I was having a particularly pleasant dream about my books being in the bestseller lists when the monster Boxer awakened me from blessed sleep about three hours before it was time for me to get up. The disturbance was certainly at a most inopportune time, erasing most of the details on the dream, only leaving me with that solitary memory to hold onto when I grabbed the beast and dragged her onto the bed.
I’d fully intended to continue on with the dream, but of course failed when I dropped off into unconsciousness and didn’t surface until the alarm started screeching, causing the usual riot from the pack, demanding to be let out.
Still exhausted, I watch them dash out into the cloudy daylight, hesitating for only a moment before I stagger back to the bed, set the alarm for another forty minutes and crawl under the blankets for “just a few minutes more”.
The extra sleep has helped considerably when I finally do get up, prying my eyes open and carefully evading the pack that has gathered around my bed with apparent indignation of having been left to their own resources for a measly forty, bloody, minutes.
Chaos is actually staring up at me in accusation when I literally step over him to get out of the bedroom uttering an occasional yap, while Lhabana and Gada, the two lovable Labs, are bouncing up and down in front of me to get their much needed pat on the head. You’d think I’ve been gone for a day, if their behavior’s any indication.
I hurry through the morning rituals and head on down to the house, pleased to note that big brother took his time as well, and arrives ten minutes after I do.
Still in my rest days, I don’t feel inclined to do exercises today, and since no laundry has been done during the night, I have a quick breakfast, feed Yadzia, and settle behind the computer with a mug of coffee beside me in record time.
Messages and chats follow, after which I open the psychic drama file and start reading. It’s been a while since I wrote the beginning of the story, and in order to get back in the flow I’ll need to read everything I already wrote down in the past.
CNN is on, just as it is most days when we’re working on the computers, and it distracts us into a heated rant when the reporters start talking about the changing climate.
It amazes me how people still trust scientists that make all sort of predictions about when the icecaps will melt completely. I remember clearly, just a decade ago at most, when all those “knowledgeable” folks were claiming that it would be at least another fifty-to-a-hundred years before things got as serious as they did this year, but there it is. Storms raging all over the globe, temperatures out of whack, it’s visible everywhere, setting all sorts of records.
Also those that claim fluctuations to be normal and that we, as humans, have nothing to do with it…OMG. And these people went to universities, studied for this? It baffles the mind. How can a species counting more than seven billion bodies, NOT have an effect? It’s basic math, really.
If a large bunny population is crowded on too small a territory that area will rapidly disintegrate. How is this any different? Does the regular human being have more or less waste? Do bunnies drive cars; fly planes and whatnot all known and accepted as major polluters? Like I said, basic math.
Focus isn’t all that easy to find today. For some reason my mind keeps drifting off the story as I try to delve into the writing mood. Still, I manage to go through about ten pages before it is time for us to get ready to go to town.
I’m not at all looking forward to our lessons, but it has to be done, and I know it while we drive down the mountain and drop little sister off at the dentist. Once we arrive at the school we’re informed by our teacher that the computers are down, so we get two folders and a couple of test forms, and are send to the back where we are to do everything “the old fashioned way”. Pen, paper and crossing out multiple-choice answers for the next hour and a half.
It doesn’t go bad, or anything. We have done the questions on the computers often enough to get the majority of the questions right, but the mind-shift is somewhat disconcerting. In the time we usually manage at least eight tests, we now only manage four, and are feeling somewhat out of sorts when we leave the school and head to the waiting car to return home.
More than a little pleased that we did the groceries and other shopping yesterday, allowing us to go home immediately for a change.
After the familiar noisy greeting of the pack, and stuffing down a quick snack of French fries and veggies, I start cleaning up the kitchen in preparation of today’s “project”.
More tiling’s in the plans, and I’m just about done setting everything up when the sibs join me.
While little sister starts painting the recently revealed wall for the second time, middle sister prepares the glue for the tiles that I begin cutting for the last section of the floor. It takes some fancy cutting, since there are nooks and crannies, but it goes remarkably well by the time the glue’s done and middle sister cleans up the bare concrete for the actual laying.
For some reason, whenever we are trying to do something on the floor, all the dogs grow this major fascination for that particular section: Each and every one of them gathering around, crowding closer and preferably lying down on a tile we’ve just put down with quite some effort for putting it in right.
In the end we decide laying them in twos, covering them up with a board as soon as they’re down and thus saving them from being jarred by the dogs.
By the time we’re done with the floor, and halfway through the glue, middle sister and I move on to the part of the wall behind the counter that still needs to be done. With me cutting the tiles once more, she starts putting them up.
Big brother works on getting the electrical wiring for the fridges placed on the other side of the kitchen.
Since the freezer and fridge are still in their old place, big brother and I start moving them, giving room to middle sister who then continues with the wall tiles on her own.
Cleaning up the mess that has somehow gathered behind the machines takes at least thirty minutes, and we check the wiring before starting the laborious chore of moving the heavy machinery clear across the kitchen and settling them against the freshly painted wall.
There is a slight hiccup when one is in place. There are three big holes in the wall where old outlets were, and deciding to shut them, I use the leftover glue fill them up and smooth them over until they are once again part of the wall.
That done, the fridge is placed beside the freezer at last.
As soon as they’re set in place, the kitchen suddenly looks totally different. The dimensions have altered, dwarfing the rather big coolers, now that the ceiling is only a couple of feet above them. It also makes the counter cozier while creating lots of space on the other side, where a large expanse of wall has been opened up.
Cleanup. It is a big mess all through the kitchen and it takes us almost an hour to get it all cleared away. It is already past midnight when we are finally done, and I sit down to watch the final episodes of “Frasier” while discussing the vampire saga big brother and I are working on.
At long last, having caught my breath, it is time to head on up to my cabin where I feed the dogs and get ready for the night. It’s been a long day, and I can feel it in my bones by the time I settle behind the computer for a few quick chats and the Blog, of course.
I’m actually happy for the holidays for a once. It means that we won’t be going out and this will certainly allow us to just fall back into the pleasant routines of work and play without annoying interruptions.
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