Have you ever thought...

...that the author of Peter Pan had it right when he made the DOG the kids' nanny? There's something about the way pets seem to know when we are under the weather. Somehow they know when we need TLC and they take on the role of nurse-maid. Case in point...

Today, Jackie came home from school with a fever of 103. A visit to the doctor confirmed that she had a nasty case of the flu. So I medicated her, wrapped her in a half dozen blankets, and tucked her into bed. That's when the pets jumped in to help.

It started with Smokey and Sassy (the cats) who snuggled in around Jackie's feet and legs. They did their best to keep her warm.

Then Sassy decided that Smokey needed a bath.

Not to be outdone in showing concern, Jake had to stick HIS big nose into the hospital-scene.

Of course, wherever Jake turns up, Milo isn't far behind, so HE had to check things out for himself.

The cats, being cats, couldn't understand why we would even allow the dogs in the house, let alone near "their" patient...

With so much TLC, Jackie should be on the mend quicker than you can say "meow" or "woof".

...Valentine's Day...and boxes...and blizzards...OH MY!!!

This is the box we built to hold Jackie's Valentine's for school...

I finished at 2:00 this morning. Why 2:00a.m., you ask????? I'll tell you a tale of a fateful trip...It started from this tropic port, aboard a tiny ship...(oops, different trip haha).

At 4:15p.m., I, and my intrepid brother, Marc (who volunteered to drive his car because it handles better in the snow) left home to go about 8 miles up the freeway to pick Kevin up from work. Did I mention that we were having a blizzard?? Yup...a full-fledged-white-out-takes an hour to go a half-mile-BLIZZARD!!! While Marc and I were stuck on I-15 in the mile just before the exit to Kevin's work, Kev called to say the road up to the plant had been closed due to white-out conditions. Kev managed to get a ride home and told us to just turn around and head home, too.

The first half of that mile took us an hour. The second half took TWO HOURS, halfway through which, Kevin arrived home before us. I felt like we needed to send a rescue for the rescuers. At this point, we'd been on the freeway for 4 hours, moving at about 2 miles per hour (when we moved at all)! It took us another 2 hours to get home. In total, our little rescue "Kevin from work-adventure" lasted a little over 6 hours. When we finally managed to get off the freeway and tried to head home on the surface streets, Marc summed up the experience with his usual wit and aplomb. He said, "Hell HAS frozen over, and we're in it!!!"

This was the Valentine's present we had on our front door this morning.
(oh, and after I got home, I still had to make Jackie's box for school)

I said "YES"

20 years ago...
He asked... and I said, "YES"...

Best choice we ever made!