Gone to the Dogs

Did you have a good Christmas? Wil and I had fun cooking our first holiday meal together. We kept it small and manageable but nonetheless still ended up with a short week's worth of leftover. Good thing, too, since we both caught a bad cold and were in no mood to make or consume anything nutritious if it weren't already prepared and waiting in the fridge. We can laugh about it now, but it was rough for about 5 days. The couch became our headquarters. We ate, napped, watched a lot of football and CSI, and rarely got out of our pjs. In the midst of a dream of fully functional nostrils, Wil got a call about his confirmed surgery date, February 12th. We toasted the long awaited occasion with shots of decongestant and went back to sleep. Everybody around us seem to be sick as well. One of our good friends is recovering from pneumonia and I can't walk through the PX without getting snot sprayed on by those who think that covering their noses and mouths are too taxing on their germ incubating bodies. But let me tell you that there's no one else with whom I'd rather be sharing the couch, a big roll of toilet paper, and the cold virus. Both of us being sick at the same time was really hard on our boys, but it was a lot of fun for us. It was like a never ending slumber party. With killer sinus pain and pounding headaches, but that's all behind us now. Those who are sick together, stick together. Our new motto.

My brother Non came to stay with us for a couple of days during Christmas. I'm not exaggerating when I say Brutus hates his uncle. I told my mom on the phone that it was probably a sign that Brutus was an excellent judge of character and she laughed heartily. From the moment he stepped inside the apartment, Brutus went into a panic mode. He refused to go anywhere near Non and would bark non-stop if he even heard his voice. One day Non took Paddy, a true lab who LOVES anyone who would cuddle with him, out jogging. Brutus'eyes got real big when he saw his little brother walking out of the door with that mean man and kept pacing and hyperventilating until they came back almost an hour later. Paddy got a thorough sniff, lick, and complete check up from his big brother before passing out from exhaustion. It was cute to see that Bru really loved and worried about Paddy even though he tried to never show it. I would have taken a picture but my camera suddenly gave out after taking years of abuse. Rest in peace, PowerShot A70. You have made your Canon family proud. My clumsy digits are not a big fan of tiny pocket-sized camera, so I'm hoping to find a new model of the same line. We'll see.

This cold and damp weather we're experiencing is really for the dogs. Bless my husband, the dedicated father that he is. He's been taking the pups to the park pretty much everyday even though there's standing water on the field. Brutus and Paddy apparently have developed impressive slip-n-slide techniques, which require them to receive a quick shower after every park visit. I think Brutus already works out in his head that the degree of fun and accumulated mess on his body are a fair trade to a nice warm bath, so he just hops into the tub when we open the bathroom door. Paddy, on the other hand, probably thinks that the bathroom is a gas chamber and just goes limp. It's like trying to pick up a 90-lb pile of muddy silly putty off the floor. It would have really been comical if there were someone else giving him a bath.