Home Sweet Home

Well I thought I would give y’all a little looksie into how we are living as of late.  For those of you just finding your way here to my blog, we are in my parent’s basement for the time being.  It is kind of a double edged sword.  On the one hand I completely recognize that, for our situation, we are in a blessed spot.  Our parents have space for us, and all of our stuff.  We aren’t having to pay rent on our house, which is a little extra unexpected savings, and we aren’t having to pay rent to live somewhere else.  We are in an area close to our house so our daily routines like work and groceries {HA to husband if he’s reading. He knows I hate grocery shopping} etc aren’t a big change.  Our commutes to work are basically the same.  Overall the space works pretty well for us.  We have set up our bedroom in the game room and there is a den and TV down there so we use that as our den.

My parents have been great to live with.  Maybe it’s easier for me to adjust because I’m used to living with them.  They give us our space and never come downstairs, we have as much privacy as if we were in our home.  But it just feels weird to live in my basement.  The place I used to be so scared I couldn’t watch Scooby Doo alone in because of all the windows downstairs at night.  We have our essential stuff set up for daily usage but everything else is in boxes wherever there is space to put them.  It never really feels clean because there is so much stuff, which wears on my spirit every now and then.  I think this is also the Lord’s way of teaching me to unclench a bit… 🙂  So here you are, fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride/tour!

When you first go down the stairs into the basement, you enter the billiard room.  We now refer to it as the holding cell.  As far as living down there, this room has no functional purpose.  The pool table has kind of become the surface where we put things we know we can’t lose, but they have no place to go.  It usually stays there until I can find a place to store it.  Some things will probably stay there until we move out.

Holding Cell

You’ve seen in the previous picture that behind the pool table is a little kitchenette area.  It’s got a sink and dishwasher.  There just isn’t an oven or stove.  It’s been nice to have a bit of a kitchen.  We use our toaster oven (thank you DD) a lot and when you’re cooking for 2, you really don’t need anything bigger.

The Kitchen

You pass through the kitchen into….

Game Room Entrance

… our closet/bedroom/den/office/vanity 🙂  You enter the room straight into our clothes we have out to wear on these rolling racks we stole from the attic.  Here’s a better look:

"His and Hers Walk-In Closets" more like "Walk-Around" closets!

Then you will look back to your right and see:

Fooseball table/shoe cover

Every single pair of shoes I own stacked under the pool table so they don’t take up space!  I have been made fun of for as long as I can remember because I keep each pair of shoes it its own plastic bin.  It for one thing, is easier to stack in smaller closet space, but that is the ONLY reason my shoes stayed clean!  If I didn’t have them in boxes, I would have had to wipe down and try and salvage the ones that I could, but some would be beyond fixing because of the materials they are made of.  So “ha” to all you doubters 🙂

Then look behind you and you will see:

Jim's Dresser/TV

It’s funny how even in this room that is much bigger than our old one, we still set it up the exact same way haha.  That is an old dresser of mine that Jim puts all his shorts/shirts in.  Usually we have a smaller tv on the dresser, but this one was in our den and we didn’t have a safe way to store it, so we just use it.

Next is our:

Bed

Pretty drab huh?  We usually have gray and white shams but it was just too depressing and not practical to put them up here.  Notice that the headboard is an old, uncovered upholstered one, propping itself against an AIR HOCKEY TABLE.  Pretty classy 😉  Behind that headbaord on top of the hockey table is a bunch of bags and miscellaneous stuff I didn’t know where do put, so I tossed it there.  Probably more so because of my tiredness of finding places to put and store things really.

But please notice the 2 little treasures I did keep out:

Bedside tables and Lamps

Love them.  A lot.  We figured they would just sit against some wall so we might as well use them for now.

If your back is to the bed and you’re facing the TV, to the left is this:

Chest

Try not to cringe at all the clutter.  I know I am right now as I look at it and think about it being that way at home.  This is my grandmothers chest.  I took it with me to Auburn my senior year and it’s stayed with me ever since.  Our decorative pillows are in the plastic bags underneath for safe keeping.  The huge pile of clothes to the right is really just all the clothes spilling out of my laundry basket 🙂  The blue blanket to the left is spare bedding of my mom’s we used when we first moved home because we washed our sheets and couldn’t find them in the boxes and our comforter and burned up totally in the fire.

If you look to the right you will see this:

Step into our Office/Shuffleboard Table

There is a huuugely long shuffleboard table that takes up this entire wall of the room.  We laid a blanket over this part so the beads and sand didn’t get on our stuff and set my desktop up there.  We don’t use it as much since we don’t have hard wired internet down there, but the big screen is nice when I’m designing at home.  The printer is to the right and our fan for sleeping.  Farther down the table is my makeshift vanity area.

Vanity

This is where I straighten my hair etc.  I just set it up this week so I’m still getting used to it.  One thing that is cool is that above the table are my dad’s old records.  There is like 30 or 40 of them from when he was a kid/teenager.  You think we will be doing that with our CDs?

Right Side

Left Side

Some of the covers are pretty funny when you think about them watching over us all the time.  Such as these:

Oh and we also have tons of boxes under the table so they don’t take up space either.

That is about all of our main multi-purpose room.  If you walk through the billiard room again and turn to the left, you enter the downstairs den:

Jackson and Husband hangin' out

Which is also where Husband has set up, what I like to call the “Mobile Bullet Station”

Mobile Bullet Station

Please notice that Husband put wheels on the table so he can just move the sucker around and tinker wherever his little heat desires.

On a side note.  The picture below is of my wedding book and a few invitations I still have left to put in there.  For months it sat on the buffet table in our home and I was just too lazy to take it out of that ziploc baggie and display it. Maybe because I wasn’t finished with it, maybe because I was just lazy.  I’m not really sure the reason, but so glad I didn’t get around to it because I know for a fact that the soot and smoke would have ruined that beautiful, stark white book.  So thankful.

Wedding Book

I will leave you will the following picture just for fun.  Our game room has a lot of childhood pictures collages in it and I thought this one was fun from the  8th grade cheerleading days.  Go Bruins.

Green and Gold Forever

Fam Jam Update

Well this week is a big one.  And again, not going into too many details, because it is not my story to tell.  BUUUUT if you wanted to pray for us we always appreciate that, so I’m giving a quick update.  We’ll start with Soonie:

Soonie is doing great.  She went in for her third round of chemo yesterday (Tuesday).  They haven’t been fabulous but she’s definitely hanging in there, minus the first few days she feels pretty good and has been able to do long weekend trips with the family.  After this one she has one more and then has a smaller regimen of a drug that she will get once a week.  Her hair is out but she has a fabulous wig!  It’s like a totally new hair style and really looks great on her.  We went to lunch Monday with the clan and she had the cutest scarf on her head!  This summer, especially, has been so hot that I’m sure it’s hard to wear that all the time.  But she looks just as great in a scarf she she does with her full hair!

DD goes in for her first round of chemo today (Wednesday).  She was supposed to go in last week, but ended up having to get a few more tests done at the last minute.  Admittedly for everyone it was annoying, frustrating and obnoxious…. BUT everything came back normal and clear so we know now that she will be starting her treatment in the best possible condition which is reassuring.

Even though they both have completely different types of cancer, as of now their treatment protocol is the same.  Not that any part of this is great and happy, but I know it helps that they can talk to each other and talk things out.  Because of Soonie’s experience the first round, DD is able to be pre-medicated for her’s instead of having to wait for the second round like Soonie did.  I know none of it is fun, but I think there is peace for each of them {at least, I know there is for me} that they literally are not alone in this.  Sharing ideas, thoughts and research can mean the world.

Here is what they are doing as far as treatment:

*4 Rounds of Chemo with 2 drugs we call A and C {because I can’t pronounce the rest of the word ha} once every 3 weeks
*4 (ish? not quote sure) round of treatment with a drug we call T once a week.
*During this stage they are also participating in an experimental study for a drug in it’s third phase of testing.  It’s a double blind study for a few weeks so they and their doctors won’t know if they are actually receiving the drug, or just getting the placebo.  {However, because of some of the side effects we think Soonie is getting it..!! Pray for that.}  Then after that time frame they will get “unblinded” and if they were receiving the drug they can choose to continue receiving it to finish out the regimen.
*After all that, they will both have radiation, for some unexpected things found during the mastectomies.  But we don’t know much about that at this juncture.

Things you can {please, pretty please} pray for:
1. They would have favor with the nurses (we all know they run the show day to day anyway)
2. Their veins would stay healthy and show up clearly at each treatment (neither of them want a port)
3.  Their day to day living would be comfortable and bearable
4.  That they would know peace which surpasses all understanding
5.  They would receive the experimental drug {it is supposed to revolutionize breast cancer treatment}

OMG

Well, you haven’t head from me in a while because there hasn’t been much to report.  We’ve been waiting to get all the paperwork sorted out so that we can start remediation.  There was a bit of a delay from us filling out the forms since we know about the damage, to getting them to the homeowner to sign, since we’re renting.  All in all it took about a week which isn’t too bad.  We got word that the crew was going to start this past Thursday.

So, I went by the house Friday at lunch to see how things have been going, when I pulled up the street this is what I saw:

Ain't it Grand?? A construction truck!

That gorgeous construction truck.  HUUUUGE news.  The crew started the process of gutting the house.  I said it earlier, but for those of you just tuning in: we are gutting the entire upstairs and all areas affected by the fire/burned and will then assess what needs to be replaced.  The company didn’t feel comfortable giving a bid without seeing behind the surfaces.   SOO I went by to “check on things.”  {I’ll admit it, I’m a control freak.}  But I just want to be sure everything is done right, the first time. None of this re-doing stuff.  So here are a few pictures of the inside.  Crazy to see the walls missing.

Looking straight up standing in the front doorway. The overhang above the guest bedroom/bath.

Looking to the right from the front entry.

Standing in the living room facing the kitchen and back of the house.

Back entryway to the upstairs. Our room is to the left of the guy on the ladder.

Looking up the stairs from our bedroom

Insulation at the top of the stairs.

Upstairs, with no walls. Still messy but lookin' good!

Looking down into the kitchen.

Burned out can lights.

The carpet practically discenigrated, leaving hardwood floors we had no idea were there!

Overhang above the guest bath.

It’s still hard for me to believe that this is actually happening.  I have been used to our poor house being frozen in time: covered in soot, nothing moved since July 9th, that it is weird to think progress is actually being made.  I feel like I have been floating through life lately and trying to hard to make my new circumstances a temporary normal so that I can {in all seriousness} keep my sanity.  It’s like if I don’t really stop and think about where we are currently I won’t have to be upset about it.  I have trouble picturing myself actually moving back in the {near} future.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely cannot cannot wait, but picturing it in my head now is like a blurry out of focus day.  Our countdown of being displaced is currently 1 month and 1 week as of today.  I am hoping that we will be back in in early November and hopefully by my birthday at the latest!  We are meeting with an adjuster tomorrow to talk about one of the beams possible need replacement that he didn’t factor into his estimate.  I hope it goes well, so far this company has been a complete PAIN IN THE NECK to deal with.  So I’m not getting my hopes up.  Fingers crossed!

Praise Jesus!

I never thought this day would come!  Uncle Rooster is taking some guys to the house to survey the damage and get a plan for CONSTRUCTION!!  Did ya hear me?!  I said CONSTRUCTION!!

Now growing up in a building family, that is one thing I’m used to: the headaches and pain-in-the-necks that come with construction.  But today, today my friends, this is sweet music to my ears!  I cannot even believe it.  Yeah for PROGRESS!!

Husband and I took Rooster to the house yesterday for him to check it out so he could lay out a plan.  Today he is there with the electricians and one of our building guys to get an estimate on the cost to gut the upstairs to the studds.

Part of this process has been dealing with the homeowner’s insurance company which has been less than pleasant.  I do realize in general it isn’t a fun process, but like I said previously, I will deal with that in a later post since we are still working things out…

But for now, meet Uncle Rooster or just plain Rooster, whichever I’m in the mood for.

Uncle Rooster

This is where you will find him 90% of the time while he is at the office: in my doorway buggin’ and pickin’ on me.  You see his office is at the opposite end of the hallway, but his assistant Kathy who is the keeper of all information, has her desk next to my office.  So he usually ends up in our little cubby hole.

Much like this. Obviously staged. Rooster knows which one of them really runs the show

Rooster lives on a farm, bails his own hay and raises animals with his wife LouAnn, I want to give her a nickname but it so so classic and fitting of her there can be no other substitute.  Now she is one tough cookie.  She runs the pediatric burn unit at Children’s Hospital downtown and keeps Rooster in line in her spare time, which we all know up here at the office is high near impossible 🙂

Being that he grew up in what he calls the “cuuntry” he also speaks his own language.

“Sure as fat meets greasy” means “yes”
“Bull no” means “no”
“Come on” is when he answers his phone and really means to say “This is Rooster how can I help you?”

The list goes on and on.  I’ll add a few here and there as they pop up.

But all joking aside, Rooster can really get down to business and get a job done.  He takes care of people and in this case will be taking care of us.  He took our electrician and site builder (? Not sure of their official titles.. is that bad that I work with them and don’t know that??) to check it out this morning.  This is what they came up with:

1.  If the wiring was more than 60% burned the whole house had to be rewired.  Praise the Lord that it was not, so they will only have to rewire the upstairs, which is what we were expecting cost wise.  We will also probably get him to add a few plugs to avoid another fire….!

2.  They are going to gut the entire upstairs to the studds and then look at what needs to be done.  Some estimates are hard for them to make now without seeing behind the wall board.  After they get to the studds they will better be able to tell what all needs to be done to restore the upstairs.

3.  There will need to be some work done on the ceilings as well and probably a fresh coat of paint on the whole place.

Fam Update

Well waaay back in the first post I told you about two beloved women in my life, Soonie and DD, and their fights with breast cancer.  Since it isn’t my battle and I can only experience it from a sideline perspective {despite how much I wish I could DO something or help} I don’t feel super comfortable sharing their experiences here because it is not my story to tell, not my fight to have.  I am only limiting the entirely suck-y situation as it affects Husband and me and how we are growing and learning in our own marriage from the circumstances.

BUT this story was too neat to keep secret.  Hopefully it will hit someone else out there or help another family suffering {errr fighting} from this illness.

Obviously, part of dealing with breast cancer is the dreaded mastectomy whether it be a double or single or when in the process it comes.  Now a days, most of the time, it happens.  In Soonie and DD’s case it was something the doctors suggested before treatment.  So they both went in {at different times} for the surgery.  Part of the post-op is that you have drains that continue to clean the wounds and drain fluids after the surgery.  You get them out depending on the amount of fluid drained.  Once they are collecting under a certain amount of CCs a day, it is time for them to be removed.

This completely is dependent on the patient.  In Soonie’s case she got hers our within a week or two and with DD it took closer to 3 weeks until they were all out.  What is hard though is that while you are at home in recovery you have all of these tubes connected to drains coming from your body.  It’s not the most functional, attractive or inviting thing to see when you are taking visitors or just trying to get around the house in general.

Soonie’s surgery and all went first before we found out about DD even having breast cancer in the first place.  She found out about this coat that a lady had made after her surgery years ago to hold the drains and conceal the tubes.  You see, Soonie’s 2nd daughter, known to our family as Juj {Jooge, rhymes with Louge as in the Olympic Sport that guy died doing in Canada}, friend from high school’s mom also had breast cancer.  {There’s a chain if I’ve ever heard one}.  That is how Soonie found out about the recovery coat.

Looks pretty standard no?

Close up of the angel pin on the shoulder

Well inside this coat are the names of all the women who have worn it before and the year of their battle.  It is all in different colors and some are hand embroidered.

The light blue says: "Designed by Mary Gene Boulware 2-95" She made the jacket

So after Mrs. Boulware survived her fight it has been her ministry to pass this jacket to other women who are going through the same battle.  When you open the jacket up it is a burst of color with all the women who have gone before you and their year of fighting.  There is something to be said for the strength that you receive when you are literally cloaked in the stories of survivors while you are fighting your own fight.  I know in the grand scheme of things no one would want to go through this at all or ever.  But down on a smaller scale I think this is a pretty neat deal.  Below are more pictures of the women’s names inside.

You can't read it very well but Soonie's name is the bottom yellow

Soonie and DD’s time lines overlapped.  The day that DD went in for her double mastectomy Soonie was across UAB getting her first chemo treatment.  So we were able to get the coat for DD to wear as well in her recovery.  I personally think it’s a neat thing to be surrounded by the people who have fought and won before you.  It’s the small things in these kind of circumstances where you can reach up and grab the tiny-est bit of joy.

To Update you on them:

Soonie completed her second round of chemo this past Monday {after a set back last week when her white cell count was too low to continue} and is feeling better.  She goes back in I guess 2 weeks from now.

DD got her last drain {FINALLY} out a week ago yesterday {Thursday} and her post op tests came back clear so she will finish recover and start her chemo soon after.

I think they will both be receiving the same type.  That is one thing I didn’t realize, that there are soo many types of chemo.  They also are both participating in an experimental drug study that is in the 3rd phase {which means it is close to being approved for regular use}.  80% of participants will receive the drug so if you want to pray that they fall within that 80%, I surely won’t stop you… 🙂

If any of you are local and know any of the people in the jacket I’d love to make the connection and hear the story!

Zzzzzz

Something has not been right since we have moved into my parent’s basement.  Husband and I have been sleeping terribly and waking up with back and shoulder pain.  We kept thinking it was because we were sore from moving or the day’s activities.

Well pain led to more pain which eventually led to very regular headaches.  I am not one that is usually prone to headaches.  I get them very rarely, if at all.  When this happened with some frequency, I knew something wasn’t right.

After thinking and thinking and self-diagnosing something finally hit us.  One thing that wasn’t salvageable was our memory foam mattress topper!  When we were moving out {the first time} into our house we borrowed a lot of extra furniture from my late grandmother.  While we were packing stuff up we found an extra kind mattress!! Yes please.  We upgraded from Husband’s queen to the king without thinking twice.  BUT it was an oooold mattress.  It didn’t even have a pillow top which I feel like are pretty standard these days.

I have been sleeping on memory foam since I moved into Owen Hall my freshman year of Auburn University {woot woot!}.  I had no clue that I could have become so dependent on it!  We got our insurance check last week and you bet the first thing we bought when it cleared was another memory foam!!  Yesterday was my first day to wake up without immediate pain in my muscles.  Such. a. good. feeling.

I love my bed now!  Husband has been getting on to me a bit for being in it a bit too much.  As in, when I get home from work I change into comfy clothes and do all remaining tasks for the evening in my bed.

Our is the Isotonic 2" foam topper. It's good quality for a decent price. It comes with a zippered cover but we found that makes it slip on the matress more. FYI

A Tid Bit

I’m sure as you’ve picked up on, I have been using nick names in my blog for people that appear in my stories.  If you know me at all, you know I always have nick names for everyone.  I rarely call people by their give name, I mean how boring….

In the interest of keeping my friends anonymous I have employed that strategy here.  It is hard to tell the stories without mentioning the people in them.  But to respect their privacy I have chosen to not name them!

Anyway, I made a list to the right under “Cast and Crew” to help you keep up!  I’ll be adding people there as they are mentioned so you can follow along with the relationships and connections {for those of you who care} from here on out!

Good News Good News!

We heard from our homeowner’s insurance company and it looks like the bidding process can start!!  I’m pretty sure Dad {and by dad I actually mean Rooster} will be doing the construction which will be nice.  How convenient that my desk at work shares a wall with Rooster so I can keep tabs on the progress….. {if you know me, you know I will be}.
I’m expecting it to be a bit slower than usual though because they have to clean the walls and dispose of the ash, etc.  We will have to get some outside help for that part to make sure the house is completely restored.

Nonetheless…. progress is progress!!  At this point we are holding on to all the straws, even the short ones!

Head ‘Em Up & Move ‘Em Out

I still can’t get over that ozone machine.  Unbelievable.  Sunday evening we ozoned a few miscellaneous items just to be safe rather than sorry and cleaned out the garage to make room for all of the furniture from our house.  Pretty hilarious that every single large piece of furniture in my house will fit in 1 half of my parents garage… ha

I knew Monday was going to be a long day, I was dreading it for many days preceding.  But alas, something I have learned in life is that time keeps on ticking.  You can’t stop it.  It can be good when you feel like you will never make it through the tasks you have to accomplish and it can also be bad, like when you know you have a bad day coming up. The forecast Monday morning when we got up was projected somewhere in the 90’s.  I can’t quite remember exactly because it was a week ago.  But it was so hot.

So we packed up and headed to the house to meet the cleaning crew early that morning.  The place was still a huge mess.  I felt like no matter how much we cleaned or despite all the things we took out of the home, it was still such a mess!

You see at this point we had just been so tired of asking for help that we decided we would try and do this the best we could on our own.  Also, most of our friends have regular hour jobs… My brother was there to help and Husband’s brother in law also came.  But we just felt bad calling yet again on friends who are busy living their lives to come help us salvage what we could of ours.  Lo and behold I got a special surprise that day!  My friend Cat came out of no where, unannounced to help us move!!  I seriously thought I was going to cry.

Cat is to my left! Aren't all my friends pretty?

You see Cat and I had always had a push pull relationship.  We are very honest and blunt with each other and sometimes don’t talk for a while.  There are times we frustrate and times we laugh, times we talk and times we drift.  But I know she is there for me anytime I need.  Always.  I at least know that about her and I hope she knows that about me. 🙂

I could tell I was starting to reach a wall inside me.  A barrier that I was too tired to try and break through.  I was {am} tired of sorting, tired of remembering, tired of moving, tired of cleaning, tired of throwing treasures away, tired of it all.  We left a lot of loose things in the house still planning on making one last load, but Josh from Cornerstone told us that his people could clean it all for no extra charge so we just left it PILED on the dining room table!

The crew showed up and they were WONDERFUL.  I talked with William, the team leader, about the plan and how I was envisioning all of this going.  They cleaned all of the loose items first and as they cleaned them, Cat and I packed them up into boxes {I was determined not to lose strides on the packing details}.  After that came the big stuff.  We moved couches as they cleaned them and then made a trip to my parents house to drop them off.  By the time we got back they would have some other things cleaned and ready and we would take those, then come back etc.  We broke for lunch then came back and finished.

I have not been that hot in as long as I can remember.  It was almost unbearable but we all plugged through and finally got it done aaan we saved a few thousand dollars so I can’t complain too much!!  I am so so thankful that this phase in finished.  Hopefully we will be on to better things soon.  Really soon.

Last few charred boxes no one wanted to touch and were too bad to take to mom and dad's

Our lonely and empty den

Empty Kitchen. Our poor new oven! We just got it 2 weeks before

Our oven's better days! Wasn't it cute?!

The thought of cleaning this made me want to vomit. Hopefully it will air out on its own! Mom made it for me

Meet Jackson

Ain't he cute?

Ok so do you remember when I told you that I had a story to tell about how he almost got me in huge trouble?  Here it is!  Let me give you some background {if you care, if not… keep scrolling}.

These are my friends from high school.  We were a pretty close group and kept in sporadic contact through our college years, but every time we are all in town we get together and hang out.  There is just something to be said for a group of people that can take you back to when your biggest concern was if your hair was frizzing at the Friday Night football game or when you would be allowed to drive on 280 on your own!

MBHS Dorians 4 Eva (Yes I realize this Big Al, but I had no choice in the matter!)

Well now that most of us have moved back close to where we grew up we have been getting together a lot more and I have honestly loved it.  We’ve got a thread going in facebook and will just shoot out meet up times to eat and catch up.  Reconnecting with my past has been really good for my soul.  But there has been a bit of a kink in things lately.  The past two times I have had to cancel for unforeseen reasons.  First, I had to miss because we found out my MIL was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, the next time I had to miss because our house caught on fire that night.  So naturally when we made plans this past Tuesday, I was apprehensive…

When I got home from work that day I let Jackson out of his kennel for his dinner.  Then I changed shirts came down and was going to put him back up, but alas he was GONE!  GONE GONE GONE GONE GONE!  No where to be seen.

I inherited Jackson with marriage and overall he has been a really good dog.  I got lucky and missed the whole puppy stage.  When he came to me has was perfectly trained, shots paid for and grown up.  Which I have enjoyed.  Now I have really enjoyed having him at our home and all, but I am not one of those people that thinks domesticated animals are substitutes for children.  Now, don’t go judging me or anything, but it’s just not.  I love Jackson, but he is still a dog at the end of the day.

Well I start freaking out a bit and Bear and I start running ALL OVER OUR NEIGHBORHOODS to find him.  It was like a flashback to when our childhood dog would get out.  We searched and searched and could not find him.  After an hour in to the hunt, I knew it was time.  Time for the dreaded phone call: I had to call Husband and let him know.  Ouch.  See I was hoping it would be a quick fix and I could find him, then just tell Husband about it when he got home and when Jackson would be back in his kennel.  But no.

I dial his number and start getting clammy.  See I knew that Husband wouldn’t be mad at me, per say, but just upset that Jackson got lost in general, which is almost worse.  Then when I start talking to him on the phone this is what happened:

H: “Hey!”
E: “You’re going to be so mad at me.”
H: “No I won’t what are you talking about?”

Then something unexplainable happened, my voice started getting shaky, it was hard for me to breathe… then the tears!  TEARS?! Am I seriously crying?? Over a dog?!  I guess so… take it for what it’s worth.  BUT I’m going to blame it on the emotions from past events in life.  I think.  Long story short we found him a pretty good distance away from our house playing in the sprinkler of someone’s yard.  That’s about right.  There are many times we have let him out since we’ve been at my parent’s house and we find him just standing on the steps of the pool trying to cool off haha!

Little Buddy the night of the fire. Mr. Johnston let us keep him in his yard.