Lucy looked at me with sad eyes as I grabbed my lunch from the fridge and put up the pet gates.  She sat, thinking that perhaps, that would mean I wouldn’t leave.  It twisted my heart into knots twisting in on knots.  I thought about it all day at work, as I trained my new assistant and watched the clock tick slowly by.

It’s amazing the capacity you have to love when you weren’t even expecting it.  My heart seemed full and then I met her, with her wide eyes, and floppy ears, and big, white feet.  She was mine and I knew it the second I met her eyes.  The man knew that my heart was set.  We packed her up and brought her home.  We became a family.

Life has changed since she came to live with us.  Obviously, the man is gone (no, not in a bad way, in a “he-has-to-be-gone-for-work” kind of way).  So it’s just me and my girl.  And it isn’t always easy.  It’s particularly hard when I leave her, and those sad eyes look forlornly at me through the front door, as though she believes she may never see me again.  Seriously. Could I feel more guilty?  … Probably not.

But today when I got home, my little lady hadn’t destroyed anything (other than the chew toy she received as a little present this morning … oooor bribe … y’know, however you choose to interpret it).  She was bending herself into a pretzel (boxers do that, I am told) and after running around the yard for awhile (which tired me out more than Lucy) we’ve been enjoying a girl’s night together.

New, well-balanced food for Lucy with pumpkin puree mixed in.  Eggplant Parmesan from the restaurant for me (I know I had it last week, but it is just.so.good!).  A nice bottle of chilled white wine.  Lucy’s dragon, Puff (or, as her dad calls him, Draco).  A lot of HGTV.  And her Yak’s Milk and Lime chew toy, that managed to last the.whole.day.

Life is pretty good.  Hope you’re enjoying an indulgent Thursday, too.