Friday, October 16, 2009 - Poor Minnie

It’s early, and today has already been quite a struggle for Minnie. She doesn’t seem to understand why the squirrels can rummage around the backyard and dig in the mud while she is forced to watch behind a sliding screen of glass. I try mightily to explain to her that she can’t go outside because it is just simply too muddy, and I’m too lazy on my day off to bathe the mud off her. She, however, is completely ignoring me and pretending that she doesn’t know English today. I really don’t buy it, though. I tell her she seemed to have no problem understanding me when I asked her this morning if she was hungry. When I said, “Let’s go,” to Clayton, she was ready to be collared and taken with us. She understood when I told her to get her head out of the trash can, so why doesn’t she understand when I try to reason with her about squirrels? Maybe it’s because she is only two…and maybe because she is a dog. But I swear she understands more basic English words and phrases than half the kids I see at Wal-Mart. Well, probably not the best comparison, but I’m sure you catch my drift. I have a couple of days off next week and I hope to continue her mastery of the English language by teaching her to comprehend a couple of new phrases like, “Are you thankful I fed you dinner?” and “Can I please take you outside so I can walk around for 15 minutes and watch you not pee?” Hopefully all the squirrels will be scared away Monday when everyone finally returns to work on the Smith domicile. If that’s the case, then we will be officially eight days behind schedule on a project that was started 10 days ago. But we are looking at three or four days of nothing but sunshine, and our contractor thinks he can finish excavating and framing the hole in time for an inspection and concrete pouring by the end of the week. I tentatively hold my breath.