A few weeks ago, my mom's friend asked me if I would stay in her house and watch her dog for a week and a half. I jumped at the chance, because a) I LOVE dogs and have always, always, always wanted one of my own, and b) her house is five minutes from where I work on the weekends, thus saving me a bunch of gas money. Win-win!
This is Mulligan:
He's a very sweet, energetic springer spaniel. He had a few digestive problems earlier in the week, but after a trip to vet, a few pills, and some special wet food, he's doing much better. We were having a great time together, until...
Well, actually, this was pretty cool. I was downstairs cleaning up when I looked out the window and saw a deer, chillaxin' out by the fish pond.
In the middle of the day.
I was surprised, because although I've seen hundreds of deer out here in the sticks (I even hit two in my old car, which is why I upgraded to the Yaris), I had never seen one after 9 am or before 7 pm. This cell phone picture was taken at around 1:30 yesterday. Right after I took it, Mulligan saw the deer and went CRAZY. His barking and scratching at the windows drove the poor deer off into the woods. I figured that would be the end of the drama.
Five minutes later, Mulligan starts giving me the "I have to go outside now, human!" look. As soon as I opened the door, he ran like hell for the woods. I started to get worried when he didn't reappear for a few minutes. I was all set to start organizing a neighborhood search when I saw the deer, running for its life from a dog one-fifth its size. Mulligan eventually returned to the house (after exhausting himself chasing his new friend), and that was when the smell hit me.
Mulligan's owner warned me that he liked to roll around in deer crap, but I didn't believe her until I saw (and smelled) it for myself. Washing him turned into a huge ordeal; every time I picked him up and put him in the tub, he jumped right back out. Then he wagged his tail and ran around in circles, because he was clearly having the time of his life. In the end, I managed to herd him into the shower stall, although he cowered in the corner where the spray barely hit him. Let me tell you, trying to wash deer excrement off of a squirming wet dog while fully clothed and mildly annoyed is NOT a good way to pass the time.
Luckily, yesterday was also the day that I finally got to see the Iron Man movie. I think I embarrassed Casey; I made her sit through the end credits, listening to me talk about the Avengers movie and how disappointed I was that there was no Sam-Jackson-as-Nick-Fury-cameo in the movie. And then that little teaser scene at the end happened, and I completely lost it. I haven't had a geekgasm like that since last year's DragonCon.
Oh, and the subject line isn't a typo. I was trying to tell Casey (via Facebook) "I'm dog-sitting this week" and ending up typing "I'm god-sitting this week" FIVE TIMES before I finally got it right. Freudian slip much?
This is my first Sunday Salon post, and it's a little late because I had work and a birthday party to attend today. So, I didn't get to do much reading today.
