Oh and good news :)

Back in the day, I was "adopted" by an older golden retriever whom I named Zack. He was a wonderful old soul who was dropped off by his owner. He was heartworm positive and he successfully made it through treatment. He was a great addition to my life and went through good and bad with me. Long story short, he was very loved. He died when I was five months pregnant coincidently 3 days before Christmas. It was quite the emotional time for me. He was a great guy....prior to him getting ill and passing, I adopted a chocolate lab (Nick). He was basically still a pup when Zack died so he was a helpful bridge even though it didn't alleviate the sadness in the house.

Fast forward to January 25th 2009. I was driving down the street to my house and spotted a couple hunched over a dog lying in the grass. My kiddo and I stopped to see what was going on. So here was this male golden retriever with three bloody paws....he was soaking wet. He was still a precious looking guy. He had no collar and no obvious markings, so I had no idea where he actually belonged. The couple expressed that they were unable to take the dog to their house, so we ended up walking him down the street to our yard.

We doctored his paws, gave him a bath and some food. He was a polite little (ha) guy. I was pretty smitten, but hesitant to get attached because he *had* to belong to someone. He was just too well bred and behaved not to belong somewhere. So, I gave myself a date. If I hadn't received any calls or inquiries within 6 days, we would consider him ours. I hated to call him by a name I would have liked, so he simply was Stray Dog. Catchy huh?! Yeah, not so much.

By day 2, I had already bought him a collar and a new leash.....well, he would need one even if his "parents" showed up to claim him...........right?? Oh, and he needed toys.......this guy is definitely more active than my now geriatric Nick. Oh and he needs some special food too.....you get the picture.

Day 6 shows up and nothing. Not even a peep. So, he is now Brody and he is fabulous ;)

OMG

So, where do I even start?!

So we went to Michigan for the holidays in the MB.  Sounds like a great plan right?  I thought so too, but alas I am still dealing with damages to my car secondary to a hole to China which I struck in the sunny state of Illinois.  Mind you, this was on Interstate (INTERSTATE) 57.  It was the entire width of the car and I had no way to avoid it....unless I wanted to strike an 18 wheeler.  So, the car "bottomed" out and it was just nasty.  Very LONG story short, I ended up filing a claim with my fabulous insurance company.  OMG.....my car is still in the shop and damages are now upwards and around $3000.  There is also the possibility of even more damage if they cannot get the car to align....we will not know the status until probably Monday.  It is not a good thing.  

What has been most annoying about this whole misadventure has been dealing with my insurance company, almost on a daily basis.  My local office is wonderful, however the problem is dealing with everyone above them.  It is seriously like pulling teeth.  It is so ironic that I have NEVER filed a claim EVER and this company has my home and two of my vehicles on policy.  My bill to them is always paid on time, yet they want to argue with me about a $25 / day rental car.....well I pay for that rider on my policy so what is the problem?  I am not a criminal, it would be great if I wouldn't be treated like one.  Sorry I'm venting.

So, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that my "baby" will come out of this experience and drive exactly like it did prior to the incident.  As you all (all one of you) know, I am a serious car freak and I very much baby my stuff, so I'm pretty stressed about this.  Cheers!