i have probably told a few of you about hailey by now Hailey is my sister's dog. She is the sweetest, best dog on earth. She makes me sneeze like crazy, and wheeze too, but she is such a lovey girl that I can't say no and she ends up on my lap. I can always sleep sitting up.

When not inside, whining to be loved, she is outside with a stick in her mouth.

See, Hailey loves to play fetch. Like you can't imagine.

The times I've visited my sister's home since she's been with her husband, and therefore Hailey, I have always left in the same fashion: my luggage is in the car, then I throw the stick for Hailey to fetch, jump in the car, and slam the door as to beat Hailey from making it back to the car with the stick before we're on our way. Irresistible, this dog.

Any time you go into town, when you come back you can be guaranteed Hailey will be chasing the car with a stick as you're pulling up the drive. IT'S A MOVING CAR, HAILEY! BACK UP WITH YOUR LITTLE STICK!

If you come outside to stand on the deck and enjoy the fresh air, you will soon here a CLUNK!CLUNK!CLUNK! as Hailey drags a too-big stick up the stairs for you to throw. There is nothing funnier than the clunk. Or when she is dragging what is basically a log.

And you throw it. But 45 minutes later, she still wants you to throw it and it's cold and you're tired. I've had to stop throwing sticks before because I started worrying she was overdoing it. Like a goldfish with food or something - relax! Too much is not good for you!

Apparently she has taken this whole "Golden Retriever" tag to heart.

Also, the sticks are also really slobbery and gross by the time you've played for a few minutes.

So anyway, Hailey is really funny. I like her.

Here starts the story.

My sister's pole shed burned down.

When the firemen came, shed remnants still smoldering, Hailey was following them around with a big damned burnt stick. Wood from the shed? Who knows. But I've been laughing at this mental image for the past two days. Kelli had to laugh too: "Our house could be on fire and all Hailey would care about is getting someone to throw her a stick!!!" Good dog.  ¶ 10:02 PM