Snow, Dog, Cellphone

Millie, the smaller of my two dogs, LOVES the snow. She could spend days in the snow. If she were to get loose while there was snow on the ground, she wouldn't return home until it had melted. She loves the snow more than she loves me and David. Fortunately for us, we seem to only have snow on the ground about seventy percent of the time.

Every afternoon I take the dogs on a walk along the river near our house. On days when the weather is really nice and the sun is shining I take the dogs out individually for a long walk at the river near our house. When the weather is rainy/snowy and cold, I usually take the dogs out for a shorter walk, and avoid the river where I the dogs are likely to pick up more mud and dirt than I care to clean off their little paws.

Today, we could see the sun for the first time in about a week and a half. It was wonderful. I was so excited about the sun that I decided that I was going to take both dogs out for a nice long walk. I put on my winter necessities, leashed up Millie, and headed for the river.

When you first get to the river, you have to go down a hill to get to the walking path. Something about the sun had me in the mood to run. So I decided to run down the hill as fast as I could. When I got to the bottom, Millie was so excited that she couldn't contain herself. She started jumping up and down and twisting herself around. When she is excited she can't hold it in. (Don't you just love how dogs tend to wear their emotions for all to see! :)) I began to make snow balls. I threw the snowball up in the and Millie would catch them in her mouth. This is her favorite game to play on walks in the snow. I find that other people who happen to be nearby are endlessly entertained by this. It's quite funny. So funny that I thought I would take a picture of her doing this so I could post it on my blog. I reached in my pocket for my phone and to my surprise didn't find my phone. I found this a bit strange. I was certain that I had put my phone in my pocket before leaving the house. As a good city girl, I know that it is always smart to have a cellphone on my person when I am outside. When, I didn't find my phone, I shrugged it off, assuming that I had just left it at home.

About 1 hour and 40 snowballs later, Millie and I returned home. When I got inside I looked around for my phone, but it was nowhere to be found. Instantly panic stricken, I frantically searched the house for the phone. After five minutes of frantic searched yield no results, I went to the house phone to call my husband. As soon as I grabbed my phone, I realized that I didn't know my cellphone number, my husband's cellphone number, or my husband's office number. ( I should probably mention that phone numbers don't have the same format as in the US. Since the number format is different, I have yet to bother to memorize any important numbers. This was a mistake on my part. ) I finally got in touch with David and had him call my cellphone. No answer....

Without a blink, I put Emma on the leash and headed outside to retrace my steps hoping that by some small chance no one had seen my Blackberry lying on the ground somewhere and decided to keep it for themselves. For twenty minutes I walked up and down the river retracing my steps. Every time I saw someone I would ask them in German if they had seen my cellphone. Each time I got the same answer. "Bitte, Ich habe kein Handy gesehen." (Sorry, I haven't seen a cellphone) I don't know how I managed to communicate in such clear German while so upset, but someone I managed. Funny how that is. I must have talked to 10 people. I think many of them thought I was insane, but I don't care.

When retracing my steps several times yielded no results, I had almost given up. I had resigned myself to an afternoon of call my cellphone repeated hoping that whoever had found or taken it would answer. Now in near tears, I found myself at the bottom of the hill that I had run down so carelessly earlier. I looked up, and what did I see but my cellphone. Sitting on the ground all by itself. I picked it up and excitedly called my husband with the good news. Apparently, the cellphone had flow out of my pocket while I was revisiting my childhood. I was VERY lucky.

I arrived home with a huge smile on my face. I opened my cellphone to check for water damage...NONE! I am not sure how a cellphone can sit on melting snow for over an hour and no have any water damage, but it is possible.

The best part about the whole thing. I still have my cellphone and all of my phone numbers! Although, I think it's time that I start using the address book that David and I got as a wedding gift. :) There is certainly something to be said for having a hard copy of information such as phone numbers.

Coming soon: Photos of Millie playing in the snow.