Lisa the Grump

We all have those off days. Yesterday didn't start out being one of them. I got to work, still missing staying home with the pups but thankful I still have a job, and settled in to work. No real pains to be dealing with first thing, which is always great. I took my truck over to Savannah Tire to have the tires checked. It's nice that they remember me, but even better that it was my first visit to not get a tire patched or replaced. I then headed over to Cha Bella to pick up my to go order, said hi to several folks I knew, chatted at the bar a little bit, and then headed back to work where I got to enjoy birthday cake for a co-worker's big day. All was well with the world. Well, until just after 5 pm.

I invited a friend of mine to join me for the travel to Ridgeland, SC. I was excited: we were going to pick up the new CPR trailer. It's nothing real special, but will be a huge help for us on event weekends and food pick ups. The travel over was relatively easy. We met up with Karen at Maranatha Farm, the rescue selling us their old trailer since they had a new one. She took us on a tour of the property. We watched the dogs play in their pond, and I met little Cookie (now Samoa). Since she was already vetted and recently returned by an adopter, I offered to take her back to CPR so Tori would have a playmate her size. Besides, she's adorable and would be adopted quickly, I was just sure of it. Then the time came to hitch up the trailer. I had just spent two hours with U-Haul the day before getting this $400 monster thing installed. Well, getting it on the ball wasn't so much the problem as having all the lights working. We discovered that not only was the right brake light out on the trailer, but if you turned your headlights on, the other brake light turned off. But that was ok, after all, we at least had the side lights on the trailer working, unless the headlights were turned off.

We were losing daylight so I said a few prayers and down the road we went. It was probably the only time I've ever gone under 60 MPH down I-95 without there being an accident on the road. I refused to get out of the right lane, especially since I was lacking a driver side mirror. I found exit 5, and was very thankful to get off the Interstate without any incident. Daddy had agreed to help out with fixing the wiring, so I just had to get the trailer safely to Tybee. Not a big deal, so long as I could navigate through downtown and not get pulled over, especially since we didn't have a trailer tag.

Around 8 pm we made it safely to the marina. It took me a little bit to get the hang of backing up the small trailer, but I was pleased. Not bad for my first time, although I had helped back boats in and out at the boat ramps, but this was my first time on my own. I thought we were in the home stretch. I was wrong. The trailer seemed quite content to stay attached to my truck, not understanding that this was to be its resting place for a few days. The more it hung on, the more frustrated I got. I was wearing steel toe tennis shoes and kicking that trailer with all my might, trying to bully it into letting go of my truck. It didn't happen. I called my daddy. I was told I could wait an hour for him to get home or go and find the jack and a hammer on the property. I hung up and started walking around, kicking rocks in frustration, scaring the feral cats around the building. By some miracle, my friend managed to get it off. I'm not going to ask how; I don't care. It was almost 9 pm, I hadn't had dinner, and I was cranky. I also had two small dogs in the car who were really ready to be done with their travels as well.

I headed off the island, stopping to check our post office box and say hi to Mom and thank Dad for offering to fix the wiring. Mom realized I hadn't eaten, and feeling sorry for me, put her fries into a napkin for me to eat on the way home. They were really good. I dropped my friend off at his car, then started down the home stretch.

The arrival home was relatively quiet. The dogs had been taken care of by Sara earlier in the evening, so I just had to let them out for their last time of potty. I settled in to answer emails, picking and choosing as i really just wanted to throw myself in bed. I grabbed a quick hot shower, then curled up with my Hitchiker's Guide, read one chapter and fell out. That was until the storms came.

Did you know that many puppies and small dogs hate storms? It's not new information, but when the howls and screams woke me in the middle of the night along with pounding rain and thunder, I was reminded. I tried talking nicely to them, reassuring them it was going to be fine. Hannah and Vinnie took advantage of the situation, wrapping around my legs and leaning into me for extra attention, even though I knew full well they weren't afraid of storms. I gave out as many chew treats as I could find and trudged my way back to bed, hoping to sleep at least two hours.

Despite the weather being so beautiful today, I would give anything to be back in bed, if just for a couple hours.