milestones.

this was a weekend of milestones. first, gus learned to enjoy his sweater in the cold, cold midwest. (don't worry, he only had to wear it on walks, and no, it was not my idea.)

and second, super rob helped us organize/clean/throw away half of the contents of our garage (realize, we don't have a basement for storage), and for the first time EVER, we can fit a car in it.

just one of the many reasons we love mr. gus.

did you find him? isn't he just the cutest. dog. ever.

i know.

(swoon)

this may seem like a joke, but it's not.

I should have known when Nick shouted from the snow-covered back yard asking Amy and I if we were wearing our shoes. I should have known when he asked if we would go outside to “check out gus’ poop.” I should have been prepared for what I was about to see. I wasn’t.

There was a steaming pile of what looked like dog poop in the snow. Only it was stringy and huge. Much larger than a typical Gus poop. Staring down at it, trying to keep my gag reflex under control, I asked “Is it worms?”

And then Amy said, “No! It’s a tampon!”

What?

A tampon.

Yeah.

So, it appeared that Gus had swallowed a tampon whole and that it had made it’s way through his little digestive system and had reappeared in it’s normal state only covered in poo and full of Gus’ juice.

Still, I wasn’t convinced that was what it was.

So, in between gasping and saying, “I can’t believe this didn’t kill him,” Nick put on some latex gloves, took a gallon-sized freezer bag to the backyard and picked up the poo-covered mystery item. He put it in the bag and proceeded (much to my dismay) to bring it into the kitchen.

Amy said, “Yep, that’s a tampon.” And I was like “Yeah, it looks like it. But mine don’t look like that.”

So, Nick decided we should investigate by getting one of mine out of the closet and taking it apart. We did. And all three of us decided that it wasn’t the same kind. The string was different.

So, Gus pooped out a tampon that wasn’t mine. That left us to wonder where he got it. The only possible solution is over at the neighbor’s house. But, we’re not sure if that was entirely possible either.

Anyway, we’re watching Gus now for signs of intestinal blockage. But so far, so good. And I can now say that I have seen the grossest combination of two things I can ever think of. Someone else’s tampon covered in dog poop.

Nice.

oy vey.

so, on the subject of leaves i'm of mixed opinion. i like them. on a tree. i like them in the spring when they are buds. i like them in the summer when they are lush and green and shade-giving. and i really like them in the fall when they turn shades of pink and orange and red and auburn. i like them as they are falling to the ground. because watching them dance in the wind is like watching poetry in motion. and i even like them right after they've reached the ground and they surround the base of the tree from which they fell - a reflection of sorts of what the tree used to be. but i hate them. and i mean HATE them when they are scattered about my yard covering every inch of ground. this year, i have even more reason to hate them than before. they gave gus a bacterial skin infection. i don't really understand the semantics behind it. but because he is so low-to-the-ground and our leaves are all over the ground, he picked something up from them. so now, he has patches of grossness all over his stomach. and a few of them are pussing and smelly. so now, my cute, adorable little wuff wuff smells like a nasty, smarting infection. and he requires a special sponge bath once-a-day for a week with special shampoo. and he doesn't exactly like water. so, it's really an easy job as you can imagine.

i need a leaf blower. or vacuum. or something. poor gussy.