Warm & cuddly, sorta

There's a nice coating of frost on the grass this morning here in beautiful, sunny Houston, which means today may be the day when the sweaters change places with the T-shirts until it warms up again. (This being Houston, however, the change-back date could be tomorrow.)

Cold weather is good sleeping weather and great cuddling weather. It just so happens that although The Martian is some thousands of miles away in his own cold place, I still have a nice warm cuddle machine. Her cold nose, notwithstanding, Lakrids is a marvelous cuddler -- if she can stop wiggling long enough to actually snuggle.

Sleeping with a dog is different from sleeping with a people. If you are having trouble falling asleep, and your dog is happily snoring there just an arm's length away, you can reach over and scritch her between the ears, or just above the tail, and she will wake up with a loving expression on her face. If you wake up & you are chilly and the dog has made a nice, warm spot just an arm's length away, the same scritching technique will allow you to skootch over into the warm spot, and she does not insist that she have it back, as long as she can press her doggie self upon some part of you while she warms up a new spot.

My dad is dumbfounded by the thought of this rambunctious, energy hound as a cuddler: "She sleeps on your bed? Doesn't she wake you up in the morning by pouncing all over you?"

Well, she has done that, but mostly she just curls up in a dog ball & sleeps or watches me sleep until she sees an eyeball. The eyeball, apparently, is the dog's universal signal of "Time to get up & start the very exciting and fun-filled day!" If I can keep my eyes closed, I can cuddle with her until noon. But of course I love to look at her cute face and scritch her belly, so ...

There are people who say that my dog is spoiled. I think they miss the point. If she is spoiled, it's only because she spoils me rotten.