In the words of Roseanne Rosana Danna... it's always something...

Seriously bummer news to have to face today. The "Big C" word has been dropped on one of those "near & dear" in my heart. I have shifted into deep support mode... First I cried and railed a bit. It is just so damn unfair.

The information is still being processed more tests to be done, but I saw a lot of encouraging signs in the knowledge of the issue right now. Of course... when it comes to these types of illnesses, you just never know when or where the blindside punch might come from.

Even though I have yet to sleep, I've lost all interest in the basement. It just seems too stupid to bother with. I'm fighting to work my way though the grief and anger I am feeling. Working on trying to stay strong and calm...

But Damn it all to hell!! When will this kind of shit fricking end?!

The basement... Part Deux (Is that how it's spelled?)

I've technically entered Day Two of my "Basement Quest". (Well, 3 if you count the first day when I just sat on the stairs and gave myself a headache just thinking about it.) After my nap yesterday, I hadn't dreamt up any better ideas so I did the next best thing.

I went online.

I'm not joking!

Recently around here, there have been a couple of new businesses started. They deal specifically with you paying someone to come to your house and "De-cluttering" it. When I first heard about it I thought, "People are actually paying money for this!?" I was flabbergasted!

A small local free-paper in our city did a two or three part story of the "Professional De-clutter-er" doing her thing. While reading it, I realized maybe there was something to it after all. A stranger after all, has the unique perspective that would make some choices easier.

Say... you might be inclined to keep the little wooden shelf that you got second hand from your Great Aunt & Uncle. You haven't used it for 12 years... but gees, it came from your Uncle who was also your Godfather and he's gone now... The de clutter-er (herein known as the DC) has the ability to say to you,

"Did he make it?"

"No."

"Does it match your furniture now?"

"No."

Yeah, you can see where this is going. It's on it's way out the door.

Online I surfed a number of various sites, and was pretty shocked at some of the price quotes. One was $250.00 an hour! That's more than I pay my shrink! Of course, he doesn't clean out my cupboards... he just tells me how to deal with the depression over them being a mess.

As is typical of sites that want to sell something to you... you know what I mean they have headings like, "Have 8 cubic feet of kitchen storage in just 10 minutes!" when you click on the tab you get the "Sign-up now!" welcome page...

You know the one...

...it has all the little credit card logos that they are happy & more than willing to accept lined up across the bottom. Uh-huh.

So, after awhile I was able to glean some basic information (sans use of a credit card!) and of course the easiest idea was the one that had completely eluded me...

It was glaringly simple... if you start with "Oh gees o' pete's I have to clean my insert area here or my life is ruined!" You will overwhelm yourself before you even begin.

You'll get angry, frustrated, annoyed, sentimental... You'll fail and then ultimately... it'll turn into an even more of a mess than when you started.

I knew that, because I've done that on more than one occasion! (Sorry if you fell of your chairs again guys...) Yeah...I've only done that more times than I can count!

The best information I found was so simple I was embarrassed to admit I hadn't thought of it myself. (I'm claiming lack of proper caffeine levels in the bloodstream)

Number 1: Don't start with "THE BASEMENT" Start with a four foot section of say, the workbench. Then the next four feet, so on and so forth.

Number 2: Set a timer. Give yourself 30 to 40 minutes. Then take a 10 minute break. That way, if you're getting really overloaded, physically or mentally, you can back off and decide if you're going to go back to it, or give it up for the next little while.

To test this theory, I set the timer for 30 minutes and set my sights on the corner shelving unit. When the timer went off... I had a box for the Haz-mat Disposal Center and a set of shelves where I could just glance at to see: rubber gloves, paint thinner, yet-to-be-used stains & paints, and both new & used brushes. I was thrilled!

So after some errands today, it's back downstairs to the first four foot section of the workbench. That will be simple because two feet is computer parts & printers that will have to be stored until the next Haz-mat "computer deal" takes place. (They only charge you a quarter a pound so a tower and a printer is about ten bucks. It's a great deal.)

That may seem like I'm being a little 'twinky' but I think it's a better thing for me to ease into it so I won't get discouraged. When it comes to overwhelming myself... I'm the queen there and I really have to keep reminding myself to cut me a break!! I am only human after all! (All right... I'll stop now before one of you breaks a bone or something falling off your chairs!)

Real life humor from a friend & my basement

Some guys just have to brag!

A friend currently traveling, came upon this rig at a hotel he was at. I thought it was hilarious, as did he. I said he should send it to Leno! HA!

So it's been a few days I know... things are going much, much better. It was sunny and warm with one or two rainy days but still...

This morning The-Not-So-Great-White-North messed with our heads... again... I awoke to a sound I couldn't quite get a handle on right away. Then I realized my furnace had kicked in!

As a sometimes, "sadistic-to-myself" kind of person, I called Time & Temp. It was 33 degrees with a windchill of 20 something. It reached almost 70 degrees yesterday. It's a whopping 49 degrees now and it's past lunch. Weather here can be cruel.

I had intended to wax poetic about how green my lawn turned almost overnight and how my lilies are more than a foot high and the lilacs in my yard have their tiny little buds of the flower bunches that look like tiny clusters of grapes.

Yeah, well I think I'd wax a lot more if it was 70 flipping degrees again! AGH!!

So... back to other humorous things.

I have begun to clean my basement. And for those of you I know that just fell out of your chairs, sorry, I hope you didn't hurt yourself.

All packrat banter aside, I am really serious about this project. It more than likely has something to do with all the stuff I'd have to deal with if say, my basement were to flood. Not that it will... it's just that the introduction of a washer & dryer recently, ups the ante.

The biggest problem is "compartmentalizing". This mainly means what categories do these items fall into?

A) This is a great item that will be cherished by future family members, not unlike I do, because they were my Mom's, Grandma's etc.

B) Is it really necessary to hang onto this so maybe one of the young relatives could use it in their first dorm room or apartment?

B & 1/2) Will this same item fall into their "Cool retro" or "What the hell am I going to do with this piece of crap?" sub category? (Addendum to part B&1/2: Remind yourself that your idea of cool retro is most likely a "What am I..." etc. item. Toss accordingly.)

C) If I save this item... one that is a sentimental/fond remembrance to me, will it mean the same to someone else if I die? (Sub category: When did I last "fondly remember/view it"?)

D) Could this item best be served as something the local Battered Women's shelter could use to get someone back on their feet?

E) What is this? Who did I get it from and why? Why am I keeping it?

And finally,

F) Professional movers were made to move this!! What was I thinking!!!!!!!!

My greatest fear right now is whether or not I am going to be able to actually classify categories objectively...

...to your average person, being able to do this is generally the reason you clean your basement...

...and you assign categories so you know what to keep....

... because you need to clean...

...except when you can't classify categories...

...because you...

Okay, nevermind...

I have a headache now so I'm going to take a nap instead of going back down to the basement. Maybe I'll dream up a better solution.

I said it before and I'll say it again... it's all about rationalization.

It's getting cold again

I knew if I cleaned up my yard the weather would change. It's not freezing or anything drastic like that but we're back to "The wind chill is..." temperatures. Current wind chill is 40. Classic.

It hasn't rained but the sky is that ugly steel gray color that usually brings snowshowers/sleet combo-type precipitation. I'm just hoping for plain old rain and making some cocoa. At least if we do get any cold weather type precipitation and crap... it won't be around for long. Then again... there were places in the Dakotas that got 24" of snow. It hurts my head just to think about it.

Ludie is snoring so loud on the bed that I had to turn my music on. He hasn't been sleeping well because I haven't been sleeping well. Poor baby... it must really confuse him when I have to keep moving throughout the night. But, being a cat he probably just thinks I'm insane.

There is a pair of robins building a nest in the rafters of my carport. I wonder if they're the same pair from last year? Hopefully this year the damn crows won't get the babies. I was just sick when those bastards got them. If I wasn't within the city there'd have been many a dead crow around my place. They also killed the female cardinal and the cardinal baby. I hate them!

When I was visiting my friend over Easter I loved sitting on her porch and watching all the different birds... probably the prettiest is the pair of Bluebirds they have. They're lucky to have a nesting pair... their setting is rural/wooded enough to surpass the delicate nature and nervousness of birds that generally avoid urban settings.

I guess I should get in gear and get some things done. At the very least the weekend may be rainy so I should finish up outside. Of course, if I put it off... I'll have the excuse of... "Oh... bummer. It's raining and I can't work outside... guess I'll just have to read my new book!"

Yeah well... who can forget the quote from "The Big Chill"? "Try to make it through the day without a rationalization!" (or something like that...) Hey... is that snow I see or do I need to clean my glasses?!

It's what I'd have done!!

A young pup police recruit was asked during an oral exam,

"What would you do if you had to arrest your own Mother?"

Without batting an eye he said, "Call for backup."

I've made it past my turning point...

James

This is James. He is beautiful and one of the "magnificent seven" at the Homestead. I would take him in a heartbeat. Not only because he's an absolute lover... he's also the only solid color cat.

All of my cats, have been pure colors... Valentine was pure, bright white with the most intense amber-green eyes you've ever seen. Moon, Phoebe and Ludie (were &) are almost "blue-black" with vivid bright green eyes. Although Ludie's eyes are the greenest. But he's also the only purebred. That may have something to do with it.

But there's no way James would ever be parted with... (his good nature helps balance out Amy) Oh, I've been corrected on my take on her. She doesn't bite. And she's not that bad... but I still wasn't going to try and take her "food-slash-kill" from her... I think that would have been bad. (but she still scares me! Call me a wuss if you want...)

The last two days, I hurt myself severely doing spring yard cleanup. I can't wait for my next blood test because I've held my blood thinners in order to use hypos for pain control. They hate when I do that. They'll get over it is my thought on the subject.

I was surprised at the burst of growth seemingly overnight. Of course, that could just be because I raked off all the leftover leaves I didn't rake up last fall. Nah... it probably just seems that way. HA!

Walking slowly around the yard today looking at the flower beds I noticed and abundance of green shoots and was happy to see that some of them aren't actually weeds! It's supposed to rain tonight or tomorrow and I'm sure that'll help. The sky is beginning to talk now although it seems to be more to the north, but the rumblings are getting closer to the flashes of light in the night sky.

Working in the yard, I wasn't all that surprised to be pulling out fully bloomed yellow dandelions yesterday. (How in the hell do they do that?!?! They're under last fall's leaves, gravel thrown up from the snow blower and yard chairs turned upside down over them!) Those fricking dandelions are like cockroaches, they'll probably survive nuclear attacks!

Today I just mostly slept (well... dozed is more appropriate... in the recliner awhile, nope... hurts too much so then to bed, little while later, oops hurts... get up, then start the cycle all over again...) Yay. Pain. You know there are those out there that are into pain. They actually (on occasion) pay for it! If only I could bottle it... I'd make a fortune!

Anyway... Ludie has been greatly enjoying my return home, and he's also been doing his part to help with the discomfort. Animals sense this and I know he must, because he is very careful when he jumps into my lap and when I lay in bed he is very careful about how he snuggles next to me. Of course I can't rule out the fact that my using the heating pad is for him at least, the kitty equivalence of crack. (It's 10 p.m. parents, do you know if your cat's on a heating pad?)

I use that line because when I was a kid, the local TV stations actually had that statement just before the news! (Voice-over of a very serious, deep male voice as a still picture of kids on a street corner looking like your basic 1960's juvenile delinquents...) "Parents, it's 10:00 o'clock P.M. Do you know where your children are?" Now? That would be the opening tag line for the latest comedy show.

Whoa!!! That was one very bright flash and huge thunderclap (sent Ludie flying) and me signing off quickly!

Needs...

Being away from home and spending a few days believing that your day to day life isn't more than you can handle is sometimes all the respite a person needs.

I needed to do that...

I needed the Homestead...

I needed one of my best friends...

I needed her humor...

Her husband and daughter...

And their humor and laughter...

The reminiscing...

The discoveries of new information on a variety of subjects...

I needed the walk around the property by myself...

Smiling at the ever emergent green peeking up from the forest floor...

Looking at the distorted reflection of the trees on the cold, dark backwater of the river....

Knowing how it would steal the very breath from your lips if you slipped into it's silent and still depths...

I needed it all.

Last night we had a campfire. And it was a typical of a springtime fire in the Not-So-Great-White-North... your front is warm and toasty, your back is freezing.

I sat staring into the coals. It was so hypnotitc, relaxing and soothing. One by one I threw my feelings into the flames.

I wish I could say, "Yup, I'm all better now!" but I can't because it isn't true.

It will in all likelihood, never 'be better'.

I'm not depressed nor am I whining.

I'm just bucking up and understanding that things will never be the same.

I am merely, and perhaps just now finally accepting, that my life will never be what I always expected it to be...

I will never spend the rest of my life the way I dreamed I would...

The way I yearned for...

What I belived I had to look forward to...

Obviously, I needed to do admit that too.

Yeah... whatever...

I know it's been awhile. Life's been a bit ducky lately... and that word could easily convert to sucky. A strategically placed "F" would be even more accurate!

Yesterday was particularly bad. And since I take such great pleasure and believe in and appreciate the healing power of four-legged love (just so long as the four legs aren't reptilian in nature!) I cruised on over, snagged the Wookie and we spent more than an hour and a half at the dog park. He loved it... I needed it.

It helped, but getting the hell out of Dodge worked even better. I'm visiting one of my oldest and dearest friends. Out here at the "Homestead", there are seven cats, two Dalmations and about 20 chickens. (One of which made it's debut in one of my previous posts) I'm hoping for a few more chicken pictures. I'm especially fond of Angel and the pair they call the "Spice Girls"

The cats here though aren't like Ludie. These cats actually know that they are cats. A couple of them are fine, but there's one that I've never actually seen when I've visited... He's terrified of strangers.

Then there's "Amy" and she's just out & out scary. She growls and screams like a mountain lion. The first time she did it around me I about went through the roof. It was late at night in their home out in the Texas desert near Ft. Hood. It scared the ever-loving crap out of me.

Ten years later and she still scares me! Amy you don't even try to touch unless you feel the need to bleed. So there I am... just sitting on the porch, enjoying the natural setting, getting jazzed by the sunshine and how everything is started to "green-up"...

...and here comes Amy with the biggest field mouse I've ever seen! Unfortunately, it wasn't quite dead yet. Then she gave it the killing bite. (I was relieved) then she starts tossing it up in the air, and batting it across the porch! So I do what any sane person would do when dealing with Amy...

I started yelling for my friend to come outside and take Amy's dead mouse away from her. (There was no way on God's green earth that I was gonna try to do it... I'm on blood thinners!! I'd still be bleeding!) So she got it away from her and then we just enjoyed the rest of the day.

Probably the weirdest and yet somehow not all that weird, is the cat named Fluffy. Fluffy hates people with a passion. Even the people that feed her. All the other cats however love Fluffy. So by a unanimous decision... Fluffy was officially declared the other cat's "pet cat"

Yeah, it may be too weird for words, yet out here it is merely, yet strangely fitting. And now you know why I refer to my friend as one of my oldest and dearest friends... I get the weirdness! (and she gets mine!) I love her for it!! Actually... I live for it. (I can also get away with the "oldest" references because she 12 days older than me! HA!)

This evening we got nailed with a big league storm. Lots & lots of major lightning, some heavy rain and then all of a sudden... Wham! Smack! Thud! It was marble size (and some were even larger) hail! Some were big enough to be breaking into marble size pieces when they hit the cement.

We stood on the porch and we were filled with dread about what our cars are going to look like in the light of day. The resonating sound of the hail bouncing off the hoods and roofs of our vehicles was sickening to hear. I'll be happy if I don't have any glass damage. Thankfully the hailstorm didn't last too long, but with hail that size it doesn't take long for the damage to be done!

At least where we are, we didn't get hit nearly as hard as some of the areas to the south and west of us. With so many bad storms and all the tornadoes that have been devastating so many areas already this spring... I think it's going to be a tough summer storm season.

Cripes! I can't believe it 2:30 already! I've got to try and get some sleep. The chickens and dogs will be up early... and the window I'm closest to faces the east.... and it doesn't have a shade... or even drapes... and the steps to get down to the kitchen are a nightmare... she'll have to bring coffee up here or there'll be a hospital trip for sure... HA!

Humor just a wee bit late...

Two men were sitting next to each other at a bar. After a while, one guy looks at the other and says, "I can't help but think, from listening to you, that you're from Ireland."

The other guy responds proudly, "Yes, that I am!"

The first guy says, "So am I! And where about from Ireland might you be?"

The other guy answers, "From Dublin, I am."

The first guy responds, "Faith and begora! So am I! And what street did you live on in Dublin?"

The other guy says, "A lovely little area it was, I lived on McCleary Street in the old central part of town."

The first guy says, "Jaysus, Mary & Joseph! And isn’t it a small world now, so did meself! I did! And to what school would you have been going?"

The other guy answers, "Well now, I went to St. Mary's of course."

The first guy gets really excited and says "And so did I. Tell me, what year did you graduate?"

The other guy answers, "I graduated in 1964."

The first guy exclaims, "The Good Lord must be smiling down upon us! I can hardly believe our good luck winding up in the same bar tonight. Can you believe it, I graduated from St. Mary's in 1964 me own self. Why… let‘s have a pint on that! Barkeep another pint for himself and me!!"

About this time, Vickie walks out of the kitchen pours herself a soda. Brian serves the two men their beers, and walks over to Vickie, shaking his head.

“Man, it's going to be a long night tonight."

She frowns and says, “How come?”

"The Murphy twins are drunk again."

I'm really going to miss my baby boys!!

I'm have to admit that I am seriously bummed. And as tiresome as the "Moron Twins" could be... (They're not really morons... it was just one of my many "pet" names for them. What I found sweetly funny is that they answer to all of them!) HA!

When I got ready to leave, they both seemed quite restrained from their normal "bouncing-off-the-walls-trying-to-drive-each-other-nuts" demeanor. It probably started when I put my suitcase in the car.

I sat on the floor to play with them for about a half hour, but suprisingly enough, they settled down quickly and just wanted tummy rubs, ear scratches and all over petting. Not once did they start in with their usual antics... just lots of loving. I got all misty-eyed when the baby started kissing my face.

For all the sleep disruptions, bruises, minor cuts (mostly from toe nails), wet dog smell, pee clean-up, serious chest and back issues and of course the "Oh-my-God! How-can-you-possibly-leave-that-much-hair-in- my-car!-You-guys-were-only-in-there-20-minutes!!" moments...

I'm sure I'll probably wake up around 5 a.m. then remember I won't have those two dopey faces to greet me with their unbridled enthusiasm and the soft puppy kisses...

I will truly be quite sad.

Bye guys....

Another reason the Wookie is scary-smart...

Time out... I'm tired!

Tough Pup

(They spent hours doing this!)

LOUDLY!!!

Just imagine the worst dog fight you've ever heard...

then triple it... I started wearing earplugs.

Pretty Puppy

(So deceiving!)

A scary-smart story... the very first day, I gave the pup a chew treat. I also gave the Wookie one of the same. (The Wook had his gone before I finished kenneling Thing Two!) The pup chewed some of his... licked it a lot... the Wookie noticed this and tried to scoot into the pup's kennel every time I let him out.

I figured out what the Wook was after and thwarted his efforts. Now here's the scary-smart part... he waited patiently and when I least expected it... he got in there and snagged it!! Three frickin' days later!! I couldn't believe it!

The other even more scary-smart incidents began on the second day. The pup just wouldn't let the Wookie alone within the tether circle of his line. The first time it happened... I thought, dumb puppy... wrapped himself around the deck post.

Then it happened again. I was beginning to dread this because I thought, "Oh, here we go! This is going to keep happening, I just know it!" Then one morning while I was standing on the deck drinking my 15th or 16th mug of coffee of the day watching the boys play, I could tell the Wook was getting annoyed.

Lo and behold... he body checked the pup, then promptly ran under the deck. The pup followed. The Wook went around one of the deck posts the opposite way.

Guess who followed? Yup... the pup.

30 seconds later... the Wook goes back under the deck... and guess who is now completely ensnared in the deck posts? Yup... the pup. The Wookie prances (yes... he was prancing!) out and is now completely pup-hassle free.

So I went down the deck steps and untangled Thing Two and began to wonder.

So to figure out if this was really what I thought it was, I walked out with them later in the day. The Wook did the same thing! I was stunned. And he wasn't too happy with me when I unwound Thing Two and let him loose on him. He got over it eventually and at least when I was on the deck or dark out he didn't do it. When I wasn't out there... at least every other time!

Remember when I said it made the hair on my neck stand up?

Dog Log: Half of Day Four, All Of Five & Six... Or How I know the pup will never be Lassie and the Wookie's scary smart!

Meet The Pup

Meet The "Wookie"

Thing Two actually thinks he will pull this away from Thing One

Yup... You keep dreaming kid.

I have discovered quite a few dog "weirdness abounds" moments in the past three days.

Let's start with some Wookie scary smart stuff. Since Thing Two has the annoying and inevitable puppy trait of minding like the King of Canine obedience... Until something catches his attention, (like a rock or another dog or a new pile of poop, you know... it's a puppy thing) So as a result I wisely make sure he's hooked to the cable so I don't have to go on any puppy retrieving adventures.

To get the full impact of the first scary-smart episode, The Wookie takes about ten seconds to figure out that the pup is restrained while he has full run of the yard.

I must digress to set the scene. This was the first day of the 5 a.m. wake-up. I'm barely conscious and dressed in boxer shorts with pigs and hogs dressed in leathers, riding motorcycles and a tank top sans bra (As an aside, I never go out in public braless as it would most likely scare small children) and oh yeah... I'm barefoot.

I hooked up Thing Two and they both raced down the deck steps. I winced as the pup hit the end of the rope before I could stop him. He lived, so that was a good thing!

A moment later I'm stunned out of my coma by the loudest, most God awful barking I've ever heard to date (this would change in days to come) so I fly down the frost covered steps to discover the Wookie sitting a foot out of the pup's reach.

Thing Two is going beyond ballistic and so Thing One decides to try to out bark him. Keep in mind this is happening at roughly 4:50 a.m. Well, when I hit the steps I thought that yes, they were pretty cold. Then I hit the cement at the base of the stairs. It literally took my breath away.

This wasn't good as I couldn't even tell them to be quiet. In hindsight it wouldn't have mattered because they couldn't have heard me if I would have tried. I managed to get a hold of them and get them back into the house.

The only thing I was happy about when it came down to running out into the frozen yard with the temp at a balmy 22 degrees was that at least if I stepped in poop it wouldn't be squishy. You know me, find the positive or kill something! HA!

Entering the house, the puppy was in full body wag, licking my feet and legs and the shameless instigator had gone to the laundry area to wait for his treat. Yeah, like that was gonna happen!

What they got was a stern "Kennel up!" Thing One hung his head and kenneled, the pup resisted. Not wanting to reward bad behavior (refusing to enter his crate by coaxing him with a treat) I took out a butter knife, put a pinch of peanut butter on my fingers and tickled his nose with the scent until he walked right into the kennel pondering what the heck he was smelling. Then I praised him once he'd done what I'd wanted him too. I even let him lick my fingers... I loved all the kisses I got from him... puppy kisses could heal the world!

Score: Me: 1 Them: Okay, 1 for originality.

The next day was when the real fun began and I discovered that the puppy is never going to be Lassie. The Wookie had begun to feel some pressure with the pup bugging him when he's trying to go up & down the stairs as well as jumping him anytime he was within the inner rope circle and so on. Since the Wookie was getting reluctant to go out (and I was already dealing with him "marking" inside the house!) I brought the pup inside and kept the Wooker out on his own.

Thing Two didn't like this much. He was jumping up on the patio door, whimpering and yipping his general frustration. Finally Thing One was ready to come in, and it was just reaching the high 40's and as per usual for me I was in shorts and barefoot. (Hey... it was the afternoon and I was actually showered and dressed for the day!)

So the Wookie and I walk up the patio door, I grab the handle to slide the door open and got the shock of the year! The blonde thing had managed to hit the door lock during his frenzied jumping and had locked both of us out of the house!

Now he was sitting on the other side of the glass, tongue hanging happily out of his mouth, dopey, blonde puppy look on his face, wondering why we weren't coming in. My mouth went dry, my head started throbbing and I wondered what a stroke might feel like. (I wonder this a lot)

I'm not joking when I say that when I tried to pull it the second time and got the same result, I looked down at the Wookie and he looked at me, cocked his head as if to say, "Well, now what do we do?" Yet another scary-smart moment. Some of the time when I look into those eyes, the hair on the back of my neck stands up.

Part of the immediate problem was the fact that this is a very well built house. Read that as, high windows that open out, not up, steel entry doors and dead bolts. As I was contemplating the replacement cost on one of the windows I heard the neighbor next door.

I walked around the side of the house and asked him if he perhaps had a key or code. He didn't so I asked him if I could use his phone. Then I decided to go try the side door first. In an utterly rare occurrence for me, I discovered the night before I had forgotten to lock the side door and thus gained entry to the house.

Thing Two met us at the door and wasn't quite sure why the two of us just walked past him. I think we were both considering careful, evidence free ways to commit puppycide. (I'm thinking that the Wookie is continuing to harbor these thoughts!)

Kids...