Lucky Dorito

My Christmas Swap partner was Kelly and she sent some fabulous goodies my way!

I have a huge confession to make here though…. so bear with me.

The package arrived one morning while I was at work. I rushed in on my lunch hour to let the dogs out and grab something quick for lunch and found the package on my porch. I knew immediately what it was and was quick to tear into it! I ohh’ed and aww’ed my way through it, finding:

• A cute Santa mug (adorable!)
• 2 giant Hershey’s candy bars (YUM!)
• 3 boxes of assorted hot chocolates flavors (Double-YUM!)
• a beautiful Willow Tree angel ornament (I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!)
• a $10 gift card to Amazon (my favorite book-shopping place!)

I quickly took the ornament out of it’s box and put it on the tree – smack dab up front and center so I could see it every time I look at the tree. I have to tell you – over the years I have purchased several of these as gifts for friends but I don’t own a SINGLE one of them myself. I’ve always wanted one (and hinted to my family a million times but they’ve never picked up on it. Dorks) I love it… truly. (Thank you so much!)

Now, it was my lunch hour, remember. I set the box on a kitchen chair, thinking I’d clear off a spot on my kitchen table (which was covered in assorted other crap – a stack of bills, school papers, some stuff I’d bought at Wal-Mart the day before and hadn’t put away just yet… you know, the usual mess. Please tell me I’m not the only one that has a catch-all table.) I started clearing the table and then got sidetracked doing something else… (short-term memory issues are a real pain sometimes) and before you know it – I was grabbing lunch on the run and walked out of the house – leaving the box in the chair.

*Sidenote: Did I ever mention that my dogs stay in the kitchen while we’re gone? I do this because my sweet and precious Lillie has been known to get into stuff when she’s left alone. She is too smart and inquisitive for her own good and she gets bored when left alone. Before you know it, she is into something she shouldn’t be into and it gets chewed up. Several years ago, we bought a big tall gate (the sides are stationary but the inside part swings in and out like a doorway so it’s easy to pass through when we’re home but quick to close when we leave) that keeps them in the kitchen while we’re gone. Usually, this is a good idea because there isn’t anything for her to get into other than the trash (but after we put those 20 lb weights in the bottom of the can as a deterrent for toppling it over – that problem has become a non-issue).

Leaving a package with CHOCOLATE in it on the chair, within easy reach of a tall dog, is, well, shall we say …. not a good idea.

I know what you’re thinking. The dogs got into the box. If that’s what you’re thinking, you’d be right.

Here is what I found on the kitchen floor when I got home that afternoon:

The cardboard package the Willow Tree ornament arrived in was chewed to smithereens. (Soooo glad I put it on the tree right away!) A few of the hot chocolate packets were out of their boxes and the corner chewed open, with dried chocolatey-tongue marks all over the packages. (Not to mention the floor!) Most of the packets of hot chocolate were saved – if you don’t mind a few tongue marks.

I love my dogs but they sure can be a pain in the rump sometimes. I knew something was wrong the minute I opened the door that afternoon. Usually I’m greeted by anxious barks of *hello* and *let us OUT* but they were unusually silent. That is a quick indicator that they were in *OH !%#%* mode because they knew there’d be heck to pay for their actions. Both dogs were looking at me with their tails tucked and their ears drooping… I said, “WHAT DID YOU DO?!?” And both of them hung their heads in shame….

I couldn’t stay mad at the 4-legged mutts for long. It was my fault for leaving some sweet smelling chocolate within their easy reach. I fussed at them the whole time I was sweeping it up and taking a picture but by the time I had it in the trash, all was forgotten. (Well, sorta.) If I hadn’t learned my lesson after 36 out of 50 World’s Finest Chocolate Bars my daughters were selling as a school fundraiser disappeared (wrappers and all) a few years ago – then I have no one to blame but myself. I’ll never forget writing a $36 check to the school for 36 candy bars I didn’t have have the pleasure to EAT. And I had to pick up dog-doo-laced-with-paper-pieces for weeks afterwards. Sheesh.

Thank you Kelly for the wonderful swap gifts! (My dogs thank you also! hehe) It was a real pleasure *meeting* someone new this way. Special thanks to my sweet friend Becca for organizing this swap! Love you girlie.

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