The Sounds of Silence (and a little barking)

I realize that this is going to be one of those comments that identifies me as an (ahem) person with a slight dog-problem, but My House Is Almost Empty. And by "empty" I mean, there's only six dogs in it. Six!! Do you know how long it's been since there were only six dogs in my house??? I don't actually. It was probably last year sometime. Lots of planets had to align to make this happen. Some Wickets got adopted, some new fosters joined our group and for the first time in at least a few months, we haven't gotten any new dogs in our program that couldn't be siphoned off to someone else's care.

I know I should be glad and I am but...it's a little quiet. I keep walking around thinking someone is missing. After years of doing the rescue thing I have developed this weird ability to (without looking) know exactly what my dog inventory is in the room at any given time. I know who's not there at dinner time and when I go to bed, I know if someone is still out nosying around in the yard or digging in the kitchen cabinets and know to call them inside. (Sam, on the other hand, has been known to not count, not care and let their little hineys stay where they may. Not me.) But the whole day today, I've been out of whack, thinking "surely, there must be more than six??". So weird.

I know, I know, I should enjoy it. I am, don't worry.