A Day of Days

Some days just focus the energy of the times into one wacky 24 hours. Today is such a day.

It started at the unholy hour of 4:32 am. Rodney decidecd that he simply had to go to the bathroom and was not taking "no" for an answer. He licked my nose, whined in my ear, scratched at the covers...then Perkunas joined added his efforts and I was outvoted. So, throw on clothes, grab glasses and navigate the stairs to bring the dogs downstairs. This is trickier than it sounds - my stairs are fairly steep and I have to carry the dogs, one in each arm, since they are too stubborn to traverse the steps on their own.

Open the back door and get hit with a blast of 10 degree air. The dogs tried to balk on going outside, but a slippered foot to their backsides changed all that. After they had eliminated everything that a dog can eliminate, I let them back into the house. Normally, I would head back upstairs, put on my contacts and begin my day. Not today. I decided to toss off the slippers and glasses and bury myself under the blankets on the couch. Oh, just one more precious hour of sleep...

Warmly bundled, I began to drift off when I felt something banging on my face. Rodney was doing a popcorn dance trying to get on the couch and ramming his nose onto my face to garner my assistance. Yeah....so, up he comes and promptly splays himself on my face and begins that deep, fast breathing that signals a dog actively trying to fall asleep. So, I wriggle my nose so that it is breathing fresh air and not puppy penis and drift off.

I didn't wake for 3 1/2 hours. I haven't slept until 8:00 am for years. Rodney had changed position, perched on my head like a hat and Perkunas had joined us, clutching my foot like a teddy bear. It took an act of Congress to get those two lazy bones to move and even more effort to get them fed and ready to meet the day. And it was a day lacking an agenda. The sky was crystal clear and the sun was blazing, despite the cold. The big issue was the approaching storm. We are slated to see 12 or more inches of snow between tonight and tomorrow afternoon. So, the only real objective was to be sure that the house was stocked with provisions. That meant plenty of Coke Zero and microwave popcorn. But, my eye spied the bag of chicken breast jerky that the dogs love as a special treat. It was getting low. That indicated a trip to Costco. What the heck.

Dogs gathered, purse found, car pre-warmed using the remote starter. Yeah. Oh, need gas. Drat. Just the thing for ridiculously low temperatures, standing around filling the tank. Of course, the gloves have to come off or they get impregnated with gas fumes. So, fuel and freeze. Finally, on the Interstate. The dogs have to stand on my lap today and try to drive. They also try to lick my nose. Fortunately, the traffic was light and no innocent lives were lost during the trip. Got to Costco with only a glimmer of a plan. Buy dog chicken and putter about - that about summed it up. Then I walked in the door...

I could see it from afar. Human eyes are sensitive to three things in order: motion, color and form. It wasn't moving, but the color was unmistakable. White, green and silver. XBox 360. There it was. I covered the distance between the door and the display faster than the speed of light. Oooohhhh....console, hard drive, 2 wireless controllers, Ethernet cable and one game. $489.00. Normally, I would throw up a little in my mouth while contemplating a three-figure purchase, but this was sweet. And they were going fast. While examining the package, I was hit by several sets of hands grabbing units. Not going to leave me in the cold. Mine, mine, mine......

Well, that purchase made a trip to Best Buy an imperative. Had to get games and I found 3 that will suffice for now, Quake 4, Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo. Drat that I still had groceries to buy before going home. And the grocery was a zoo. Everyone was stockpiling for the storm, so lines were long and cashiers were cranky. But, supplies purchased (including a carrot muffin for the dogs as a treat), I screamed home as fast as the RAV 4 could take me to get my game system set up.

Surprisingly, connection of game console to TV was easy. Usually, I wind up pulling out my hair getting configurations correct, but this was a snap. Oooohhhhhh....,46" widescreen HDTV filled with gaming action. Stupidly, I started with Quake 4. I forgot that 1st person engine games can make me nauseous. I had to putter around with some XBox Live arcade games to calm my stomach before I could go back to some serious slaughter. Hee hee hee....

My neighbor is doing some major home renovation, so my walls are rattling a bit. I am reciprocating with laser blasts and the death screams of mutant humans. Let the snow fall...I am so ready....