Yesterday afternoon, I went into the sunroom to lie down for a few minutes, and found that Minnie had peed all over the daybed in there. She had been extremely difficult to potty train when we first got her 10 years ago—many, many accidents for about the first 18 months we had her—but she hasn’t had an accident in years. She has been rock solid. But she broke that record yesterday. And boy this was a big one.

We keep a canvas cover on the daybed for just such accidents as these, and also because Minnie can be a high-energy dog at times and she goes in and out of the backyard all day and we want to keep the daybed clean and unshredded. The canvas cover was allegedly waterproof. It is not—not the least little bit. Minnie’s urine soaked through the canvas cover, and into the blankets and sheets.

So, no nap for me, and Julie cheerfully pitched in and took the lead on the clean-up for which I was and am grateful.

I brought the canvas cover out back and hung it on the fence and sprayed it down with Urine Destroyer (great product name) and hosed it down and went back inside. Around nine at night, I went out back to check to see if the canvas cover was dry, and on the way back to the house, I stepped in a big pile of dog poop. I was wearing the only shoes I have that I like to wear with shorts and no socks.

This morning, I went to let the dog out and looked for the key to the backdoor. A few days ago, I decided I didn’t like the place I usually keep the key, and put it somewhere else. I didn’t like that place either, so I put it in a different place. I didn’t like that place either, so I found a third place for it. And now I can’t find the key anymore.

And how is your week going so far?

Fortunately, we have had no repeats of indoor doggy accidents. And I found another pair of no-socks-shorts shoes that turn out to be quite comfortable and look better than the ones I had been wearing.