Who's afraid of the big bad firecracker?

I'm going to become a better blogger. I AM. I miss it.

Thankfully, my thumb is actually... drum roll please... after a month of slow and painful healing... on the mend!!! So that should help. It's still wrapped in a big white poufy wad of gauze, but it's slightly less big and marginally less poufy than it was three weeks ago so I'm thrilled with the progress.

Hubs is in Boston this weekend for a friend's wedding, and I'm broken hearted that I'm not there with him. He's having a great time and visiting with lots of old friends and coworkers, so he's making the most of the trip. Hero and I are holding down the fort, which has been interesting to say the least.

The thing I've learned about Hero is, he's terrified of fireworks. Which makes 4th of July weekend an absolute blast (sarcasm and pun intended). Last night, after a day spent cleaning our house from top to bottom, I gratefully stepped into the shower. Moments later, I opened my eyes through the mist of water to find I was not alone. Hero was with me, curled up in the corner of the shower shaking like a leaf. In the shower!!! I heard the fireworks booming in the distance. He looked up at me with wide, terrified eyes as the water pelted him periodically in the face (and for those of you who don't know, Hero HATES getting wet). His fur drooped over his eyes and curled into tiny ringlets on his head as he inched close enough to be sure he was touching my leg, just in case. I've never seen anything quite so pathetically sad.

Try as I might I couldn't coax him back out - he was not about to leave my side. So I hurriedly rinsed as much shampoo from my knotted hair as possible and turned the water off with soap still clinging to my barely clean body. Poor little guy was drenched but wouldn't be pried away from me. I wrapped him up in a towel and put him in our bed. He was trembling so much that he couldn't even move. His adorable stub of a tail was tucked so far under his legs it wasn't even visible. He hid his face under the pillows and curled as close to me as he could get. He lay there in a tight little ball for the next five hours. About thirty minutes in he fell asleep, and the twitching subsided as his breath evened out. After three hours or so he loosened his body and stretched out a bit. I've never seen anything like it, and I'm dreading tonight. My poor little baby boy!!!!!

Regardless, I may keep the bathroom door closed in the future. It's a little disconcerting to shower with your dog, whatever the reason behind it.