Before long the kids were getting hungry and a unanimous vote was taken that Mark should head out into the cold to bring back some doughnuts for breakfast. The minute he left the house, the kids jumped up to wrap presents. In an instant the calm became a flurry of activity.
Now, to appreciate the rest of this wonderful holiday story, you need to know that Lucy (our yellow lab) is notorious for eating things she shouldn’t. She loves paper-napkins, kleenex, paper towels. She has eaten more socks than I can count. Toys, crayons, rocks, pencils, and even a thumbtack have made their way through her digestive tract. Sometimes she even resorts to drinking toilet water to wash the forbidden items down. We have avoided surgery so far and would really like to keep it that way so we keep a pretty close eye on her and keep lots of doors shut.
About three minutes into the wrapping chaos, I realized the dog was gone and went looking for her.
I found her.
In the basement bathroom.
Drinking from the toilet.
Which unbeknownst to me had been stopped up for several days and ignored by its primary user.
I thought I was going to be sick she smelled so bad.
She went straight to her crate while I found the child who apparently has never heard of a plunger.
At this point, he inspected his bathroom and decided it smelled really bad.
His solution was to spray half a bottle of cologne in the bathroom.
It did not improve the situation.
The dog required a bath immediately.
Inside. Because it was about 3 degrees.
Which, of course, left our house smelling like a wet dog running around an Abercrombie and Fitch store.
Ah, the smells of Christmas!
Amy
