do not underestimate the power of baking soda.

i can't help but think this photo was somehow foreshadowing to the next mornings events.

this post comes to you bleary-eyed and possibly just short of delirious. i promise you nothing but rambling information and updates coming forth like a tsunami.
we survived yesterdays st. patrick's day pub crawl, which began promptly and appropriately at 3:17 PM. i'm certain that you, dear reader, do not have the time nor interest for me to recount the exploits of the night. i bowed out by 10:30 PM, mainly to extract adam from what was quickly becoming an outing ending in a night by the toilet. i had also tired of the non-stop parade of cringe-worthy human behavior that is witnessed when you spend too much time in bars as a half-sober person.
we left our friend tara at the bar, arranging that she would find her way back to the hotel with the assistance of some trusted folks. we of course could not drag her away, she being a professional irish drinker, especially considering that she still had three assorted shot concoctions lined up at the bar. i gave her my best wishes for "success" and steered my tipsy husband back to the awaiting hotel room. i said to adam, although he didn't likely understand or retain, that i felt it very likely that i would venture back out into the morass of drunkenness to find tara later in the night.
after coercing adam to at least brush his teeth before falling face down on the bed, i sent a text to tara to check if she was still with her chaperones and hadn't absconded as wily intoxicated folks have a habit of doing. asking her if she was still at the bar where we left her, she replied, simply, "city". immediately recognizing the foolishness of trying to get a drunk person to not only locate themselves, but be able to accurately spell and text it, i considered what she might mean. saratoga springs is a city, could she mean that she was still in the city? that's a bit vague. i consulted my drunk husband and oddly he was able to report back that there was a tavern across the street from where we left tara with 'city' in it's name. feeling satisfied, i cleaned up and waited for our little team to be regathered.
tara did return safely to the hotel room a few hours later, sent out a facebook update (i told you-she is a professional), quickly passed out and began loudly snoring. there was several rounds of someone or another getting up to turn off the air conditioner, then someone else getting up to turn on the air conditioner. despite this, the snoring and the frequent bathroom visits, we all seemed to get some functional sleep.
our circus of smart phones began signaling to us shortly before 8:00 AM. there appeared to be a crisis of sorts, one that required not only facebook posts but also text messages and voicemail. we had left our dog, crosbi and three cats in the competent over night care of adam's father, russ. responding to the calls to action, adam called his father learning that during an early morning walk with crosbi through the local field they encountered a skunk. crosbi was sprayed squarely in the face and the collateral spray came back to hit russ. both began vomiting, russ trying to wipe the spray out of crosbi's eyes. he led her back to our house about a block away, both retching and reeking. he bathed the dog in our bathroom tub, closed her in the bathroom to contain the damage then called us to report the event.

she doesn't like baths. fizzy, science-experiment type baths are no different.

we bid an early farewell to tara who decided to sleep in until checkout at noon. i did some quick google searches on the drive and we stopped for supplies before getting home. baking soda and hydrogen peroxide in hand, we could smell our house before we got out of the car.
i cannot appropriately describe the true smell of what met us when we opened our bathroom door and faced our poor mutt for the first time. i can tell you that direct skunk spray is much different and more potent than the scent you encounter when driving over road kill. the scent in our bathroom, and unfortunately soon through our entire small house, is much more peppery and toxic. it's overwhelming and suffocating.
it also bears noting that skunk musk is not at all conducive to nursing a hang over.
crosbi went outside for a bath and we proceeded to open every window and turn on every fan. we have lit incense and candles. we have "febreezed". we have wiped, bleached and mopped. there are little dishes of vinegar about, supposedly to absorb the scent. we have even baked cinnamon per the recommendation of "the internet". it seems to be working.
i suppose this is the type of adventure you get when you thumb your nose at fate as i did with my post yesterday. anytime i think that a night out could not possibly top previous experiences, i am sent a message by the universe. my message for this day is heard loud and clear, "always be ready for an adventure. life requires a sense of humor, fortitude, a strong stomach, true friends and family."
as always, the people you love make it worth all the trouble.
i expect this will be an adventure story that will be retold many times.