Semana Mia

The routine continues.
Angel was on an adventure in Morocco last week so I took the extra time to focus on things for me. I went on a short run or a long walk every day, sometimes with my friend Melinda. Once I walked through the open parts of the Alhambra and through some tiny twisty little garden paths. One day Melinda and I went for an especially ambitious trek and ended up in lost the middle of the wilderness on the side of a mountain with me 2 steps from a panic attack about snakes for several hours. However, once we finally found the trail again we were treated to some gorgeous views.

I also had a little bit of a sore throat so I treated myself to a night at the baños arabes with the steam room and a massage after work. It was perfect.

On Friday I stayed in and made myself a delicious dinner- Buey (ox) with grilled balsamic veggies and some red wine, with a fresh fruit medley dessert. I also had a few phone dates with some of my girlfriends back home. Very relaxing!

Besides all the pampering, I had a very busy workweek. I was called into the bar quite a few evenings as half of Granada has a cold right now. One night there was a whole gaggle of Texans in there on vacation, which was downright delightful! We talked about Shiner Bock and two-stepping and all sorts of good things.

I continue to accumulate classes at the school tambien and have really been enjoying some of the discussions that have come up in several of the adult classes. (For example, whether pets are part of the family and different views on dating).

Angel finally came back on Monday (They celebrate Columbus Day here too, so everything was closed and no one had to work). His adventure basically had consisted of him and about 50 other guys riding their dirtbikes over the dunes in the middle of the dessert for 8 days, but sleeping in gorgeous and lavish jaimas (tented structures) with pools and 5 star meals. He brought me presents! A beautiful necklace with silver and pinkish/purplish/reddish stones, a beautiful silver box to keep it in, a carved Tortuga (stone and wood) and photographic and video evidence that camels can indeed run (a debate we’d been having).

Tapaemos (We did a sampling of tapas at various bars) with his friends on Monday night and found a few new exciting places nearby.

The sad news is that my beautiful dog, Ophelia, passed away this past Sunday. She had stomach cancer so we knew it was coming, but it was still tough to be so far away when it happened. Below I’ve written 10 things that I loved about her.

1. Ophelia was an excellent hunter. She would spend hours chasing and ferociously barking at small animals in the yard or up trees. However whenever she actually caught anything she would freak out and if she accidentally hurt it she would get really upset and pout for days.

2. She was really good with other dogs. In fact, when we would run together we would both instinctually speed up whenever another runner and/or dog came near in order to showoff while appearing completely disinterested.

3. The only problem with the previous thing was that she was just as clumsy as I am and one or both of us would trip or stumble while running- often in front of other people, sometimes creating a crazy tangle of legs and leash and even once or twice into a pool.


4. When she felt she was not getting the appropriate amount of attention that she deserved (anytime she was not getting a headscratch or a backrub) she would calmly remind whoever was around of this deserved attention by placing her head in their laps/on their knees/ etc. If this was ignored for long enough she could produce a disgruntled-old-man sound similar to a cartoon “Hrrummph” accompanied by a tragic sigh.

5.Whenever we would sleep, she always managed to have a place actually in the bed with me. One of her favorite tricks was to wait until I was asleep, cuddle up really close with her legs all folded up and then suddenly stretch her legs out- pushing me over and sometimes even off the bed.

6. She would get a little gassy while she was sleeping and in the process would wake herself up and look at you accusingly.





7. She would grudgingly wear antlers for Christmas and appear like Santa’s Little Helper.

8. Ophelia LOVED to be groomed. Anything remotely related to bath-time or being brushed got her very excited. When my dad’s long-haired dog would get a haircut, Ophelia would get jealous and sad unless we pretended to give her a haircut as well.

9. When she was lying down, she very often crossed her front paws like a lady.





10. She would eat anything with the same excitement as if it were a filet mignon. Favorites included my dad’s bbq brisket, vanilla ice cream grasshoppers and dirt.