About the time our youngest daughter was going through puberty, I was smack-dab in the middle of menopause. Let’s just say that there was a lot of door slamming going on in my house then! After one particularly dramatic two-door slamming calamity, I barricaded myself in my room and had a mini nervous breakdown. In an attempt to calm myself, I decided that I needed time in my bathtub with some lavender bubble bath, candles, and a glass of wine. Or the whole bottle of wine. I believe in leaving my options open.

As the tub filled, I gathered together the items needed for my therapy session. I popped a cork, poured a glass, selected some music, and lit a few candles. Half of a glass of wine later, I was finally able to ease my tension-filled muscles into the hot scented water and turn on the jets. Instantly, the humming sound of the Jacuzzi isolated me from the rest of the house and I settled back to find my inner calm. With Yanni’s love songs serenading me in the background, I could hear nothing else, not even the dog toenails clicking across the floor at a brisk pace.

I was just starting to relax when, SPLASH! Jasper, my 32 lb. Terrier/Schnauzer mix, jumped into the tub with me! The candles went out, the wine spilled, and I ended up sitting in the tub with a dog. He was so stinking pleased with himself that I had to laugh, which instantly made me feel better.

After the mess was cleaned up, I climbed into my bed to write, another activity that calms my soul. Bathing with the dog was definitely a few steps beyond normal but it had worked some powerful magic. The fact that he smelled like lavender and I smelled like wet dog kept a smile on my face for a good, long while.