Dog-sitting during the first 7 days was quasi-uneventful. My life went something like this: work all day, run home and feed & entertain the dogs, hurry off to VBS and be in-charge of a 20-minute craft time, drive back to Cherry Valley to house-/dog-sit. Go to sleep and wake-up and do it all over again.
Honestly - there's a reason why I normally opt-out of VBS during dog-/house-sitting. I'm sure few can understand it...but seriously -- my job is 40 hours and then add on another responsibility and craft-time. It was exhausting.
The Saturday after VBS, I spent the day with my bestie celebrating her birthday. When I asked her where we should meet, she replied, "Where do you think???" It seemed like a silly question after I read her reply. We met where we always meet. Higher Grounds coffee establishment in Freeport, IL. From H.G., we went to Twice as Nice where we both found several fabulous things!!! My favorite find was Ann Taylor Loft jeans. I had been pricing them at the store (WOW-ZAHS, jeans are ex-pen-sive, emphasis added!). Even with a coupon, they were still ridiculous. I found some at Twice as Nice for 90% off the retail price. And the Twice as Nice ones are dark wash and look like new. What a blessing!!! Plus when I wear them, I can remember celebrating Sara's birthday! Bonus.
When I returned from thrifting, I confirmed that the pet goldfish, who was left in my care, was indeed deceased. I wish goldfish could blink. I know that probably sounds creepy...but here was this 5" orange goldfish (Why aren't they called "orange fish"? They aren't gold.) floating mysteriously sideways since Friday. Yes, it had been 24 hours because I wasn't 100% sure he was deceased on Friday and it was just too much to deal with. Ick.
Saturday - his death was confirmed. I had to them get over been creeped out about removing him from his little tank. He was 5" in length which I did not believe should be flushed. First of all - I had killed a fish... Second -- what if when I flushed him, what if he would've gotten stuck? The home-owners would've never let me live this down.
His carcass was removed and thrown in the trash, all the while giving me an extreme case of the heebie-jeebies. I took some of the payment for house-sitting and bought myself Chipotle for supper.
A little later that evening, I sent the family a picture of one of the sleeping dogs. The home owner replied, "Is she dead?" For a millisecond, I considered replying, "No, but your fish is." Not being 100% certain how attached they were to said fish, I just replied, "No. She's sound asleep."
Sooo I am not a fish killer. It turns out fish aren't bright and when I say "bright" I am referring to a bright as a cat. Do you know I can fill up my cat's food dish and leave for the weekend and Maggie will only eat the food she needs. She won't over-eat! Fish and dogs - not that bright. Lovable, but not that bright. They will eat whatever you put infront of them. (The Bible talks about gluttony.) It turns out the new fish food (i.e. gluttony) took his life. Let this be a lesson to the children - don't overeat. His new food was one piece of food per inch of the fish's body. He was 5" and I was feeding him like he was 10". Oops.
Tuesday night I managed to go to the close the blinds and broke the cord. Not even kidding.
At this point, I indulged in some negative self-talk, "Angie Good - you have killed a fish AND broke the blinds. These people are never going to let you house-sit again."
Little did I know that the whole bad-things-happen-in-threes was going to be true about this house-sitting experience.
Twice while the humans were away (TWICE), I put the dogs in their kennel. The first time was during church on Sunday morning. The second time was Wednesday night. I had to meet Trudy and check on Maggie. Wednesday was the only night that worked for Trudy and instead of worrying about the allotted time, I went with it. It was easy-peasy and if we got done in time, I would head to Bible study and if not, (GASP!) it was not a crisis. I had bigger fish to fry. Oh wait - not literally. He was dead. (Sigh.)
Met Trudy. She got her stuff from the Ebay selling. Shortly after she left (i.e. 5 minutes), I headed back to Cherry Valley. The time was not conducive for me to try to rush across town and attend the last 25 minutes on Bible study. (Disappointed.)
I brought the dogs in from their kennel and after an amazing night's sleep, it was Thursday.
Work was fine. Busy but not a drive-me-crazy kind of day.
Thursday night I feed the dogs and throw the ball for those clowns. Several minutes later, the neighbor comes across the street and informs me that Animal Services had been there the night before and returned today with a violation notice on the front door. (Not. Even. Kidding.)
Yep - a yellow note stating the dogs were barking and disturbing the peace in Cherry Valley.
Again the whole, "You killed the fish and broke the blinds AND had Animal Control stop by" speech started up. I stopped the negative self-chatter. It's not healthy. I replaced it, "I did not burn the house down. I've kept the dogs alive. I've remembered to take the trash out on Trash Day. I'm a good house-sitter. Bad things happen to good people." (Literally Good people. LOL! And there was my saving grace ---> I STILL HAD MY SENSE OF HUMOR!!!!!)
I called Animal Services and left them a lengthy message. They returned my call about 30 minutes later. I explained that I was house-sitter and I did not know about the disturbing-the-peace ordinance. The violation was going in a Violation Folder (I imagined a recycle bin. Too each his own.) and all is well.
The next day, I did look online and wouldn't you know - there's a law that states any animal the disturbs the peace day or night is a common criminal.
Friday I packed-up my belongings and hauled everything out to Rosie before I headed out to work. I informed the dogs, "Your humans will be home today. If not until later, I will see you guys after work...otherwise, go and watch I Love Lucy re-runs and please be good." Yes, I do talk to them like they are humans. I think they understand me. [One night Kila came upstairs at 4-something in the morning and I said to her, "If you don't get downstairs and go back to sleep, I am going to kill you just like the fish!!!!!!" Would I really take a dog's life? No. She knew I was serious because she hurried back downstairs.]
I left a note for the humans.
The following things happened while you were away...
1) about Animals Services. I promise they were only outside twice. I've called about the violation and all is well.
2) I broke the cord off the blinds. Not sure how it happened. Sorry.
3) RIP fishy. --> I drew a bubble and wrote, "Soooooo sorry."
Friday at 2:30-ish, I received the following text: "Angie, the blinds were broke before you got here. It was taped. The dogs have been in trouble with the law before this. It's ok. We are surprised the fish lived as long as it did. We really hope this all didn't stress you out too much. Thanks again."
I will say this all this craziness....my co-workers and friends got a good laugh. One co-worker said, "Angela, in 5 days time, you went from sweet to a breaker of things not yours, a criminal breaking the law, and lastly a fish murderer." Nice.
Today (Saturday) I am thrilled beyond belief to be home...my quiet cottage...my slumbering cat...my cupboards with only gluten-free foods...{Sigh.}
Dorothy was right.
There's no place like home.
Sincerely,
The Girl w/Curly Hair
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