Things are Definitely Back to Normal

January has been a stressful month here in the Live, Laugh, Blog household. Sickness raged on for most of the month, passing through each member of the family until finally, today, everyone returned to work and school and I got a peaceful day to myself.

Well, peaceful isn't quite the right word. Sure, the kids finally all went back to school and work. Mike returned to work as well, but peaceful? No, the dogs made sure of that.

Every few minutes, and I'm not making this up, the dogs have barked. Sometimes just one, and sometimes all four. They've barked at nothing; they've barked at the mailman. They've barked at the shadows cast by the trees as they blow in the wind. They've woofed. They've yipped. They've full-on snarled and I even heard a small howl out of the little chihuahua's mouth.

I've found myself yelling at them, "Shut up! Just shut up!" I've tried to reason with them, "Please be quiet. Can't you see mommy is working?" I've even tried bribing them with treats. The little ungrateful things ate the treats and then ran to the door to see who or what they could bark at next.

My head is pounding and I can't wait for the kids to get home. I think the dogs have gotten so used to the constant noise and chaos of everyone being home for so long that the silence has them confused. They can hear everything and everything makes them bark.

I need to go downstairs to the basement to start the dryer for another load of laundry. I'm afraid to because I know the turning of the drum is a definite "bark" signal.