Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder...

Going back to work has been challenging for me this time, for various reasons that I won't mire everyone down with here.  The girls all handled it pretty well.  I imagine Bunny envisioned stretching out even more on the couch than she did before.  Blueberry probably figured she'd be able to rearrange the dog beds however she wanted them to her heart's content.  Lilac was probably enjoying eating out of any dog bowl she wanted to without me telling her to eat out of her own bowl.

However, they all have their own little routines to let me know that they've missed me, just a little, during their regularly scheduled all day naptime.  Lilac goes first, barking at me early in the morning while I'm getting ready in the bathroom.  Most of the time, she staunchly avoids the bathroom at all costs, because she believes the only good thing about water is that you can drink it.  She does not want any part of a bath, playing in the pool in the summer, or even walking through a shallow creek or water puddle.  The fact that she gets baths in there a few times a year has made it a perilous place to be avoided at all costs.  Yet this week, she's decided she's coming in for a morning scratch and chat time every morning.  Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Mr. Taleteller, aka The Giver of The Dreaded Baths, is back in bed at that time.

Blueberry is the most aloof of our girls.  Her little routine is waiting to come in from turn out and then getting on the couch with me before Bunny can.  Her beautiful head will wobble a little and she curls up just close enough that there's not room for Bunny, looking like a regal queen on her throne while she allows me to pet the softest greyhound fur in existance for a few moments.  As a lowly serf, this is a great boon she allows me.  She will close her eyes in contentment for a few minutes while Bunny snorts and stamps her little foot on the carpet.

Bunny doesn't waste any time letting me know she's missed me.  There are soft sighs from her in the morning that let me know that she's unhappy that I'm leaving, at least until she gets to have my yogurt cup to clean out.  When I get home at the end of the day, she has to do a little tap dance on the floor, then she runs to the living room, where I am expected to follow.  So, I sit on the couch for a minute, while Lilac grabs her rabbit to let me know that it's time to go outside, and Bunny leaps up to lean against my chest for a few minutes.  Her little body just can't seem to be able to contain her joy.

I have to say, it almost makes it worth going back to work, just to come home and see them so glad to see me.  Almost, but those Monday mornings still come awfully early!  If we could just ease back in with a later work start on Mondays, that'd be great.