Favourite Books

  • The Green Mile
  • Animal Farm
  • Lord of the Flies
  • Lord of the Rings
  • To Kill a Mockingbird

Monday 29 February 2016

Me Time

Well..sort of me time..more like dog time, with some me time mixed in..However, that is pretty much the way of my world, and..a decision I accepted many years ago.
  Having A dog, is a huge decision. Your whole world changes, much like when you bring a child into the world. It is no longer simple..Want to take off for a few days? Hah! You have two choices, take your puppy (mine are  still puppies, and will remain so forever) or (O.K. maybe 3 choices) have an awesome friend who loves dogs as much as you do, and doesn't mind an extra 4 legs wandering about their home, and last, get a dog sitter. I know, folks in larger paces have the kennel option, but, that is unavailable in my area(and...I highly doubt I could ever leave my dogs with strangers).
  In my world, the most common, because I am beyond the extra 4 legs, and now have 8 legs to care for, is taking them along, wherever I go. Yeah...the other day, I thought how very nice it would be just to have a day and night without hair up my nose, and a damp mop attached to one arm to remove the continual muddy dog prints..I do have my moments. I can remember long drives that did not result in a big gob of dried drool on one shoulder, because my oldest baby insists on placing his head between the seats, and resting it at the perfect level of my arm. I remember starting out, throwing a nice clean blanket on the seats, to keep them dog hair , dog dirt free..LMAO..those days are long gone, everything we own is definitely not allergen free! Hey, maybe we are all allergic to dog hair, but..if so, we have learned to live with it, and it certainly hasn't killed us.
  I can't quite understand my dogs. See, a normal day, they would be let out first thing in the morning, around 6:30, maybe they would go out again just before 7:30, and then I would go off to work. The two of them would wait patiently until 11:30, when I take lunch, and always drive home (I used to have to walk). After that outside time, they would be stuck until 3PM. Hey, they manage quite fine. However, now that I am having "me time" and home with them 24-7, suddenly it seems their bladders have suffered set backs. For some reason they take turns whining at the door every 1/2 hour. Whats with that? I admit, I have indeed raised my voice, asking them WTF? No answers yet....
  Our dogs are not well behaved. They do all the things one is not suppose to allow. They watch us eat, and build small puddles of drool as they do so. They get bits of people food,(yes, I know, this is why they watch us eat) which we must ensure are dealt evenly between the two..not sure what we think will happen if one gets more than the other..most likely hurt feelings, which would make us horrid "parents". They lay on all the furniture, they drink out of the toilets, dripping water as they move along. One has a wonderful habit of taking a mouthful of food, and then walking away from her bowl, dropping pieces (perhaps leaving a trail, in case she forgets where the bowl is?) all over the floor. If you have never stepped on a piece of dog food in bare feet, you can't imagine how one tiny little dried up piece of crunch can turn a full grown human's ankle. And the final insult..they sleep in our bed.
 Of all the bad parenting habits, this is the worst! My honey dreams of a king sized bed, we have never had a bedroom that would allow a bed this size, and walking space, so..queen sized, it is. 2 NOT lilliputian sized humans, and 2 lab crossed dogs (one of which is damn large) squeezed onto a queen sized bed. Now, I make the bed! All of the sheets and blankets, and the duvet are designed for a queen size bed. I cannot understand why, if I am the last one in the bed (generally happens) there is, if I am lucky approximately .5 inches of bed covers left for my comfort.I worry about catching a cold in my kidneys, as my back is always without coverings. I have almost perfected falling asleep laying on about 8 inches of bed. The trick is to lay on one's back, allowing one leg on the bed, while the other dangles over the side. This is acceptable, only if you have the ability to cover your body with at least a bit of the sheet. For a reason, I have yet to understand, dogs become twice their weight upon closing their eyes, so wrenching the blankets from under them, becomes physically impossible! I am lucky, usually during the night, one,or perhaps both, will decide they are perhaps too warm, and will leave the bed. I must manage to grab covers during this time. Not quite sure what happens while I sleep, but they are back in bed when I open my beady eyes. In fact, usually the reason I open my beady eyes is one of them has decided I have had enough sleep.
  Now, we have added to our 8 legs..My honey has his puppy who travels in the log truck with him, and our son has his puppy, also learning to co-pilot. So, this "me time" has been filled with at times, 16 legs...8 of which decided to take themselves into the bathroom, and chew through the linoleum flooring, and continue right down through the 1/4 inch plywood under that. They were very particular, they chose the area surrounding the toilet, and because of access, were only able to create a large hole on one side of the toilet. It was pretty amazing how quickly they were able to do this, and the amount of wood chips that resulted from this remodel. So, now when one sits down to have some real "me time" one must ensure they position themselves in the correct manner, as to not cause the toilet to wobble.
  Upsetting? Yes! Costly, definitely! However, these are two puppies, they certainly did not wake up, and premeditate destruction. There is nothing they can do to fix the mess. It is unlikely they will ever do this again (I hope), and although it looks horrible, and it isn't going to be fixed for awhile, we will all survive.
  See, dogs are a huge decision, they cause messes, they can destroy belongings, your home, and your person is never completely neat and clean, but...."me time" would be extremely lonely if it was simply ME. With all of these legs roaming about, and all of the fur and drool that needs to be cleaned constantly, I am never without a purpose. Perhaps it is the empty nest syndrome..the kids grow up, and all those years of caring for two legged humans, have created the habit of needing to continue to care? My life, I hope, will forever be filled with warm furry bodies wandering about on 4 legs, without my puppies, I would not be Me!

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