Can I just tell you??

This has been a wild week....can I just tell you?!  The plus side of the week...well there were many!...but the one I loved the most included laughing!!  And DID I laugh?!  It happened Thursday night.  I was in Raleigh to watch the play at NCSU that Red Daughter (RD in the future) has been working on.  The play was funny...chuckle funny and also belly laugh funny.  But that was not what caused the most laughter.  My parents met me at the theater for the show...They are season ticket holders to the plays that RD is involved in. Me, the mom, I get the cheap variety of tickets...either RD's comp tickets or the $5 variety that RD pays for using her All Campus card, and therfore Mo (hubby and RD's dad) ends up paying for!!  A chuckle-able twist of fortune...but that wasn't it either!  After the play we waited for a minute to be able to have a face to face with RD, as it was a stressful week for her...another story...!  We saw her, blew kisses, and were summarily dismissed!  The grandparents and I then headed back to their home and it was well past bedtime when we arrived...BUT  the men's Olympic figure skating finals were still underway so we stayed up to watch.  This gave me a moment to interact with my 'sister'.  My brother and I were just placeholders it seems for our much younger sibling... Sophie, a 5ish year old black schnoodle (schnauzer/poodle mix).  So... we played and Sophie bragged about her new larger than life dog bone and the grandparents bragged about how well she chewed said bone...and I once again was reminded of my place in their lives.  The winner of the figure skating competition was announced and motions were made toward bedtime.  The dog was put outside for one last chance to...well...you get the picture...and end of day rituals ensued...when all at once there came a huge racket of yappie dog barking outside.  You know the sound...that of a dog that has taken off in chase of wildlife...but this is a little yappie sound...of little yappie spoiled rotten dog taking off in chase.  This is not unusual for Sophie as the yard is wooded and full of woodland creatures; deer, possom and squirrels to name a few.  Mom has this nifty little whistle that she blows with all her might and normally Sohpie comes running.  This dog LOVES the grandparents almost as much as they love her!  Well...mom blows and blows...and still there is barking....mom tells dad he'll have to come get Sophie...that she is not coming when blown for....So dad paddles into the kitchen as mom hangs the whistle on its hook by the back door and takes off to the front door to see if the wandering mutt is there.  I hear the rattle of the whistle as mom hangs it up...and then as dad takes it back down and begins blowing with all his might.  Now dad...he blows and hollers and blows the wistle some more...mom is hollering from the front door...  I'm shaking my head...close the door and leave the mutt out there...that'll teach her.... and I wander into the kichen, also sorta sing-song hollering Sophie's name thinking she'll come to me since we're so close and all!  I notice that the barking has stopped outside.   Hmmmm, wonder where that mutt has gone now.  As I start to approach the back door to go out and look I stop dead in my tracks.  That jingling I heard must not have been the whistle after all, because sitting right behind my dad, on the pillow inside her crate by the back door, is the sweet little Sophie herself, looking around at us like we were out of our cotten pickin' minds.  And then I LAUGHED!