i love the holidays, but

...i really don't like what i let them do to my schedule. :)

so...what's been going on in the past 2 weeks? oh, much...but nothing much out of the ordinary. the Christmas Eve Service was marvelous - the Lord always pulls these things together, even though at the next-to-last rehearsal things look dire and dim. :) it was amazing, all the kids did so well! ...what else? oh, i don't know... Christmas came and went - that was pretty mellow and uneventful. except that i was sick, so it didn't seem as...jolly...as usual. but it was okay. :) no biggie. at some point, the russell family, (a)erin, dominick and the nothnagles played a pretty heated game of catchphrase. that was pretty good. it know it sounds simple - playing games with friends... but we're all so busy, i really value the few moments we have to just hang out and enjoy each-other. :)

the rest of my hours and days have been spent on the usual - housework, ministrywork, workwork... and dogwork. we have since found out that the wolf can (and DOES!) scale the fence freely, so we now keep her in the house as much as possible. this makes our twice-daily running sessions mandatory, especially on work days and heavy ministry days. it seems that if we don't run the energy out of her, she becomes quite the destructive force in the house. the other day i heard a scrabb'ling in the kitchen and i peered around the corner to see my whole dog in the kitchen sink. all 65 pounds of her, completely in the sink. not just two paws - ALL. it was crazy. it was like the day i found her on top of the truck. but in the house. anyhow, she keeps us very busy, as you can tell. :)

2 days ago, i went to the library. here is what i got:

• DVD: fame (don't watch it - tons of cursing and lots of other stuff that i forgot about!)
• DVD: mickey blue eyes (hugh grant trying to be a mobster. pretty amusing.)
• DVD: the fugitive (tommy lee jones totally makes the movie, IMHO)
• DVD: don't bother to knock (marilyn monroe as a phychopath. crazy.)
• DVD: cat on a hot tin roof (haven't seen it yet)
• audiobook: "a member of the family" by cesar millan. (i'm not so convinced this guy could whisper ANYTHING to my wolfdog and make it stick. unless he said, "hey there, Destructo! just do whatever you want, whenever you want to... oh yeah, and make sure you run away when you get caught.")
• july 2008's VOGUE (for more button-faces)
• september 2008's REALSIMPLE (for wardrobe inspiration. lately, i've been standing in the aisles at World Thrift without the foggiest idea what i'm looking for. i think the holidays made my fashionbrain go haywire and a little, classic help never killed anyone [i think!], so...)

speaking of button-faces, i was hoping to find a good pic of hugh jackman in that VOGUE (it had an article on Australia in it), but no such luck. i have just recently watched him in Oklahoma. the dude is crazygonutsMADtalented. i can't imagine his life.

oh...it's really late and i feel that i'm just babbling now. i'm sorry if i am; i just didn't want another day to go by without a post. :( okay, i'm going.

much love, guys...
myself :)

PS - we went and saw "Seven Pounds" tonight. idk how i feel about that movie yet.

PSS - oh wait - this is really cool! you know how i wanted a digital camera? well, the Lord gave me one... i think. i'll come back and post details later, i promise. :) yay!

the prodigal has returned

as if by a miracle, when kelly came home for lunch this afternoon, she was in the yard. panting heavily, but in one piece.

thank God.

now all i have to do is figure out how to keep her home from now on... (oh boy.)

9:38 and all is...strange

today began with a text message. from bob henry. at 6:36 in the morning (thanks, buddy). the text instructed me to call this number: (603) 413-4133. i did. that, my friends, is the foreshadowing to what i fear will be a very very bad day.

...
..
...

at approx. 7:30, we realized that wren wasn't in the yard. isaac is here, both gates are shut and locked/latched. the best we could come up with is that he went over the fence and she finally had enough height/strength/courage to follow. he came back, like he always does...she didn't. so, from then 'til now, i've been combing the neighborhood, distributing my scribbled name and number on various bits of paper from my glove-box. and praying, i've been doing a lot of that.

honestly, when the school crossing guard told me that he hadn't seen her (he had been out since 6:45-ish), my mind was fixed on this course: she was out with isaac in the wee hours of the morning until a random car/truck drove by and she left him to chase it. she chased the car until it stopped, probably by the railroad tracks. from then, who knows? the tracks are relatively quiet most of the time, she could follow them all the way to miami. more likely though, she got distracted from the car by some early-morning joggers and bolted. i've driven (on- and off-road) that whole stretch of highway, looking for her on the ground...but i can't find her. if she got hit, she would have tried to run into the brush for cover - there's no way i can comb all that. if she didn't get hit, she's still tracking somewhere. every night, we run her at least 4 miles, and she's still got energy after that. if she's gone 4 miles in any direction except northwest, she's lost. the likelihood of her going northwest is slim to nil - she would have to pass a house that she's very afraid of...

(sigh) it's all speculation at this point. is she dead, is she alive, is she free, does someone have her, is she locked up in a shelter somewhere... i have no clue. the best thing i can figure to do at this point is to get on with my day. if she's dead on the ground in the brush somewhere, i won't be able to find her. i'll check for buzzards later and maybe they'll show me. if she's hurt, i still can't find her. if someone has her, my going around in circles in the neighborhood isn't going to bring her back. if she's free-trackin'...geez. all i can hope for is that someone is able to catch her before she gets hit.

so... i'm going to print a couple of pics of her, take them to animal care and control, the city of boynton beach and the dome. if she's not in any of those places, i'm going to get my grocery shopping done. when i leave the house, i'll keep the gate open. maybe she'll come back on her own.