Making Adjustments

Since Belle joined our family back in January, some things around the ToadMama Abode have had to change. My morning routine is just one of them.

Belle, you see, is a morning girl. And she likes to eat on time. Twice a day. Meg used to eat once a day, in the evenings. So she's not complaining about this routine at all.

The latest Belle ever lets me sleep is 7:15. That's the latest. But most days she drags me out of bed earlier than that. She's bouncing off the walls with energy, ready to run, and play. And she wants to eat. So I get up, make my way blindly downstairs (my eyes take a while to open fully) and let the dogs outside. Then I get my coffee started. By then, the dogs are ready to come in and get their breakfast.

While they're eating, I fill my coffee cup and plant myself on the recliner so I can ingest some caffeine and wake up fully. As soon as Belle is finished with her breakfast, it's lap time.

While I'm waking up, I like to check my e-mail, catch up on the news, update my blog, etc. Using my notebook computer, of course, which sits on my lap.

It's a good thing I have long arms. Because mornings here are all about Belle. She has to sit on my lap. She's relentless. And she's so darn cute, I just can't say no. So I've had to adjust my notebook positioning to allow Belle the lap space she needs while still letting me reach the keyboard.

It seems to be working. Belle looks quite comfortable, doesn't she? Hubby disturbed her a bit, waking her up while taking pictures. But she went right back to sleep.

She can see one of the bird feeders from my chair, too. So she changes position quite frequently. And she likes to stretch. Which can present a problem.

As time passes, she slowly ekes out more and more lap space. Like I said earlier, it's a good thing I have long arms.

Anybody know a good way to keep dog hair out of a keyboard? I need to start looking for a wider chair...