criplomats

The week was filled with friends and family, starting with brunch at PeeWee’s last Sunday with David and Alison. She is such a wonderful cook and hostess! It’s always a treat to go to her home.

Monday afternoon, Ann came to spend the night. We yakked till we were blue in the face. We went downtown on Tuesday to pick up a few things and it was fun to remember all of the times we had wandered around downtown as teenagers.

James and Marybeth drove up from San Antonio and we went to Julie and Scott’s for pizza Thursday night – big fun!

Marybeth went to yoga with me Thursday and Friday. Friday night we went out for BBQ with David and Alison. Afterward we sat on the porch and watched a big storm move across the lake – it was lovely to sit outside and hear the rain – and we were treated to a rainbow after! (Actually, I think it was a double!) Saturday we were back at David and Alison’s for a lovely dinner and lots of storytelling after dinner.

The packers came on Tuesday to pack up our UAB shipment. I did a lot of cleaning and pre packing, but in between chores, I’ve been bingeing on “The Gilded Age” – so good! I finished reading “Talk: The Science of Conversation” by Alison Wood Brooks – lots of good tips and reminders. Neighbors Jim and Kathleen invited me out for a fun boat ride this afternoon, too!

I was thrilled to talk to Charlie’s new parents this week and hear that he’s doing well! They also sent me photos today of him and their other doggo – he looks happy! I got his DNA results back and was a little surprised!

Pam picked me up at the airport on Friday after I returned our rental car, then drove us to Hot Springs. She spent the night Friday and we started a marathon Scrabble session first thing Saturday morning on the balcony. By 5:30 in the afternoon when she headed back to Little Rock, we had played six games – what fun!

My Honda was delivered Wednesday, after being shipped from Argentina. Sadly, the display panel was kapoot when it arrived, so it’s currently in the shop getting fixed and getting new tires. Fingers crossed!

Chuck came for cocktails Thursday afternoon and we enjoyed sitting outside under the fan with a cool drink.

I made it to yoga a couple of times this week, and was thrilled to see this little fawn on West Mountain Drive both coming and going to class:

On a sad note — John and I made the very painful decision to not complete Charlie’s adoption. He was perfect in every way, but he went into terrible distress when left alone. I recorded him multiple times and he cried, panted, paced, and yipped/howled the entire time he was alone (never more than 3 hours and usually shorter). After long discussions with the vet and the director at the humane society, we decided that we were probably not the best fit for Charlie and that he’d be happier in a household with folks who were home more or had another dog. 
Luckily, the director at the humane society (an amazing woman) knew of an older couple whose last rescue had died, and they were looking for a second small dog to be a companion for their dachshund. I took Charlie on Saturday for a meet-n-greet, and the dogs got along well! I kept him until Monday when they could pick him up. I spent a long time talking to them and really liked them. They are from California originally but have been in Arkansas for decades, retired teachers, smart about dogs, and wonderful people. They’ve always had multiple dogs and are used to integrating them. When they go on road trips, the doggos come along! This was an agonizing decision to make, but John and I both felt Charlie will be happier.

I totally enjoyed bingeing on Wimbledon tennis matches this week, including today’s men’s championship! Lots of fun!

Ann’s sister Robin was in town on Wednesday and she came to visit in the afternoon. I hadn’t talked to her in years, and we had a great time catching up. After she left, I had a video chat with my friend and former boss, Angela – another nice catch-up chat. On Thursday, I had hamburgers with Alison and David in their gazebo with a lovely lake breeze. My good friend Leslie came over late Saturday and spent the night. We had dinner on the balcony and talked until midnight, only to resume today over coffee before she headed back to Little Rock.

The State Department fired over 1,000 civil servants and 250 foreign service officers on Friday. The firings weren’t strategic, were not based on merit, and were not done according to guidelines. Many friends were summarily escorted from the building after decades of building a successful career. It was shameful and heartbreaking, and I’m not sure how we will recover from it.

The lake was busy as usual for the 4th and John and I were happy to stay in for the most part. I did go to yoga and stopped to pick up ribs on the way home and dropped some off for David and Alison.

The highlight of the week was seeing Mary last Sunday — we were thrilled that she brought Paul Shell with her, an old Hendrix classmate who we hadn’t seen in a long time. Mary brought BBQ and Paul brought homemade salsa – yum! We had a great time catching up.

Another old Hendrix friend, Kathy, came over for a glass of iced tea on Wednesday while John and Rusty drove up to Fayetteville to see Ginger. I was sad I didn’t get to see Ginger this trip, but was happy John and Russ had a chance to visit on the drive up there and back.

Charlie is doing fine but is still in the cone. We tried taking it off after a week but he immediately licked until it bled, so the cone went right back on. He really suffers from separation anxiety — poor fellow — so I am trying to figure out how to deal with that. Wish me luck! He really is a Velcro dog.

John and I finished “Line of Duty,” and really hated to see it end after six seasons (we hear there’s a #7 in the works!). We binged on “The Bear,” and I watched season two of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders documentary (my guilty pleasure!). I finished reading the light “God of the Woods” by Liz Moore and am half heartedly reading “Roar” by Selene Yeager – I haven’t seemed to have the concentration I need to get into it. Yesterday and today I have been immersed in Wimbledon – hooray!

I took John to the airport yesterday – he’s headed to DC to start his training, beginning with Crash-Bang, then DCM class. So exciting!