Was looking for my cell phone this morning and couldn't find it anywhere. Not in the car, not in my coat pocket, not on the counter (the three places it would be). Didn't think much of it as I'm a bubble-headed twit who would misplace her own head if it weren't firmly attached to her neck.

After not finding it anywhere, called my cell phone company to report it lost. Figured I'd suspend the service until it turned up. Decided to look at usage online to see if someone might have it.

Lo and behold, there is a number I don't recognize. I get an answering machine playing music. Steve calls the number gets an "ethnic lady" (his words).

Alarm bells start going off, so I call our (new) cleaning company. They look into it and call me back to ask for that phone number to see if it matches any of their employees. I get a call 20 minutes later from the owner of the company apologizing and saying that he will pay for a new phone because the number matched one of the ladies that was in my house yesterday and she denied all knowledge of a cell phone not actually belonging to her. Despite the fact that there is one outgoing and one incoming call from her home number.

GAH! Seriously, after my wedding ring and necklace go missing with a previous company I went a long time with a never-quite-clean house because I was hesitant to have anyone in my house again. Unlike last time, I was able to get in touch with the company and have the issue resolved within an hour. The owner surmised that she may have dropped the phone and thought she broke it, but the fact that she used it and tried to access voice mail tells a different story. Either way, I'm getting a new phone. And he said he is going to have the same team in every time they clean and they will be employees that have been with him for quite some time. At least this time I had proof that something belonging to me was in their possession. Funny, but I remember hearing something crashing to the floor yesterday when they were here. Still, pretty ballsy for them to take it right out from under my nose.

It's ultra-tempting to get an iPhone as a replacement, but I'm not going to be greedy. No sense in giving them actual reason to steal from me or do shoddy work. Time to go phone shopping. *sigh*

You'll never guess what we found evidence of in our house this weekend!



Ugh. Doing the flappy hand dance while doing my best not to gag.

Update: In 3 days we've caught five of the little bastards

Why do so many people seem not to care about the safety of a dog? The girls and I were headed to the grocery store and see cars slowing down to get around a dog who is wandering in the fairly busy street. At least 6 people passed up this dog, and numerous others are out for walks (though I don't know why, it's so hot and humid the walk to the curb results in a shower and change of clothes). Not one person seemed to show any interest in helping what was obviously a pet that had wandered off. So I pull over and approach the dog, who just plops her little butt down and lets me pet her, a total sweetheart. She had a collar and tags on, one said her name was Holly and had a phone number. But she got away from me and I had to pursue her for about 10 minutes before I grabbed her again. I'm walking right through people's yards calling her and trying to get her to come over when all she wants to do is play. A lovely lady gave me a few treats and a leash to use and I finally got the stinker. We walk to our house, leaving our car behind (my husband is highly allergic to dogs, so no way am I bringing it in the car). The whole way home, I'm asking anyone we pass if they recognize the dog. Nobody does, except for the fact that she was trotting by earlier. By the time I get back I'm nearly dying of heat exhaustion and Holly is panting like crazy. I get her some water, change into cooler clothes and check out her tags. I can't find her name tag with her number on it, somehow it has gone missing. But she has her rabies and registration tags, so I call the number and it's in the next town over. Animal control gave me the name and address of the owner, I call and leave a message and try to figure out what I'm going to do with her when a blue minivan pulls up. I ask the woman if she's missing a dog and she says yes, she's been looking for her.

She was beside herself with panic because it's her daughter's dog she's watching and her daughter recently lost her husband. The poor woman is shaking with relief. Holly, who turns out is a beagle/labrador mix (SO cute!) hops into the car, plops onto the seat, and looks as innocent as a baby. The cutie doesn't even have the decency to put on a guilty look. I can't imagine how far the dog would have gone before her owner found her or someone helped her out. It's horribly hot out, and the street she was heading down gets quite busy during the day. Even on a side street, I had to make a car nearly stop so I could make sure the dog was safe.

(Before any of you cry out "You should never approach a strange dog!", I'll let you know, up until I married my husband, I had dogs all my life. I'm not going to approach it if it gives any indication of feeling threatened. But 1)this was obviously someone's pet, not some random stray, and 2) they way she plopped down and looked at me was clear she was docile. When I approached her she just let me pet her and she didn't even flinch when I looked at her tags. That being said, if it was a dog from a different, larger breed, I might not have been so ready to approach it. And I know to never touch or get to close to an injured dog, they are totally unpredictable. Also? I did not let the kids near her (or even out of the car) until I knew she was friendly).

UPDATE: I get a random person ringing my doorbell at 3:30 in the afternoon and a blue van is parked in the driveway. It's the woman that claimed Holly yesterday with a card of thanks for me. She was looking a lot more relaxed now that the goober dog was safe and sound. After she left, I opened the card and there is also a $25 gift certificate for Corner Bakery as a thank you. When she handed me the envelope, I thanked her and told her I'm just happy that Holly is safe.

The workers have returned to finish the basement and other areas of the house that were in various stages of, uh, finishment.

With the workers return, so has the noise and the dust returned. The drywall dust. That I wipe off of our black countertop three times a day.

But I'm not complaining. Just stating an observation.

You know those bug problems we're having? The monstrously sized anthills, earwigs and silverfish? Those guys? Bah, lightweights.

Glancing up into our cherry tree I discovered this little treat:



That there would be a hornet nest. What deity did I piss off to have the plague of insects descend upon my house?

Attempting to pull out an established plot of English Ivy.