. Drink wine, check on Murphie.

We have doggy doors, of which I've spoken of before, and she has the freedom to head out back whenever she wants. This is because she is the queen and we are her lowly servants.

Well, I'm pretty sure you can guess where this story is headed . . .

She wasn't in the backyard.

I didn't panic.

I went back inside and looked in the house. She tends to fall asleep in weird places because she is still a puppy, and can just basically fall asleep while walking from one place to another. She'll just land in a big ole heap on the floor, usually with her head on a shoe or under a chair or wedged between a door and a wall or something.

No Murphie.

I started to panic just a little . . . but thought I should re-check out back.

You know, because even though our backyard is on the smallish side, I thought it was possible she may have camouflaged herself next to a big hole that she might have dug, or maybe she was lying beside a tree that she upended or, quite possibly, we were in the middle of a hide and seek game and she forgot to tell me.

But no.

No Murphie.

Then I remembered she likes to hang out in the garage, too, so I went in there, fully expecting to see her sitting in my Mini.

But no.

No Murphie.

I opened up the door that leads to the side yard and that's when I saw the front fence gate WIDE OPEN.

WIDE OPEN, PEOPLE.

That's when I panicked.

Like . . . maybe I howled. Not sure.

I looked out front as quickly as I could and that's when I realized she was absolutely one hundred percent not in my house, the backyard, the garage, the side yard, the front yard, or anywhere in the near vicinity.

I ran back inside, grabbed my phone, her leash, and some shoes.

The shoes coordinated very well with my plaid pajama bottoms, workout tank that has a built-in bra which is almost not really a bra anymore because it is so old, but I don't really need a bra (teeny tiny teacher, ya know) so I still wear it, and a zip up sweatshirt.

And not one piece of clothing matched another piece, but I think it was the perfect outfit to run around the neighborhood in. I mean, I am nothing if not an expert on what to wear when you want your neighbors to see you crying and trying to run in pajama pants that are way too long for you.

I went straight to the park -- nothing.

I saw some boys, asked if they'd seen a German Shepherd puppy -- nothing.

Meanwhile, I am calling the hubby over and over, but the call would not go through BECAUSE HE WAS GETTING A NEW PHONE AND ALL HIS STUFF WAS BEING TRANSFERRED SO HE WAS BETWEEN PHONES!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I pretty much got the equivalent of a busy signal.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was a freaking mess, I'm not going to lie. Fuh-reaking mess.

Not to mention, and you may already remember, but I have this little thing called a serious heart condition that I take tons of medicine for, and my heart was about to explode -- what with the running and the panic and the snot and the tears and the no Murphie.

I ran back home with the idea of getting in the Mini and driving slowly through the streets of my neighborhood . . . I had all kinds of ideas, but they were scaring me as my imagination ran wild . . .

And THAT'S when my call finally went through.

I have no recollection of our phone conversation, but it did sink in that my husband was on his way home to help.

And then there was a knock on my door.

And when I opened it up, there was Murphie.

She just walked in the front door, all nonchalantly.

Hello there, Mommy. Whatcha been doing?

I pretty much collapsed on the stairs.

After I'd recovered, I realized two boys were standing on my porch. One was young . . . maybe ten or eleven . . . and the other was . . . well, I seriously have no idea. He was either in his twenties or he was a teenager. I don't know.

But he was extremely cute.

Like, really cute.

Like, I suddenly realized what I was wearing and how I looked.

The little boy said he knew we had a German Shepherd so he thought he should ask if she was ours.

And the older guy -- well, he is new to the neighborhood. As in, he was unpacking stuff and will officially be my neighbor this Wednesday.

I called the hubby to tell him she had been returned so he went straight to Pet Co and got her a tag with her name, address, and phone numbers.

She has a chip. She has a dog tag through our city. But she didn't have personal information. Now she does. And she jingles when she walks.

The front gate also has a lock on it now.

I asked the boys if they wanted a reward and they said no. Which was good because there was no money in the bra of my work out tank.

Oh, and the older boy? Well, turns out he has a German Shepherd, too, so we arranged a play date.

I will be wearing make up. And a proper bra.

Obviously.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A note from Katie - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -