the battle for the bed . . .

so today . . . i've been dealing with the aftermath in the garage from defrosting the freezer out there--you know, the running water? the pile of wet towels? the toppled boxes? but i had to take a couple of breaks. ok, i actually took a lot of breaks, and every time i sat down, milo was all over me--he is so needy today.

last night the dogs were so funny. i went to bed really late, as i usually do in the summer. i don't know where milo was, but mia immediately jumped up and laid down right next to me--and i mean RIGHT NEXT TO ME. she was scrunched up as close as she could get--on top of the covers, of course.

this particular spot has become the most desired place on the bed if you are furry and four legged. i'm not quite sure why, since both dogs seem to prefer the alpha male in the house. but he is not quite so accommodating when it comes to sharing his sleeping space with two furry bodies. mia very quickly learned that it was much easier to snuggle up next to the girl person, since i am too polite to make the dogs move. but milo clearly prefers rollie's side. if he would quietly sneak over there, i think he could get away with it, but milo is not so good at sneaking. his approach generally starts with jumping up on the bed (with the aid of a cardboard box that makes a pretty loud noise when all 15 pounds of him hits it,) tromping over the top of me (which generally results in some sort of sound, like "OOF" escaping from between my lips,) and then attacking rollie's face and head with his front feet and tongue. actually he tries to lick rollie's face off while holding it down with his front feet. this usually results in rollie waking up abruptly, and turning over out of milo's reach. at which point milo plops his fat little behind down between our pillows and looks around like, "what was that about?" then he walks above my head, and lays down RIGHT NEXT TO MIA, who can't take it, and gets up and goes to the foot of the bed--still on top of the covers. then milo settles down in the preferred spot--on top of the covers--and goes to sleep. this is what happens almost every night . . .

but last night was a little different. rollie was in bed, i was in bed, and mia was settled in her spot next to me. i heard four little feet approach the bed and then scramble up. and stop. milo surveyed the situation from the foot of the bed before making a decision about where to go. (sometimes i think that milo thinks the bed belongs to him--i mean, he sleeps on it most of the day--so maybe he thinks we are all in his space!) rollie must have been sleeping on his stomach, which limits the amount of face exposed for licking. so milo decided to skip that part of the process and came and laid down next to me, but not quite touching mia. they were positioned like ying and yang. and i went to sleep.

well i tried to go to sleep. but i got hot--too many covers for a night that turned out to be warmer than we anticipated. i tried to rid myself of the quilt, but there was 50 pounds of furry flesh anchoring it down. i turned over. i got really close to them and pushed, just a little bit. neither dog would budge.

i tend to be polite, sometimes to a fault. i don't think that is a bad thing, but sometimes it makes it hard to get what i want. and last night i wanted those dogs to move! but i was too polite to wake them up and make them get down. finally i thought, if i could just get the quilt out from under them . . . so i started gently pulling, but i soon realized that gently was not going to do the trick. so i pulled a bit more vigorously. still no good. finally i yanked hard enough that mia got up and looked at me like, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!" i moved the quilt quickly and tried to settle her back down, but she would have none of it. she walked to the foot of the bed, sighed heavily, and flopped down.

as all of this was happening, milo was laying quietly in the next best spot. he didn't budge, but his eyes were open and watching every thing that happened. as soon as mia moved, he sort of s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d out toward me. and then he wiggled a little closer. and before i knew it, there he was--laying right next to me, on top of the quilt . . .

milo weighs less than mia when they are awake, but when they are sleeping, i am telling you, he weighs twice as much. that fat little body of his is like a bag of cement! and he doesn't read social cues very well, so i figured my chances of getting him to move were pretty slim.

i decided to go for broke! i lifted up his back end and pulled out both the quilt and the sheet. and then i lifted up his front end and pulled out both the quilt and the sheet. finally! i was free of unwanted covers!!

and it was a good thing, because there was a very warm, furry body snuggled up right next to me, showing no signs of moving any time soon . . .i'm glad somebody was getting a good night's sleep!