Up Early

I'm awake early today.  For those of you that work a normal 9 to 5 day waking up before 8 am might not seem "early".  It is for me.  For the last few years I've been working a night shift.  Most days I'm still manfully trying to get in a few more hours of sleep at 8am.  My children don't seem to grasp the concept of being quiet so dad can sleep.

That's not a problem today.  Today its too quiet.  Even the dog has noticed a sense of peacefulness that has descended like a mist upon our home.  The children are gone, as is she who scolds him.

Yesterday was a big day.  The old women who cleans twice a year, came by in the afternoon.  She tormented him by running the vacuum cleaner and threatening to ram one of its attachments down his throat.  He refrained from barking his defiance.  Well, he did until the old women vacuumed him into the corner by his master.  With nowhere left to run or hide he made his stand and loudly bayed his displeasure at the contraption.

This morning all is still.  Mrs Ipsa and her mother have taken the children back to Grandma's house for Christmas.  They left early this morning.  They will be back in 17 days,  Yes I'm counting.  In that time they will consume more sugar than they have all year.  They will experience a Christmas at grandma's that will be the rough equivalent of 7.3 of the Christmases I had a as a kid.  They will make special memories.  They will have a fantastic time.

All's not gloom and doom at home.  I still have a selection of Thanksgiving leftovers to nourish myself.  And the dog.  I still have the dog.  He's even being extra attentive and wagging his tail more than usual.  Maybe he misses the kids too.  That or he's angling for some turkey and gravy.