Milly's Beach Getaway (without moi)...

I’ve often joked that my dogs live better than I do, and I now think this is actually true! Milly has a surprise in store for her this weekend – a trip to Kitty Hawk! I am green with envy that she’ll be spending the weekend on the beach, playing in the surf and sand, and having attention fawned on her, while I’ll be in sticky, hot, old DC.

As you know, I sometimes let my ex-boyfriend keep Milly for anywhere from a couple of days to a few weeks at a time. Whenever he has her I use the time to focus on organizing my life, and training Hush. Two dogs can be a lot of work at times, especially while living in a small apartment, working full time, and trying to maintain a social life in a bustling city as a single 26-year old with a tendency of over-committing herself. Add into the mix that one of those dogs is in heat, and training to be a show dog, and sometimes it’s enough to make me want to rip my hair out. Of course, I adore my dogs, and I would not trade them for the world, but there are moments where it is stressful trying to manage everything.

Each year my friend Tina, you might remember her from some posts about apple picking, or know her from Love, Tina Marie, organizes a trip to the Outer Banks over Memorial Day Weekend. My ex and I have many of the same friends, and Tina is one of the many friends we share. The OBX trip is always planned many, many, many months in advance, and when the invitations went out I was not sure what sort of terms I would be on with my ex, he RSVP’d first, so I opted out. Next year, however, I plan on going on the trip! :)

When I got a gchat from the ex today asking if he could see Milly for an afternoon or a couple of days, I said sure. He asked when he could see her, and I told him I’d have to figure it out. Then, he asked if she could go to Kitty Hawk this weekend. Well, I couldn’t think of a single reason why I should say no. She’ll get exercise, she loves the beach, and everyone going on the trip loves her. Of course, I couldn’t make it that easy for my ex, so I promised he could take her with him under one condition… he return her with some wonderful portraits of her at the beach. The ex is a great photographer, and he was happy to oblige with my terms. So, tonight I’ll be packing Milly’s beach bag, and he’ll pick her up tomorrow night, then at noon on Friday they’ll hit the road.

Of course, I sure do wish I had some fun locale to escape to for the weekend. Oh the irony, my Golden Retriever lives and vacations better than I do.