mirror, mirror, on the wall...

...who's the worst mother of them all??? 

the story starts on Saturday, when the dilapidated full length mirror that has been hanging on the back of our bedroom door by three poorly mounted corners finally bit the dust. the whole bedroom really needs an overhaul, but i've been too busy pinning nursery decor ideas to actually get up off my butt and do anything about it. so the mirror gently slid down the door, and i equally gently propped it up against the rear wall of the bedroom until i could take care of it. 

that night, while i was at Duquesne's performance of the State of the Union, and Nick was doing yard work, Kaiser somehow knocked down the mirror, and the top corner broke off in the process. and then, he sliced his rear leg on the broken piece of glass. so when Nick came back into the house, he found Kaiser waiting patiently at the back door surrounded by a pool of blood. ingenious husband that he is, he managed to wash out the wound with soap and water, then bandage Kaiser's leg with a thick washcloth secured with a rubber band. the cut stopped bleeding and Kaiser was running around just fine, so we thought that would be that. 

not so. Sunday morning while Nick was playing for mass, i ran out to the pharmacy to grab some Kerlix (that self-clinging rolled gauze), and returned home triumphant, ready to put my PA skills to use. Kaiser had other plans. while i was trying to get that dang Kerlix to stick, he yanked his leg out of my hand and immediately tore the wound right open again. this time, it was like a red sprinkler spurting all over the kitchen and family room floor, my legs, the towels we had laid down on the floor and oh yes, a corner of the wall too. i finally wadded up five paper towels and slapped them over the laceration, secured it with masking tape, threw a few beach towels down in the back seat of the car and coaxed Kaiser inside. 

the bloody aftermath (also, our lineoleum which i would dearly love to replace): 




never have i been more grateful for emergency vets who are open on weekends. they took him right back and delivered the news that he would, indeed, need stitches. they confirmed that he hadn't lacerated a tendon or any other deep structures, thank goodness. since he had eaten breakfast only 3 hours before, they wanted to hold him for a few hours before they anesthetized him, so poor puppy had to stay in a room until it was safe to put him under. Nick came up to the vet's as soon as he was done playing for mass and we sat with all the other puppy parents, our heads snapping up like anxious turtles every time a staff member came out from the exam rooms. they finally told us that he wouldn't be ready to go home until at least 5 p.m., so we came home and cleaned up the mess. then Nick had to play for a wedding (oh, the life of a church musician!), and i headed back up to the vet's at 5:30 to pick up our puppy. 

i figured he'd be a little dopey from all the meds, and was not expecting him to run full tilt down the hall towards me with the vet tech gallantly running along side. sure enough, the dopiness kicked in when we tried to go outside and poor Kaiser kept running into the side of the door. he was so bleary-eyed but ate and drank without a problem. and we just can't get over the cone. his poor ears can't even stand up right. 


so we're now on Cone Day #3 out of 10, and he's slowly adjusting to it. still bouncing off walls from time to time, and he's vicious when he comes running up behind you (the edges of that cone are sharp!). but he's figured out how to carry around toys and rawhides in the cone, so he runs around with his head tipped up until he's ready to chew on them, at which point he slowly lowers his head until they slip towards the mouth of the cone and he grabs them before they fall. that's our boy. 


and that's why i will never again leave a mirror unsecured against a wall. 

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