AWOL

Hi Everypup, Wilbur & Tia,
Sorry we haven't posted in so long, it's been a little crazy around here lately. Daddy had surgery on a bursa in his left elbow about 10 days ago, since then he's been the one handed Dadmonster, with lots of stuff he can't do that he usually does, and we've had our BoogieBoy most of the last month, which requires mom to take him to & from school, a 40 mile round trip, twice a day. Then when he gets home there is homework to get done, shower, dinner, etc, all before his 8 PM bedtime. Mom says all that doesn't leave much time for blogging, thankfully she's assured us all that doesn't mean she loves us any less, "there just aren't enough hours in the day". We're getting ready to pull all the nasty carpets out of our house & put down tile floors, now that I'm finally getting the potty accidents under control, so that's one more thing that will take her away from our blog and focus her attention on stupid human stuff!
Since Thanksgiving is next week, and Christmas right around the corner, Cracker decided this would be a good time to tell everypup about his Christmas shopping escapade from last year so I'll turn this over to him so he can tell it in his own words.

Howroo everypup, The Southern Cracker here. Before Ah decided to take a trip on mah own, we were allowed out in our backyard unsupervised, Dad gets up first in the mornings, and he'd let everyhusky out but leave the back door open for us to come in if we wanted, then mom would get us all in the house when she got up, and into our laundry den when she left for work. It was a Wednesday morning, and mom hadn't gotten up yet when Ah went over the fence chasing a stoopid skwirrrl. Chili & Mik both ran in the house to tell mama Ah was out, but she wasn't awake yet, and dint understand what they were tryin to tell her, so rolled back over to sleep until the alarm went off. (Bama wasn't here yet, she COULD have woke her up!)
When she got up, she showered, dressed, etc, then went out to the yard to get everyone in. She looked high & low, but Ah was nowhere to be found. She called dad, and he rushed home from work to help look. Mom got in the car and started cruising up & down the streets of our neighborhood, dad put Mik & Chill on their leashes and started husky search & rescue on foot. Finally a lady up at the top of our street asked if we were looking for a husky, and described me. When mom said yes, she said Ah wandered around in front of our house for a while, obviously lost, then Ah saw a car that Ah must've thought looked familiar cause Ah chased it down the street and around the corner. More searching in the direction she indicated brought no further sightings, it was like Ah had disappeared into thin air! They searched into the afternoon, then mom went to Walgreens to buy supplies to start making posters, came home & got on the 'puter to email our husky rescue group & put up notes on local lost pet sites, and made phone calls to the vet, animal control, AVID (who our chips are registered through), and our local paper to start an ad running. After all that, she went out to search and call some more. She mentioned to everyone she saw that Ah was missing, and told them how to reach her if'n they saw me, meanwhile dad was home watchin the other two & mannin the phone in case any calls came in. Finally, about 7:30 it was dark, & getting cold, and she figured she was going to have to give it up for the night when our next door neighbor told her that they had seen me crossing a busy street about 1/2 mile from our house, so off she went again to call & search in that area, around the Walgreens & Winn Dixie grocery store. When she got back, our neighbor across the street came over and asked "You're not missing one of your dogs, are you?) Mom told Miss Pat about me, and Miss Pat told mom a story her friend Ursula had told her over coffee shortly before.
Miss Ursula is also a dog lover, and has 3 of her own. Apparently, early that afternoon she had gone to Walgreens and was astounded to see a beautiful red husky in the store, walking up & down the aisles, checking out the merchandise & obviously looking for something. A nice lady who was cashierin at the store, took me into a storeroom in the back, and kept me there til her shift was over, then took me home with her and start checkin sources to see if someone was lookin for me, since it was apparent to her that Ah was well cared for an loved. Mom immediately called Walgreens, but the cashier had already gone home for the night. She talked to the manager who was understandably hesitant about giving out his employee's home phone number, but after mom described me and he heard the fear & despair in her voice, he caved and gave up the number. Mama was so nervous she couldn't even make the call, she had daddy do it. The lady was super nice and told daddy where she lived, she even refused their offer of a reward! The next day mom printed out the picture of me, Chili & Mik on the couch that is on the right side of our page, put it in a nice frame, got a gift certificate for blockbuster, and had dad deliver it with a thank you from all of us.
On Christmas morning there was a package under the tree to mom & dad from me, they were astounded when they opened it and inside was a plush husky that barks, wags his tail, and then gives sloppy wet kisses with his tongue. Ah figgered since Ah was already out of the yard and couldn't figure out how to get back in, it was the perfect opportunity for me to go find a great Christmas gift for mom & dad, to thank them for all they do for us. Mom loved the stuffed pup, but said having all 3 of her living, breathing, pooping huskies back home where they belonged was the best Christmas gift of all!