Day Eleven, Thursday AM

The alarm goes off, and Buddy and Potsy are sitting by the door patiently waiting for me to become conscious. Buster is sleeping on the floor beside the bed, and as I sit up, I hit him in the face with my foot. He sits up, shakes his head, and then jumps up on the bed and settles into the spot I was just in. I open the door, and Buddy runs to the kitchen and puts his front paws on the barricade, to see what the girls are up to. I come around the corner and take a look. They have somehow managed to shred the newspaper and plastic in the center of the room. I shoo Buddy and Potsy outside, and Daisy comes down the hall, around the corner, and heads for the door, and then she stops, as if she just remembered the puppies. She turns to look at me, and I have to reassure her that the Belles are inside and she can go outside without being attacked. I come back and I climb over the barricade to make coffee, and feed the girls. I still have to play breakfast monitor, as Dixie and Tara get very possessive of their dishes. Georgia has been displaced more than once at the last several meals. After the girls are fed, I have to pry Buster off the bed to make him go outside. If not for Potsy, Buster would be the alpha male of the house. The resident four remain outside while I go get ready for work. Pam lets the puppies out, and they make a beeline for Daisy. Daisy does her fierce bark, with no effect. I try to calm her down, which means I have to catch her first. Which means running through the yard, which means sliding on slick leaves, and landing on my butt in a pile of grown-up beagle goo. Then I get up and put my knee in another pile. Great. Now I've really given the neighbors something to laugh about. And I'm mad at myself for not taking the time to poop-scoop like I need to. Now I have to go inside and change clothes. By this time, Daisy has backed herself into a corner and is madly barking at the Belles. I grab her by the collar and lead her inside, shooing the Belles away as we go. I get out of my poopy clothes, get cleaned up, and get dressed again. Daisy is staying inside, and I am pooper-scooping. Or finding someone to pay to pooper-scoop.

Day Eleven, Thursday PM

I come home to a very mad Daisy. She scolds me from the moment I pull into the driveway to the time I put her food bowl down. I heard every chapter and verse of the riot act tonight. She jumped up against the baby gate - It's amazing that she's as athletic as she is these days. She must have lost a pound or two. The boys and the Belles are clamoring at the door to be let in, but I have to clean the kitchen up first, since Daisy took advantage of having the newspaper available. Strip the floor of newspaper and drop cloth, and put down a clean drop cloth and newspaper, while I'm being barked at from all sides. Now comes time for the switch. I have to bring the girls in and put them in the kitchen, and get Daisy to go outside. This proves to be easier than I thought it would be - Daisy has to see what has been done to HER yard by these young things. And I follow her out there. The girls have managed, probably with the help of their Uncle Potsy, to dig a HUGE hole in the middle of the yard. It's an ankle breaker of a hole, too. Deep - deeper than the Belles are tall, so I KNOW they had help. I stare at the hole for a minute, but I've got to get back inside - I've got laundry to do, housecleaning to catch up on, but all I have the energy to do is feed everyone, and then sit and cuddle whomever wants to be cuddled. So, I get everyone's food ready, and Daisy, in another rare act of defiance, spits out her medicine. I put it in her mouth again, hold on to her snout and blow on her nose. She swallows. I let go of her snout, and she spits out the pill again. So, I think I'll try to fool her. I put the pill in some pumpkin. She eats the pumpkin, then spits out the pill AGAIN. So this time, I push it even further down her throat, and hold her snout until she's swallowed three times. She doesn't spit out her medicine this time. The Belles have been watching with wide eyed interest. When Daisy swallows, I let go of her snout, and the girls lose interest. They begin wrestling and playing with each other. And I still have to give Daisy her two allergy shots. All I am thinking is hooray for me. I have to take Pam to BWI for a 6AM flight Friday morning, which means we have to leave before 3AM. The counters don't open until 4AM, but the lines will be really long. Everyone's fed, the medicines are given, and now it's time for BED!