night at the abbatoir

During fair week a few weeks ago, just after our vacation, I mentioned I had landed in the proverbial frying pan.

Well, now I am in the fire itself.

This coming weekend is my kids' 4-H fair weekend, and things are really heating up. The vet has been out to give the sheep a clean bill of health (and we had a very unfortunate kitten vs. tractor incident at the same time, which didn't turn out too well for the kitten), I am organizing up a storm, we are pulling together camping and sheep and snacking supplies, and generally I am going just nutty with all the work and preparation. I love the fair itself, as the location of the fair is beautiful and it is nice to see all the kids' hard work coming to fruition. But the lead-up time is beyond stressful.

Late last night, I was up waaaay past my bedtime working on the sheep show catalog. Last year, it wasn't done in a very timely manner and I was caught doing it the morning of the show on a borrowed computer. I am trying really hard to avoid such crazy-making situations this year, hence the late night last night. As Charlie followed me up to bed, I heard him give a little yelp, but paid no mind (he often complains if the cat is in his way), until I ran downstairs to check on something...

and found blood all over the hallway and stairs carpeting. The brand new carpeting. The carpeting that was installed less than three months ago. And, oh yes, on the walls as well, that were painted shortly before that.

Seems Charlie had lost a nail on the landing of the stairs (he does that from time to time) and proceeded to bleed all over the stairs, and the hallway, and Terzo's room which he went into to see if I was there, and our room, which is where he sleeps. By the time I got him back down into the kitchen on a moppable floor, the mess had been doubled. It was past midnight at this point, but I had to work quickly by myself (don't think I wasn't resenting every else's beauty sleep at this point) to get the blood scrubbed up. Thanks to a tip from my dad, I had the miraculous OxiMagic on hand and the blood actually did come out of the carpet, but it was a long hour getting all those pawprints up. I turned on every light necessary to catch all the stains, but still, despite my best efforts to disturb them, no one got up to help me.

Why yes, I was feeling a little put-upon, why do you ask?

I finally got it all cleaned up and settled Charlie to sleep in the kitchen... but he doesn't sleep well if I am not near him. What can I say, he is an old dog and his habits are too ingrained to be changed at this late hour. I gave up at 3:30 am and brought a pillow and comforter down to the couch so I could console him. No way was I letting him near that carpet again.

He is fine this morning, but I am a little worse for wear at a time when the wear goes very deep indeed. I have two more nights in my own bed, before I have just an air mattress for padding between me and the cold hard ground. I need all the sleep I can get right now. Goodness knows I won't be getting it at the fair -- and let's not even mention the weather forecast.