What the hell is this stuff, mom???

That was Willoughby's question as we headed out into the rain storms pounding San Diego County last night. He gave me this look like, "Seriously? Turn it off. Turn it off now." This morning he figured out that if you stick close to the buildings and do your business outside of the neighboring shops, the awnings will protect you from the torrent of wetness. I apologize to the Cheese Shop in my building for using your doorstep as a restroom, but I did clean it up...

Speaking of cleaning it up, I had another crazy pet owner moment this morning. Since we live in a concrete jungle we pet owners obviously have to pick up after our dogs, and the city of San Diego is kind enough to offer plenty of poop bags and trash cans for our convenience. Outside my door, poop bag dispenser is 20 feet to the left, trash can is 20 feet to the right. Normally I take Willoughby all the way around the block starting to the left to pick up a bag and then drop it in the trash when we come around. Because of the rain, however, Willoughby developed a 'run to the left, do my business, perform a quick 180 degree turn and head right back to the door" system. So I found myself outside the door to our building holding a bag of poop in one hand and a dog leash in the other, with a dog on the end of that leash staring at me with eyes that said "No way in hell am I going back out there." Did I force the dog to accompany me to the trash can to throw away his refuse, as it should be? Nope. In an alltime high of spoiling, I let him stay outside the door, under the awning, while I trudged back into the rain to throw the baggie in the trash.

That whole "master over dog" thing is going really well, don't you think?...