Homemade bread, dogs and math

I am scheduled for an entrance exam for college next week and I'm dreading the math portion.  Despite the fact that I have held various bookkeeping type jobs over the years, I was never even an average math student.

Somehow, maybe because I am easily distractable, thinking about the exam reminded me of a dog named Molly who lived with my parents at their house in Virginia.  Molly was a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, a curly, wrinkly, worried looking little thing.  (To see what she looked like, click here:  http://www.findoutaboutdogbreeds.com/images/cavalier_king_charles.jpg)

Molly rarely left Mom's side and Mom babytalked to her in a way I found silly (even though I now do it to a little rescue dog of my own).  Mom fed Molly commercial dog food, gave her scraps after she was done eating her own meal AND regularly made "dog stew" out of leftovers .  This dog was NOT mistreated.

Mom was an excellent baker and made Dad two loaves of whole wheat bread every Sunday.  While the bread cooled on the counter, she also cooked a large beef roast.  She cut the bread into 10 pieces and the roast into 5 pieces.  Dad would take these downstairs and sit in front of the tv to watch the news while he made sandwiches to take to work during the week.

Periodically, Dad would be annoyed because Mom "couldn't count" and only gave him nine pieces of bread!  Mom is a retired teacher, and no matter what you think about public education these days, she could most certainly count to ten.  (In fact, if we looked alike, I'd wonder if I could bribe her to take the math test for me.)

Mom thought Dad was mindlessly eating a piece of bread while he was watching the tube.  This went on for months. 

I was living two hours away when the Mom suddenly "forgot how to count". 

I came to visit on a Sunday and wondered why there were crumbs all over the closet floor in my old bedroom. 

Dad is now deceased.  I enjoy the memory of his face when I asked him who had been eating in my bedroom.  He looked puzzled a moment and then he laughed.  I suppose he never accused Mom of being unable to count again.