Hello Thirty-seven and Hello Mudpie!

Well it is official. I am no longer thirty-six and am now thirty-seven. If you want to be technical about it, I have about 2 1/2 hrs. before it's official, but I don't go by that!
So far thirty-seven is turning out to be more of the same. I'm doing laundry and dishes and making my own birthday cake. It's painfully obvious to me that one more year has not added much more wisdom to me. Allow me to explain.
I was making my cake and saw that Dilly wanted to go outside. I knew I didn't have time to take her for a walk, so instead of putting her in her crate, I decided to put her out on the run that Colin had rigged up for her. I don't know what I was thinking!
It had been raining a little this morning, but by this time it had stopped. The grass was damp but not too bad I thought.
I forgot to consider the fact that Dilly is still a puppy (even though she's big and doesn't really look like it much anymore) and that Dilly likes to dig. I did check on her periodically and I should have suspected something when Ian asked me where daddy had found the brown leash that Dilly was tied to. It isn't brown, it's bright purple. Rather, it was bright purple. Right now it is so muddy it is brown.
I finally got a good look and Dilly and wasn't pleased with what I saw. Every paw was caked with mud and so was her beard. I knew she needed a bath, but the tub is in the middle of our house, across acres of beige carpeting. I thought long and hard and decided the only way in was through our home school room. It's very close to the bathroom and has a sliding door. I made a chain of towels to cover the floor and then took the clean leash to get Dilly. Of course, she kept putting her muddy beard all over my putty colored Bermuda shorts and I'm certain that they will need to soak in a gallon of Shout Advanced for at least a week, but we made in the house and to the bathroom tub without ruining the carpet.
I proceeded to rinse off half my yard and wash it down the drain. The dog is wet and clean and relatively happy again. I have gained a little wisdom. Don't put the puppy in the slightly muddy yard and expect a sparkling clean dog to be the result, it's not gonna happen!