Crapus Interuptus

The day started out well with a trip to see my orthodontist, Dr. Farrar, and lunch at Asaka.  Dr. Farrar is very dear to me for fixing my horribly, horribly crooked teeth.  :)  I spent years going in and out of that office, so I just had to take Tucker by to meet everyone.  I'll try to post a picture tomorrow. 

We went from Dr. Farrar's to Asaka, and I'll be honest- I was really afraid they weren't going to let him in and I wasn't going to get my sushi fix. ;) Thankfully, they didn't seem to mind Tucker at all, and he slept like a rock the entire time.  As my friend Savanna put it earlier today, his "TSD" (try something different - it's a GWU honors thing) list is becoming pretty impressive:  "American", Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican - he's a pro!

From there we went to WalMart looking for a little pool for him.  WalMart didn't have what we were looking for, so we decided to head over to the Blue Ridge Mall to look in Kmart and let Mom pick up some makeup.  Kmart had the pools, but we weren't smart enough to realize until we got there that the pool wasn't going to fit in the van... I'll be going back later this week with a larger vehicle to get it.  We walked down the mall to the Merle Norman store and then on to Belks.  My dentist's wife works at one of the cosmetic counters there and loved getting to meet him. 

He did a wonderful job in the mall, but there was just one problem:  the afternoon BM had been elusive.  Though I tried several times in several locations, I just couldn't seem to convince Tucker to unload the post-lunch BM before we went into the mall.  We were almost to the exit when he started to become anxious.  Knowing he probably needed to go, but not wanting to carry the now extremely heavy little boy out of the mall, I picked up the pace.  This seemed to work well for a while but then he stopped - and squatted. 

Not wanting him to go on the floor, I put one hand under his rear and the other under his chest and picked him up.  Then, as he was pooping in my hand, I proceeded to walk briskly towards the door laughing my head off.  Mom was following behind me, laughing just as hard.  When we reached the great outdoors, I had one squished dog turd in my hand and one confused and somewhat irritated puppy.  I handed the leash to Mom, dropped the poop in the grass, and headed back inside to wash my hands while Tucker finished his business. 

I had almost made it to the Kmart bathroom when a kind older gentleman stopped and asked me if I was signed up for Kmart reward points.  As I tried to explain to him that I wasn't interested, I hid my poop covered hand behind my back.  Unwilling to take no for an answer, the man tried to hand me a piece of paper and a pen.  Clearly, I was not about to grab anything with my left, soiled hand.  The guy probably thought my hand didn't work or something.  Somehow I managed to sign the paper without transferring the BM and then ran off to the bathroom.  Let me tell you, whatever soap Kmart uses in their bathrooms, it isn't worth much.  It took three rounds to get fresh dog poop of my hand!   

Once that exciting adventure was over and we were home, Tucker and I both took a nap. 

Speaking of naps, I have to share what he did this morning.  He was settling down for his mid morning nap on the floor of my bedroom and I laid down on the floor a few feet away.  After a minute or two, he crawled over beside me, and then a little while after that, he reached over and put his paw on my arm.  Shortly thereafter, he scooted even closer and put his head on my arm.  By the time he had finished his scooting, his head was right up against mine.  It was so precious. 

This afternoon I tried to wedge pieces of dog food in the curves of one of his toys so I could order my books for next semester.  This worked well for a few minutes, but then he dislodged the food.  I had brought home a little bit of I/D dog food from work to see if that size kibble would fit in his toys.  I/D stands for Intestinal Diet - it's very, very bland.  Apparently, Tucker didn't find it tastey.  He licked it, jumped back and stared at it, and then started playing with it like you might see a cat play with a bug on the floor.  He'd reach out and touch it with his paw, flick it, lick it, and eventually, he even picked it up and ran around the room with it, all without actually eating it.  After several minutes of this, he eventually tried to eat it, and though it took a while and he didn't seem to enjoy it, he got it down.  This ritual was repeated with each piece of kibble he got out of the toy.  When Mom returned from the grocery store, I put another piece on his bed to try to show her what happened.  He just ate it.  Go figure! 

Oh, and in case anyone is concerned, Tucker did eventually manage to finish outside what he started in the mall. ;)