This morning I turned to B and with great conviction stated that I was so glad it was Tuesday and the weekend was over. Seeing as how no one ever says that, ever, you might raise an eyebrow, but after the “weekend” we had (three days no less!) B agreed, exhausted. He’d spent the better portion of last night sleeping on the couch as a lovely cold has turned me into a snoring sensation. That was the least awful thing to happen this weekend, both the cold and the snoring.
Saturday seemed to be going well, as far as Saturday’s go. A trip to Costco, where you can buy enough dish soap to last you three years! (We did). We also stocked up on essentials such as trash bags, paper towels and a set of dishwasher safe cutting boards that led no less than three people to approach us and ask us where they too could find some brightly colored cutting boards for culinary adventures. Aisle four, for those curious, near the blenders.
Later in the evening we went to dinner with friends and had them back to our house and this is when things started to go downhill fast. First there was what can only be referred to as the Wine Incident. Somehow, in the midst of reaching up to scratch my forehead I snagged my wine glass with my pinky finger (true story) and simultaneously dumped and threw my entire glass of wine all over my couch, myself and one of our guests.
This was approximately 1/4 of all the wine, adorning the two bottom cushions of our couch (along with a lot of water as I was trying to rinse out the fabric):
The wine also covered the back cushions of the couch, and in attempt to clean them with dripping water all over the bottom of the couch we flipped the whole thing over on its back so I could dab and blot to my hearts content. Our friends, no doubt concerned after one of them took a red wine shower, left soon after and that is when we realized our dog wasn’t just being strangely antisocial but he was clearly in some sort of distress. After coaxing him out of his hiding spot in the guest bathroom we realized he was crying whenever anyone touched his belly and couldn’t jump up and down off the bed.
Forget about the couch, we bundled him up and drove across town to the emergency veterinarian (don’t worry, spilling my wine was not the result of inebriation and no one drove under the influence) hoping that they would charge us $100 to tell us we were overreacting to something simple.
I bet you can guess how this goes, can’t you? It wasn’t something simple, poor Rhett Butler had pancreatitis and after x-rays and an exam had to get an IV and stay the night at the strange vet. I cried the entire way home as I pictured him in his E-collar with his leg bandaged, scared and not understanding why he didn’t feel right and why I left him in a cage, his biggest fear after living in the shelter for a few months.
No, I’m not dramatic, why do you ask.
Certain everything would look better in the morning we fell asleep somewhere around 4 am. When I woke up around 9 I gave the couch another rinse off only to discover that the cushion covers that I’d washed (on the gentle cycle) had come apart at the seams. Then when I flipped the couch upright I discovered the wine had SOAKED THROUGH THE BACK OF THE COUCH in a large, wine-y puddle. *Shakes fist at sky*
And that is how we ended up rearranging our entire house so our living room has/had seating. But not before I shoved the ruined couch into our guest bedroom, had a good cry and then shuffled to the vet to visit our dog. Two hours, one emergency (another dog, not RB) and a cup of coffee later and we brought a very woozy, incredibly annoyed dog home. Let me tell you how he felt about coming home to an entirely upended house with furniture everywhere. On second thought, no. You can guess. (Hint: he was displeased.)
The “good” news was our very large master bedroom had a settee and reading chair in it, so we brought them out into the living room, took the one good couch back into our bedroom (to replace the settee so we have a spot to read) and rearranged our living room with the “new” pieces. The bad news is we definitely lost seating (our old arrangement was a couch + love seat, I ruined the love seat) that we replaced with a couch with no back and a chair. So a quick trip to Target later, a few things ordered off of Amazon and voila, here is what I’m going for:
Color palate inspired by the china (which I own and we have a platter from the set in the living room). Chair (not pictured) and couch procured, ottoman and bench being ordered. I snagged the plain pillows and wicker basket at Target and I’m now contemplating the lime green and embroidered pillows (to bring in the rest of the colors) and perusing inexpensive curtains to try and tie it all together. Living room on a budget! Whoo! The bench, ottoman and wicker basket all have storage inside of them, which is crucial and the bench will be tucked back and brought out when needed, not on a regular basis. So far, it looks like this:
Give or take.
And now, I need a long weekend from my long weekend. And my bank account to magically refill. Emergency vets, as it turns out, are quite expensive. (Thanks goodness for pet insurance, eh?) (Speaking of budgets, we’d eventually planned on updating our living room decor at some point (later rather than sooner) but previously it had a lot of khaki and chocolate brown so I’m just adding a little more visual interest and storage…or so I hope)
Rhett Butler says he is feeling just fine now, thank you very much. He isn’t sure why we worried and he definitely doesn’t like his shaved leg.
Ah well. There is always…the weekend.
This time I sliced half moons, but in retrospect, I should have stuck to “stick” slices- they dry out more quickly. Once they are arranged, pop them in the oven for 3-4 hours, or until they have completely dried out but haven’t burnt. You don’t want any soft dark orange spots. A few of my larger pieces stayed too soft, so I let the dog eat them right away and tossed the rest, those will spoil. You want them to be nice and crunchy! 
Let them cool completely and store them in an airtight container. I’m partial to a glass jar, since I know Rhett Butler can’t find it and chew through it to get to the good stuff. 
Serve & watch your dog enjoy! 
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