Olive the wonder dog, our Yellow Lab. who appears to have survived a bout of cancer back in the spring (which I'm totally thankful for---honest), is annoying the daylights out of me. She's begun waking up at around 4am or so this week, thinking she wants to go outside, while in reality, she's only disturbed that her younger sister---our Shepherd Opal---has taken over the covers. Nuts.
My problem is that I can rarely get back to sleep after her escapades. I hear the click, click, click of her nails on the kitchen floor only after the slight bump of her sliding the baby gate to the side of the dining room doorway so she can make her way to our bedroom door. My hearing is phenomenal.
I think as I've gotten older the things that have been most difficult to manage have been: sleep and lack of privacy. Even now I find myself typing quickly because I know one of our sons will be up in about 10 minutes. Then the fiasco of letting dogs out/feeding them, and hopefully a tiny nap for me before the rest of the house wakes up. I'll tell you, I have to be up in the middle of the night to get any peace and quiet. Oh, I forgot. Olive messes up that plan.
Must put on my happy hat, hmmm? I sometimes feel that my brain has been removed and stretched tightly over a flat surface. I'm not as bright as I used to be (or maybe I kid myself), and the days are getting much, much shorter.
On the up side, I'm have lunch out with an out-of-town friend today. If I can really slip in that nap, that ought to be fun. We'll see (lovely phrase---a parent's last defense).
My problem is that I can rarely get back to sleep after her escapades. I hear the click, click, click of her nails on the kitchen floor only after the slight bump of her sliding the baby gate to the side of the dining room doorway so she can make her way to our bedroom door. My hearing is phenomenal.
I think as I've gotten older the things that have been most difficult to manage have been: sleep and lack of privacy. Even now I find myself typing quickly because I know one of our sons will be up in about 10 minutes. Then the fiasco of letting dogs out/feeding them, and hopefully a tiny nap for me before the rest of the house wakes up. I'll tell you, I have to be up in the middle of the night to get any peace and quiet. Oh, I forgot. Olive messes up that plan.
Must put on my happy hat, hmmm? I sometimes feel that my brain has been removed and stretched tightly over a flat surface. I'm not as bright as I used to be (or maybe I kid myself), and the days are getting much, much shorter.
On the up side, I'm have lunch out with an out-of-town friend today. If I can really slip in that nap, that ought to be fun. We'll see (lovely phrase---a parent's last defense).
