My very best friend as of late has been my dog.

I so, SOOOO, love Mia.

She's gorgeous, don't you agree?

And she loves to strike poses.

And at night she nuzzles up to me just so.

Always starting out curled up on my chest, me giving her a little doggy massage as I drift off to sleep.

When her weight, all 10 pounds or so, becomes to much for my breath to endure, I quietly roll her off of my chest and into the crook or my left armpit where she sleeps, her head poked out from under the covers, for most of the rest of the night.

At night she is the last to shut her eyes, never taking her eyes off of me, and in the morning she is the last to open them.

I quietly whisper to her, with my eyes still shut.

"Mia?" so, so softly.

"Mia, are you ready to go outside?" ever so slightly louder in volume.

Her eyes still shut, she wags her tail just a bit.

I get up to go to the bathroom first.

Usually she has curled herself up under the covers in the warmest spot that my body left, and we cuddle for a bit longer.

Her eyes are open now, and she is gently staring at me.

In a soft normal voice now, "Mia are you ready to go outside?"

This time she gets all rambunctious and turns cartwheels, as I call them.

She does this, her body staying mainly parallel to the ground by kind of leap jumping while pivoting on her front two paws.

It's adorable really.

I get up and open the door and she runs outside....

At which point my day begins.

I put the oatmeal in the microwave, and the coffee on to brew, and then wait for the computer to boot up, even before I check my email I end up here, eager to hear the news, or goings ons, or inner thoughts of my friends.

Real life and virtual.