Augh! It's going to be a long winter if I'm feeling trapped indoors already. Normally this time of year is just about my favorite, but this time around it pretty much sucks. Basically for the reason that rain plus lots of leaves plus energetic dogs and kid makes for a big mess. We absolutely have to let the dogs out for a run for about 45 minutes to an hour every day, rain or shine, or else they will tear the house apart. You would not believe what I have to go through to clean those two furballs up when we get back in the house. Thank goodness all I have to do for Milo is take off his muddy shoes and lift him over the gates in the kitchen, and he can go take off his coat and wash his own hands. There is a much more involved ritual when it comes to Quinn and Lily.
Before we even go out into the wet wilderness, I have to put gates up in the kitchen, and put towels down on the floor, in preparation for our hairy, smelly return. Milo and the dogs always come back in the house through the doggie door, so the towels catch most of the mud and crud. I take care of Milo while two wet dogs are winding around my legs, eagerly anticipating their rubdown. The two of them love being toweled off so much that they both sit perfectly still and offer one leg up to me at a time. (It took me ages to teach Lily the importance of hygiene, but Quinn caught on really quickly.) After their feet and bellies get cleaned off, then I dry off the rest of their mangy selves. Finally, I hop over the gates and take off my own shoes and jacket, and then move the gates so the dogs can have a bigger area of the kitchen to roam around in while they dry off the rest of the way. No way are those hounds allowed on the furniture while they're damp. The towels get thrown downstairs and I have to get out fresh ones for the next go-round. We go through at least four towels a day, when the weather is like this. We actually have more "dog towels" than we do good bath towels!
During all of this nonsense, Monet usually wanders in from somewhere and then takes off outside, which makes the dogs chase her out in the patio, so then they get all wet all over again. Argh!
The other reason I'm getting really tired of this wet weather is the stoopid wet leaves. I have to physically remove the leaves from the patio with the snow shovel, while they're still wet. Otherwise going on poop patrol is like a disgusting easter egg hunt. When the leaves are all over the place, more often than not, I find the poop by stepping on it because it's hidden under some leaves. Then I jump away to scrape the crap off my shoe and step in more crap. Plus I have to worry about Milo stepping in crap more so than usual. (He's a total crap magnet. If we don't clean up the poop as soon as possible, Milo inevitably steps in it, no matter where in the yard it is.) Yep, it's a real thrill a minute, when it's rainy in the fall.
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