I am bad with animals

So, Saturday, when Sylvia and I drove up to my Mom's house, my cat jumped out of the car pretty much as soon as I opened the door. She'd spent a lot of time in the car, so I couldn't really blame her, and since she pretty much milled around the yard I figured she just wanted some space and that she'd be fine outside overnight.

Yeah, right. She was gone in the morning.

Today started out alright. I got some stuff done that I wanted to do work-wise, then played with Sylvia while my sister went to a job interview. When she got back we got ready to go into Tooele. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way my car developed a flat tire. So, I turned around and parked my car, decided Sylvia was too tired to go anywhere except to bed, and we all hung out until Lissa went to a doctor's appointment and Sylvia took her nap.

When Lissa got back, she realized my Mom's dog was gone.

The last time I'd been outside was something like 1 or 1:30, and Lissa got home just after 3, so the dog had plenty of time to wander far and wide through the neighborhood. Lissa held her temper off pretty well (though I could tell she was very annoyed at me) and we both wandered through the neighborhood for the next two hours looking for him. So, my afternoon consisted of hauling my small (but not THAT small) child through the streets of Grantsville, yelling "Chewie!" as often as dignity would permit, being frightened that every pile of horse poop in the street was my Mom's dog, already turned into a smear on the highway. Such fun.

I went to the neighbors' house (who are kind of my step siblings. Sort of, anyway) to ask if they'd be willing to walk the neighborhood with us when Chewie (the dog) walked up right behind me. He was hot and obviously tired, and more contrite than I think I've ever seen him before, but he was home.

After a thrilling trip to Tooele (during which Sylvia acquired many new toys, including bubbles and a big, red bouncy ball), Lissa, Sylvia and I went to the neighbors to roast marshmallows and make s'mores. Can I just say I love playing with fire? I haven't had a chance to play fire bug in a while and it's good to know fire building is a skill I haven't lost. We kept up Sylvia way too late, ate too many marshmallows, and just generally weren't terribly responsible. But hey, after a stressful day, it was a great way to blow off some steam. When we got back home, Mattie (my cat) was lounging on the porch! It is such a relief to have her back.