Technically, this isn’t a Dollar Daze post. Because my damn dog ruined it for you.
Since my family of origin is no longer around, that holidays can have a melancholy tone to them. One of the ways we counteract that is by showing some tribute to each of the family members, a small token that shows we still think of them.
For mom and Pa, that usually entails a toast of sorts while partaking in their favorite candy on Christmas Day. For mom, Turtles. For Pa, Queen Anne chocolate covered cherries.
It should be noted that Grandma’s tribute, since her birthday was the day after Christmas, involves what we lovingly refer to as “going fishing”- a meal involving some form of lobster at (you guessed it) Red Lobster.
The others get $1 candy while Grandma gets remembered with a $40 lobster dinner? No. Favoritism. Whatsoever.
The challenge has always been that while I appreciate Turtles (because who doesn’t love chocolate AND caramel?), I had a hard time sucking down the cherries. Not that they aren’t good, but omigod, talk about diabeetus in a convenient package. SOOOOO sweet. And since they are not cheap, and usually involve a package containing ten pieces, I have to admit I sometimes balked at paying $5 to get the single piece of candy I would consume to honor Pa.
Sugar shock in a box.
It should be noted that I wouldn’t balk at paying $5 for a single piece of candy if that candy was, say, a Godiva truffle. No offense, Queen Anne, but your cordials are nowhere near a Godiva truffle.
All that appeared to be resolved when Dollar Tree had mini packages of Queen Anne cherries for the bargain basement price of, you guessed it, a buck. There were only five pieces, so we could each have one and only throw two away. Less guilt! More savings! Yay!
Sadly, I did not pay attention to where I kept the bag once I arrived home from my Dollar Tree outing. And while we love Ru, she has a tendency to be a thieving beast, particularly where food is concerned.
While leaving said bag unattended, and apparently not far enough back on the counter to be out of reach, she got into it. And when I came home from work, there was a shredded package with nary a cherry left inside.
This is her guilty face.
Yes, I know that chocolate is dangerous for dogs. I am happy to report that she suffered no ill effects from her thievery. Other than going to time out, anyway. Which she actually sent herself to. I don’t get it. If you know enough to put yourself in time out AFTER you do something wrong but before we actually punish you, wouldn’t you think that you’d have sense enough to not do it BEFORE you commit the deed? I guess even my own dog operates under the philosophy that it’s better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.
By the time I made it back to Dollar Tree to replace them, they were sold out. Oh well. I’m sure my pancreas appreciates the break. I’m going to assume they were good, because the dog ate all of them, but I’m not sure that says much. She also eats tennis balls. And “Tootsie Rolls” from the cat box. I’m pretty sure that disqualifies her from being a trusted culinary reviewer. At least that’s not the only thing she destroyed this Christmas. While I was on my cleaning binge (from which I’ve fully recovered, thankyouverymuch), I left some tennis balls unguarded while cleaning out the pantry.
5 tennis balls + 1 bored and unsupervised dog = 1 colossal mess
Wonder if Dollar Tree will have tennis balls on sale once summer gets closer? One can only hope.
This doesn’t bode well for my dogs if yours is still doing this at her age…
And she’s getting more thiefy and crabby as she gets older. *sigh*
At least she knows to put herself in time out, I guess. That’s something.
It was a holiday of food-left-on-the-floor consumption over here, too. Our dog Ed got into FIVE things my mom left on the floor on separate occasions. The best part was hearing my mom exclaim that the DOG never learns. Yeah, the dog is having a really hard time “learning” that food left on the floor in front of his face is not for him. That’s the problem.
Who’s training whom, amirite? Is it training Ru not to eat whatever is within reach, or training us not to leave shit laying around? Totally about the dog. All her fault.