Labradors can eat ANYTHING.  Thankfully she was busted before getting into the actual Pebbles themselves.  (PS - the mask was not about the cereal box. it was about the stomach flu going around the house.)

We survived, which is about all that could be expected.  The kids on the other hand stayed blissfully unaware (I think) of the tension and weirdness, and spent a lot of time screaming Santa’s name, gorging on sugar, running through the house and driving everyone nuts with the strange grunting noises their new Zhu Zhu Pets make.  Thanks a lot, Santa! 

Despite there being only 4 adults and 2 very small children, my mother made enough food to feed the entire neighborhood.  She can’t help it.  After years of cooking for large groups of family and friends, she doesn’t know any other way.  Mike got me a Kindle, which simultaneously thrilled me and made me feel horribly guilty.  We weren’t supposed to be exchanging gifts.  I kept up my end of the bargain; he ignored his.  I did get the customary lump of coal in my stocking (and seriously, there is no double entendre there), but this year I probably deserved it. 

Mike and the girls spent about equal time with his family and mine.  They loved being with their cousins ad they loved the attention they got from my parents.  The family spoiled them rotten which was good because we cut way back on gifts this year.  Santa also seemed to be on a budget, that jolly old cheapskate. Lily only complained once about not receiving the Nintendo DS-I she requested while on the lap of Short Pump Santa; I suggested that girls under age 8 weren’t allowed those because Santa thought they were too young. She blew my carefully crafted scenario out of the water by stating, “Mom, half the girls in my class have them and most got them for Christmas LAST year, which would mean they were only 6.”  Duh, Mom!  Idiot. 

Unfortunately right after Christmas Mike got some bad news which isn’t fit for public consumption.  He’d already been having a hard time with the holidays; this about pushed him over the edge.  We talked a bit tonight about the things we can both control and the things we can’t.  It was one of the most frank conversations we’ve had since this whole mess began and although it was unpleasant, we both were being honest and we were both calm.  I’m grateful for those two things. 

It seems anti-holiday to feel so sad this year.  It’s cliche to state the obvious:  holidays are hard unless everything in your life is perfect.  Each year I’m reminded that I don’t get to see my brother and niece; that my other brother and sister-in-law are really far away; that my sister is also really far away (just not as far away as Hawaii).  There is always a tinge of sadness around the holidays, because the days of being able to get everyone together just doesn’t happen anymore.  We all have our own lives and responsibilities, but I miss my family.  Add to this the faux separation Mike and I have been living and the looming “real” separation, work and financial issues, and general all-around sadness over our lives and you have one dark Christmas.  I managed to squash all my crap down inside and covered it with a layer of mocha brownies.  Mike didn’t fare as well, so we lived in alternate universes for the duration.  I am usually the world’s worst PollyAna.  I did a great job this time.  When I focused on the joy in my children, it was easier.  When my dad thanked the surgeon who fixed his aneurysm and allowed him to live yet another year, it made it much better too (he’s usually cursing the surgeon for keeping him on this earth).  I took a couple of long baths, a nap on Christmas day, and ate my weight in food.  I attempted to care for myself insomuch as I could.

On a happier note, I got some great pictures over Christmas Eve and Day.  My dad really liked Gracie and found the sweet spot on her back to scratch.  After that, she couldn’t get enough of him and he of her, unless she breathed on him.  I would say that Gracie’s breath is almost as horrific as Delilah’s, and that’s saying a lot.  Thankfully we are all used to dealing with dog breath and we managed just fine. 

I was very glad to see Gracie getting used to the kids.  She rarely barks at them and only freaks out if they accidentally run in her general direction or screech in her ears.  Even then, she only seems partially interested in eating them, and then, only to shut them up.  Because she was up for so many hours, and she is used to sleeping 22 of 24 hours a day, she fell asleep on Christmas night and was completely sacked out on the couch.  Mike was sitting on the floor, and leaned over the give her a kiss on the head.  He scared the hell out of her, and she reacted by snapping.  Unfortunately his eyebrow and forehead got the brunt of it.  Man, facial lacerations bleed profusely (side note:  I didn’t pass out!).  He has a small cut in his eyebrow and a puncture wound on his forehead.  He looks like he was in a bar fight but with less bruising.  He never blamed Gracie or got mad at her - it was totally his fault, just like when Sara’s dog Parker bit me.  It’s hard remembering that not all dogs are as dopey and dense as Thora, who would probably lick a rabid raccoon instead of attacking it.  Gracie had serious doggie guilt after and spent close to an hour with her head on Mike’s lap, licking his face whenever he let her. 

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, and Happy Festivus for the restovus.  I’m frankly glad it’s over.  One more major holidayic hurdle and we’re home free til Valentine’s Day. 

Finally - pictures from Halloween.  Apparently I had the wrong setting selected on my camera, so the pictures are not the greatest, but you will get a general idea of the cuteness.  Warning - if you don’t like pictures of dogs dressed in costume (I’m looking at you, @shedrivesajimmy), you might want to skip the slideshow

It should not be surprising, after numerous adoptions, how much a dog can cost.  I know some people are super lucky and end up with the perfect dog who sighs with relief at finally being off the streets and doesn’t spend any time getting sick or eating furniture.  I’ve never had one of those dogs, but I’ve heard they exist. 

Let’s talk about Delilah, adopted from a farm.  Within the first three years of her life, she ate an entire bathroom’s worth of wallpaper, chewed a hole in my parents’ linoleum floor in their kitchen, ate part of my bed, ripped up carpeting and generally was extremely high maintenance.  Yes, I crate-trained her, and yes, she went to obedience school.  She eventually grew out of her puppy badness and into the wonderful calm halitosis-laden doggie we all knew and loved.  Then there was Mike’s attempt at adoption - the freaky, spastic Husky who howled when crated, ran with us for 5 miles and still wanted more, ate everything in her way (including Mike’s tie - WHILE he was wearing it), and unfortunately ended back up at the SPCA when we both realized apartment livin’ was not for her.  Then there was Sari, the Plott Hound mix who could not be contained.  First we finished off our 8 foot privacy fence (!!!!) - she jumped it with no problem.  Then we installed Invisible Fencing in front of the privacy fence - no amount of voltage contained her.  Then we built a huge run under our deck for her - she dug her way out of it.  I’ll never forget the neighbor calling to tell me Sari was hanging by her front paw.  It had gotten wedged inbetween fence posts and she was yowling and freaking.  One day she finally escaped for good, never to return again. 

Compared to the other dogs, Thora’s a dream.  Financially, though, she’s not so much of a dream.  First we had to repair the umbilical hernia that the SPCA could have easily repaired when spaying her, but the vet deemed it not necessary.  Enter anesthesia and another operation.  Right before the surgery, in one of her great crate escapes, she broke her left front canine tooth.  We were hoping it could just be filed down. Nope. Had to be extracted ($300).  The other option was a doggie root canal - $800-$1000.  We chose extraction.  During the experimental days when we tried to contain her to certain areas of the house, thinking she’d feel more secure, she ate her way through a metal crate ($89), ripped up the carpet and carpeting padding in our bedroom, got trapped in Lily’s room, ate both of her shades ($150) and ripped up her carpeting and pad, and became trapped in the playroom and shredded some of that carpeting trying to dig her way out.  Yesterday she found some food remnants on a wood placemat we have - she destroyed that thing.  Even missing one fang, she has no trouble eating her way through tasty items. 

Mike did a good job not freaking out about the carpet, or when we found out it was going to be a cool $5,000 to replace the carpet in the house. Thankfully we have two years of free financing to pay for it.  And truthfully, the carpet here is nasty, cheap Berber - it was nearly time to replace it anyway. Thora just sped up the process by about one year. 

My calculations of Thora’s net expense comes to the following:

Adoption and supplies:  $300
Crate:  $89
Blinds:  $150
Placemat:  $10
Wood trim:  $50
Carpeting:  $5000
Surgeries:  $700

Grand total:  $6299

Who says you need to buy a purebred to spend a lot of money? 

Now that we’ve figured out how to deal with Thora’s separation anxiety (ensure that she never, ever gets trapped in a room, and don’t even think about putting her butt in a crate), she’s been a dream.  We give her the run of the house, and close off the upstairs bedrooms.  I always put on the meditation digital radio channel - I think she really digs those monk chants and sitar sessions.  The worst thing she’s done is walk around with Lily’s Littlest Pet Shop dogs and bury rawhides in the couch.  She is absolutely the sweetest thing, gentle, patient, and deals with the girls mauling her all the time.  And it’s only slightly mean that I crack up watching her eat without one tooth.  There’s a lot of slurping and drooling and jowls flopping around. 

Speaking of the tooth, OMG.  When the vet decided it would be fun to hand me the tooth after it had been pulled, I nearly passed out.  First, I wasn’t expecting her to hand me a plastic bag with a somewhat bloody, scary looking fang in it.  I had NO IDEA dog teeth could be this big.  I got all woozy and nauseous, then got it together and decided to take a picture of it.  Excuse the quality - oh yeah!  That reminds me.  My camera is being fixed because Thora dragged it around like her puppy and broke the flash.  Here it is next to Thora’s pill bottle - helps with size perspective:

You can see the bottom part where it had broken off.  Big goofball - that’s what you get when you try to chew your way out of an airline crate. 

But how can you be mad when you see this face?

I’m getting ready to head out tomorrow. I pulled some pictures off the camera so I’d have plenty of space for the upcoming photo extravaganza.  I’ve been so overwhelmed this week with work,Lily’s walking pneumonia, Thora and appointments that I forgot to post pictures of the jack-o-lantern known as Lily.  Her front left tooth fell out this week!  She was very proud.  There are some new pictures of Thora and the cool river rock Risa sent us to memorialize Delilah.  In one of the pictures, you can see Thora’s umbilical hernia.  Unfortunately the SPCA didn’t feel it was necessary to remove it when she was being spayed.  Our vet likes to fix hernias like that as there is a small hole in her abdomen, so we will have to put her under general anesthesia and they’ll repair the hernia.  Thankfully it isn’t a very expensive surgery but all told, between paying the last bill for Delilah and the new bill for Thora and her medicine (heartworm, tick stuff), I stroked a check for $600 this week.  Not including her upcoming surgery.

I picked up Delilah’s ashes yesterday.  It was bittersweet, being there with Thora and holding what remained of Delilah in one hand.  The vet also made a paw print impression after she died.  The paw print slayed me.  When I got home I had a good cry while Thora went nuts licking my face.  Apparently she does’t like crying.

We had a great day yesterday visiting with Anja and Mia.  Anja will be watching Thora next week for a day while we have a quick vacation in Virginia Beach. 

Speaking of leaving, I checked the weather forecast for TC.  Brrr.  It’s in the mid-50’s at night. I’m looking forward to it after being steamed alive in the humidity this week.  And now I’m off to finish laundry and packing.