Never do the math

Paul and Eve’s flight left on time yesterday. Of everything that was supposed to happen yesterday, that’s the only thing that went as planned. Freezing rain started about daybreak, changed to sleet at lunchtime and snow mid-afternoon. As a result, Mica and I decided not to go to our favorite event of the year—dog expo—and Blaine and I cancelled our plans. So, Izzy and I played a marathon session of tug-of-war with a stuffed bunny (survived, barely), a tie-dyed monkey (gutted) and a Kong brand pink elephant so rugged it laughed at the puppy teeth. (Izzy will be starting a blog to review squeaky toys and freeze dried treats.) When she wore out and napped, I watched the fishing channel (hey, the lake was blue and the skies sunny) and then a pre-season baseball game. It was a big day.

This morning the sun came out and the temperatures quickly rose to melting levels. I was able to go home for clothes and the iPad (relief!). There was enough time to pick up Mica and the liittle white dog and make a quick visit to the second day of expo. Izzy isn’t used to crowds so I didn’t want to try it with her. I did grab a free tennis ball and Frisbee for her.

When I got back Izzy and I settled in the loft. There wasn’t anything good on TCM so I was watching “Blue Bloods” reruns. When the doorbell rang I expected it to be the neighbor who had told Paul he would take care of the sidewalks while I was here. It wasn’t going to be Blaine because he had plans to help his son-in-law. From the top of the stairs I could see through the window in the door. A pleasant feeling corkscrewed through me. “Izzy!” She was standing beside me. “Look who it is.” She held her enthusiasm until I opened the door.

Blaine held up two giant glasses. “Hi!I couldn’t break tradition.” He stepped inside. “What are we watching today?”

I followed him into the kitchen where he put the drinks down and turned around to me. Izzy wanted in on the hello in the worst way, all long nose, big paws and ear piercing whines. As soon as Blaine reached for her she flopped onto her side for the whole body rubs she likes. She was blissed out. I asked, “Can you come back at bedtime and do that? She revs up for me.”

“I’m sure I’ll still be here then. I’ll be glad to help you any way I can.”

Well, OK.

Blaine insisted we pop a crazy amount of popcorn for our afternoon of TV watching (he truly loves the stuff). It’s the only food Izzy isn’t interested in so we were able to set it on the table between the recliners. We continued with “Blue Bloods,” taking many pauses to play with the demanding puppy. She likes to walk between legs now. Blaine is tall enough that she can thread through in a figure eight. He guided her with a toy at first then she figured it out and took it to the next level by going faster and faster until she was racing throughout the upstairs. “You are a bad influence,” I told him, but I loved watching him with her. It spoke to my dog loving heart.

When she needed to go outside, we both went downstairs and then stayed. She fell asleep on her blanket, and we settled on the loveseat. Blaine had read the book I loaned him last week. We talked about it and some other WWII things. It has become a pet subject.

It struck me how similar this was to last time and yet very different. When I did the math I was actually surprised that it has only been two months since he showed up here out of the blue, and less than that since we’ve been dating. That doesn’t seem possible. It’s too comfortable for that little amount of time.

Izzy is dead to the world. The problem I’m going to have is getting her to wake enough to walk down the hallway.