A Very, Very, Very Long Day!

Today has been a very, very, very long day for me. This morning Tony woke me up at 5:00, as I had asked him to even though I only got six hours of sleep, so I could drink a cup of coffee before Ellen's predawn arrival.

Ellen arrived at 5:33 to drink a cup of coffee and visit with us before taking Kia to the San Antonio airport. At 5:49 the three of us went outside to transfer Kia's crate to her pickup cab and then we drove down to Kia's and Festus' pen to get her.

As Tone tied on Kia's pretty, pink bandana around her neck, Ellen suggested that we remove the crate from the cab and put it in the bed of the truck, so Kia could ride in the front seat with her. I took these pictures, in the dark, of Kia getting ready to "load up" so she could begin her long day journey to her new, fantastic forever home in Toronto, Canada.

After saying goodbye to Kia and Ellen and wishing them a safe trip they took off and we came back to the trailer. At 6:08 I sent Fay an e-mail to let her know that Kia had just left the ranch and that Kia had seemed real happy about leaving. Then I started cooking breakfast for T. and me.

Thirty minutes later, Tony took off for the Old Timer and I took off for the bedroom, in hopes of getting a little more sleep, but that didn't happen because Tony's dog, Belle, kept teasing Toto and she would not lay down, so I gave up and got up.

At 7:42, with only three minutes before Kia had to be checked in or miss her flight, Ellen called. "Hi, Nancy. We made it to San Antone just fine. I am filling out a form and I need to ask you a couple of questions..." After I had filled in a few empty blanks for her, Ellen told me that the man at the desk had to use a screw gun to make several holes on the back wall of Kia's crate, because Canada requires air vents on all four sides of the crate and that Kia had just left the building to be put on the jet, I thanked her and then we adios-ed each other.

Around 9:00 I checked my e-mail. Last night, Fay had written me this e-mail:
"Thanks Nancy, we are so excited she's coming tomorrow! We sincerely love her already, so hearing she's such a good Girl is icing on the cake! So glad all the paperwork is ready, she's ready, and the later flight time is no problem whatsoever. Please tell Charlie & Ellen a big Canadian "THANKS!" for us.

I'll keep you posted when she arrives.
F.xo"

Before T. went outside to do his morning chores he told me not to help him today, because he wanted me to rest and catch up on my sleep and that's when we discovered that Jim, one of our great volunteers, was here walking our dogs. Thank you, Jim!

Ellen called Tony around 12:30 and she was back home and she told him that Kia was the best, well-mannered dog that they have ever taken to the airport for us and she could see why we were so impressed with Kia.

I spent the rest of my long day trying to occupy myself, so I wouldn't worry about Kia getting there safely, by doing some paperwork, returning phone calls, e-mails and then, for a break, I would pace the floor, so the time would pass by faster for me. Even though I didn't walk with Leslie I would bet that I walked at least a mile inside the trailer.

As I write this it is now 7:00 and I am happy to report that Kia now only has one and a half hours to go before she becomes an official Canadian-canine-citizen and finally gets to meet Fay and Ian and their beautiful daughters and her new companion Kris Kristofferson.

It is now 7:25 and I have just gotten off of the phone with Kinky, who is still vacationing in "Hula Land" and he was thrilled to hear the great news about Gus getting a job, finding illegal cell phones in prisons and about Kia being adopted by Fay and her family and flying the friendly skies as we spoke. "Please tell Fay that I said, "Thank you, for adopting Kia and old Kris from us." Then he laughed. "Oh, that just reminded me to tell you that this coming Monday morning, at 9:30, a big-time Canadian news team is coming out to the ranch to interview me and I definitely want them to meet you and Tony and give them a tour of the rescue ranch. I'll be back at the ranch Sunday afternoon. Cleve is picking me up at the airport."

"That's great. Have you seen Hoover?"

"Yes, and he is doing great. In fact, tonight I am meeting him and Jim Nabors for dinner."

"Cool. Well, please tell Hoover that I said, "Hi" and guess what!"

"What?"

"Ben, Tony and I have started a band and I named it BeNT!" Kinky chuckled.

"That sounds like fun, Nance."

"I know. I'm playing guitar. Ben will sing, play guitar and mandolin and Tone will play mandolin, too. And, I'm really excited about it and..." After reassuring Kinky that The Friedmans were doing fine we adios-ed each other.

It is now 10:00 and I doubt if Fay and them have even made it home from the airport, but I must go to bed now so I can catch up on some much needed beauty sleep. Hopefully, all went well today with Kia's flight up there and tomorrow I will definitely let y'all know all about Kia and her flight up there and how she is fitting in with her new, wonderful forever family. Good Night and thank you Fay and Ian for adopting our Kia. Please tell Kia we love her and we miss her, but we are so happy for her and also please give Kris a bear hug from me.

Y'all have a great evening!