There are two dogs living in our house. When asked, I tell people that they're "our" dogs. The reality, though, is that Wally and Ginger are Kim's dogs. That's never more evident than when Kim's out of town. Right now, Kim and Nick are off visiting colleges so it's just Jay and me at home for a couple days. The dogs are miserable.
As soon as Kim takes out her suitcase, Wally and Ginger start to panic. You can almost read their minds. Here's what Wally's thinking: "Uh-oh. She's packing her suitcase. I wonder if she's going to take me with her. I hope so. I just love her so much. Can't she tell? Look at me - I'm adorable. How can she not take me with her?" Then, there's Ginger: "Holy crap. Nothing good ever comes out of this. If she takes me with her, I have to ride in the car and that's just going to make me throw up. I hope they don't make me go back to that horrible kennel with all those big dogs who bark 24/7 and smell bad and where there's no furniture for me to jump up on if it starts to thunder."
Kim will never truly understand what it's like for Wally and Ginger when she's not here. Wally lays around all day making his most depressed "this time she's left me for good" face. Everytime they hear the garage door open and I come through the door, the dogs bound to the kitchen hoping for the best. When they see it's just me, their hearts break all over again. They let me pet them for a bit but then they sulk away. Whenever he's outside, Wally does his best impression of the sea captain's wife, sitting motionless on the driveway looking down the road, waiting for Kim to magically reappear on the horizon. In fact, he's out there right now.
I guess it's good that they love Kim so much. But, it can't be that bad to be stuck with me, can it?
This is where the magic happens.
