Miracle

We found her. Just when we were completely without hope and my parents had closed the garage door and I was about to slip on a dress for my friend Rachel's wedding rehearsal, we got a phone call. Animal control had a little dog with a red collar and a pink heart tag and they couldn't get close enough to read it, but they thought it was our dog. My heart jumped in my throat, I threw on some jeans and we flew out the door. My mom drove and Neil had the leash and pet carrier in the backseat. I tried to will the lights to turn green and my mom's foot to press harder on the gas pedal. We could not get there fast enough for me.

Animal Control is on the side of the animal shelter in Santa Fe. We got there and went in to find a room full of Animal Control officers and a woman on the floor with her back to us. In her lap, was our little dog. She was covered in burrs. There was not one part of her body that was white. She had burrs on her legs, her face, her tail...but when she saw us, she started wagging her tail. The Animal Control people helped us shave her to get all the burrs off and the shaving revealed lots of little cuts on her body. Her nose was dry and she seemed in pain but she was so happy that we were there and that the prickly burrs were being removed that she was calm while two people with electric clippers shaved her and I stroked her head to comfort her. Neil took her to the vet where she got checked out and stitched up and I went to the last few minutes of the wedding rehearsal.

Somebody had found Barbie in their backyard drinking their dogs' water. She was growling to keep the dogs away from the dish and was just drinking it like crazy. The man at the house could not get close enough to her to read her tag because she kept growling so he called animal control. We went to his house to thank him yesterday which felt really good. We also gave him $100 which he was reluctant to take, but said he'd donate to the animal shelter.

I still can't believe we have Barbie back. She looks like a mangy junkyard dog right now, but she's still adorable and she's started licking us again and all I can say is that it's a miracle. I don't often use that word and usually I don't think I believe in "miracles". But having my little five-pound dog home and alive after she was missing for five days during the heat of New Mexico summer with all the coyotes and hawks that live in Santa Fe definitely constitutes a miracle. There is no other word for it.

Wedding

Rachel and Brian's wedding was perfection. It was beautiful. They were beautiful. It made me cry. I felt pretty in my bridesmaid dress. The band was great. Everybody danced. The food was yummy. The flowers were awesome (oh how I wish I remembered to take my bouquet home). The cake was to die for. We didn't have to pose for too many pictures. We stayed till the end and wanted more. And two of my most favorite people got married. What an amazing couple. Oh, and it hailed for about five minutes... huge marble-sized hail in New Mexico in June...you can't get cooler than that.