Once you read through this all, you’ll understand why I haven’t had a chance to go through pictures or post anything sooner than this.
Christmas Eve was great. We had prime rib at my parents house, like we always do. We missed a lot of people this year though. Amma (May, my maternal grandmother) is safely tucked into her assisted living home and couldn’t travel to us, and Uncle Brad and Auntie Chelsea are living it up in Barcelona. So it was a small table but a nice one.
Christmas morning, we awoke to find the piles of goodies Santa left for the boys. Dixon’s favorite item of the year was his laser tripwire alarm. He is always frustrated at Gray getting into his stuff, so he set the alarm up on his bed. Whenever someone reaches the top of the ladder to his upper bunk, the alarm sounds and Dixon comes running. Gray’s favorite item was the Lightning McQueen microphone stand. He is actually a good singer and can carry a tune and loves music. He plays the McQueen guitar he got for his birthday last year and sings along. Sometimes he makes up his own songs, and sometimes he sings Christmas or Bible songs he’s learned at school.
After lunch, we went up to Riverdale to see the Smith side of the family. We visited and chatted and played and then had another nice prime rib dinner. For hours, the boys had been asking to open presents, but we held them off till after dinner. Literally five seconds after we finished eating, we had barely set our plates into the sink, there’s a commotion outside. Two feet off of Linda’s back porch was a skunk, and Truman instantly activated his terrier instincts and let him have it. The two animals brawled until Aunt Cindy wisely threw a zucchini at it (it was all we had nearby) and Truman finally let go. Cindy ran out, grabbed Truman, dripping with yellow skunk spray and blood, and rushed him to the bathroom to clean him up. We sped in Scott’s truck to the Fresno Pet ER. Truman got cleaned up a little more (5 days later, multiple baths, and he still reeks), got a rabies shot, and we found that the skin on his jawline degloved, exposing bone. We’re still waiting to see if he needs surgery to reattach the gum line. So far it’s doing a decent job of healing on its own, as oral injuries tend to do. We eventually made it back to Riverdale, showered, and opened gifts at 11pm. I didn’t think Truman would make it through that first night. He lay on his bed, moaning and shaking all night despite the antibiotics and pain medication.
Linda’s house and Scott’s truck may never be the same, however. During the melee everyone rushed to the back door and left it open while the skunk was spraying. I’ve scrubbed the truck out and left baking soda, an odor absorber, and a tub of charcoal in it to get rid of the smell, but it’s going to need a professional cleaning. Driving home the next day (with the windows down), we got headaches and my eyes burned from the stink.
It was a total nightmare. We are so lucky it wasn’t worse. I’m glad it wasn’t one of the boys wandering out. Aunt Cindy got skunk saliva on her during the rescue/cleanup and had to get the preventative rabies shots. Truman may still need surgery on his jaw. I had to take an extra day off to clean up and take Truman to more doctor appointments.
So, I’ve been pretty exhausted and busy, which is why my Christmas post is so late and lacking pictures. Because of the chaos, I didn’t even take a single picture on Christmas day, except for Truman and Scott in the ER.
But at least now, when everyone asks “How was your Christmas?” We can truly say it stunk.
And now to start planning Birthmakah!
