ahhh. “relaxation.”

Traveling across the country with a dog and a boyfriend is not recommended. One or the other. But not both. The wiser choice would be the human, in the end. Right out of the gate (literally, of the airport) though, it isn’t obvious that either of them are travel-ready.

I’m not going to say I regret booking five vacation days and spending them in… well… a state of total frustration. What I regret is the future backlash I’m going to have to endure because I “forced” someone else to waste their vacation days on dog wrestling, wrangling, and shushing.

I honestly didn’t know only two of the three would get along at any one time. I guess positive thinking and expectations of harmony aren’t always enough.

Normally on vacation I would have my camera out and I’d be taking pictures of the most minute things. The patio furniture. This time, I brought my camera and lenses with me, but I haven’t bothered to charge the battery.

Yesterday we went for an awesome walk on the beach, and I wish I would have taken pictures of Rufus’ first steps and licks of the salt water. Who knows when he’ll ever be on a beach again… but in a rush to borrow my parent’s car I totally forgot my camera bag. The pictures I took with my iphone are crazy distorted, but I think they somewhat capture the spirit of his adventure. And our vacation.

Here’s the best one:

I’m not entirely sure what happened to the shoreline or the horizon. It’s a really nice beach, honest. And, dog friendly.

We only have two sleeps left here. I’m not sure what’s planned for tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be nice, like it has been every day. One of my folks is taking the day off though, which isn’t typical of my trips home (it’s usually me in an empty house) so I’m not sure if there’s an itinerary or if it’s business as usual.

I have to say, honestly, that while I’m not looking forward to going back to work in a few days or leaving this excellent-100%-of-the-time-weather, I am very much looking forward to tending my lawn and garden, going to Starbucks more than regularly, and getting some lounging done on my own patio. Weather permitting.

Look at this:

Seriously.

The cutest cuteness in all the cutenesses. He’s got two diplomas under his belt, and he’s only 8 months old. He’s also a scientist, he studies the mechanics of kennel doors.

His current portfolio includes knowing all his paws by numbers, crawl, spin/twist, roll-over in both directions, target, fetch, and he knows come, and is working on his 60 second sits and downs. He of course, prefers “place” to being told what to do.

Basically, he’s a prodigy.

And he occupies all my time and money. And he wakes me up at the worst hours every night.

But I loooove him.

I’ve started some seeds for a garden this summer, which I suspect the dog will have fun digging up if the squirrels and wild rabbit/hare-things don’t get to it first. So far I have brussels sprouts, purple peppers, broccoli, strawberries, and two kinds of tomatos started. I have more seeds for later, but I can’t remember what they are. Peas, beans, normal stuff. I need to get some kale seeds because kale chips are something I can’t live without.

I just downloaded the newer Regina Spektor cd. The dog and I appreciate it, but someone else has declared her a weird aquarius. I guess that’s the appeal for me.

Homework time.

I just finished a course on Monday, and as a gift to myself I’m taking the month of February off of school. I took two courses between September and now. With moving, and working, house-keeping, and puppy-rearing it’s been… well… a crappy sort of existence. So, February is/was going to be a gift. Sort of. I have big plans to do some work around the house, inside. Some painting, some tiling in the kitchen, some general cozying and settling in.
And then…
Well, I still have all that planned but work is sort of getting in the way. I’m going to be on the road a bit in February, starting tomorrow afternoon/the following morning and ongoing until someone can be hired in the other city to do the job I’m going to be pseudo covering. Which sucks. I’m going to miss the boyfriend and the puppy, “my boys.” I’m going to be driving tonnes in rented cars on crappy winter roads. I’m not going to get ANY of my home improvement projects finished… and I’m setting a bad precedent that’s going to cause the company to send me on random field trips whenever they please.
But today is ok. Today is cold out, but sunny. I think we’re going to get bundled up and go for a bit of a hike in the early afternoon sun. I’m ordering some big prints of a few of my photos and I’m going to frame them and hang them around the house when they get here. I’m going to be tired this month, but I’m going to make the freedom from essays and assignments and calculating the book value of common shares for a company that doesn’t even exist worthwhile.
And, I’m hoping to update every day.