{Puppy} Mother's Intuition

Thankful for this little blessing in our lives!

Last night, amongst others, I had a dream where the dogs were in danger: I was at my mother's house, holding Emma Vance and talking to my mom on the phone. The dogs were barking at the back door, so I let them out and stepped onto the back porch, baby and phone in hand. It was pouring out, and as I looked down from the second-story porch, I could see that the backyard was flooding. Within seconds it had risen up over the fence and was about to drown the house, rooftop and all. I panicked; I had a non-swimming baby in my arms and had just let my dogs down INTO the flood. I didn't know what to do, just that I needed to save them. As I rushed to the top of the stairs, I was relieved to see both dogs swimming toward me. Olive was close by, and Oscar was at a distance. I prayed that they'd have the strength to keep swimming because I needed to figure out what to do about myself and E.V.--and then the tidal wave came. As it rose over our heads, I woke up, filled with anxiety and dread.

I hate that.

I also hate this house we're living in. I mean, I really am honestly thankful for it, but it's got a host of issues that plague me daily, from the leaking sink to the barely-functioning dryer. Today, though, we discovered a new issue, and it almost cost us Olive.

Truthfully, it was a domino effect that led to Olive's distress: We woke up an hour later than usual today, so during E.V.'s typical afternoon nap time, she was wide awake and full of energy. To entertain her, I was playing with Emma Vance on the ground in the living room as Ryan walked in from a meeting. He was on his phone with another client and walked straight past us and onto the back porch. It was such a lovely day out that he left the back door open to let the fresh air in. I hadn't been outside yet, but since I could now feel the semi-warm air, I realized that E.V. and I needed to take advantage of the nice weather. It was at about this moment when the backdoor suddenly slammed shut, which I assumed was from a gust of wind. That event distracted me enough to get me up and moving, so I ran upstairs and put on my workout clothes. I grabbed E.V. a sweater, headed back downstairs and got her dressed to go on a walk. Ryan was still talking in the backyard, so I figured I'd write him a quick note, so I headed into the kitchen to rummage through the junk drawer--and noticed that the kitchen-to-garage door was open. So was the garage door. My stomach turned over. I looked around, saw Oscar but not Olive. I panicked.

I ran out into the yard, yelling her name. Ryan heard me, got off his call and ran outside. Once I told him what had happened, he ran back inside to double check the house...but I knew better. My heart told me that Olive had slipped out and was in danger, and I was right. I ran to the end of the driveway and to the (very busy) main road. That's where I saw her, stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of the street with a car speeding toward her. Her eyes were big and full of fear and locked on mine. My heart sank straight into my stomach as I took off. I didn't even look to see if cars were coming in the other direction; I screamed and flailed my arms and ran toward her. I'm not sure if the driver noticed my tiny Olive in the road, but she sure noticed a lunatic throwing themselves into oncoming traffic. She screeched to a halt about three feet from Olive. I scooped her up, ran to Ryan in the driveway and basically collapsed. It was awful.

I was shaken. I was shaking. Olive was safe, but we were perhaps less than a second away from a very different story. I cried, and we hugged her as a family.

As the adrenaline left my body, I couldn't help but think of all of the small dominos in place today. Ryan never leaves the garage door open, but he was on a call and didn't want his client to hear the ruckus it makes. We hadn't yet discovered that opening both doors creates a vacuum effect that sucks the kitchen door open. (Stupid, quirky house.) I hadn't been outside all morning, and the sudden realization of nice weather caused me to want to take a walk immediately, which caused me to need to write Ryan a note, which caused me to discover that Olive was loose. I mean, I even think about how I fumbled to button up E.V.'s sweater for a few moments, and how if I had given up and decided to change her outfit, Olive might have been killed. Shudder. I think about last night, how I woke up filled with terror from my nightmare, how that terror caused me to get out of bed at 3 a.m. to walk downstairs to find Olive, scoop her up and bring her in bed with me. If something had happened to her today, it would've been the best night to have snuggled her--because it would've been her last.

In honor of that horrifying thought, I think that today's nightmare merits snuggling Olive in bed tonight again, don't you? (Well, at least we all know Olive agrees.) Love her.

(Yes, I own schnauzer pajama pants. Shut up! They're cool--I swear! :) )