Not A Fan Of Mornings

Thankfully, I'm not woken until 7:40am. I entice Sam to snuggle and watch Playhouse Disney while I slowly gain conciseness.

We are all downstairs by 8am. Mae gets a fresh diaper and I start taking dogs out. This requires more than one trip due to big dogs with personality conflicts.

Back inside, I start my tea and feed the two-leggeds. Sam eats three Eggos (I know I vowed never to serve frozen waffles and to all those who smiled and nodded: you were right). Mae eats one waffle sparsely topped with maple syrup. She manages to squeeze out enough syrup to rub into her hair which she likes to use as a napkin.

I take what I intend to be a moment to catch up with e-mail. Sam insists I give him undivided attention as he tells me knock-knock jokes, Mae crawls all over me, and Meike nudges her snout under my arm.

I fill the bird feeders. Then I feed dogs and mediate their breakfast routine. After they eat I take Meike out. About a hundred yards from our door I see two big black dogs alert on us from our neighbor's driveway. I've seen these rouges on the loose before. They may be perfectly playful, but when confronted with Meike's aggression the situation could turn ugly. I run for the door. It's like running in a pool of water because Meike resists as she watches the big, black strangers. We make it inside, my heartbeat doesn't return to normal for at least 20 minutes.

I'm now calm. Sam is sucked into a new game on pbskids.org and Mae is watching a new Little Einsteins movie on Playhouse Disney. Time for a quick shower, then I hear something hit the window. I look up in time to see something black drop, then another black shadow dive for the ground. Outside my window I see a bird checking on it's partner who is laying on the ground, feet in the air. Oh man! I rush down in my bathrobe, the little guy is still breathing so I scoop him up and place him on the highest beam in the llama shelter, hoping for a full recovery. When I check a few hours later he is gone and I don't see evidence of feline interference. Awesome.

I experience all this living in my first two hours of the day. Chaotic, but much more interesting than a 9-5 job.