Sometime between 9:15 and 10:30 on Sunday morning (I don't know the exact time because we were at church), it started raining. Yesterday (Monday) around 4:00 pm, it stopped. The reason I'm telling you this is because when it rains for over 24 hours straight and you own two puppies, a very strong, very real, distaste for the rain begins to form. I'll admit, I don't know for sure that it rained all night Sunday night. But I do know that it was raining when I went to sleep, it was raining when I woke up, and our backyard is a muddy swamp. It's no joke. The backyard is flooded. The puppies sit at the back door, whining to be let out. They just don't understand. And the truth is, they would LOVE to play in that swampy mess. It would be a blast for them. But alas, I'm a mean puppy mommy and have opted not to let them play in the mud. However, they still have to go outside to do their business, so I have to take them out front where the yard did not flood. I have officially tried taking Sabre outside twice without a leash. (Tatum usually stays right by me, so she doesn't need the leash...unless Sabre is off-leash, it turns out.) The first time I had the bright idea, yesterday, he sprinted out the door and began following a guy on a skateboard. Tatum, of course, followed close behind. I was a bit panicked because, let's be honest, no one wants to be chased down by two dogs. It's not a pleasant experience. But the guy was very nice and understanding and didn't seem scared in the least. Then, today, I tried again. I believe this is when you can invoke the whole "trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is called stupidity" thing at me, because things didn't go much better today. Sabre walked outside and started walking through our yard.. then a neighbor's yard...then another neighbor's yard... all the while I'm trying to calmly but forcefully call him back to me. He just kept trotting along. Once again, panic. I had no idea when or if he was going to stop. He eventually came to me after I also walked across all the wet yards, and I dragged him back to the house. He has definitely lost his off-leash privileges. But it's so sad! He gets no play time because of this stupid rain! They play in the house. They run around the couches. But they broke my laptop power cord. So I had to push the couch against the wall and eliminate the couch running. Sigh. It's been a long two days. Even if it doesn't rain again today or tomorrow or the next day, it's going to take some serious heat to dry up our backyard.
Tatum is growing more and more attached to me. She's always followed me into the bathroom, but now she also follows me everywhere else. Both these dogs have crazy hearing (as would be expected of two German Shepherds), so I am physically incapable of being quiet enough so as not to wake them up. I can tiptoe, walk at the pace of a snail, it doesn't matter. Sabre's eyes pop open like a Jack-in-the-Box, and Tatum's head springs up so fast you'd think I dropped a pan on the non-carpeted floor. (The "non-carpeted" clarification in that sentence is very important, because when you drop a pan on a carpeted floor, it's not nearly as loud as the alternative.) Tatum has also decided that I'm her official protector. When she and Sabre are playing (and by playing I mean biting each other in ways that look extremely painful but result in no bloodshed or injuries of any kind), Tatum eventually gets overwhelmed or annoyed at all the biting, that she takes a running start and leaps onto me on the couch. I get scratched every time. But then she curls up in my lap or rolls over onto her back so I can scratch her belly, and I become a softy and protect her from Sabre's giant teeth. In the end it's probably good practice to have a puppy see me as the sun and the moon, so that when I have children one day, I won't be so shocked by the attention. I've worked daycare/nursery/school/etc. enough to know that children frequently want their mommies and frequently throw fits when mommy doesn't appear as they scream loudly enough for people outside the room to assume they're being tortured. I've held many children that take one look at me and seem to say, "Yeah, I didn't want you to hold me," and proceed to reach back for their mothers. But Tatum's preparing me for it, even if it's a less private (the bathroom), more painful (the scratches) experience than I would especially like.
I checked to see if there's a Dunkin' Donuts here in town, but there's not. I'm craving one of those chocolate-glazed cake donuts they make. But apparently Shipley's has the donut monopoly here in Waco, so I'm out of luck. Shipley's has cake donuts, but not chocolate ones. The only place I remember getting these chocolate cake donuts was in Thailand. Dunkin' Donuts in Indonesia didn't have them. For all I know they don't even exist here in the states. I mean, maybe Dunkin' Donuts is better in Thailand just like KFC is better in Indonesia. (And that's for REAL, folks. Indonesian KFC is super awesome amazing spectacular out-of-this-world delicious! I could eat there everyday... and in fact, when I've gone back to visit my family, I basically do.) But hey, Pizza Hut is definitely better here. They have better crust options. Indonesia took the pizza creations a bit too far, for my taste. I mean, some people love the idea of corn or mayonnaise or potatoes or tuna on their pizza, I'm just not one of the enthusiasts. I do love their American Favorite pizza though, which, oddly enough, doesn't exist here in America. Oh the irony.
Cassie, you are going "stir crazy!" I also think you are missing conversation with adults! Puppy talk just doesn't cut it. So it's a good thing you have a blog . . . only drawback is that it's a one-way conversation unless people comment. I don't have much advice on the dogs . . . we never inside dogs. But I will tell you that we have a new doughnut shop at the end of Bear Creek before I 35. I'm chocolate eclair fan . . . . they don't put in the vanilla cream until you order it - so it's so fresh; so big; so soft and delicious chocolate icing. Oh my! I will check to see if they have chocolate cake doughnuts . . . for your next visit. Back to the puppies . . . I suggest you let them run and play themselves out in the mud AND then hose them off . . . . you don't have a back porch to dry off????? And no wet dogs in the house???? so here's your rain report , , , 2 am 55%; tomorrow 30% until 3pm then 50%. No rain Thursday.
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