Trading my fake job for my real job: Day 14

I had the best sleep last night. Probably had something to do with no 3 am whining wake up calls from the dog. Nevertheless the day started with me waking up from a dream where I was putting the dog out for a pee. Coming into consciousness, I remembered putting her in the garage last night. So I hustled downstairs not worrying about a t-shirt nor socks. She needs to go outside. She was happy to see me and rushed to the front door. Once she was outside, it gave me a chance to do my business.  I hear a bark, followed by a double bark, followed by a triple bark. Rushing to the door, barely getting my shorts back on, the only thought is that someone is walking on the road and the dog is sprinting toward them. When I get to the door, she's ten feet away looking off to the left, bouncing as she takes every threatening bark. She doesn't come to my command, which isn't surprising. I have to break her concentration so I clap my hands, shout her name, whistle but to no avail. I'm getting cold. Yet she's focused on something. Probably a raven, I think to myself. She bolts across the lawn to the left of the driveway. The side of the house obscures my view, so I step out onto the cold cement step to peer off to the left. There's a massive raccoon to the left of the driveway and my 15 pound dog has decided to chase it down. In a pair of shorts, I sprint barefoot out the driveway to stop my puppy from getting her life clawed out. Stupid dog probably thinks the raccoon is another defenseless declawed kitty like her friend in the house.

I convince the dog that this animal is not worth her time. She'd kick this kitty's ass. "Come on, now, leave him alone, he's not worth it." I must have said something that broke her focus. Maybe it was the yelling at this early morning hour that surely woke the neighborhood, but in either case, she agreed and we ran back to the house together. Only when I get back inside that I realize that I was barefoot and bare chest on this chilly April morning. My feet started hurting from the little pebbles trying to penetrate the epidermus of the soles of my feet. With the adrenaline rush of chasing my guard dog, I was not cold until I got back into the house.

Today is clean-up day part two. My queen will be home in two days and I must make her castle look as good as it was before she left. So after the kids are fed, I take upon the task of completing my cleaning list.

The boy liked the fact there was more time for playing today.

The girl drew pictures most of the day.

Supper was another hit. My mom taught me that everything is better deep fried. So I took some fish that no one would eat but me, rolled it in batter and deep fried it to everyone's demand for more. I gained 4 pounds while our queen was away and we never ate in a restaurant once. I definitely don't make the same nutritious meals that mommy makes.

The boy wanted to watch his favourite hockey team play in tonight's playoffs, so once again he went for a 6 pm nap. I woke him up at 8 pm to watch the game. At one point, we were snuggling on the sofa, watching the game and drinking our beers, when I rubbed his head and told him I loved him. He straightened up, turned to me and said, "I know". Wanting to know how an eight year old sees love, I asked him how he knew. His answer created a tear out of the corner of my left eye. "Because you tell me almost every day".

Despite all the shit we go through, all the discipline, all the disappointments, my boy knows I love him because he says I tell him almost every day. He couldn't have made my day any better with that.

The game went into overtime. There's no way we're going to stay up and watch the extra period or periods. It's a school night. So I offer the boy a solution. We go to my bedroom, turn on the TV and lay in bed. With a suitable solution, we go to bed. About 20 minutes go by, as I wander off to never never land, the boy shouts in joy. His team has scored the game winning goal. Great, now we can turn off the TV and go to sleep. He accepts my offer to sleep with me tonight, so away we go together to our independent dream worlds.