melted chocolate: a present from the kennel

Admittedly, Jamie and I had a great time during our mini-vacation in Pittsburgh. My guess, however, is that our dogs did not enjoy the same level of fun and relaxation at the kennel. It seems that the parting gift from the kennel was a bout of sickness for Dyno--and it's not the kind that makes her lethargic and makes you feel bad for her. During the past week, Jamie and I have cleaned up 5 different piles of diarrhea, and I use the term "piles" very loosely (pardon the pun!). Every single "steamer" incidence has required a steam vac application, and the smell that permeates from the puddle of poo is enough to provoke even the toughest of stomachs.

The point of this story is to explain to you why I would be awake and typing this post at 4:45 on a Sunday morning. After a wonderful day of helping Jamie make beer (oatmeal stout...yummy), having a great dinner, and relaxing on the couch, Jamie and I went to bed happy. And sometimes, as some of you older folks might know, it is necessary to wake up in the middle of the night to pee. Usually, this is not a big deal. The process of walking to the bathroom, sitting on the toilet, flushing, and crawling back to bed doesn't even fully pull you out of that dream-like state. Now, rewind your imaginations and picture yourselves getting out of bed to walk 5 feet (literally) to the bathroom in your happy, dream-like, middle-of-the-night peeing state, but instead of making it to your destination of joy, you step square into a smelly pile of warm mush. I bet you wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, either.