Remember this little girl? She escaped from her ball on Saturday morning Yes, that's what I thought too. It turns out that the lid wasn't locked tight enough. We searched for a couple of hours on Saturday (my house looked like it had been ransacked) and left no stone unturned. Ultimately, we set her cage on the living room floor, and left the door open (food, water). The girls were pretty devastated and since Bruiser was in the house for a while, there was an inkling of fear (later building into a mountain of certainty) that Skid had become the appetizer for the dog that will eat anything.

We went over to our neighbor's house for dinner on Saturday night. When we got home, I put the kids put to bed (after we checked the cage) and crashed myself. Sometime around midnight, my husband came to bed and woke me up.

Him: Wake up! Skid's still alive.
Me: Huzzat?
Him: Skid is still alive. l saw her in the bathroom but she slipped by me and headed right underneath the piano, and that's when I lost her.
Me: Cool! That means she's still alive! The kids will be so happy.
Him: Sigh, go back to sleep honey.
Me: Zzzzzzz

The girls were seriously excited to hear that Skid had not become Bruiser's latest snack, and called some of their friends to resume the search. Sometime around 1:00 in the afternoon, when my husband and I were working in the garage, the girls came rushing out to excitedly exclaim that they had found her.

Them: We found her!
Me: Is she back in her cage?
Them: No, we haven't caught her yet!
Me: Then what in the Ham Sandwich are you out here talking to me for?

My husband, bless his heart, went into the house to help out. A few minutes later the girls, as well as a rather pale looking husband came back into the garage. The mission was a success. They almost lost her again, but were able to catch her and place her safely back in her home. Immediately, the atmosphere changed from doom and gloom to complete euphoria, with everyone talking at once.

My husband (bless his heart) looked worse for the wear. Apparently, he was on one end of the china hutch while the girls were trying to coax Skid out of her hiding place. They were successful in that, but when she broke free, she headed right for my husband....and proceeded to climb right up the legs of his shorts (he was sitting down).

I, being the ever loving, kind and gentle wife that I am, gave him a hug, told him that I was proud of him, and said "How would you have liked to explain that one to the Emergency Room doctor?"

Is it any wonder that he loves me?