Sigh...

Add another chapter to the "This sh*t only happens to me" file...

As I was driving home from my Very Merry Unbirthday celebration last night with my sister-in-law, I hit a dog.

NICE.

It was extremely foggy and I was thankfully going slow (25 mph) and in fact, had just checked my speed because I was coming up on the llama farm that is across the creek from us. During the night, the deer often visit with the llamas so I was going slow for that and the terrible fog.

All I saw was black dog, shiney eyes and felt a "WHAM!" My sister in law grabbed the dash and yelled "What was that!?!?!" (later this made me feel better, if she didn't see it at all, then I know I couldn't have done anything)

We stopped after some tire skidding and awfulness. I put the truck in reverse so the lights would come on and my s-i-l jumped out to find the dog. It was no where to be found. I backed up, nothing. We turned off everything and listened, nothing. I turned around and retraced the path, nothing.

My s-i-l did find the collar in perfect condition. I was thanking God profusely that it wasn't a collar that I recognized. And cursing a LOT because I just hit a poor dog.

So, once again, I get to drive the last 500 feet home having hit something (this time I was heading south, when I rolled I was heading north. East & west isn't an option so I guess I'll be okay now) Kevin was still awake and I asked him what to do. That can be a comfort in having a husband, I realized. I'd just had something awful happen (again) and I immediately thought "Kevin will know what to do."

There was a tag on the collar, which Missy was Very Interested in. I felt even worse.
I called the long distance number and it went straight to voicemail. I was equally relieved and disappointed. I left a message that said "This is *Firegirl* and I believe I just hit your dog. We looked for her but couldn't find her. However I have her collar and was able to call you. I live *here* and please call me *here*. I'm really very sorry."

We waited about an hour then it was past 11 pm so we went to bed. I didn't sleep great. I know it's just a dog and the dog shouldn't have been out at that time of night but still. Kevin just kept telling me "Let it go, you couldn't do anything then and you can't do anything now." Which is very true.

The next morning, Kevin came in when I was showering and said "I don't know if this means anything but there are dogs barking across the creek." He was hopeful that one of them was the dog I hit. But all I could think of was two dogs "talking" to the dog I hit: "Hey man, wake up. Wake up! What are you doing?" UUUUGGGGGHHHHHH.

Kevin had to go bid a side-job for the race shop and it's over an hour away. This was good because we could just chill and spend some quiet time together. When Kevin started the truck he noticed my bumper. "Holy Sh*t Firegirl, there's a big dent there!" Sure enough, there was a big dent in the valance/brush guard that runs under the bumper. YIKES.

We went to this customer/friends house - who OF COURSE has dogs. I petted them and Kevin quipped something about trying to fix my Karma then whispered to the dogs, "Don't look at the bumper, guys." Funny.

We were there about three hours when my phone rang. It was a number I didn't recognize but it had the same prefix as the one I dialed from the collar.

The guys name is Rick and he explained that it was his dog that I hit. He was visiting his mom and the dog took off after coyotes. That explains why she just popped up on the side of the road.
((Kevin said "You did him a favor by hitting him with the truck because the coyotes wouldn't have been so kind." Which is a dark thought but true.))

I asked reluctantly, gingerly, how the dog was doing and he said "She's walking around. She's sore but she's doing okay." I just about dropped the telephone. I wouldn't have guessed that. He went onto explain that the dog made it home, they took her to the vet and she seems okay but really sore. They were still exploring her for injuries. So, I told him as non-graphically as I could, exactly what happened so he could tell the Vet. But it seems like the dog will be fine. It sounds like she was acting like a very old Boxing Champ, having had his bell rung too many times. Kevin said "You know if that dog could talk, it's first word would be 'Tylenol!".

Rick tentatively asked about the collar. "Is it intact?" I told him yes and then he asked if he could have it back. Well, duh. Of course!!! He asked if I would leave it in his mom's mailbox and thanked me for calling him. I apologized for hitting his dog and he was pretty cool about it.

I wrote a little note apologizing for the accident again, enclosed a baggie of treats "for when she's feeling better" and dropped the package off in the mailbox. I asked him to let me know how she was doing later. I'm assuming she'll be fine but I'd like to know. He promised that he would.

If this didn't have a happy ending, I wouldn't have told this story at all but it thankfully does.
And it fits so nicely into the "This sh*t only happens to me" theme that I couldn't not share.