You heard it here first

I found my way to this story through the blog of a friend of a friend (you know who you are, but I'm not linking to your blog because I'm not sure you'd want me to). I'm blogging about this because 1. it's 12:36 in the morning and I can't sleep and 2. based on the speed of this story, I would bet she'll be on Oprah at some point. I just want credit for knowing about it before it was on Oprah.

This woman, who is the mother of six, posted an auction on eBay in which she was trying to sell x number of Pokeman cards one of her kids had snuck into her grocery basket at the store. She didn't want to reward them for sneaky behavior, but they'd already opened the package by the time she discovered the transgression, so she couldn't return it, hence eBay. In her auction, she told a long story about how it's possible that a whole bunch of Pokeman cards could end up in her basket without her noticing. Turns out, shopping with six kids is not easy. Who knew? Anyway, in one of the comments to the auction, she posted her blog address. I followed that link. So did 36,000 other people, apparently. She now has various book offers and is being interviewed left and right by newspapers and other media. How about that? She goes from being an anonymous SAHM of six to being semi-famous and a blogging sensation. I think it's great for her because it might well lead to extra income for her family; however, were I to have 11,000 hits in one day, my blog would quickly become a private one accessible only by the invited. I don't mind that a small number of people I don't know personally read my blog, but 36,000 views? Eeek. I would never, ever want to be famous. I think I would pay *not* to be famous were fame ever forced my way. Even semi-anonymous blogging fame.

D and I watched Perfume before going to bed. We rented the DVD this weekend, but never got around to watching it. It only has a 55% RT rating and a B- on Yahoo, but I thought it was an interesting movie. Don't get me wrong. You shouldn't rush out to see it. But if it's a summer night, your TiVo is once again empty or simply holding the "someday" shows, and you're bored out of your mind, it's a good flick to kill two hours.

Finally, I will share with you my horrible morning today. I headed out to take the dogs for a walk along the trail. Unfortunately, I let them off leash in a different spot than usual. Rather than making it all the way to the trail, I did it right behind the house leading to the trail. This means they would run along the back of the fence and *should* make a right onto the trail. I have done this before and it typically results in a quick left (to sniff the fence of the neighborhood dog), then an immediate 180 degree turn to get pointed on the trail. This time, though, they took off like a shot. I am still not sure what happened. I don't know if they went left or right. I just know I let them off leash, made them sit, then said, "OK," and they just took off. I was calm for the first minute, figuring they just ran off for a moment and would be back. Nope. I stood there for probably 10 minutes whistling and calling to no avail. I couldn't hear them down in the forest and had no idea which direction they'd gone. After 10 minutes, I'm hysterical. I call D even though I know there's nothing he can do, but I figure it'll calm me down and make me feel like I'm not alone. He wisely tells me to go back to the trail where I'd lost them and wait some more. I hang up and pace that area. I call out every minute or so and whistle more frequently. Another 10 minutes pass and I head further into the trail, not knowing if I'm going towards them or away. Finally, Eddie comes running up to me. He's without Turtle. I quickly leash him up and then start talking to him like he's a human, "I can't believe you left her! You're smarter than her! You're supposed to look out for her!" I'm sobbing and hysterical. If there was a camera on me, you'd think I was a terrible and overly dramatic actress. Another 5 minutes passes. I call D again, still sobbing, because I've got Eddie, but Turtle is still no where to be found. Right when D picks up, I see Turtle's head further up the hill. She won't come to me because she thinks this is a game. She gets in her crouch position and waits for Eddie to approach. I truck up the hill with Eddie far in tow (Eddie was about three feet behind me because I was crying and me crying scares the crap out of Eddie - it has no effect on Turtle). When we reach Turtle, she pounces on Eddie in what would normally be an adorable move but one that I halted immediately. I leashed her up and angrily walked the two of the home. I made them walk behind me the whole time I was so mad. Not beside me, but well behind me. Turns out, that's easy to do that when you're hysterically mad. Anyway, I think it'll take a while before I'm able to let them off leash again ... if I can even do it. I know it probably seems like I'm insane for saying I'll do it again since this is now the second horror story like this, but they love the trail so much that I know I'll have a hard time withholding the excitement they get from running up and down it. I do know I'll not vary my point of off leash release from the two established points on either side of the trail that work. D points out that they both have microchips, tags with our phone numbers, and are not near any roads.

And with that ridiculously long story, at 1:10 AM, I will try to get some sleep.