Day Three (or "It's Like Having a Toddler All Over Again

I have given birth to three wonderful children. Two of them are adults now and the other one just thinks she is. All those years of dealing with them as babies and toddlers has given me just the right amount of experience for dealing with Porter. In fact, today was a vivid reminder of all of those years because dealing with this dog is just like handling an energetic, stubborn two-year old that I can't turn my back on, have to keep constantly amused to keep him out of trouble, and wear out so he falls asleep so I can get some work done (because, after all, this is a "working vacation).
Since we went to bed relatively early last night (9:30pm) he was stirring in his crate by 6am, making this little snuffling noise just loud enough to let me know that he was awake and he wanted out. I ignored him for another 45 minutes and the snuffles turned into whines so I had to get up. So, we were up at 7am and had eaten breakfast by 7:10.
As I said before, this is a "vacation" where I actually have to get some work done (thank god for telecommuting) so spending two hours at the dog park today wasn't really an option. Since he did so well in the car yesterday, I decided we'd drive up there instead, thereby saving at least 45 minutes of total walking time up and back. I grabbed the car seat cover out of Sarah's car and spread it across the back seat because I knew he was going to be one, big smelly wet mess by the time we got done.
We were in the car by 7:50 am but I had forgotten something; even though I'm here on leisure time, everyone elses' life goes on and that meant school - and all the traffic that comes with it, since Jason's house is close to an elementary school. So, lesson learned. Do not leave the house until after 8am.
Even though it was a Monday morning and a work day,  Alston was still relatively busy. Who are all these people that have so much free time to walk their dogs on a work day? Perhaps they're the recently unemployed, I don't know, but there sure were a lot of people there on a Monday morning. It was a beautiful one too. The sky was blue and the hot air balloons were out in full force, drifting over the field. It was just like an ad in a chamber of commerce magazine enticing people to move to Napa. "Come to Napa where the sky is always blue, dogs are always welcome and it's 71 degrees in November." I wouldn't be a very tough sell right about now.
We saw some more familiar dogs. There was "Merlot" (another chocolate lab), "Pinot" (a tiny Chihuahua), and a Weimariner named "Cab" (which I'm sure was short for Cabernet). This is wine country, after all, and who am I to talk, considering Porter is named after a type of beer. I wonder what these people named their children, if they have any?

We only did two short laps today and were back in the car after just a half hour, but it was long enough apparently, because we got home and Porter promptly fell asleep in a patch of sunshine by the patio door. I took the opportunity to do a load of laundry, start the dishwasher and actually get some work done. Deja vu all over again from when the kids were little and it was a contest to see how much I could get done during nap time.
One of the funny things about this dog (and trust me, there are plenty) is the fact that he has his own little area in the kitchen, fenced off by a kids' playpen gate, which is probably two feet in height, yet he hasn't figured out yet that if he wanted to he could either knock it over or just jump over it. Well, okay...maybe he couldn't jump over it (not because it's too high, he's just too clumsy). It's so funny. "Porter, go to your kennel" I'll tell him and he'll amble in to the fenced area and lay down, while I fix the flimsy latch on the gate. I hope the day never comes when he figures out he's just one little bump away from freedom.