I begrudgingly woke up from a delicious dream this morning to a sore throat, stuffy nose, and a headache. I tried in vain to drift back to my dream, but I couldn’t escape the reality of the rising sun, or the whining puppy. It was morning whether I liked it or not. And I didn’t particularly like it.
After a trek through the yard with puppy, I fixed his breakfast (puppies eat several meals a day), took a dose of cold medicine, and prayed that a full belly would make Indy sleepy again.
I didn’t have to wait long. After a second trip to the yard, my giant puppy was ready to go back to sleep.
If I only I could breath out of my nose.
I lay in the bed waiting for the cold medicine to take effect and listened to the puppy snore. He had no trouble at all sleeping. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t fall asleep. Not when I couldn’t breathe. So instead of sleeping, I tried to replay as much of the dream as I could remember—it was a really good one—and hoped that the medicine would kick in before the puppy woke up.
I was ready to sleep just as he was ready to play.
I gathered up as many of his toys as I could find and tried to drift off to sleep while he played. It wasn’t working. For some unknown cosmic reason, puppies would rather play with anything other than their own toys. My flip flops come to mind…as do my magazines…and an entire roll of toilet paper!
After I gathered all of his contraband, I climbed back into the bed to attempt a quick nap again.
This time Indy disappeared under my bed. I could hear him rooting around under there, and I could see his tail and back legs poking out from under the side. A minute later he popped out with half of a pair of shoes that I was certain were lost for good. I really liked that pair of shoes too, so I collected the shoe and hoped he would surface again with the mate.
Three tennis balls and a mouth full of fluff later, he emerged with an entirely different mate to a different pair of shoes. Another favorite of mine. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know what else as down there. I was beginning to think that Indiana Jones, the puppy, truly was an archaeologist, unearthing long lost treasures from under my bed.
Again and again, I slid the puppy out from under my bed. Again and again, I retrieved fluff and assorted objects from his mouth. So much for grabbing a quick nap.
The rest of my day was much of the same. An endless cycle of decongestants, cough suppressants, vitamins, and puppy.
I really do love my puppy. I love looking at his sweet little face after he’s guzzled a bowl full of water, and the water is still glistening off his nose, and his chin, and the side of my leg as he leans into me—all twenty six pounds of him. I know this lack of sleep is just temporary as we adjust to each other. It won’t be long before Indy is completely potty trained, and not only able to feed himself, but able to open the refrigerator to bring me a snack. Maybe breakfast in bed.
Maybe I’ve been awake for too long. I could really use a good night’s sleep. I wouldn’t mind a rerun of that dream while I’m at it!
Until the next time…I’ll be succumbing to the effects of the decongestants!