"Absinthe?" "No. Not Absinthe. Absence."

"Good Lord, Missy, you really should get your hearing checked. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Absinthe just makes you stupid."

"Oh. I see. So you think they are going to forgive you for being absent from posting? You're not worried that your ... (cough, cough) ... readership has moved on to other blogs that tend to posting on a more ... (cough, cough) ... consistent basis?"

"Ruff? Ruff."

"No, Missy. I'm with Rocky on this one. I think my loyal readers understand that I sometimes need to clean each and every book I own and that takes time away from blogging. And they understand that I don't have to take photographs and discuss every single meal I have with good friends."

"Ruff."

"Last evening's meal was enjoyable, wasn't it? It warmed my heart to see everyone in the kitchen at the last minute, pitching in to make salad and salad dressing. Oh! And to find the butter knife. Sorry about that napkin, by the way."

"RUFF."

"I know. I know. I am ashamed of my behavior."

"As well you should be. I cannot replace or repair that napkin, Missy. And it was really old."

"ruff"

"mmmrruuff."

"Well. You served your time. I do want to caution you to not mess with the dominoes. They are a choking hazard and the last thing I want to do is to put my arm down your throat to yank out a domino before you choke to death."

"ruff?"

"Those little ceramic tiles we've been laying out out on the coffee table and elsewhere."

"Ruff."

"I'll do my best."

"No. Young Lady. You will do better than your best and you will leave the dominoes alone."

"RUFF!"

So I "scored" a set of double 12s at Tuesday Morning. You get what you pay for. It's missing 1-9 and had a duplicate of 0-9. I'm figuring one of the Girls has a nail polish of the appropriate shade and I can turn the extra 0-9 into a 1-9.