Behind the wall of sleep

Funny story.
I got home from working a shift at the News-Miner last night tired but happy. It was a good night, though I was little drained from the stress of having to finish an overdue freelance article earlier that day. But, I paginated some decent pages: world pages, nation pages, editorial page and entertainment. What I like about this gig is that I choose the stories that run on these pages, so even though I obviously have to keep up with what's going on in the world, it can a little less Iraq/Bush and a little more of, well, ANYTHING ELSE. I really don't have any clout but I have managed to slip in a few stories from Canada and, gasp, other countries that don't start with U and end with S.A.
But I digress. So it was good night. Skittles and Gary were on the desk, too and they're always fun...they just found my blog last night, so I have to be nice. Love your new goatee, Gar! I spent some time clownin' with the press guys over nicknames. Mark has gone from Big Tuna, to Tiny Tuna or Tina for short...this was not my doing. I swear.
So I get home, bleary-eyed from reading, reading, reading. I notice immediately that Bully is not at the door to greet me. Where is he? Instead of looking in the pen, potentially waking all the dogs and starting a bark-fest at 1 a.m., I here the TV on upstairs and call Sam's name. Quiet at first but getting louder as I approach the stairs. No answer. Indoor voice becomes outdoor voice. I climb the stairs wondering if maybe he had gone out with a friend. Then I see him. Lying peacefully in bed. I call some more. Sam? Sam! Sam! Sam? Sam? SAM?!!! Nothing. Now I'm standing over him and I realize he's not breathing! He's dead! I grab his arm and scream 'Oh my god!!' That's when Sam woke up. He did so with such a start that I thought he was going to hit the ceiling. I'm certain I took at least 10, maybe 12, years off his life. After his heart rate returned to baseline, we had a good laugh. Now that, my friends, is a heavy sleeper.
Today I'm going up to Windy Creek Kennel to run puppies with Gwen. Mine will be included to today's training session so we'll see how they do.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Libby for pointing out that a couple of posts ago, when I was in Seattle, I wrote a caption for a photo that said 'Random girl buying friend at the market.' It should have read 'Random girl buying FRUIT at the market.' I guess fruit can be a friend, however. Especially to a single girl on a Saturday night.

Photos from today's puppy training to follow.
Peace.