Well, Well, Well...

I don't have anything huge to report on this week, hence the lack of blog post. I didn't want to go all week without a post so here I am...

This might get random but stay with me as I update you on what has gone on during the last week in September around the Sanford house.

First things first... we have a rodent who has made our backyard his home.

For the past several weeks Ryan has been reporting that we have a beaver in the backyard. I 100% doubted him and proceeded to ask questions such as: "Does this beaver have a hard shell? Because that is an armadillo." "Did it have kind of have a furry white face? Because that is an opossum." Ryan simply responded that I was a smart ass, he is well aware of what those animals look like, and the best he could tell it was maybe a beaver...

These "beaver sightings" continued to happen. Ryan would walk Maggie and he'd come in and proclaim that the beaver was in the backyard again. However, I continued to doubt... maybe it was just a really fat cat. Ryan continued to ignore my comments.

Well, this past week I was taking the trash out and when I turned the corner to venture along the side of the house when all of a sudden I saw something. I ran inside shouting... "RYAN THE BEAVER IS IN THE BACK YARD RIGHT NOW!! I CAN"T BELIEVE IT!! A BEAVER LIVES IN OUR BACK YARD!!!!"

Ryan was all, I told you so...

So I grabbed my camera and ran back outside to snap some photos for evidence. I couldn't get over just how fat the beaver was. We do have a creek behind our house as well as a wooded area...so it must be a beaver.

As I was telling my dad the story about the beaver in our yard he stopped me and asked if it had a flat tail... (what goes around comes around). I thought for a moment. No, it didn't have a flat tail. So, Dad proceeded to inform me that our beaver was indeed a GROUNDHOG!

(this is not the picture I snapped. This picture is via google. I will upload the actual picture I took when I have my camera with me. Please note for the record... our groundhog looked strikingly similar to this one)
Who knew? I will say this much, I don't know how I could pick that thing up to check his shadow because that groundhog has had plenty to eat.


On another note, I have a MAGGIE Story from this week.

As an FYI... she did great with her surgery. She didn't really understand "take it easy" but we've tried. I digress.

Tuesday afternoon the weather was so pleasant. I got supper started and thought I would take Mags for an evening walk. I grabbed her retractable leash, hooked her up, and we headed outside.

Ryan and I live (literally) in the backyard of a local community college. This is nice because just over a small hill we are able to access the walking track. I decided to head that way for our evening walk. Sure, Maggie, barks at every person trying to get in shape and goes crazy for the small kids practicing their Upward Soccer, but I don't worry about it. Most the walkers/joggers have in ear phones and the kids think it funny.

We just walk and bark.

Just as we topped the hill to the track Maggie took off running. Normally at this point he leash catches and she is brought to a stop. However, it didn't catch. Instead the leash came right back to me. I thought to myself, Oh shit. She doesn't realize. Play it cool. 

Maggie looked at me and then to the expansive open walking track filled with a soccer team, runners, joggers, and on lookers of the soccer practice and then back to me... then she took off.

Free as a bird, ears flapping in the wind-- she was gone! I took off after her yelling across the field, "CATCH THAT DOG!! SOMEBODY HELP ME CATCH THAT DOG!!!"

The first person she ran up to happened to be rocking headphones and had no idea I needed her to help me.

At this point, I had ran out of my flip flops so I was not only chasing a dog and yelling, I was also doing so in my bare feet.

All my carrying on, really grabbed the attention of the Upward Soccer Team who happened to be running drills. (pictures six year olds running from one orange cone to the next).

Now, I hated to do it but I knew I was going to have to interrupter the soccer practice. Six year olds are full of energy and I needed their help. So I yelled at the team, "HELP ME CATCH THAT DOG!! SHE'S REALLY SWEET! HER LEASH CAME UNDONE! JUST GRAB HER AND HOLD HER DOWN!!!"

The six year olds were eager to help.

So now we have me (barefoot, yelling, and chasing a dog), seven six year old boys (yelling, and chasing a dog) and onlookers watching the scene unfold, as everyone stopped exercising to see if we could catch her.

I don't know if any of you have ever been to a rodeo when they announce that it time to catch the pig. All the kids file in to the arena and chase a pig in order to grab a ribbon from its tail...

Well, that is exactly what this looked like. Except we were chasing a dog who was in heaven.

One boy started to close in on her... so I yelled, "IF YOU CATCH HER, HOLD HER DOWN GOOD!! DON'T LET HER GO!"

The boy caught her and held her down the best he could. When I caught up, he had Maggie pinned down as if his life depended on it. He had all but sat on her, actually.

People cheered for us, I reattached her leash, and took her home. I thanked the boy and as soon as I was out of ear shot of the little children and onlookers I proceeded to verbally spank Maggie. She didn't care though... she had gotten to live to her fullest in those moments.

It was kind of like, the scene in the movie, The Sandlot, when the boy with the glasses pretends to drown just so he can be rescued and given CPR/kissed by the hot lifeguard. He didn't care what the repercussions might be he was just living for that moment.

Maggie didn't care one bit. She had just kissed the hot lifeguard. She tasted true freedom. I'm sure she has relived that moment over and over in the past few days.

She probably longs to be chased by a bunch of kids while I look like an idiot, but I will do the best I can not to let that happen again!

So that's a peak into our week. We've got a groundhog in the backyard and free spirited dog inside. It's crazy.