things have changed dramatically around here.

the puppy had been here a week, and the cats were traumatized and i knew that coco would continue to be puppy-like for two years.  les spent much of his time hiding in the bedroom. and one night i sat in there with him, feeling depressed and pretty sure that this was how my life was going to be from now on – hiding in the bedroom with poor darling lester while the puppy caused mayhem all around the rest of the house.

the next morning i decided to have a talk with kevin about her, and i had hardly said anything when he said he thought she was just too much for us.

he called my friend jill, who quickly found people who were dying for a new puppy, and she was gone two days later.

kevin has been sad but also relieved, and i have to say i’ve just mostly been relieved.  and the cats…well, they’re pretty much jumping for joy.  in a cat-like manner, of course, which mostly involves sprawling around sleeping, and doing a lot of purring.

all i wanted for christmas was for the puppy to find a new home, and my wish came true.  i don’t think that any puppies are in our future.  maybe a gentle older dog, sometime down the line.

meanwhile…christmas was nice, but christmas eve day was fraught with some drama.

after the ice storm which caused the streets and sidewalks to be treacherous, it got warmer out and most of the ice melted.  on christmas eve day, erica stopped by and we decided to walk down to the water.  i brought lester along because as you know he’s always desperate to get outside.

the ice had almost melted on the lake, but there were still some patches of very thin ice. as we walked toward the water, lester bounded ahead of us, making a beeline for the old dock.  and suddenly he was walking on the very thin ice.

oh my god.  i started frantically calling him, but he didn’t care one bit.  in between calling, i took this picture.

look how thin that ice is!

i told erica to go get kevin – maybe les would listen to him.  erica ran up the hill as les headed out onto the ice toward our neighbor’s floating dock, which is about 20 feet from the shore, and the water is about eight feet deep out there.   i prepared myself for jumping in after him, and wondered how i’d fare in the icy water.

kevin and erica ran back down the hill, and kevin called and whistled, so les finally turned around and walked along the shore again, but he wouldn’t come up off the rocks.

he walked along the ice as it cracked underneath him. terrifying!  he sauntered under the dock, and kevin laid down on his stomach and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck as he went by.

whew! les doesn’t look so happy to have been rescued from the jaws of death, does he?  he just thought it was a refreshing christmas eve day stroll.

a harrowing experience, and kevin assured me that if les had gone under and i’d jumped in after him, i could have frozen to death in a matter of minutes.  erica said that she had been furiously think about a plan, because she’d been afraid that kevin would fall in trying to save les – she saw a big branch that she’d hold out for him to grab onto if he went under.

that’s one christmas eve we probably won’t forget.  the rest of the day was uneventful and peaceful and nobody froze to death.

and tomorrow starts a whole new year, which will surely be filled with all kinds of things.

ok then,

mrs. have a happy new year’s eve hughes.