New Year, New You...New Dog?

     Have you ever heard of the expression, "Silence is golden...unless you have children"?  Hmmmmm, yes.  Ask anyone around and they'll tell you how that little red flag goes up anytime the house is just a little too quiet.
      Take the other day, for instance.  The new year had begun and our younger ones questioned the meaning of a resolution.  
      I believe the conversation began, "What's a 'restitution'?  "A resolution is when someone makes a plan to change something for the better."
      "Like what?"
      "Well, a lot of people resolve to lose weight, eat healthier, exercise, spend more time with family and friends...things like that."  
      One would think that might be the end of topic.  
      Nope.  
      Later that day, in the peaceful quiet of the five minutes God sometimes grants us, we hear, "We did a restitution for Lilly".  
     -oh no.
     "What do you mean?"
     "She likes it!"
      This is where I should take a time out to explain that Lilly is our dog.  We were lucky enough to get her when she was eight weeks old - and she's just about the sweetest thing on earth.

    She lives and breathes with our kids and where they are, you'll find her as though they're part of a pack.
     Lilly's almost two years old now and she's grown to be a beautiful girl.  Her coat is long and soft and her tail can often be found hiding little bits of leaves or things from around the yard when she plays. 

    Enter - the 'New Year's Restitution'.  
    "We cleaned her tail so all the knots and stuff are gone."
    "You mean you brushed it out?"
    "No, we fixed it."
    "Fixed it?"
    "Fixed it.  Come see!  It looks a LOT better."
     The familiar pit in my stomach let me know I was probably three seconds away from a complete and total conniption fit.  Adam sensed it - and immediately dropped everything to follow.  
     Rounding the corner to the kitchen, there it was.  A ball...no...a mass of fur so big, it could warm a small village in Alaska. 

     One area of massacre, then another, until we looked to find sweet Lilly, sitting patiently for her next attempt of a butcher/haircut.   

     I think I faintly heard my husband behind me saying, "Take a breath, it'll grow back..." but that was the last thing I remember before I saw red and wanted to axe murder someone.  
     I stood Lilly up to survey the damage, only to find the whole back of the poor dog chopped with chunks of hair missing and straggles of long wisps and sections they missed.
     It looked like she had the mange. 
     Turning to our new team from Vidal Sassoon, they were beyond proud and excited.  
     "Now she won't have to worry about all that hair behind her.  She's better!  It's her restitution."  
     Indeed.
     May your New Year bring exciting 'restitutions' to you and yours.  Hopefully a little less hairy than ours.
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