I danced so much last night that my abs hurt.
Today, I planned to go to brunch with friends, pick up Tako, go for a short hike with him, and then make dosa & idli with Sumit & Ashwini and a couple of their friends.
Except picking up Tako, nothing went as I had planned. I did manage to drive back to Paradise Lodge and pick up the dog on time, so I’m calling it a victory.
By the way, Paradise Pet Lodge is awesome. If you live in the greater Seattle area, and you’re looking for a boarding place, I do recommend. They took Tako on a hike through the trails of the nature preserve next door as part of his playtime. So cool.
The dance party went until 5 a.m., and we left a bit before, so we probably got in bed pretty close to that time but I honestly couldn’t tell you. All I know is that at 8 a.m. I was wide awake, sore from a solid five hours or so of dancing. I picked Tako up a bit early, and came back to the house to write a few postcards and lay down for a nap.
Unfortunately, my little nap turned into four hours of much-needed sleep. So I guess Day 13 is a rest day whether I like it or not.
I slept right through until their friends’ arrived to visit, stumbling out in my pajamas, not realizing they were there. I felt a little bit like Sumit & Ashwini’s wayward teenager, who emerged out of the cave she calls a room to find the adults visiting like civilized people.
So embarrassing.
Sumit & Ashwini’s friends had their toddler, Annika, with them. Tako adores kids, and he’s much better behaved around them than adults. He’s always very gentle around kids, especially babies, not even forcing his kisses on small humans like he does my friends (or, you know, random people he meets on the street). Unfortunately, though, when I was stumbling out of the cave-room, Tako wriggled free before I could get him on leash, and he came around the corner into the kitchen barking at the top of his lungs, as I’ve mentioned he has been wont to do recently.
So embarrassing. Such a great first impression.
He stopped as soon as he realized there was a baby present — and I got him on leash as soon as he paused — but it was far too late. Annika did not trust Tako as far as she could throw him (which wouldn’t be very far since she’s only two years old).
She screamed every time he even sniffed the air near her, and Tako is a very sensitive* pug, so he stayed at a distance to keep her comfortable. At first, he tried to show her all of his best tricks, keeping in her line of sight without imposing himself on her. But slowly he realized that there was no recovering from his initial fumble on this one.
So he pouted the rest of the night, looking from her to me with this soulful, melancholy gaze. I tried to explain I couldn’t force a child to like him, and maybe that would teach him not to bark when meeting new people, but the training moment had passed, and he was lost in a world of his own puggy despair.
I captured some of his pouting in my IG stories.
Dinner was a masterpiece of dosa & idli with sambar and coriander chutney. I ate a quarter of my weight, I’m sure.
Just looking at it is making me hungry again.
High
Dinner with Sumit & Ashwini’s friends. (Not just because dinner was delicious.)
Low
Either sleeping the day away, or watching Tako accidentally alienate someone who would have been perfectly happy to adore him if he’d behaved better.
Breakdown
Driven: 2113mi
Hiked: 26mi
Written: 3k (unless postcards count…but I don’t think they do)
Listening to: “Beggin For Thread” BANKS
*He would have to have been an idiot not to get the message. Toddlers can shriek, man.
Not Quite Flying Solo 