G'morning

and everything changes.

4:45am and the first morning call sounds. yep. There is a "baby" in the house. A house training baby. It goes something like this...

A slight stirring on my pillow. I stayed up way too late trying to figure out that last Sudoku puzzle. (It was the only time I could do one without little puppy teeth trying to steal the pen, or the book.) I know I must get the leg on, which takes time as I must squeeze it on over the scrapes and bruises...but cannot take too much time or the puppy will have an "accident." (Yes, like they are really accidents...what a silly thing to call it!) So I take a deep breath, (which appears to be the sign to the big dogs that I am now officially awake and they launch upon me) throw back the covers, and the dogs, and grab leg parts and pieces. All the while I am getting a morning bath by three corgis, one of which is snarling and growling, then barking a piercing bark, as HE wants to be the one that greets me first. The two big dogs launch off the bed via ottoman, the HE man barking incessantly, the little man now yipping and squeezing his legs together. Me trying to make sure that little man stays on the bed and doesn't try to jump off thereby injuring himself and finding a nice place on the rug to "let loose," all the while bellowing "SHUUUUT UUUUPPPPPP" at HE dog. Leg on, pants dragging behind I hurriedly head for the front door. She dog follows close by, stepping on dragging pants as I now am yelling "MOVE" along with the aforementioned "please quiet down, class." Out the door goes puppy, and I stand on the porch and slip long side into pants leg then leashes on big dogs and let them out as well. One foot, the "real" one, is shoeless, as I obviously had no time to slip a shoe on if I had no time to pull up the pants...duh!!...and the wet grass is freezing cold. I mean, freezing. Seriously. Crunchy. It is May. What's with that??? OK, by now it is 4:47am. I get the dogs reigned in so that I can go use the bathroom. I was outside freezing my foot off and doing the potty dance. That is the ONLY thing that kept my foot from thawing the grass enough to permanently stick it to the grass as it refroze at oh-dark-thirty. At this point I sit on the throne and there are three faces parked at the door staring at me. Three pairs of corgi ears. The smallest beginning to wilt again. (Make note: re tape ears today.) Pick up the roll and the dogs begin to run. All three. Back and forth in the hall. One barking. It is their button that the day has officially begun...no it is their button that breakfast is imminent. Yep, that's it. So I wander down the hall, avoiding big puppy feet, and gather dog dishes. Turn on the hot water and begin the routine. A scoop of dry in each bowl. Carefully measured. Really. Then the meat, the vits, the cottage cheese for the pup, the salmon oil. Henry first, in the kitchen. Kate next, at my computer, Nugget last, in the crate. Then the dash back to my chair before Henry finishes and comes to steal from Kate. Once thwarted he heads to stare at Nugget locked securely in his crate. Nugget is sending messages to Henry "Open the crate and I will share." Henry begins to bark..."he said he would share"...Kate finishes and picks a favorite bone for the morning. I can now go get my robe to throw over me as it it cold in the house!! Puppy is done, so it is now time to go back outside. Once in after a successful outing that took at least an hour to find the perfect spot, not really but it seemed like it, Kate needs to go out. No, she didn't want to go a few minutes earlier, she didn't NEED to. Nugget must accompany her, of course, so out we go again. My boot that used to be at the computer has been taken under a bed somewhere, so my toes are now turning blue. Back inside I finally get to settle a bit and warm up. Nope. Henry. He refused to go out before as he had stolen Kate's bone, but now couldn't wait. sigh. No wonder the house is so cold. The door is open most of the morning! OK. It is now about 5:10. For real? I could swear I have been up for hours. OK, maybe it is 5:15, or even 5:20. The dogs are all settled chewing...on something. A quick puppy check comes up with some strange piece of plastic bracket. Trade for a toy and the fun begins. They all want that toy. That ONE toy. All three are now barking. I have to laugh when I see that the peanut has wedged himself between the folded up treadmill and the wall. He is the only one that can fit there. He knows it. He looks like a striking snake, but is laughing at them. He taunts a bit too much and one of the bigger dogs snags the toy. Dejected the puppy goes to the tile entry and flops down. Kate's cue that it is puppy bath time. For a brief few minutes all is quiet. Then it happens. Henry discovers that the toy has a squeaker. The rhythmic squeak gets the other two interested. Now they all want it again. Henry snarls, and squeaks, and snarls. Eventually they give up. Then he drops it from the couch. They are still not interested. He won't get down and get it. But wants it. From three feet away he barks at me. I raised three kids, I know the game. I refuse to play. My head is pounding. He won't stop. I throw something at him. Cue the two other dogs. Playtime!!!

The sun is now up. It is too early to take the dogs out to the field for their first romp. I love that time. Not only do the dogs get to greet the horse, and it is so darn cute, but I can wear them all out a bit so that I can relax, clean up, and start my day. yep. Start the day. It hasn't officially started yet. Wait, I smell the coffee. But I didn't fix any. How is that possible? Oh maaannnn...that's not coffee I smell.

sigh.

Good morning. It truly is. For all of that, these dogs do make me laugh. That is what it is all about. I do love them.

G2