Mischief

This morning I did something rare. I taught my 8:30 AM class and then immediately came home because I had an article to work on and I knew if I stayed at the office I'd be interrupted. It's a good thing I came home early. August had forgotten to lock the pantry door after he fed the dogs this morning and in the mere 30 minutes between August and Edward leaving the house and my return our three dachshunds had "unloaded" the lowest pantry shelf onto the dining room floor. The rug was littered with apple juice bottles, canned soup, tea bags, stuffing mix, and oatmeal. The oatmeal box was the easiest to access and it had been ripped open. Packets of apple-raisin oatmeal were strewn throughout the house - I found them in Emma's sick bed (which Rachsie has adopted as a favorite mischief spot), on the couch, on the bathroom rug, in the kitchen. Interspersed with the oatmeal packets were various toys that had also suffered at the paws of Red Rocket and Rachsie: an army figure decapitated and amputated at the wrists, the yellow wings ripped off a foam rocket, and a plastic beagle mutilated around the head and chest area. I had forgotten what it's like to have puppies in the house...