*THIS POST WAS WRITTEN ON OCTOBER 17 ON AN AIRPLANE - I just forgot to post it until now*

WOW. All I can say about the past 4 days is that they have been one crazy roller coaster ride. Usually I have to really think about something interesting and worth reading to put on here, but this week, so much has happened that I just didn’t even have time to write about it until now. Right this minute I’m sitting in an airplane on and Paul and I are on our way to Disney World.

Just packing and anticipating the trip would have been enough excitement to last us the the whole week, but we certainly had more excitement than that. So I’ll start at the beginning.

After a very busy Tuesday, I went to a Children’s Ministry meeting for church, which went really well. But as I was driving home on 695 at about 10:30 at night, I was rear-ended. ANNOYING. I was rear-ended last summer 4 days before a vacation as well, so I’m really hoping this doesn’t become a tradition. I was completely stopped because of road work and some guy who wasn’t paying attention just plowed right into my poor car. I was able to drive it home, but I took it to the shop and got a rental the next day.

So other than dealing with several phone calls from different insurance agents and getting my car to the shop, Wednesday was relatively uneventful and I was able to get some packing, laundry and homework done. Paul and I even had time to watch a Disney movie to get amped for our trip.

Thursday was packed with errands. After work (which was over at noon), I had more insurance phone calls to deal with, went to the doctor and got some pain medication, went to Trader Joe’s to pick up a few things we needed for the trip, and to CVS to pick up my prescription. By the time I made it back home, Paul was already back from work with a HUGE surprise!

On his way home from work (in the rain) he almost ran into a couple cars that were skidding to a stop on I-95. He swerved into the shoulder of the fast lane and saw what all the commotion was about. A tiny dog was in the median of the highway about to dash out into traffic. He got out of his car and scooped up the dog, who was soaking wet with a pounding heart. The dog sat on his lap the rest of the way home and licked him, the window and the steering wheel.

Now, let’s pause for a minute. If you read my previous post you will understand my surprise when I walked into the house and saw the dog. We determined that he is mostly Shih Tzu and he was super friendly and glad to be in a warm home and not on a rainy highway. Paul called animal control to check if anyone had reported a lost dog matching his description, but no one had. Then we took the dog to the closest vet to see if he had a micro chip, but he didn’t. The vet pegged him at about a year old and maybe mixed with a Havanese. My parents gave us Emma the cat’s old crate and we got him some food, a leash and some puppy shampoo.

The more time we spent with him, the more we fell in love. So the next day, Friday, Paul and my mom both checked craig’s list, but there were no postings about a missing dog. I started calling him Buckley (though Paul’s not crazy about that name) and he is just the sweetest little thing. I got him a budda bone and some carpet spray (just in case).

On his way home from work yesterday, Paul was planning on slowing down at the spot where he found Buckley to take a picture so I could see. But when he slowed down he saw a dog bed in the median of the highway. Somebody dumped poor Buckley there. Which is a totally disgusting way to get rid of a dog if you don’t want it or can’t take care of it anymore. But Buckley is lucky because Paul is a hero, and he made it to a good home. I’m so excited to have a puppy! Of all the dog breeds in the world, I probably wouldn’t have picked Shih Tzu (though he’s small, good with kids, and hypoallergenic - which is great), but this is the dog God blessed us with, and we will love and take care of him.

There’s probably only a handful of things that would keep me from being 100% excited to go to Disney world, and getting a dog is one of them. It was really hard to leave this morning, especially when I heard him crying in his crate. But he’ll be in good hands while we’re gone. It was a scramble to find people to watch him since it was truly last minute, but my mom and dad are watching him this weekend and my dear friend Bonnie (who was just recently helping my argue my case for a dog to Paul) is going to be watching him during the week.

What an unexpected blessing Buckley is; so cute and sweet and a great lap dog. And 2 days after we get back from Disney we’ll be moving into our new house!!! So the excitement just won’t stop! And a new puppy is the perfect new house addition to our family.