Just What The Doctor Ordered

I wasn’t feeling very well on Wednesday afternoon, which was exactly what I didn’t need with the race coming up this weekend. So to help it go away as quickly as possible, I went home early from work and pretty much stayed in bed the rest of the day and all of Thursday. Along with taking several naps and eating a lot of soup, I also got a lot of quality time with Kai. I felt a little bit bad that she might be bored with just sitting in bed all day. But one thing she does very well is sleep, and she performed that duty exceptionally well those two days.



Early on during that time, I was struck by the fact that we hadn’t spent that kind of time together in a long time- a kind of purposeful nothingness. We hadn’t simply been in each other’s company, not doing much of anything at all, for as long as I could remember. And I noticed things about her, things that I always notice but usually in passing while I’m on my way from one thing to the next- like the way she rests her head on the pillow like a person, or the way she smells when she’s sleeping. She likes to change positions every so often, alternating from curled in a tight ball to flat out on her side. Often when she uncurls from her ball to lie flat, she stretches- arching her back like a cat and spreading her toes. When she dreams, she twitches her feet and face and sometimes makes a noise almost like a muted bark, and I always imagine that she’s chasing squirrels. She checks on me every now and again, lifting her head off the pillow and blinking sleepily in my direction, yawning, then when she’s convinced that everything is still how she left it, she lowers her head back down with a sigh and goes back to sleep. I relished the fact that I was able to spend unhurried time soaking in all these wonderful things about her, all these things that I love so much and am constantly trying to imprint on my memory forever.





My house is poorly insulated so I hate to run the heat too much and waste it, which means it’s pretty cold inside in the winter. That meant that we also spent a lot of time cuddling those two days, much of it with her curled up to my side under the blankets. I always worry whether she gets enough oxygen down there, but I also love the feeling of her warm furry body next to me so I let her do it. She eventually gets overheated and has to come up for a break anyway. It’s secretly one of the things that I, as a person who hates to be cold, love about the wintertime- the summer is just too hot for that much body contact. But Kai, ever a creature of comfort, hates to be cold as well. So those cold winter nights more often than not find her snuggled up next to her mama, an arrangement that serves both of us well.



After two days of us lazing around together, I was feeling much better and went on to Vegas to have a great race and an awesome weekend. I met some friends in person for the first time, I made some new ones, had lots of laughs… and oh yeah the race was good too! My first half marathon- I finished feeling strong but also that I’d given it all I had, which were exactly my instructions so I consider it a success. I was satisfied with my time too. Even though I didn’t have an official time goal, I wanted to break 2 hours and I did (1:53). I’ll write up a more detailed RR later. Now it’s time to catch back up on some sleep, with a certain pit bull of course!!