Sorry to Wake You But...

This morning it was painfully hard to get out of bed. Although right now it is 82+ degrees outside, the mornings have been chilly. Of course it's all relative, when it's still in the 90's outside during the day, the mid 50's seem down right cold.

I will confess that since I am taking a break from early morning running, I haven't been getting up as early. As a matter of fact, in the last two week I haven't been up before 5:45 at all. And before you roll your eyes, I am an early riser but I also go to bed at the same time as your great-Grandmother.

So the mornings have been cold and I have gotten into this weird habit of turning off my 5 o'clock alarm without even remembering that I have done it. Scary. To add insult to injury my "jump-out-of-bed-and-have-energy-without-the-aide-of-hot-caffeinated
-beverages" husband has been getting out of bed when his alarm chimes (he places his alarm on the other side of the room so he has to get out of bed to turn it off), re-sets his alarm for 15 minutes later, climbs back into bed and immediately falls back to sleep. Which actually drives me insane. How in the world do men do fall asleep so quick like that? Without laying in bed and thinking about 5438 different things, for at least 40 minutes. But I digress...

Well, this morning it was actually a few minutes past 6, and neither one of us has jumped out of bed in hopes that the other one will do it first, and I say, "OK! OK! Time to make the donuts!" (Please somebody tell me you are old enough to understand that phrase.) And then I grumbled something to the fact that it was all his fault that my life is so comfortable, and because it's so comfortable it makes getting out of bed very, very hard. At this point I got outta bed with a flashy grin and a quick step, and headed for the coffee pot.

I have a routine about most of the things in my everyday life. One of which is the "waking of the kids routine". The Girl doesn't wake easily when parental authority comes into the room at "dark" to coerce her from the warm bed. But, if you get Kona, the family dog, to wake that same child, somehow the day begins as if she has just opened her eyes to a field full of daisy's and freshly baked muffins, and as many pairs of shoes she could possibly imagine.

When it's time to wake the kids, I look at Kona and sort of nod my head at her and she knows it's time to earn her keep.. She will quietly trot into The Boy's room first, jump on the bed and wait to be patted. Then she will follow me into The Girl's room and the same routine happens. Then I go to the kitchen and I give the dog a treat for doing her part to make my life easier.

Now, before you think pet ownership is all that and a Double Stuff Oreo, let me tell you this... Last month that same dog ate disgusting stuff out of the toilet, and last week when my Dad came over for a quick lunch, she stole his ham sandwich right off the stinkin' plate. Oh! and she also likes very much to roll in poop. Which is why she gets bathed often, and why you won't see her jumping on my bed for a wake up call. Ever.

When that canine can wake up the kids, cook up some breakfast, and throw a load of laundry in the wash, then by all means, I will blog about how charming pet ownership is in the La Vida household, and you can all think that my life is all fluffy down comforters and sweet, lovely early morning domesticity that smells of vanilla cookies.

Anyway, back to reality. This morning I rushed into the kitchen, poured a cup of coffee, looked over at the dogs bed, gave her the nod, and she didn't move. So I walked over to her and she is curled up in a little ball and is sleeping so soundly she is practically snoring. I reached down to pet her and she opened one eye and gave me look that said, "Why are you waking me up when it is still dark? Especially when it's so cold out side."

So the mornings have been a little bit harder these days as the weather changes and the sun takes its time to get up. And because I am not getting my early morning stuff done, that stuff is taking up more time during the day. But I don't feel too bad, because even the dog doesn't want to get up. It's nice to know I am not alone.

La Vida Dulce!