Raindrops and muddy paws

At the very early time of 5:30 this morning, our two pugs Lacy & Lilly decided it would be fun and wake me up! I not only woke up to the sound of two barking pugs but to the sounds of "booming" thunder, pounding rain and howling wind! All I could muster was a weak "are you kidding me?" I slowly got up and staggered (being careful not to step on some paws in the dark!) towards the side door and put on my yellow raincoat and shoes while trying to put a harness and leash on an over excited pug! Too much energy for that early in the morning! Finally after conquering the "harness challenge" I carefully opened the door, then quickly closed it! No way was I going out there in that absolute down pour! When I finally mustered up the courage to venture outside, my once "over excited" pug had to be pulled through the doorway! No way I was letting her get out this! Luckily the rain let up slightly for us, but the thunder and lightening did not! I rushed both us to the back lawn (which was a disgusting swamp by now), and of course wouldn't you know it, she chooses this time out to carefully sniff every blade of soaking wet muddy grass while we both get poured on! I could hear the thunder "booming" and see the lightening striking in the distance. All I kept thinking was " right now is not the time to take your "sweet time""! Finally after what seemed like forever we sloshed our way down the driveway and quickly stepped inside. Only to then did I discover that because of the wonderful weather and the swamp we now have outside, my once clean 2 1/2 year old pug has mud covering the bottom half of all four paws, and the muddy prints on my light tile floor! I carefully picked Lilly up and put her in the kitchen sink to wash her feet off (which she hates!). In a few minutes I finally have four clean paws! I felt my "moment of victory" for an all too short time, because right then, my older pug Lacy reminded me that I was going to have to go through the whole experience again with her! I love "our girls" with all my heart but all I could think at that moment was "oh noooo" and once again brave the storm! "It's too early for this!"