Election Night - A Lucky Dog's Life

It's a big day. It's a big night. No matter who wins the presidential election tonight, the world changes.

And I saw a bunch of green arrows on the stock tickers over at CNBC today, which always makes me happy. I'm feeling positive today.

But how much will the world change for Pierre, my puppy? He'll be around for another 16 years, if he's lucky. What does this historic election mean for him? And what about Sadie, our big, old dog? She's nearly done with her charmed life here in America. How will she remember her happy golden years?

Here's how our historic election day went around here:

1. 3:15 a.m. got up "for good," since Pierre pooped twice in my bathroom, and didn't seem to want to go back to sleep. I took him outside. We have no yard, he has to ring the bell on the door, get his leash on, and go out in the cold, cold rain and snow. Which he hates, he just forgets. I hate it too. I don't forget. I told Sadie, the 12 year old Weimaraner, to go back to bed, it was night time. No problem, for her, she found a warm kid and snuggled in.

2. 3:30 a.m. started a bunch of work on 401K Buddy, since we're getting ready to present to some VCs soon, and I'm in research, writing and tweak the biz plan mode. I goofed off yesterday, so I'm behind.

3. 3:45 a.m. hung out with my 9 year old boy, who was up reading his book in the middle of the night. He needed a snack. Pierre was thrilled. Such a bonus! Sadie raised an eyebrow, but decided sleep was more important to her.

4. 4:45 a.m. emailed Kate and told her our 8:30 a.m. running date didn't look good, I had a feeling I'd go back to sleep eventually. I didn't. Shoulda gone running...who knew?

5. 5:30 a.m. ate a bowl of Kashi Honey Puffs. Yum.

6. 6:00 a.m. made coffee, woke up kids for school. Made eggs. Shooed most of them out the door by 7:15 to catch the bus.

7. 7:30 a.m. work, work, work.

8. 10:00 a.m. Ate spinach salad with salmon. I'm just throwing that in there, 'cause I don't usually eat fish, but I'm feeling quite proud of myself, in that "I consumed some Omega 3's!" sort of way. Started feeling excited about the election. A little bit of joy began to bubble inside me. It wasn't the fish, I swear.

9. 11:30 a.m. went to tea with my friend SISSY in her convertible, even though it was snowing. We didn't talk about the election- hardly.at.all! But we stopped by Democratic headquarters downtown and got some Obama buttons on the way home.

10. 1:30 p.m. Sissy showed me how to cut Sadie's toenails. Sadie was quite relieved. Now she can walk normally again. She loves Sissy, always has. She made Sissy pet the top of her head as long as possible, and then she took another nap.

11. Later: worked some more, then hung out with kids. Obama won the student election at High Lakes Elementary school. Smiles. I poured myself a nice glass of wine, tried to make the puppy mind me, talked about work with husband, made dinner...and then, finally, joined my kids to around the t.v. to watch election.

Pierre rang the bell 3 more times during dinner. He gets a little bored, after all. He just.needs.some.attention.people!

Wondering when I'll go to sleep.

Wondering if Pierre will go to sleep.

Wishing I could be Sadie for just one day.

The truth about dogs in America: Not much will change for them. Pierre doesn't care that it's election day, or election night. He's sleeping right now, since he's exhausted. I mean, he was up all night, stealing several pencils, dolls, and dirty laundry to get people to chase him. He ate some lovely puppy chow, drank fresh water, went for a 3 mile hike, bugged the hell out of Sadie all afternoon, then found a sun spot, finally, for a quick nap to refresh himself before dinner.

Plus, Pierre rang the bell to go outside 17 times today. That's a lot of potty for an 8 lb dog. And he barked incessantly at Sissy when she gave Sadie a manicure. And he ran like a bat out of hell around and around the house, for many minutes when the kids got home. He had an incredibly busy day.

Sadie's finally able to relax now, during the election coverage, since the irritating puppy is busy bugging the children while they watch t.v.to see who wins, and she can hide under a desk without being bothered. She's admiring her new toenails, I think.

Tomorrow will be a good day for Pierre, and for Sadie.

Tomorrow will be a good day for America, too.

In my dog's worlds, life will go on as usual in his house, in Bend, Oregon, in America, no matter who wins the Presidential election. They'll be happy to wake up, and happy to wake people up. They'll get fed, and handed a chewy to keep them busy while the kids get ready for school.

Maybe we'll all wake up tomorrow and be okay no matter what happens.

Oh crap. Pierre just threw up all over the rug. I wish I were kidding.