There were a rough couple of days here. Although the house was finally warm and soot-free, there was some drama from outside that caused some depression and therefore erased the desire to do things.

CJ and MJ went on a rock climbing adventure, but all I could muster up was some nail painting with Q while EM was napping. Don’t get me wrong, Q and I had a nice time (and who doesn’t like pink and purple toes), but I just wish we did something more.Then, to make matters worse, yesterday the neighbor’s dogs got into our yard.

I would like to make it clear that I am much more of a dog person than a cat person. But even then, big dogs scare me. Like, a lot. I was attacked by a German Shepherd when I was little and had a bad experience with a Boxer. Unless it’s a dog I have known since being a puppy – like our chocolate lab – I don’t like ’em big. And even our lab was the runt of the litter. Many people comment on how small she is for her breed.

Anyway, there are grapevines on the one fence between our yards. The neighbor apologized for her dogs, saying that when they moved in, since the grapes were full, she didn’t realize there was a space between the bottom of the fence and the ground. Since it’s winter, the space is there and obvious. So instead of taking her dogs out on leads because of the hole, she just lets them run.

When her dogs saw my kids out in the yard, they decided to come over. The first one over was the Boxer. It promptly started chasing MJ. The neighbor yelled to stop running as that would only “make it worse.” I immediately assumed he must be a biter because with my personal experience, what else could she have meant? Once the Boxer had distracted the owner, the other dog made his way into the yard. He was a great big Rottweiler. Huge. Beefy. Scary.

I did my darndest to at least look calm because I didn’t want the kids to freak out anymore than they already were. The dogs fought with each other and ran around our yard. The neighbor pulled the Boxer back twice, but it kept on coming. I rounded up the kids to get them back into the house, hoping that without them, the dogs would leave. Instead, the Boxer ran up behind us and tried to push his way into the house. I had to body block the dog while getting the kids in the door.

During all this, my own dog was freaking out. She made sure CJ took a break from working to go check on her Mama. The kids had all tumbled into the house, shedding shoes and coats along the way, but I was still pinned to the back door, shaking. Once I saw CJ and knew that it was finally okay to, I burst into tears. It took awhile to calm down. It was not the best day.

So far, this week looks promising. Then again, it’s only Monday.  🙂