The best of times? The worst of times?

Last Monday started out a lot like most Monday around here- but worse. I was tired of being without Kent all weekend and I just wanted to stay in bed. Ella wanted to go to Kent's office to have her teeth "sparkled." I was just exhausted emotionally and physically so Kent told me he would take her and I could just pick her up when I dropped off Ethan at school. Once Ella and Kent were gone, I fed Cannon and got him back to sleep then hopped into the shower. Ethan came in the bathroom and said, "Mom! There's a dog in our house!" I grabbed a robe, and went out to see what he was talking about. This is what I saw under the bar stool when I went out there. Cute little puppy!
I called my friend that works at a pet clinic and she brought us over some puppy food and I told Ethan I would keep the dog while he was at school and we'd go for a walk to find the owners when he got home. My friend told me in this area there a lot of dumped dogs and this was a classic case of a little orphaned pup. This little puppy is such a sweetie, and loves the kids. I saw the kids playing with her, helping her, taking care of her and getting along with each other. I had the thought, "either this is the absolute best time for a puppy to find us or it is the absolute worst. " Well, we didn't find the owners the first night and the dog stayed in our garage, with the garage door opened a little, all night long. The next day she went missing while Ella was at school. I know the kids were sad, but so was I! I don't know why, really. I figured it is because I'm emotionally all over the board right now- with this exhaustion and the unknown diagnosis looming overhead constantly. Well, the next morning a neighbor friend of mine saw the dog still roaming around and brought it back to us. I was happy to see the little thing. Since then we have bathed her, fed her, bought a collar and matching leash and put a dog bed out in the garage for her. Ella even gave her a stuffed teddy bear for her to sleep with. We are still using it as a bargaining chip, whether or not we keep the dog, but so far she has been pretty great to have around.