A freaking miracle

Today I left the dogs outside like I do on most work days. As I pulled out of the driveway, I noticed it was pretty cloudy, but I figured that as the day progressed and got hot, the clouds would probably burn off or move on. So I kept driving. I was in a hurry anyway.

I thought about them off and on throughout the day, crossing my fingers that it hadn't rained on them. See, we dismantled our deck not long ago, and we have a large square of just dirt next to the patio now. Rain + dirt square = huge mud pit. Huge mud pit = huge mess. My fingers were crossed so tightly I'm surprised they didn't grow together.

When it was finally time to leave work, I threw open the door of my building. Expecting to feel the heat of the sun on my face, I was very surprised to instead feel cool, fall-like air and see big puddles everywhere. The cool air immediately jolted me out of the somewhat bad mood I'd been in all day and suddenly I was smiling for no reason and feeling the sudden urge to burst into a verse of "Singin' in the Rain." Still, in the back of my mind, I knew that disaster awaited me at home. I just couldn't be bothered to stress about it right then.

When I pulled into our neighborhood, it didn't seem too wet. Maybe it didn't rain here too much, I thought naively. However, as I neared our driveway, I saw the telltale puddles in the alley. Yep, it looks like we had a downpour. CRAP.

I went inside and took a look out the window overlooking the back patio and dirt square. Oh, it was muddy all right, and there were about 60 doggie footprints in it. I took a deep breath, got the towels ready by the door, and brought Thing 1 inside.

Normally, if there's mud in the backyard, Thing 1 will wind up looking like he used it as a slip 'n slide. Today, however, all he had on his feet was some dried mud. The rest of him was clean. I'd caught a lucky break. I didn't expect much more.

Next, I brought Thing 2 in. While he doesn't usually get too filthy, his feet are more difficult to clean seeing as they're HUGE and he is quite the squirmer. Today, though, he slowly walked in and immediately laid on the towel I'd set out. Holy shit. Pinch me, I'm dreaming. His feet weren't even dirty.

I was so pleased with the dogs for leaving my sanity intact that I praised them over and over, "Good job staying clean!" After awhile, I felt like I was congratulating an alcoholic for making it a week without booze.

Such is the life of a dog owner. Crisis averted.