Preparing to Leave

Making arrangements for the dogs before we left for our Thanksgiving trip to California was so complicated that when we missed our flight we opted to stay in a hotel rather than go back to our apartment. Finding care for the three brindle monsters took so much planning and energy that we couldn’t bear to go back and potentially open the floodgates of disaster. As soon as I walked out the door the dogs were someone else’s responsibility (even though I’d worry about them, of course). Besides, the next available flight was early in the morning so it did make sense for other reasons to wake up closer to the airport.

It was while Ben and I were still in the Subway that we realized we were going to miss the flight. I was actually relieved. We were supposed to go straight from a chaotic couple of days planning our departure straight into another chaotic couple of days with family. Once I realized we’d get to stay in a hotel I envisioned a restful, romantic night. It wasn’t quite so nice, though. Service at the hotel restaurant was horrible and we both fell asleep at 9:30.

The buffer was welcome, though. I was tired after arranging for four different people to help out with the dogs. Because Belisa didn’t yet have an apartment of her own, I also had to find a place for her and Brenda to stay. My friend Kathryn offered her apartment for the whole time, but Belisa wanted to stay at my apartment with all three dogs for the first two nights. Luckily, Porter and Sadie went to daycare all day for both of those days so Belisa was responsible for just dropping them off and picking them up. Once Belisa moved herself and Brenda to Kathryn’s, my friend Tracy was to move into my apartment. Daycare, however, was closed for the next three days because of the holiday so I asked my neighbor Shirly to help walk Sadie and Porter during this time. Her help was needed since Tracy had to work some super long days.

Everything turned out fine except for Kathryn’s flip-flops, which Brenda ate.

I did miss all three dogs a lot—even though they are such a handful.