a little pre-Christmas sad

We have dropped off Himself to be boarded over the next week while we are in Texas with my family. I hate boarding him, but this is really the best option—it’s impossible to fly with an animal, even a relatively small and terribly well-behaved one, and driving is just out of the question in years when we spend the holidays with my family. (The Angst-in-laws are within driving distance.)

The particular trouble this year is that we couldn’t board where we usually do—our vet. Our former upstairs neighbor works at our vet, so we feel very comfortable leaving him there—and they all love him and know his personality and temperament and he comes home happy. But we didn’t call our vet soon enough this year to get a spot over the Christmas holidays, so we’ve had to board him somewhere else, which makes me even sadder than usual. I’m usually pretty sad after dropping him off, but when he’s at the vet, at least I know he’s loved and gets plenty of attention and that makes it easier. This time around, we’ve had to board him at a local kennel—which gets very good reviews all around—but it’s just not the same.

So now I’m sitting at home, taking a little rest before I finish packing and cleaning the apartment, and looking at Himself’s little bed and just missing him. It doesn’t help that I’m watching The Wizard of Oz and Toto is just so cute—and a terrier, with that familiar intelligent gleam in his eye—and I just really wish I had my dog to hug on.