Lost dog

It's Sunday morning and I'm really tired. Tired because I stayed up really late last night and got up early this morning to go look for my dog Chester. He's usually just around the house and I don't notice him much when I'm busy, and yesterday was extra busy getting ready for Trunk-or-Treat, so I didn't even notice until I went to bed around midnight that he wasn't there. He always comes to bed when we do. So I looked all over the house and couldn't find him. I went outside and called for him and he didn't come. I tried to go back to bed but I was so worried that I decided to get up and go drive around the neighborhood looking for him. I was surprised at HOW worried I was. He's a little dog and it was cold outside, and all kinds of scenarios went running through my head. I thought for sure someone stole him because he has tags clearly labeled with our contact information and no one had called. (I checked the caller ID for when we were gone). I was worried that he got run over. I thought maybe he went wandering too far away from our house in a quest to pee on something new that he got hopelessly lost and finally just collapsed from being so tired. (This would happen about 6 blocks away probably because he's such a chub!) I even let my mind go so far as thinking he may have been kidnapped by someone planning to break into our home who didn't want a dog barking to alert us. I thought maybe I should sleep in the hallway to protect the kids' rooms. (Yes, I am fully aware how paranoid and crazy this sounds.) I didn't find him so I stayed up gathering up pictures for the "Lost Dog" posters I was going to make, contacting the homeowner's association lady to have her send out a "Lost Dog" email, and looking up information for the animal shelter so I could go check there. I think I finally went to bed around 1am. Then I woke up this morning early to go search some more. I took Gabby with me and we circled the neighborhood and checked the drainage ditch and all the gutter holes along the streets in case he fell in. When we circled back by our house to check the gutter there and called out for him we heard him barking. Then Gabby yelled out, "He's in the car!" Stinkin' dog was in Dario's Durango all night long! I looked in the windows last night and called for him and he didn't respond, so he must have been sleeping. Gosh darn dog! How he got in there I have no idea, but he's found, and he's had more biscuits and love today than he's had in a long time. He really is my baby. I can't imagine what people who have lost an actual child go through....