Why the Dogs Look Scared:

Check out this picture from the spring of 2003:

A few observations about this photo:
* A long, long time ago, we had two dogs:  Jack and Mabel.  Now we just have Mabel.  Jack is healthy and alive somewhere, he is just not healthy and alive with us.  Mabel is the wet, dirty dog in the tub.  Jack is on the floor.

* That old house of ours had a window in the shower.  Not a privacy glass window, but a regular window.  With a white curtain.  That white curtain got soaked and I am sure became see-through at times.  Looking back, we might have been known as "the inappropriate neighbors."  Money was tight, so we did nothing to change it.

*  Check out the toilet lid.  The orignal toilet lid the house came with broke and the Lumberjack and I went to pick out a new one.  We spent an extra $10 or so to upgrade to this fancy wood stained toilet lid.  We thought we were high class.  I still don't know what we were thinking.  This is what happens when 19 year olds with no money get married.

*  Check out the shower curtain.  I LOVED it more than anything.  I spent an unheard of amount on it (like $30-the Lumberjack was horrified).  In fairness, I used a giftcard someone gave us for our wedding.

*  The floor and shower walls were tiled by the Lumberjack.  Why we were able to retile the bathroom but not do anything about the inappropriate shower curtain is beyond me.

And now the story behind the photo:

We don't regularly bathe our dogs.

It is just such a bore.

But every now and then, it occurs to me just how disgusting this is and I inform the Lumberjack that we will be giving the dogs a bath.

He hates when I make these proclamations.

So, we got Mabel in the bath and got her all wet, so that she became a mudball.

When you don't bathe your dogs *ever* they tend to accumulate dirt.

And darn our luck, the bathtub broke.

I don't remember what was wrong, but it was bad enough that the Lumberjack had to abandon us and head to Lowe's.

Why do the dogs look so scared?

That is where I come in.

Sweet Pea was about 3 months old and I was *gulp* nursing.

Have I mentioned before that I HATE nursing?

Well, as luck would have it, Sweet Pea needed to be fed while the Lumberjack was gone. 

So, I pulled up a chair and stared right at the dogs while I fed her.

And I would just yell at them if they tried to move.

Not a nice yell.

But a yell delivered by a new, stressed out, nursing mother (who HATES nursing), and is very worried that these gross, muddy dogs will run through the house and get big muddy footprints everywhere.

And could wet dogs smell any worse?

You can see Jack's paws are muddy.

This is because he already tried to join his friend in the tub.

But I quickly informed him that he needed to:

"STAY!"

And that is why the dogs looked scared.

I apologize to all you dog lovers out there.

I, too, used to be a dog lover.

But I have 4 kids now and life goes on.