Cabin Fever, Anyone?

Yeah, we've got that.  Fortunately, I wasn't trapped inside by another full snow day... (or unfortunately, depending on how tired I am when you ask me).  Nevertheless, I was glad to have an excuse to get out of the house as I've left a total of two times since Thursday - for church and the gym, which hardly count as "outtings", but I digress.

The snow adventures yesterday successfully produced two tired pups.  We were outside playing on no less than six separate occasions.  This does not include the twenty-five additional times Oscar whined by the door to let me know he had to "potty"... which really was just a trick to get back outside into the snow, after which I'd have to pull ice balls out of his fur and dry him with a towel again because he was shivering.  We are never without ordeal in this house.

As predicted, we did end up with a decent layer of ice over all the snow last night.  Needless to say, the morning potty trip was quite entertaining.  Oscar and Nugget were slipping and sliding everywhere.  Oscar had never been on ice before, so he was initially a little confused.  And then he was curious.  And then his legs were out from under him for the ninth time.  And then he was startled by the crunching beneath him as he stepped onto the ice and snow covered grass.  I estimate an additional twenty minutes were added to our morning routine, thanks to the ice.  That's right - me in my pjs (which are not very warm when it's fifteen degrees outside) and two dogs who can't keep their footing, standing in the very, very cold and brisk wind, 6:30am.  Fortunately, no one was leaving for work this morning.

I expected the after-work potty trip to be less eventful, considering Oscar had two more potty trips since the ice experience this morning under his (hypothetical) belt.  No such luck.  Since they were cooped up for all of (Heaven forbid!) six hours today, they ran like rockets out the door.  Oscar was, again, surprised by the crunching under his paws and they both slid and fell through the ice everywhere.  Nugget began eating the ice, threw up three times, and then continued eating the ice as Oscar sought out fallen icicles.  I'm sure he thought he was in ice cube heaven (another of his favorite treats).  And again, I stood in pants that are not weather appropriate with the wind biting at my cheeks (both sets), begging the two to do their business so we could go inside.  But that's all part of the game, you see - The longer they take to go, the longer we "get" to stay out and play.  Ridiculous.

The final potty trip each night is usually just Oscar because based on past experience, Nugget just jacks around and gets into trouble (read: tormenting neighbors, digging in mud, etc) without ever actually pottying.  Well tonight he slithered out the door, in true Nugget fashion, as Oscar and I embarked on our final potty trip of the night.  Since everything is still frozen over, I figured he couldn't get into much, so I coaxed Oscar further down the walk to do his business and mitigate distraction.  This, again, took entirely too long as he chased fallen icicle after fallen icicle across the frozen snow before finally completing the task we set out to accomplish.  We turned around to go back inside and found Nugget laying in a hole in the ice which he had eaten out from around him.  Is he malnourished?  Parched?  I don't know, but in less than ten minutes time, he probably ate five pounds of snow and ice...  I guess dogs don't get brain freeze?

It's a foregone conclusion that I'm way over the snow and ice.  It absolutely cannot melt fast enough.  As I type, they are chasing one another through the family room, hallway, dining room and kitchen.  Chairs are being tipped and my 42" flat screen is shaking on its base.  There are smudgy paw prints on my formerly clean glass cabinet and I just heard a water bowl crash to floor along with a yelp and a splash.  Lord have mercy...  My apartment will not survive them being cooped up for one more day!