I Miss the Things That Annoyed Me the Most

Murphy has been gone for 2 months.  There are days where I think of him and smile and there are days when I come across a picture of him and shed a few tears.  He was our dog and became such an everyday part of our lives.

Murphy had a few habits that would test my patience. Here are some of my favorites:

1.) Whenever I would get ice from the freezer, Murphy would come running.  Sometimes as I was rushing to get out of the house, grabbing a handful of ice for him and tossing it on the floor would annoy me.  I didn't have the time for it and he was always under my feet, jockeying for the quickest route to the ice when I'd put it down.  Lately, when I get ice and I don't hear him running my way, trying to trip me, I feel a twinge of sadness.

2.) Some might say I am the lightest sleeper in the whole entire world.  Even on the nights when I wear ear plugs, I can hear a faint whimper from one of my kids.  Super sonic mom ears.  I digress...  Murphy slept in our room on a dog bed in the corner.  A handful of times throughout the night he would wake me as he moved around on his bed, moving from his bed to the floor, etc.  Some nights, when I knew I wouldn't get that much sleep, I would get terribly annoyed by being woken up by him.  Now our room is eerily quiet, a very uneasy quiet.  Sometimes when I wake during the night for no reason, I have trouble falling back to sleep because it's way too quiet.

3.) Murphy had a habit of eating the smallest of toys the kids would leave on the ground.  I would tell them continuously that if there was a small toy they treasured, they needed to make sure it wasn't left on the ground.  There would be days where I would pry his mouth open and fish toys out of his slimy saliva filled mouth at least 10 times.  Now, when I see small toys on the ground, my instinct is to tell the kids to pick them up because Murphy will eat them.  I no longer need to give them that reminder.

The memories associated with the habits of that darn dog that used to annoy me, now make me smile.  I sure miss that dog!