This Marley is not a Ghost

I have watched several different versions of "A Christmas Carol" over the past two weeks. The most annoying was "A Diva's Christmas Carol" featuring Vanessa Williams as "Ebony Scrooge." Enough said. Except I must add there is a ghost named "Marli" played by Kathy Griffin, who steals the show, as Kathy usually does.

Every day this December, I wake up and remember it's getting close to Christmas and this year I have no money to buy gifts for anyone and no time to make them, either. A Scroogy thought, for sure, but this isn't a whine. It's a reality check. When I first open my eyes, I'm never really conscious of God's presence everywhere. At that moment, I'm either listening to the alarm clock beep or my cell phone ring. If I answer the phone, it's usually Gary calling from a distant Starbucks, somewhere in the greater LA area, inviting me to get out of bed and be grateful I don't have to drive to Beverly Hills every morning. I say OK, in my best Alvin the Chipmunk voice, which is all I can do at that point. If it's not Gary, it's someone from my parents' home letting me know about a ghastly situation at their apartment, i.e., their obese poodle had a bout of foul diarrhea. They tell me that once again my dad has stepped in runny poop and tracked it through several rooms and out into the hallway on his way to breakfast (he has no sense of smell). They want to know if I will I approve the cost of carpet cleaning. Duh. Obviously, I prefer the beeping alarm clock that I can simply turn off.

Which brings me to my own Marley story. My Marley is the Labradoodle who lives across the street with her humans, Linda and Bob. There is no way anyone can spend five minutes with Marley and not laugh. She's not prissy like a standard poodle and she's not a big oaf like so many of my Labrador Retriever friends. She's just a wild and crazy bitch - happy all the time and totally focused on playing. Marley was supposed to be an elegant poodle-type pup with the low-key personality of a lab. There is nothing low-key about Marley, except for Bob, who tries to keep her calm because he is the calmest, most laid-back person I know.

Today, in my early morning Scroogy mood, I thought about Marley and her goofy antics, and I laughed. I will be spending some time with Marley on Friday evening when her humans host us for dinner. I will tell her that I'm grateful she's my neighbor. She's a better example of Christmas spirit than Scrooge and his ghosts, or even Tiny Tim!