My "Old Man" & I

Look at that face!!! I just love it! Last night I had intended on going to a house party where one of my friends was coming up from Boston and playing with his band. The travel was over an hour and the ice on the roads was so thick that I opted to stay home. Gerry got a fire started in the fireplace and Bailey decided to spend quality time with me on the floor.

Most of my friends that know me, know that I refer to Bailey as an "Old Man". :-) He is a 13 year old yellow lab and he and I were NOT "love at first site". When I met this guy over 6 years ago, he was VERY protective of Gerry. Bailey is VERY manipulative (NO, he didn't get that from me). One tactic that I remember quite clearly....when Gerry first built our house, we were hanging out on his old feather pillow couch. Gerry was sitting up and my head was resting in his lap. Bailey (for the first time) came up to me and put his head on my belly and just had such a loving look on his face. I told Gerry we should let him up on the couch and have "quality family time". Bailey jumps on the couch. He's laying beside me towards the back of the couch. He looks up at Gerry and then at me and for the first time I thought, "Oh, this dog really likes me". THAT was not the case. Bailey decided to turn around, his back to me. Then, with one swift move, he shoves his legs into the back of the couch and I went flying onto the floor!!! I couldn't even believe it!! Then, he turned around, continued to lay down and looked at me on the floor and then laid his head on Gerry's lap and gave out one of his "comforatable" groans. Bailey has also resorted to charging at me in the yard, kicking my legs up from underneath as I went crashing on my back. He played a very dirty game! :-)

Years later, he has come to love me and knows that I spoil him rotten. Now, I come home to him greeting me at the door, all excited and smiling. He knows that he can still manipulate me but now it's not with evil intent! It's mostly to see how far he can get---which I can COMPLETELY identify with. :-) He, he, he!

I just adore him and love him to pieces---even through the trials and tribulations of our love/hate relationship. It has now evolved into love and friendship.

He's an "old man" in his routine. God forbid if Gerry and I have had dinner in a restaurant, come home and not make anything to eat....BAILEY melts down. He starts moaning and groaning until I cave, get up and "pretend" to make dinner and then throw him a snack. I can only blame myself for his behavior because we typically give him a little bit of our dinner and if the routine is disrupted under an certain circumstance....we pay for it! :-)

Today, he has been playing outside. He likes to make "doggy" angels in the snow. He gets so excited when we get bad weather because he LOVES playing in the snow. I call him a "wild dog" when he's making his angels and he just makes more of them! He's crazy!

Anyway, that's all for now! Have a GREAT weekend everyone!