From bad to good

Today didn't start well.  I thought it would be ok since I went to bed before the evening news came on last night.  Getting up on time wasn't even an issue - I had plenty of time to take Coal on his morning trash patrol of the neighborhood.  That is were things started to go down hill.

Coal likes to - uhm - do his business when we get about a half block from home. Not wanting to be accused of being rude, I come prepared to remove the doodie and dispose of it properly.  Somehow I noticed this morning that there was dog stuff on the outside of the baggie and all over his leash - yuck!  Luckily I had a spare bag and could remedy the mess at hand.  

Coal learned a new trick this week.  He finally figured out how to get on our bed. This makes getting ready for work a little more challenging.  Consider this:

• He loves the taste of any body lotion.  Getting dressed is a little difficult when you have a dog furiously licking the back of your legs.
• He is a thief.  His favorite thing to steal - shoes.  And I'm a shoe-aholic.  I can't open the closet door without him following me in and trying to steal any shoes he can get his paws on.  Mamma ain't gonna let him steal any of my high-heeled collection!
• He also likes to steal towels, paper on your nightstand and any stray clothes or pillows that may have fallen on the floor.  This means that you have to stop every minute or two to see what he is running off with now. (We gave up chasing him unless it is a precious item or he will get hurt - otherwise it is just a game to him.)
  
• Making the bed is now a challenge.  Straightening the sheets and blankets looks like one fun game to this puppy.  I once had a cat who loved it when you made the bed on him.  But there is a difference between a 6 lb cat and a 60 lb squirming, wiggling puppy!

Once I finally successfully got dressed and was ready to walk out the door, I realized that I had 15 minutes to navigate rush hour traffic before my first meeting of the day.  Have I ever mentioned that I live 18 miles away from work?  I also had a document that was due at 10 that I needed to finish (ok, I needed to start it) and I had back-to-back meetings all day long.  Oh, yeah, and if you don't arrive within the first hour of business in our building, parking spots are at a premium (some days it takes me longer to get from my car to the building than it does to drive down the highway). I was not happy camper!

I got lucky and someone with a premiere parking spot was leaving as I pulled in (only 2 minutes late for my meeting).  With the promise that I would give her parking spot back when she returned, she agreed to let me have her spot.  My meeting was finished in record time so I had time to complete my document and turn it in with 15 minutes to spare!

Thankfully, the day went up hill from that point on.  Good thing because, I was not a pleasant person to be around this morning (ask Mr. Monkeygirl or the poor woman who honked at me this morning - I was redefining road rage!).  After work, I had to return Mickey to my BFF and her daughter.  Fortunately, they live really close to Hobby Lobby so we agreed to meet there so we could exchange the mouse and get some shopping in.

I helped them pick out some great prints for their bedrooms and they helped me picked out some frames for a print I picked up on vacation.  Before we could do any real shopping damage, we were forced to leave because it was time to close.    Starving from our shopping expedition, we decided to grab some dinner.  Mr. M had to work late tonight and since he was close, he joined us.  It was a very good way to end what started out to be a completely horrible day!