I had this dream that I was dreaming. This dream-within-a-dream goes like this:

While sleeping I smelt a strong odor—a dog's #2. I thought it was coming from the corridor outside the bedroom. But I was too tired to get out of bed and clean up the #2. So I kept sleeping. Besides, I thought I was dreaming. There was no actual #2 for me to clean up. It was an imaginary #2 giving imaginary odor.

Then I woke up. I was surprised to find there was a real #2—in the bedroom. It was plopped on a white training pad that I had put out a long time ago, just in case, for Toby and his brother Freckles. They normally don't use it. I actually had smelt an odor, when I thought I was dreaming that I smelt an odor.

Now I really had to clean it up despite that it was 3:00 AM. I got a clean pad from a cabinet in another room. When I came back, Freckles was sitting there anticipating a treat. (I always reward Toby and Freckles for good business behavior—like doing it on training pads instead of elsewhere around the house.) I opened the treat bag and Toby immediately appeared and sat next to Freckles. So I gave both of them treats.

I put the clean pad down and took the soiled one to the bathroom. When I returned, I found another #2 on the new pad. Toby and Freckles were sitting there expecting another round of treats. I rewarded them, took care of the second soiled pad, and went back to sleep.

Freckles did a #2; Toby and Freckles got rewarded. So Toby did a #2, and they both got rewarded again. What a dog's life. What a dog owner's life. Of course, my wife Mee Mee slept through this venture. One of her many religious books, one on St. Francis, got tinged in the process, and I disposed of it too.

I told Mee Mee this story in the morning and she said that she also had smelt the odor. I was glad she confirmed the event; otherwise, I might have thought I dreamt up the whole story.

Since my three strokes in 2006, I have learned to relax and simply accept and even enjoy the would-be frustrations of life. Getting up at 3:00 AM to clean up doggie poop might have justified a loud scream, but my blood pressure would have jumped. I also would have woken up Mee Mee.