What a Day!

Last Friday was crazy. Crazier than the last day of school that was delayed six days by make-up snow days. For real.

I started the day off (like every other weekday this summer) by getting woken up by Clint so I can make his breakfast and pack his lunch. His new hours are killing me! Gone are the days when he would wake up at 4:30 and leave the house by 5:00 while I wake up only enough to mumble, "Love you," before falling back asleep. Now, I get up, make breakfast, pack his lunch, have a cup of coffee, and watch half an hour of TV with him before I can go back to sleep after making sure he is all the way down the driveway.

The things I do for that man!

Friday morning is when he chooses to ask me if I go back to bed after he leaves. I want to fib. I mean, it sounds really bad that while my husband goes off to work where he stands on his feet all day in no air conditioning, I go back to bed for a while. But then I think about the times during the school year where he goes to be well before 8:00 and I'm up grading homework, packing lunches, and tidying up the house.

So I answer his question with a, "Sure do!" I follow this up with an explanation that I only sometimes do because if this was like any previous summer, I would only sleep in until 7:00. He just gives me an exasperated look combined with a shake of his head that really is just him being jealous that his Fridays of sleeping in while I head off to school are long gone.

After going back to bed and snoozing for an extra hour, I let the dogs out and notice that Josey is acting really strange. She is running like a crazy dog all around the yard checking out any small space to see if she can fit into it. It is pretty funny until I realize that her attempting to squeeze her very pregnant doggy body into all these spaces is her nesting. And the fact that she won't come to me when I call and I have to get the leash and chase after her.

I check Josey's temperature to see if it has dropped (which, if you haven't checked a dog's temperature before, it's just like on a baby...the thermometer doesn't go in the mouth). It dropped a little, but not much. I think she may have these puppies earlier than next weekend like we planned but I knew Clint was going to finish the puppy pen gate on Saturday so no worries.

I am finally able to get to my to-do list. This involves buying a portable AC unit for the puppy pen, paying some bills, and buying (10) Cardinal's tickets for Clint's birthday. Let's just say that I'm waiting for the call from my credit card company asking if my card has been stolen.

I do all of this plus do my reading for my college class while listening to Josey whine downstairs. Constant whining. This means constant checking on her just to see that she's fine.

Clint is supposed to get home early. I finish folding laundry (which I have put off for way too long so it's quite the task), put it away, and get ready for class. I have my hair dry, clean clothes on, and just finished my foundation when Josey's whining is too much to bear. I let her out and check on the rest of the dogs that are out.

Josey does not need to go and I notice that she is bleeding from her business. I think, "Oh crap! She's getting ready to have these puppies right now! What terrible timing!"

I rush her back inside and notice a sound like a mouse or a bird or something in the basement. Great! Then Josey goes nuts around the couch and I see that she has already started having pups.

But where is the puppy? That whining, chirping sound is coming from inside the couch. Crap!

A little background info for you: we have taken the cushions off the couch so the dogs won't get dog hair all over them. There are a few blankets on the frame of the couch so the dogs can lay there. That leaves a gap between the arm of the couch and the frame seat. A gap just big enough for a puppy to fall into.

I go straight into panic mode. I first try to stick my arm down the gap only to find that it's too big. I try to locate where the puppy is but can't see it or feel it with what little bit of my arm I can shove into the gap. I flip the couch on its back gently thinking maybe I can get the pup out that way. Damn that black-under-the-couch-material! I get a knife out and cut it ( I make quick decisions like that) sure that I will be able to just reach in and pull the pup out.

Wrong!

So I have a flashlight and see a little bit of puppy in the gap and decide that I'm going to have to shove my arm into that damn gap no matter what. I take off my watch and proceed to cram my arm down the couch because this pup has been away from mama way too long. I manage to grab the pup, nearly break my arm (but definitely scratch and bruise it up), and pull it out to safety.

Whew!

I then dash upstairs to get our puppy towels (yes, we have a whole basket of towels and blankets specifically for the dogs because no matter how much you wash them, the stink never quite goes away) and throw them on the now torn and dog bodily fluid covered couch. This is as good of place as any for her to have these pups.

I also call Clint and tell him to hurry his ass home because it's 4:00 and I need to leave soon to make it to class on time. (Sidenote, if I miss a class, I don't fail but have to repeat that class session the next time that class is offered which is next spring.) I try to warm up the little puppy while trying to get him to nurse on Josey. Clint walks in as Josey finishes having her second pup. He proceeds to scramble to get a puppy pen together for Josey because we thought all of this was going down next weekend. I had to stay and help her with her third puppy and make sure none of them fell off the couch.

I had time to send a quick e-mail to my professor telling her I was going to be a little late because my dog was having her first litter of pups and my husband was late. Kind of lame excuse now that I think about it.

Finally, at 4:50, I am able to run upstairs, slap on some mascara, pull my hair in a ponytail, and throw a banana, some chips, and a yogurt into a lunch bag for my dinner, and speed to Columbia.

I get to class 25 minutes late and the guest speaker has already started. During the break, I get to explain to a group of people that I have known for a week that I was late because I had my arm in a couch rescuing a puppy and helping my dog have a few more pups until my husband got home. Only the Ag teacher understood.

I return home at 10:00 to find Clint playing cards because he thought Josey was done having pups at a total of 4 puppies. I look into the puppy box to count 6 puppies nursing on my Josey. I get on the phone to tell my friend Liz how cute they are and while we're chatting away, I notice something going on with Josey's business. I say, "Liz, I have to call you back, she's having another one!"

Fast forward to midnight when I am finally able to go to bed. I couldn't help but think of what a crazy day it was. I'm over a thousand dollars poorer, 7 puppies richer, and I had one hell of a day to blog about!