I love my dogs

Normally, I'd drive to Athens every day and study surrounded by the smell of coffee and the sounds of Athens townies, but thanks to nearly $4/gallon gas, I'm staying home every other day. One great benefit of this is that I get to hang out with my two Boston Terriers, Pablo and Frida.

When I look over and see them passed out from a rough night of sleeping and a trying morning of... sleeping more, I count myself fortunate that marrying Carissa also meant inheriting these two awesome animals.

I nearly always had a dog growing up and really missed having one around when I was single, so it was great when part of my first date with Carissa was picking Frida from boarding. I'm pretty sure my immediate infatuation with Frida (on left in picture) was a clincher with Carissa. Pablo came a few years later and I love that little guy just as much.

Carissa, in addition to bringing two dogs into my life, also showed me that, relative to her, I kind of liked dogs. Carissa, on the other hand, loves her dogs. I'm pretty sure I remember laughing at her when she told me that "Frida was mad" at her because Carissa accidentally stepped on Frida's toe. Seriously, I thought she was nuts. How could a dog be mad, much less communicate that it's mad, at her? I'm pretty sure it took me a matter of days to find out that Frida was indeed a person trapped in a black-and-white, four-legged body with six nipples (and now seven nipples for some freaky reason).

Since then, I have frequent and regular conversations with both Frida and Pablo. Sometimes, we agree, sometimes we disagree, and sometimes Frida poops in our bed. Okay, she only did this once or twice, but it was not the "I can't hold it any longer" poo. She thought it out, laid the trap, and raptuously drank in the scene while I cleaned poo off of my toes. It was pure, unadulterated vengeance.

Fortunately, defecation is an infrequent part of our relationship. Pablo and Frida are indeed people... and as I write this, I'm looking over at Frida sleeping on the couch with her tongue hanging out and little else makes me laugh harder.