Welcome home Pittie smiles

I originally intended to spend a few days of spring break at home with my family. I planned on doing my 16 mile run on the trails that I used to frequent, but was super excited because I would get to explore many more of the trails with this extended distance. I planned on shopping at the outlet mall (I heart you, Vera Bradley - you are my version of a debilitating drug habit) and I planned on visiting this newly famous brewery, Two Brothers. I randomly discovered them at school and was happily surprised to find that they reside in my hometown... like down the street and around a corner.

What did I end up doing?

I took an adventure downtown on the train to meet some friends on the first day - I made the train by ONE MINUTE. I discovered my hair straightener was broken, took a minute to mourn, then realized that I was running late anyway. I then realized I needed money to park the car. I contemplated using the only bill I had (10 dollars) to pay for $1.25 parking, then decided I'd rather be late and drive to the city than do that, until I realized I had stolen 13 quarters from Kyle to pay for the parking meters at the gym. WIN. I dramatically swung into a spot, jumped out - and discovered that I am not a train conductor and I do not get the privilege of free parking. As I was putting money in the meter, I saw the train in the distance. So I ran and tried to play it cool as I approached the platform. I met my best friend from college at the train station for lunch since she works around the corner. When she had to leave, she walked me to Starbucks, as I was in great need of caffeine. Of course, there was no place to sit and read my new book, so I aimlessly wandered back to the train station and wasted 30 minutes waiting for one of my best college man friends to meet me to hang in the city. Since it was freezing out and I was completely inappropriately dressed for the 30 degree weather, we had coffee in the train station (I didn't know it was there earlier...) and then moved on to the train station bar. Thus, I successfully spent a complete afternoon in the train station, getting drunk on mocha lattes and miller lite. At this point, my throat started to burn and it was getting painful to talk, so I realized I might be getting sick.

That day, I learned that not only did I get to enjoy spring break, but my immune system was also going to enjoy spring break and take an extended vacation.

I did not get to enjoy a run on my trails... or any run for that matter. I didn't get to visit the brewery or go shopping. I did get to sit on the couch and watch quality shows like The Price is Right, Let's Make a Deal, The Newlywed Game, and the movie Knocked Up. Twice. I also attempted to be productive and work on some online surgery quizzed - since I was high on cold medicine, I'm a little scared to see what I put as the "correct answers" - but I'll worry about that later.

I broke free from the sickness haze this morning and attempted to drive home. Aside from almost plowing my car into the back of a tractor moving at 10 miles an hour (the semi in front of me maneuvered around it so quickly, I stared in shock and almost hit the tractor myself), I made it home in one piece and was greeted at the door by my handsome boy - not KJ, but my Benjamin Dog.

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE pittie smiles? To some, they may appear ferocious - baring his teeth, moving his body in a crazy, haphazard fashion - but to me, they are smiles of the purest joy. It is the best way he knows how to show me how happy he is that I am returning home to him. He doesn't mind that I brought the beagle beast home with me, or that I am sick and dripping bodily fluids from my nose - he is satisfied by my mere presence. I laid on the couch to recover from my drive (since that was the most activity I'd done in days) and he laid next to me. I rubbed his big head until I started to fall asleep - he proceeded to talk pittie to me to tell me that I needed to keep petting him. He also kept rearranging himself to be as close to my face as physically possible. He's my good boy and a great friend :)