A Close Call

Today our little Homie gave us quite the scare when he disappeared for over 24 hours. He was last scene Thursday night around 4:30pm as Jeremy was going through Homer's nightly routine of feeding, bathing and playtime before bed. Well, as many of you know, Homer lives outside now in what can only be described as a five star habitat that was built by Jeremy. Every night when Jer gets home from work he goes outside, calls for little H and then brings him in for his routine. Anyway, last night was no different, Jeremy went outside, found our little man, brought him in as usual, went through the routine and then took him back outside into his lap of luxury. So, continuing on, it was a very stormy and unusually nippy day in bayou country, and early in the am I received a text from Jeremy asking me if I would peak outside and make sure Homer was OK and not drowning in the rain...no webbed feet on this kidlet. I went outside and began to search and call for Homie in his house, but there was no sign of him. I wasn't worried at this point because I knew that he just wasn't used to my voice and that he was probably just hiding somewhere, so the search continued. I then proceeded to look through the shrubbery, and look in the black tunnel tube, and poke around in his favorite mud hole, but sadly, nothing....no sign of Homie. At this point I am getting frustrated and wet, and I am wondering how long this game of hide and seek will last. I then decide that I am beat and that I will try again in a few minutes. Well, more then a few minutes goes by because I was watching a fun episode of John and Kate Plus 8, and it is at this point that the loud thunder, and heavily pouring rain outside remind me that I need to go look for Homer again. I go through the same scenario a second time but once again no Homer. I try again a little while later and still nada. This is when I come to the conclusion that Homie has somehow escaped and that our little Hansen is LOST. Just a little side note, for those of you who know Homer, this is not the first time that he has been missing. In fact, he stopped our hearts a few times when we lived in Utah, but eventually we always found the little guy. Today was somewhat different though because little H isn't familiar with all of this bayou territory quite yet. So, to make a long story even longer, I broke the news via text messaging to Jeremy that Homer was lost and then I headed off to work. When Jer got home he looked everywhere outside for H, but still we were without a trace. After much searching, Jeremy too decided that enough was enough, so he took a moment to grieve, and then afterwards began to contemplate what our next pet would be. I'm not sure, but I believe it was at that moment that Jer saw a familiar tiny head pop out from behind our junior lovesac, and yes, it is true, it was Homer's wee little noggen. Little H was inside our bayou bungalow the entire time! It seems that pap pap (Jer) forgot to take him back outside after his nightly routine on Thursday. Thank goodness Homie is safe and sound, and just to ensure a peaceful sleep for all, Homer will be sleeping inside in his old plastic house tonight.