And it's not all gloom and doom at work. Things are changing quite rapidly, and while there's no great influx of cash, there was a small influx of cash to my wallet (which, oh hell yes, will be deposited tonight without delay. Just in case...) and it appears that in exchange for my loyal service, will continue to be a small to moderate influx of cash as time goes on. No, I'm not rich, no I can't really pay all of my expenses this month, but I did get slightly more than what an unemployment check would have been and I get to keep my job. We'll see how it plays out but I'm staying put for the time being.

I'm so ready for our trip. If I could, in good conscience, provide the 3 of you loyal readers with cheesy music to hear on hold, I would.

On the first episode of the new Amazing Race, they go to Rio De Janero. One of the tasks is a choice -- rappel 600 feet down a rock face or ride a gondola to Ipanema beach, where you must find the Girl from Ipanema, who waits for you sporting a fine bikini and sipping on a fruity beverage. I squawked out loud when I saw this, and the photo that they give you to aid your search. I most certainly would have gone for the Girl and ran squawking down the beach screaming "GIRL FROM IPANEMA."

Only one group took this option but it was SO worth it when The Girl handed them their clue, winked and said "Good luck." I watched that part 3 times.

I want to go on the Amazing Race.

Tonight we're going to Vegas and with any luck, tomorrow we'll try our hands (and feet and asses) at indoor skydiving which I'd never heard about until Trevor from O-Town went there on his 'Win a date with O-Town' contest winner. How cool will that be? Not as cool as winning a date with O-Town.

People hauled away some of the furniture today. There's a last minute power struggle going on but all attempts to gather money to keep us going have failed and there's a small glimmer of a paycheck but nothing concrete. I don't know why I came in today, maybe just to not be sitting at home, stressing. Being here enables my denial, this can't possibly be happening if I'm still talking to customers.

Hopefully, this will update nicely and my site will be sort of back to normal again.... Or not.

Waiting to hear if the last of the last-ditch efforts to raise money for our company have fallen through. The CEO returned from a meeting with People Who Decide These Things and headed right to his office, where he's now conferring with some higher-ups. If it was good news, I would think there would have been a Happy Dance.

In just two days, we're heading to Phoenix (via and Viva! Las Vegas) for the AZBHR Waddle of the Green. I'm so ready to get out of town, to let someone else handle the rescue work for 3 days and to see some of Rainie Roo's littermates (aka the Roo-lets) and her beautiful basset Mama, Ellie. Here we come, Money Fairy or not!

Okay, I'm back! After an alleged upgrade from my web hosting company put my site out of commission for over two days, I switched to a new provider late on Friday.

Weekend scare
Yesterday we too the dogs to the dog park, where they all had a fine time. Rainie (14 months old) laid down after wagging her tail at every dog to come in the door. Zeus pissed on everything and managed to snag 1/2 a sandwich and Gus played his own version of fetch, where he gets the ball, then comes running back, only to run around you. They were all pooped on the way home.

Bouyant by our Big Fun, Andrea let Gus off his leash in the front yard. This is something we've done with all of our dogs, Alice I could let go 1/2 block away and she wouldn't stray, Zeus and Rainie are fine in the yard, we assumed Gus would be too.

We were wrong.

Gus nosed the gate open (thanks to my infrequent groundskeeping efforts, it didn't close all the way) and took off, trotting down the street. Andrea took off after him and Zeus tried to also. I left the front door wide open, grabbed Rainie and Zeus and ran to the car. I didn't even put my seatbelt on. Andrea saw that he had gone right down San Carlos (a VERY busy street) so I headed that way. For once, the light at the corner was with me and soon, I saw him, trotting down the sidewalk. I pulled over like the cops do, blocking him in. I flew out of the car, shouting at him to stop and thank god, he did.

At this point, my legs are shaking so hard that I wonder how I'm still standing up and my voice has broken in a way I've never heard before. The little fucker is there wagging his silly stump of a tail at me as Andrea comes up. We're mad, we're relieved and we're all scared to death as Gus and Andrea pile into the car.

Until that moment, I had no idea how much the big galoot means to me. I'd tried to pretend that I was detached from him, from the other two, that without Alice, they don't touch my soul in the profound way that she did. And they don't, that's a place that's only hers. But this ragtag pack of punks that make up our family touches me too.