Did you know that in Pennsylvania, March, is a winter month? I mean, it’s not as though March is a summer month here, but our daffodils are up and smiling! The daffs I saw there, were wearing tiny little hats and gloves and looking really, really annoyed - They were all on their tiny cell phones calling their little travel agents and asking for big refunds. Daffs are not snow bunnies, they’re more of a sit on the deck and work on the tans kind of flowers. The only coolness they are interested in is ice tea and the new spring styles.

And then I came home. It wasn’t actually warm but it was so much warmer than I had been experiencing it felt balmy in comparison. Yes, a balmy 52 degrees.

I got off the plane saying I can’t pick Dogger up until five. I am going to take a nap.After spending a couple of hours putting stuff away and doing laundry I said I can’t pick up Dogger until five, I am going to take a nap and then putting away the laundry and going through mail I was saying I have a bit of time left, I am going to take a nap .

The few hours I was at home prior to getting Dogger were the longest period of time I had spent petless in a long time. No dog, no cat... I have to admit, I did party a little bit. I went outside because I wanted to! and didn’t close the door behind me! And while I was inside, I moved the baby gate out of the door way and into the hallway where it wouldn’t be in the way and I left food unguarded out on the counter top! instead of quickly taking what I wanted and then putting it back out of sight and later on when I was comfortable on the chair watching TV and I didn’t want to get up, I didn’t.

But I got lonely. There was no one to steal my food or shred my utility bill. Nobody needed to be pilled or taken out again to pee. No one needed the blinds opened or their toy rescued from under the chair . My nest was empty and I wanted my baby birds back.

Doggers pick up time was supposed to be 5pm, but I made the drive over at a quarter after four just in case the traffic was bad. I wasn’t the only one, another dog person went and banged on the door at 4:30 and they let us in . The boarding place gave me report and said she was really good and did fine with the stress of boarding. They even gave me a note from the vet saying she had been examined and was just fine. She did so well being boarded! - although the precautionary pred she was taking didn’t hurt anything either. They said what a sweet girl she was and how well she had done and then they brought her out and she did her best to leap into my arms. It’s good to be loved.

And on the way home I said I am still going to take a nap. We got home and I puttered around and Dogger frolicked with her toys and then I decided that since The Kitty wasn’t home yet that I was going to reward Dogger for being so good over the weekend: I was going to let her sleep upstairs in my room on my bed, with me.

Dogger sleeps in her bed in her room by herself. We don’t bunk together. It’s a little bit because she’s very big and very Doggy and a whole lot because that’s The Kitty’s space and we don’t want The Kitty to kill us in our sleep. I am only allowed to sleep there because he knows I pay the mortgage and he would prefer to not have to work outside the home.

So, in preparation, I gave a Dogger a nice bath and I covered the bed spread with a blanket and all the while I was saying I’m going to bed early, but I still had to launder her bedding and her wet bath towels and I still hadn’t eaten dinner.

And then I finally made it to bed., at my regular time, I took Dogger upstairs and told her to get on the bed and then I turned off the light and settled back in my own bed with my own dog and twenty minutes later my own dog decided that she also wanted to be on her own bed but she would stay upstairs because she was happy to see me and she can’t operate a door knob unaided.

I woke up Monday morning and it felt a whole lot like it should have been Wednesday.