Sonny sets a new personal record

Ursula was afraid that I would get busted for this, but the window glare I think stopped me from showing the incredible amount of emergency personal in Sonny’s driveway.  I think this is a new personal best for him:  5 cruisers, 1 fire truck and 2 ambulances.  If you don’t know who Sonny is, look here.

They eventually got him out of his truck and carted him off.  Apparently, he used his truck to block the interstate, and when he tired of that, simply drove home.  By then (surprise to him) the powers that be, followed him.  Right home.  And took him away.

Sonny and Tom are both disabled veterans with serious psychiatric “issues”.  What a difference in how their lives play out.  Sonny’s mom loves him dearly, but not enough to set common sense boundaries to protect him, herself and people at large.  Tom takes his medicine, does what his doctors tell him and maintains an astonishingly high level of functioning (according to his therapists) because he has “strong family support”, and folks, that includes strong, healthy boundaries.

Lily is Back, Sonny is Gone, Rufus is Leaving and the Puppies Peed (Again)

Lily came home in a bag today.  A whole white pig stuffed into a little, itty, bitty drawstring bag imprinted with the words “Until we meet again at the Rainbow Bridge”.  I went to get her after church.  Tom has been bugging me to “find” her since the day they said her remains would be back.

Truth is, I couldn’t bring myself to call them and ask.  Couldn’t choke out the words.  But now as the days are ticking down for Rufus, I realized that I needed closure on one dead dog before I could deal with another one.  I told Tom if he got me the receipt for the cremation with the phone number on it, I would call.  They are only open nights and weekends, so I don’t think of it during the right times.

Finally, in the parking lot at church, he gave me the number, I called and asked.  “George” had the somber voice of an undertaker.  He said “we left a message on your machine on the 29th”.  Um, Nope, you didn’t.  He became a little indignant as he read me the number, “we left the message at 545-5749″.  Oh, well, that explains it George, our number is 545-5149.  Oopsy.  He sounded puzzled, “she must have thought that one was a seven.”   Ya think?

So I called Tom back and said that I would pick up the ashes on my way home.  And he actually said this:  (I am not making this up)  “Do you want to come get Rufus and drop him off when you go?  It would save gas and making an extra trip…”  Did I not say that I needed closure on one dog before dealing with another???

So, to continue with the parallel construction needed for this post as outlined by the title, Sonny is gone again.  We saw him enter the highway on ramp (without benefit of a turn signal) right before the cruisers arrived at his mom’s house.  Haven’t seen him since.  His truck was towed back a few days ago.  Hope he is resting comfortably somewhere taking meds.

Rufus needs to go to the Rainbow Bridge.   He will be happy there.  His wounds are open, draining, yucky and there is nothing that can really be done.  There is a new one on the end of his nose.  It is time.  Now that Lily has returned, I can deal with him.  It was 10 years ago that I knelt with Jennie in the vet’s office for her to go to sleep.  It was peaceful and I know she was grateful.  Even the kids are all on board with this.  Except that will leave us with “zero dogs” as Bubbles says.

We now have 3 demon dog puppies (Anne, Allison and Ari) whose breed apparently stemmed from a mix up between cattle dogs, Corgi’s, and wild dingos.  They are all teeth, like brown, ambulatory pirranhas, and full of pee.  And the pee comes out.  In puddles.  Wherever we just have cleaned.  They actually tell us when the want to go out, it’s just that in the 2 or 3 nanoseconds it takes us to respond, the pee comes out.

They are really, really cute, and have a sweetness that is the only thing that keeps us from bringing them right back to the shelter.  But they are herding dogs who need to be outside on a farm herding things that need to be herded, not old dying dogs.  This morning, as I noticed a forming puddle of pee, I hopped into the kitchen to clean it up. All 3 pounced on my slippers with a ferociousness that scared me.  I looked and noticed a poop pile as I turned, and they jumped and ripped off my eyeglass holder.  Beads went everywhere.  I tried to get the poop, the pee, save my slippers and grab the beads out of their little mouths all at the same time.  It was a fiasco.

Bubbles is sick.  She is not very bubbly.  Her temp has climbed all day.  Last check it was up to 103.8.  I gave her medicine, took away the comforter, put a cloth on her head and let her go back to sleep.  I will wake her in a minute and check the temp again.  I hate it when the kids are sick.

What Would You Make of This?

So I get up this morning and this is what I find on my front porch.  Hmm…what is this?  It looks suspicious…  I look across the street and see my neighbor’s son, (we call him “Sonny”) standing in the road with his arms folded, just staring at our house.  This causes me to quickly shut the door, but not before I notice the toilet paper decorating our railing and the little pumpkin on the step.

Curious, I observe Sonny, through the curtain,  go over to the paper box and peer in.  He looks, doesn’t touch, turns and goes in the house.

Now, I’m trying to decide what to do.  The words “Treaser Cheast”, don’t seem menacing, it could be a box of candy, as the “Trick or Treat” imply, but it does seem just plain wierd.  So I call 911.  “Is this an emergency?” she asks.  “Well,” I said, “I’m not sure”.