The Adventures of Geo Beane: Day 3 of Renovations

Admittedly, I had thoroughly enjoyed frolicking and cavorting in the dirt from under carpeting yesterday, but Humphrey was not at all happy with me. Instead of joining in the fun, he waved his hands frantically in the air, hollered to high heavens about nails and tacks; then called it a night, and expediently hauled us out of the renovation site.

We drove back absolutely mum. On opposite sides of the cabin. Me, apologetic-eyed.

When we got home, Humphrey proceeded to repair my damages, brushing the plastic grit and rug fibers out of my fur and giving me a brisk scrub in the tub. He used pleasantly warm water and the good bath stuff. Bolero bar soap. Sweet Vanilla Rose. The scent was so soothing that I accepted all his scolding submissively and disregarded any gruffness in handling as he worked out the mats in my back that had formed while rolling around so foolishly...

It made me quite drowsy, and now looking back I can't understand what possessed me... that gross old carpet, yuck, with leftover kibble and puke or what from the Ole German still lodged between the napz...

Zzz snz.... zWhmr!! what time is it?! Sniff, fsniff. Coffee. My Humphrey was already up and about. I could see that it was cloudy and if I didn't get a move on it, we wouldn't make it to the park before rain. When I trotted cautiously to the kitchen, I was assured there was no love lost, as with a quick scoop, tousle, and appreciative whiff to acknowledge the effectiveness of his grooming last night, Humphrey poured us breakfast and began to narrate the day's itinerary.

"Yoga today, Beanieboo..."

And I could see large drops polka dotting the surface of the deck, through the glass sliding door. No worries, we have lots of fun doing down dog and updog and upside down dog. I was more concerned about the renovation. I wagged my tail lightly. I could see that he was going to avoid mentioning the whole rug incident. So, I perked up my ears attentively, watched and waited.

"We're going to test a small sample of the paint. Check for viscosity, coverage, dry time. And I have a theory about how we might deal with the old flaking paint and the stripper."

"Mrrragh!"

"But first things first, I have some office things to do. We'll go in the afternoon, when it stops raining." With that he put on Eylem Abaci for me on the TV and took the oversized mug of coffee to his den. Doing my squats and Pilates, I could hear him clacking away on the keyboard and cell phone and some other electronic devices... so much so that I fell asleep again....

Humphrey had gotten wise to my antics and strategized well this time. He had carried me asleep to the SUV, and I was so pleased that he hadn't left me behind. I cautiously lifted my muzzle onto his knee during the drive and put my nose in the palm of his right hand.

But what really made my tail wag was that he had brought me a ball!! A rainbow ball. A complete surprise for once we got inside the house. And while he tore up the rest of the carpeting in the room downstairs, he would intermittently play catch with me, and I did my utmost to keep quiet and stay out of trouble. Finally settling contentedly to just chew possessively on the acquisition.

"The house is really grand with so much room to run around, Geo. We're spoiled."

"Arf!" I agreed wholeheartedly.

Humphrey had brought us a snack, and while we ate, he took a look at the new paint. It needed a good stirring, but it wasn't too thick, and had no offensive odors.

"Hmm," he said, not particularly pleased. "The coverage isn't as good a hide as I hoped it would be, Beans. That means, we have to scrub the walls really well to get rid of the scruff marks, before painting... otherwise we'll be doing three or four coats. Good color, though."

He picked it for me, I was sure. I only see black and white and shades of gray. This I could discern was a most fantastic white. Pristine.

We cleaned up quick. It was raining harder now and night was falling. Humphrey secured me tightly under the flap of his jacket and headed home to settle us in for a nice quiet evening. Dinner and a movie.