Reclaiming the Apartment

The weekend was productive. That is to say, I dropped some cash... on necessary things like food and clothes (either washing them or purchasing them). Friday night, I did four loads of laundry (including towels and linen), but since all of the machines in my building were available, time-wise, it was the equivalent of one load.

Saturday was a big grocery shopping day for both Sarah and myself. She stayed with me through last night, but in preparation for reclaiming her own living space, she decided to stock up on food stuffs. A new Trader Joe's opened in her neck of the woods. We headed there after buying a few basics at Whole Foods. I will shop at almost any grocery store, but I'm finding more and more that I have developed brand loyalty to many items that I can only find at specialty stores like the ones I mentioned. I'm also accustomed to produce that isn't bruised and old-looking. Having shopped a bit mid-week, I didn't buy much in the way of food-food on Saturday, but I stocked up on things like balsamic vinegar and spices.

During the afternoon, A long-time friend of Sarah's met us over at Sarah's apartment. We had a light snack with her, Sarah caught her up on the latest, and we eventually made our way back to my place so that I could walk Babygirl, who had been alone for several hours by that point. My guilt and anxiety were pretty intense because I knew she was perplexed and upset at us being gone for such a long stretch like that. It was quadrupled b/c I knew that after her walk, I'd be leaving her again for an evening outing.

Just as her days with me were drawing to a close, she started to get used to the people in my building. She's been barking to a significantly lesser degree lately, which has eased my stress about being out with her. Anyway, Sarah and her friend waited at the One World while Baby and I ran the paces and bonded a bit.

Then, after another delicious meal at the OW, the three of us headed over to see these guys (thanks to Sarah's impetus). It was a tremendously fun evening. Once back at home, I cuddled and kissed Bg within an inch of her life. She reveled.

On Sunday morning, I woke at 6 (per the usual on weekends) and took Babygirl out for a very leisurely walk (40 minutes!) to commemorate her last morning with me. Because it was early enough, and no other dog walkers were out and about, we trekked over to campus, and celebrated our time together by tromping through new grass and really doing it up right.

About two hours later, Sarah and I had a quick breakfast, then headed out to Lane Bryant (the place where I will soon be unable to shop) to buy some necessities (like more shirts/sweaters) because I had hella coupons from them, and If I didn't use them, it would be the equivalent of losing 100 dollars' worth of free stuff/savings.

First we stopped at Sarah's place and dropped off the lion's share of the things she'd had with her at my place, then over to the store where I got two new shirts, two new sweaters, etc. I learned from my mother that morning that she didn't have any ready cash to buy the doggie any food, so I stopped off at the store to get our little Bg a mammoth bag of Kibbles 'N Bits, then back home to do one little "etc." load of laundry, and to bond with Baby for a few more hours while Sarah worked on a freelance project (I wanted her on hand to say goodbye to Bg, who has come to adore her).

My mom and her friend showed up at about 4:45. Bg about had a conniption, so excited was she to see the two of them. Fortunately, we'd already had our second, and final walk together, so it wasn't too jarring for me when they corralled her things and her into the car (after visiting for about an hour, I guess). She was confused, I could tell, about why I was not getting in the car with her...

I later learned from my mom that she whimpered for me for a significant bit of the ride home, but I know she was torn. My mother is really her home, and as soon as she got inside my mom's townhouse, she immediately knew where she was, and seemed happy.

I spent the evening dusting, polishing furniture, and sweeping up mounds of dog hair. I'll probably get the last of it right in time for Bg to visit me for the weekend in late November when my mom next goes out of town...