Christmas Eve 2009

I've just put a pot of posole on the stove and it is beginning to smell like Christmas. In another hour or so we will have tamales from El Modelo, and the gingerbread cookies will be in the oven. I've got a few more gifts to wrap, and I've come up with a few errands to get different people out of the house for a short while so that I can wrap their gifts.

Yesterday it snowed briefly. The dogs were hanging out inside, Apricot the cat was doing her usual to taunt Haru, who we put on a leash in the house because her adolescent puppiness and the Christmas tree are not meshing well. After the rest of the family headed out to run a last minute Christmas errand, I sat down at the dining room table to sign Christmas/Kwanzaa/New Year's cards when I heard "crunch, crunch, crunch".

Miss Haru had figured out that if she stretched out her paw really long she could barely reach the Christmas tree skirt. And if she pulled snagged her nail on the skirt, she could pull it towards her, moving the skirt AND the presents her direction! Oh doggie delight! And ONE of those presents smelled AWFULLY good. And hence the crunch. But I was quick on my feet and took the present away and chastised her for her wily ways. (We really think she's got coyote blood in her). She gave me one of those looks that was part "Who me?" and part "I'm so sorry I've disappointed you".

No harm done to the present (it will need to be rewrapped) or Haru.

So the Christmas tree has a skirt and no gifts under it. This year, Santa has been asked to deliver gifts in a place where no adolescent canine can get her teeth on them. And doggie treats are not to be wrapped or placed under the tree this year - it is just too much temptation for a teenager.