Beware of Dog

So today has been a semmi-stressful day. Zachary came down with a high fever this morning and cries because he feels so terrible. Drew has been, well, Drew. Mark affectionatly calls him "God's cruel joke" because he has this devilish personality, but is so insanely cute you can't be angry with him for long. And then Nate is a sweet little 6 month old baby that just requires a lot of attention, obviously. All of those things combined, and the fact that Mark is out of town for work today, makes what would have been a fun-filled day slightly stressful. How then do I have time to blog? Well, all 3 kiddos are taaking a nap right now and so I have a few minutes before someone inevitably wakes up and hour earlier than expected.
Because it has been a higher stress day I thought I would throw in some humor to entertain myself. And for those of you who know our dog, Cali, you'll get a kick out of this as well.
Cali is our 85 lb. Golden Retriever. She used to be fit and trim, but once we had Zachary and she was no longer my "baby" I felt tremendous guilt for the not-so-subtle shift in priorities and the lack of attention she was getting that I just started feeding her cheese. Tons and tons of cheese. (She prefers Kraft Singles, but any cheese will do.) I confess, I made my dog an emotional eater.
Something to also know about Cali is she is playful, has an addiction/obsession with fetching balls, has the kindest disposition, is very patient with 3 children grabbing at her all day, and is unbelievably submissive. An example: Several years ago Mark and I were walking Cali and there was a dachsund that was paralyzed in his back 2 legs, that had just had spinal surgery, walking on the sidewalk like a seal. Cali crawled over to the dog and then rolled over for this ferocious beast to sniff her belly and to show she wasn't a threat. I mean, honestly, it is laughable and so stinkin' sweet at the same time. With that said though, you must be getting the picture that there isn't an aggressive bone in her body.
Still though, there have been nights when I have been afraid or wondered what would happen if someone were to break into our home. I have visions of Cali being one of those heroic dogs that you hear about on the news that "saved it's family by jumping between their master and a bullet. Family and dog are recovering and fine."
Well today I was vaccuuming and the bag burst. It sounded like a gun shot. It was SO LOUD. The kids were, surprisingly, fine. No one was scared...except for our brave guard dog. I looked around and she was standing near the front door, craning her neck to see around the staircase into the family room to make sure everything was ok. I then opened the back door to let her out and she bolted to the back of our yard. Typically, when she does her business she walks right to the back door to come back inside. Not today. I opened the door to let her in and she was literally laying at the back of our yard by the swingset...not wanting to come inside. When I called her in she ran up the steps and I found her at the top of the stairs, longingly looking down the stairs, with a ball in her mouth. Drew and I had to go upstairs to console her and tell her everything was going to be alright. Once we did that she was fine. She came back downstairs with no memory of bailing on her family in a (theoretical) time of need.
Oh, our sweet girl Cali. Not quite the guard dog we had imagined you could be if the need ever arose.

The Unguarded,
Joyful and Tired Mom