Yesterday morning, as I was brushing Alli's teeth before the bus came, the phone rang.  Weird - it's the land line, not my cell.  Usually, when I get a call that early, it's someone from work calling in sick, and they don't usually call the land line.  When I checked the caller ID, it was Dave.  Even weirder....I thought he went to work before that.  When I asked what was up.......he asked if I knew the recipe to de-skunk a dog.  Yuck!  I told him he had the wrong sister - I didn't know the recipe off the top of my head.  His reply?  "Yes, but I know you're awake, and she isn't."  It figures!  Oh well - Google didn't fail us.

Just last Saturday the neighbor had had to de-skunk her whole house (more on that later) I knew that the most effective treatment included hydrogen peroxide and dish soap, but not the ratios.  A quick search showed the ratio, and to include baking soda.  Luckily, Dave had all the ingredients on hand, and I got a call later in the day that it had worked - woohoo!!!!

Last Christmas, Margene was trying to figure out something to get her grandkids (age 3 and 1).  They live in Oklahoma, and had all the toys in the world already, so what was a grandmother to do?  I suggested that she make a video of her reading some books to them, then send them the books.  That way, they got to spend time with her doing something fun, even though she's a thousand miles away. We got AJ involved, and he recorded her, edited the videos, put them up on YouTube for us (and best of all, told us how to find them later!)  The present was a hit at Christmas, and recently, the oldest was asking for more stories from grandma.  So, last Saturday, Margene was supposed to come down and have AJ record some more books.  I got a text from her around 4:00 saying she wouldn't be down, she'd had a terrible day.  That's where I learned the recipe for de-skunking dogs.....

She said she was in a really deep sleep - you know the kind that when you hear something, it fits itself into the dream....then it doesn't.  From putting all the clues together, we think a skunk came in the doggie-door (which is in her bedroom) and her Pomeranian attacked it.  The dog was soaked to the skin in skunk spray and there was blood and skunk spray everywhere.  None of the blood seemed to be from the dog, so we are assuming it was the skunk that came out on the losing side (though really it was Margene....)  Let's just say that she's sleeping in her spare bedroom now.  She really did have an awful day!!