Travels and Travails

Today is the last day of school and...

Next week, we'll be in Orlando. We're going to tag along on Hubby's business trip. I think we're all looking forward to it. Even Hubby who will spend his daytime hours working.

The only bad thing about tagging along with Hubby on a business trip is that the dogs have to go visit the kennel for a few days. This isn't really a problem with Rocky. He's gone a few times by himself when we camped with the scouts. Nipper is pretty predictable and minds well so we could take her but he, on the other hand, was still a puppy and we weren't sure how he would behave. So the days at the kennel, especially at the much nicer one we now use, are just another big adventure for him.

After he got used to it, that is. The first time I went to pick him up, one of the workers was walking a dog near the parking lot and asked who I was coming to get. I told her it was Rocky and she said something about how he was slowly coming out of his shell. I'm sure I gave her a funny look and, before I made it inside, I had decided that she was confused about which one was Rocky.

But when he finally came out, he did look cowed. I've since figured out that he is always pretty cowed in an unfamiliar situation. Once he felt like it was familiar territory, he was himself. When I went to pick him up the next time, he was bouncing and acting insane as usual. I took one look at the owner and knew by the exhausted look on her face that the honeymoon was over.

Nipper, however, is usually so depressed that she won't eat very much and she just lays there in her cubby. I always feel horrible when she has to go. And, honestly, its about the only thing over the last week that has made me consider staying here. By the time I come to pick her up, she has the 'death warmed over' act down. She usually comes out slowly limping along and looking about 99 years old.

Until she sees me. Then she can't get to me soon enough. I love that she loves us so much that she wants to be with us all the time but I wish she didn't feel completely miserable until then. I suppose she is old enough now that she deserves to want to be near her loved ones constantly though.

So if you think of our little family next week, please pray for our safety. And maybe, perhaps, if it isn't too much trouble, throw in a prayer for our little dogs too.