12/23/23

 Family Christmas party tonight. As we prepared for the party, I let the dogs out. A bit later I let Ferguson in, called for Penny to “come” and then kept getting ready for the party. She barks when she wants to come in.

A little while later, I remembered that Penny was still outside, but she wasn’t at the door. This was weird and completely out of character. I called and called with no dog showing up. This developed into a full on man hunt. Each kid had a friend over at the time. All 6 of us adults were looking for Penny. We were walking around the house, calling for her, looking for her and stomping through the muddy yard.

There was no sign of her. We looked in the field, combed the ditches and even drove around the neighborhood.  We walked up and down the street calling for her. She does not leave the yard and this was totally not like her. Where is she?

Let’s remember we are having a party at our house that started within an hour or less of her disappearance. The last minute details of things that needed to be done went right out the window. 

I called the dog warden to see if she had been reported. She had not! I made a Facebook post about it. I was walking through the field, trying to think like her. Where would I have gone if I were Penny? 

I know Penny LOVES to be warm and dry. I figured she would be under something. I looked under brush piles, covered areas throughout my walk home from the field. I walked into our backyard and figured I should look around the house in areas that provided shelter. There was a sprinkle in the air.  I decided to look under the screened in porch. I saw her snuggled under it fast asleep! What a jerk!

She has NEVER gone under there. Not in her 5 plus years of being here.

We found her and that was all that mattered. She did a walk of shame into the house. She curled up by the fire and warmed up. I am glad we found her, safe. Full disclosure, she had a sedative before the party so she wasn’t a wild woman. I think she was just a drunk! Who hasn’t woken up in a stooper wondering where they are? Ha!

At one point Paul said “it’s going to be dark soon!” My gut was telling me she was fine and everything was going to be fine. My gut is pretty trusty.  I shared my thoughts that I knew “everything would be ok” with Avery and Rachel. Rachel did say that I seemed awfully “calm” when we were looking for her. 

We were missing my mom and Gene at the party. The party went well. We did something new. Since this is the first Christmas I have been home since 2019, we mixed it up. 

Instead of gifts, each person paid $10. That $10 went toward multiple lottery tickets in varying amounts. We played several games to win lottery tickets. Paul won $40….it feels like a million dollars when you win! He was pumped!

We did a bow scoop, played Christmas Bingo and various other stupid and fun games.

It had been a long time since we could do this family party and it felt good. I hope to continue the fun throughout the weekend. This party will be repeated next year!