[Dailydrool] Shhhh ... I Think I Got My Christmas Present

[Yolanda]

Well, Buddy actually received it, but it was what I had wished for ... I 
think (I hope) that Buddy received a special delivery and his brain arrived! 
I don't know exactly when it happened, you understand, but I have just 
realized that he is acting differently.  He is calmer, he actually is doing 
some of the things we ask, and he is being much nicer to his older, 
shorter-legged, curly-haired stepbrother, Harvey.  Believe me, I know that 
Christmas is coming and that might affect some of Buddy's thinking 
processes, but I find it hard to believe that he could be this good for 
several weeks.  I mean c'mon, he's a Basset, right?

Buddy was three years old in July and since we live in the "sticks", perhaps 
it took longer for the delivery truck to find our house.  I don't care if it 
was five months late in coming, I am enthralled now by the transformation. 
Some of you will remember that Buddy was the one who ate a whole pan of 
cabbage rolls while we were outside assisting people who had been in an 
accident.  Buddy was the one who stole the whole pork roast off the table 
when I went back into the kitchen to get the potatoes out of the oven. 
Buddy was the one who survived eating a huge bowl of peach Jello with 
peaches, bananas and lots of whipped cream while I was getting out the 
insulated bag to carry it in.  Buddy was the one who opened a brand new 
25-pound bag of flour and a 7-pound new bag of powdered sugar and spread 
them all over the kitchen floor (and on the counters, the stove and the 
table), then got up in a chair and managed to open the kitchen cupboard 
where all the spices were stored.  Buddy is the one who ate my glasses and 
my dentures.  Buddy is the one who was so excited about the FedEx guy 
petting him and giving him a bone that he peed on the poor guy's leg.  (Hmm, 
that guy never came back, either.)

But all those horrible things are what made him our Buddy.  As I look back, 
I think I miss the old Buddy.  Each day was a challenge, but each one was 
filled with laughter (and a few other things, too).  Gee, I wonder if it's 
too late to return that brain to the factory?  Oh good Lord, what am I 
thinking?!!!!

Yolanda Lyons