Friday stuff...

We've been getting estimates from roofing companies for the past couple of weeks. One man came here this afternoon after not calling back for nearly ten days. Are they that busy that they can't even return a phone call? And his was the first company I had called when I began this adventure. He finally got around to calling me the other day, he was here this afternoon as promised at 2:00, and when he was finished measuring the roof he left without telling me he was done.  When he spoke to me over the phone to make the appointment, he said he would call within three days of measuring to give me the price. As slow as he was to return my original phone call, I'm not holding my breath for the promised estimate.

My husband and I went down the road to neighbor G's this morning, along with Savannah. G has a five-month-old puppy that is wearing her out because she wants to play so much, so G thought that Savannah and Charlie would have a good time playing together in her fenced-in yard. So that's what we did first thing this morning. I'm sure that Savannah thought she was going to the dog park, and she walked right out to the driveway and jumped into the back seat of my husband's car, and off we went for the three-minute drive down the road. I didn't want to take the chance of walking Savannah to G's house because she is afraid of cars since her 12 days of being lost, and literally cringes and shakes when a car goes down our road when I'm out in the yard with her.

Savannah and Charlie ran around G's yard, playing with a ball and a tug-toy, and walked from one end of the yard to the other, picking up sticks and generally just being two happy dogs. Savannah even let herself be petted by G, which is unusual for her... she is normally hesitant to let people get so close to her unless she sees them on a regular basis. We haven't seen G in a while now because she's been busy working and busy with her new puppy and her other dogs (who are too old to be playing with the puppy). Being that Savannah and Charlie got along so nicely, we plan to make an effort to get the two dogs together as often as we can, considering everyone's busy schedule.

No fireworks today from the across-the-road neighbors, but they already told me to expect more for the 4th of July. Oh goodie. I can hardly wait.  My prediction is that Savannah will now get used to a very quiet backyard again, but when July 4th gets here, she'll revert back to her very frightened self. I'm thinking that maybe we should plan to turn the TV up louder than usual that day, put on the "Fido" channel, and let Savannah watch the dog and puppy shows.  She does that from time to time when I remember to turn on the TV for her... she will sit on the sofa and watch the dogs on those TV programs, and when they have a full-screen picture of any particular dog, she'll get down from the sofa and go up near the TV for a closer look.

About that neighbor over there.... she had given me her house key to keep in case of an emergency, and I had it here in the house for her in case she locked herself out again.  I took that key yesterday and put it in an envelope, and then put it in her mailbox after the mail truck went by.  I don't want the responsibility of that key anymore. I don't even want to look across the road anymore, for that matter.

I hate to hold a grudge. Such a waste of energy. And this is no longer about the fireworks... it's about the careless and reckless actions from the people over there.  Reminds me of that old saying--- When people tell you what they are, believe them the first time.  She has told me exactly who she is, and she is not my type of person. She will never be a friend, and I don't much like her as a neighbor.

Our friend and next-door neighbor from our old Clear Lake community called me from Colorado this morning... they moved there a couple of years ago and we still keep in touch.  V was fit-to-be-tied about the lack of good judgment from those neighbors.  I told V that she was the best next-door neighbor we've ever had, and she laughed and said "And I'm getting better and better all the time, with what's happening over there with you!"

When we first brought Savannah home last September, she was a frightened five-month-old puppy who had never seen the inside of a house. It took us months to build up her confidence and make her believe that we were here to love her, not to hurt her. All of that disappeared with the first M-80 blast from those neighbors on a quiet night in late April which sent Savannah running off into the hills and left me unconscious and bleeding on our normally-quiet road. For the next twelve days, Savannah was lost and no matter how many hours we spent looking for her, we felt as if we weren't doing enough. On the 13th day, Savannah found her way back home and we've been taking puppy-steps with her to bring her confidence back. My own bruises have healed, but my heart still breaks for my sweet Savannah every time I bring her out into the yard and watch her shake with fear when she looks at the road from the safety of our backyard.

For the past two weeks, I've been working on the Blog I started writing when we first adopted Savannah. I've been turning "A Puppy Named Savannah" into a book format, re-reading and proofing and editing and re-reading again and again.  The pages have been printed out... an impressive stack of 356 neat pages of typed words that tell Savannah's story. I've been doing research on literary agents and book publishers. I hope the same angels that guided Savannah home will steer me to an agent who will believe Savannah's story is worth telling.