four dogs

mom: so we're taking carter [one of their dogs] to the vet's over thanksgiving break.

me: he needs a little extra care, huh?

mom: yeah.  but the other three dogs are staying here.  i'm paying daniel and alisa $1 each per day to feed them.

me: mcgrady, north carolina may be the only place in the world where you can get three dogs cared for over a five day weekend for $10 total.


yes, my parents have four dogs.  how many did they set out to get?  oh, that would be zero.  dogs are just DRAWN to my parents.  it is adorable.  they spend all day on the farm investigating good smells and lying in the sun.  (the dogs, not my parents.)  there is also a dog hierarchy; one dog has had two hip replacements, which required my dad to come home every day at lunch for months to care for him...he is also overweight and thus has to eat fresh vegetables that fill him up but don't have a lot of calories.  i think he also takes several medications, which is why he needs to be at the vet's over thanksgiving.  on the other end of the spectrum: one dog isn't allowed inside.

daniel and alisa are my parents' next door neighbors.  they are in 5th and 3rd grade.  they love my mom and like to come talk to her and borrow things from her - a shovel, for example, to build a fort.  in turn, my mom gives them random things that only she and they can appreciate.  on the phone today she told me that she found a deer skull with the antlers still attached, and she gave it to daniel and he was so excited.  my mom and daniel are some of the only people i know who would appreciate a deer skull.  they are made for each other.