Bambling On and On and On...

09 November, 2010

Scavenger Hunt

The week hasn't started off on the best of notes, mainly because Mr. Moon decided to pay his monthly visit. Not only am I tired but I'm extremely irritable. That being said, Ollie -- our dear, dear dog -- really knew how to push several of my already teetering buttons.

In case I haven't mentioned it, Ollie has a terrible habit of taking our belongings out into the back yard when he wants attention. It all started with the "unmentionables". Talk about the fabulous feeling I would get when looking out back and finding my bra and underwear splayed out in the center of the yard for all neighbors to see. Woo! Anyway, eventually he started to take other things like shoes, socks and shirts. Of course, once Claire was born he moved into the toy territory.

At one point I found this whole attention seeking behavior mildly annoying, but now it's getting out of control. So this morning I leave the house at an ungodly hour to attend my morning boot camp session. It wasn't until about half an hour or so after I return that I look out back to find one of Claire's dress shoes out on the lawn, along with a toy. If it was just the toy, I'd feel annoyance. Being that daughter has only one pair of dress shoes, I was extremely vexed. I go to retrieve said shoe and toy only to find a necklace buried in some mud. This is where I feel my core temperature starting to rise. The eruption happens when I put her shoe onto the shoe rack. Where's the other shoe? Frantically I start looking through the entire cluster of shoes to find that one missing too. Since I didn't see both shoes displayed on the lawn, I knew that Ollie took the courtesy of burying the other one. BUT WHERE?!?!

AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!

Remember, I'm tired, irritable and made myself go through a morning session of hell because I'd be even more irritable and then fussy with myself for not doing so. I'm a glutton for punishment.

Back outside I go, ending my search in failure. Thank goodness hubby is up at this point because I'm about to rage. He ends up taking over the search, which didn't completely end up in a big FAIL -- he found one of his socks. At this point I had been given sufficient time to cool down, so I take up the hunt again. Scouring the yard, I find another one of hubby's socks. Before heading back in, I decide to check the center of the yard one more time. That's when I noticed a pile of leaves. This pile was small and a bit out of place. As if freshly made. Swishing the leaves around I find Claire's other shoe. Deep breath, Chris. Deep breath.

Ollie was smart enough to know to keep his distance from me for a while. Good dog.

I do believe that the morning hunt led us to retrieve all missing articles of clothing and toys. Yet, somehow, I have this feeling that when we rake the yard over the weekend we're going to find a few other treasures. Nothing big I hope.

argh.