Yuck

I somehow ended up in the house entirely on my own tonight, because Liz and Julia left earlier in the day, and Debby doesn't return until midnight.

I had to feed the dogs, and Liz had said that Lilly would come by with dog food, as we were out. But 6 pm came, and Lilly hadn't come, and the dogs were swarming me for food.

I figured if I could just call Lilly that everything would be okay. So, I called her and interrupted her Sunday and asked her if she was coming with the dog food.
In her hurry, Liz had forgotten to tell Lilly about the dog food, so Lilly had to run over to John's and get it.

I was so relieved when she came, but also embarrassed because it had been the "policy" to cover up any puppy accidents with newspaper, and there was newspaper everywhere, and there were dishes in the sink, and it was just terrible.

I'd managed to strip the beds upstairs, but I hadn't gotten around to cleaning the downstairs yet.

She could see I was a little overwhelmed, so she helped me make tea for the night guard and to tidy a little. 

Anyway, she left as I was trying to defrost the meat for the dogs' dinner.

I've never actually seen anyone make the amalgam of meat and rice, and I knew the rice had to be boiled, but no one said if the meat had to be cooked!
And, well, the meat looked sort of rare. I wasn't sure what to do, but the dogs were so hungry that I just figured that someone would have said something.

But then I didn't know how much rice to put with how much meat, and how the bowls should be laid out outside so that one dog didn't get left out or get their food stolen. Or, for that matter, where the four bowls were.

I managed to find three, and after about 10 minutes of searching I found a bowl under the water tank that's bottom was half missing. But it was the only other bowl I could find! 

So, I brought them into the kitchen and loaded them up with food, not before having to mix it together -- the rice and the raw meat-- with my hands. BLLLAAAHHHGGGGRRR it smelled so bad and there were tendony bits pulling apart, and just the SOUND of it.

... I remembered why I don't eat red meat, and I'll admit I dry heaved a few times.

What I wasn't counting on was the puppy, who had already been fed, scrambling and stealing food from the big boys and ending up eating so much that he could barely fit through the bars of the gates on the front door. He was just furry and rotund! 

Anyway, so everyone ate, and I think I did okay. I washed all the dishes and tidied everything I saw that could be tidied, and now I'm just trying to finish packing! And then I think some Return of the Jedi is called for.

::yawn::

My fingers stink. Blech.