It's a small world after all...

OK, so I love a good 'small world' story and I have a good one indeed! Tonight we took the dogs to the dog park, same one we go to all the time. We always have a Chesapeake Bay Retriever and a Rat Terrier in tow and almost everyone there knows Hank and Zoe. So they were playing with their friends tonight and we look at the walkway and see two women walking in with what appears to be a Chesy and a terrier. Well, this is ironic that 1.)they have as pets the exact dogs that we do and b.) it's a Chesy...other than his mom and siblings (an hour away, we haven't seen another). So they come in and Hank and this other Chesy hit it off like gangbusters! They are running and playing and having a great time. As we are watching, Hank gets a little 'Hanklike' and starts jumping on this dog. I said to the owner, "he's really friendly, he's just a pup. She said, 'It's OK. She is too. She is only 10 months old". I said, "so is he". Then we start looking at them and they look A LOT alike. I asked her where she got him and she said 'Doylestown'. I said, "oh, we got him in Uniontown'. She looked at her mom and said, "that sounds right". "How many was in his litter?", she asked. "10" I said. She said, "her too". Then she said, "is his birthday August 2nd?". We both cracked up. Hank had found his long lost sister!!!! These 2 had never been to this dog park before and we went later than usual! It was awesome!

The Hankpire Strikes Back... again

Forgive me bloggers, for I have sinned. It has been 2 months (gasp) since my last confession! The thing is, I am not a writer, per sa. I can't just sit down and put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard, if you want to get technical). I need inspiration, and aside from the daily chaos of this house, I haven't had anything out of the ordinary happen...UNTIL YESTERDAY!

In the summer, the kids and I are very busy; what with our hectic pool schedule and all. Well, yesterday was a particulary long day. We had lunch with a friend, then went straight to the pool, followed directly to Caty's soccer practice. Needless to say, this is WAY to long to leave even the most Dennising the Menacing of dogs in a cage. So, with MUCH thinking (but mostly guilt), I decided to go against all my better judgement and motherly instincts, and leave THE HANK out of his cage for the day...

I called Ben at work and told him he needed to leave work a little early just to go home and check on him and to make sure the house was still pretty much intact. Aside, of course, from the carpet, wood floors, and drywall that he has already destroyed (see previous blogs). He was so excited because the 'Ice Queen' has finally relented and left his beloved dog to roam freely in the house for the first time, that he happily agreed to the task.

All was well on the home front for the first check. Ben called and was happy as a dad could be about the progress that his baby was making (see previous blogs to be reminded of the his affection for this dog). So, off to soccer practice I go and off to get a hair cut he goes. Now, I have to admit, I am feeling really proud of myself for 'biting the bullet' and giving this dog some freedom AND that he is proving that he can handle it. (Time lapse here, and just picture what is going on at the Karacia's this go-round)...

Well, I pull on to my street and see that house still standing (good sign, #1). I pull in the garage and it is silent, which means he is not terrorizing Zoe (good sign #2). I walk into the house and it smells really good, almost dessert-like (good sign #3, no accidents)... then I start to wonder why my house smells chocolaty...

Backtracking a little here. For those of you that have been in the Karacia casa, you know that the majority of the downstairs is wood floors, which comes in really handy when you have pets. They only go onto the carpet when they need to get sick or have an accident (reason for the purchase of the bad ass carpet cleaner). So, you can imagine my surprise when I notice that Hank has carefully carried a container of cocoa powder from the kitchen island (a large area covered in wood floors) and not so carfully distributed said cocoa powder ALL OVER my beige carpeted living room floor. It was a beautifully display of brown and beige, and the cherry on top was a tiny little rat terrier rolling around in it marking her territory.

The best part was that Ben walked in the door right after me so he saw first hand the shock on my face (laced perfectly with and "I told you so" smirk. His only sound was a long, drawn out "DAAAAMMMMMNNNN". He then proceeded to the closet and was able to use that bad ass carpet cleaner himself, and I proceeded to the grocery and bought some cocoa powder. I only wish I was in the right frome of mind to snap pictures of this... and just so you know, the BACC works AWESOME!