Hurley & Me Chapter 2

The morning after the shower incident...

I didn't sleep really great the night before as it was the first night alone, you know, when every sound is amplified and your imagination gets the best of you. The roof creaks and all of a sudden you imagine someone is trying to break in. Your heart races for just a minute and you develop a plan of how to escape with both children quietly in the dark, somehow slip past the stranger, find the keys, get them both belted into their carseats and drive away....slowly........then you start to feel bad about the dogs you will just have to leave behind. I sleep with my phone by the bed and the nightlight on. It helps.
Actually since Hurley has been with us I feel much safer. He's not a barker, but my hope is that he would be very protective or at least intimidating. I know that ultimately our protection and peace comes from the Lord and He is with us.
Everything was as normal that morning. Levi woke up first, followed by Lily and the usual routine commenced. Strong coffee is #1 so that started brewing, baby was changed, breakfast was made.
Our family room is where the dogs sleep at night. I can close the door so they don't pace back and forth down the hallway and wake us up with their claws tap dancing on the hardwood floor. Not to mention that Hurley is very loud at night. Whether it's snoring, grunting or licking himself, it's just important to have him as far away as possible, especially since he reaked from going fishing.
I usually let the dogs out and feed them next, opening all the curtains and blinds to let the day in.
I'll explain now that about 80% of our home's flooring is either tile or hardwood, especially in the family room, there is only a small area of carpet by the couches and then another area by the french doors - two separate areas. After shedding some light into the room, there it was; not one barf pile but three. One was recognizable as a regurgitated baby wipe surrounded by a dog food stained liquid (area 1), the next one looked like an ingested sock or baby washcloth (area 2) and the third looked like the final hack so it was smaller (also area 2). Fabulous! Keep in mind that I'm holding Levi and Lily is walking by my side. Couldn't exactly put him down on the floor and run for some cleaning supplies. He'd probably crawl right through it or worse. Luckily, Lily understands things that are eeewwwy. Okay, think quick. How do I handle this? "Everybody out!!!"
Now please Hurley, can you tell me why you couldn't just puke on the tile? Wouldn't that have just been more considerate? I could simply wipe it up, disinfect and mop. His dog bed is surrounded by tile!! Did he really get up and walk to the first carpeted area and then to the other to unleash? It seemed so strategic!
I did my best to clean it up but how long had it been soaking in to the carpet? Two hours? All night? And now that the areas were wet and most likely not as clean as preferred I just put a blanket over it.

On to the next part of that day. There's a really cool trail system near where we live that is also dog friendly. Great way to work out with the kids, get some fresh air and let Hurley get his energy out. I just got a double jogger so to test it out I rounded up the kids, Jason's mom and Hurley and we set off to do some hiking. This was the second time Hurley had been there as Jason and I had taken him a few days before. He was really great then and stayed just ahead of us, off the leash. What's great is that he can do his exploring and experience all the 100,000 scents of the animals that had been there before, including horses. Again, here goes the trusting person in me.....I let him out of the car and proceeded to unfold the stroller and get the kids out and strap them in. This takes a bit of time and concentration. Okay, we're all set. "Hurley? Hurley!! " omg, omg, omg. This was not happening. Then I calmed down, and thought, okay, maybe he started the hike and we'll find him. Not much I could do about it now!
We proceeded toward the easy trail head, calling for him and luckily he appeared from over a small hill. Whew! "There you are". Then he got into squatting position. Oh great, okay, well, so he just has to go. That's okay, at least it was in the middle of the trees and no where near the trail. Then I noticed something was a little off. He kept squatting, then he'd take a few steps and try again. Weird. As we got closer, he then darted across the trail with a something hanging out of his rear that was about 18" long. I assumed it to be a paper towel or other paper product that had the priveledge of passing through his entire digestive system and failing to break down in the process. Jason's mom asked if I had anything in the car she could use to pull it out. NO! He's got this. I was confident. After a few more tries, it was out and he was off running.
The rest of the hike went surprisingly well and as before, Hurley stayed just ahead of us and enjoyed himself to the fullest.
As we returned to the parking lot, Hurley, at full speed ran toward a random pickup truck and jumped into the back of it. I guess he thought it was Jason's truck which was really kinda sweet, however, that set off the truck's alarm and it scared us all. Fortunately, as he immediately jumped out after my scolding the alarm stopped. Geesh again!
Oh Hurley, how I love you. How you bring adventure to our lives.

Well enjoy spring everyone! I'll probably have more stories in the coming days...