Well, the IRS refund check disappeared yesterday. It was in the front hall next to my purse, and then it was gone! I have crawled among more dust balls than a spider. Either the dogs ate it or someone came in the house and took it while I was upstairs. Neither seems really plausible, but we gave up last night and faxed the IRS a form to stop payment and reissue the check. It drove me crazy. I imagined all kind of scenarios but I believe it comes down to our sock eating, acorn eating, plant eating, green apple and persimmon eating, rock eating canines. I'd think this was some kind of statement on their parts if they weren't so undiscriminating. The female dog has already had surgery for rocks in her stomach and they both almost died from eating acorns (the tannic acid is poison). But I thought they'd matured and reformed. Well, except for the male dog's habit of raiding trash cans and eating envelopes and dixie cups.
Easy come, easy go. I was feeling rich yesterday morning, and was going to indulge in a serious book buying spree, but that was not to be. I had to restrain myself to two books, and one of them a gift. It takes a shock to tame an addiction, and my own dogs to administer it, evidently. One book I purchased was "The Idle Parent" about taking the laid back approach to kids. I told the bookstore owner, a friend, that "It's never too late to validate one's parenting, even if the kids are grown". The author is a great believer in living near woods (which I did as a kid) and refusing to entertain them so they figure out how to use their imaginations. He also is not big on cleaning up messy rooms. Too futile. And the structured time in his house is nil. No lessons and kids strapped in car seats endlessly. It reminds me that my foster granddaughter, when we took Amtrak recently, looked up in amazement and delight and said to me "There are no seat belts". It was the best thing about the trip for her. She didn't abuse it, and there was no running in the aisle, she just felt free, and could stand up whenever she wanted. We, of course, visited the dining car each way as well, and it sure beats fruit rollups in the snack bag hung to the car seat.
Today, I feel better, and in two or three months another check will come, and I will take it directly to the bank, even if it's two in the morning. The dogs will be in their seat belts (crates) until I have the deposit slip safely in hand.
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