The last half hour of any trip, I get giddy to see Melvin.  It does not matter how exhausted I am or how much is to be done once I’m back home, seeing Melvin becomes the ultimate finish line of the getaway.

I don’t want him to miss me, ever.  When I come home from vacation I want him to be, him.  I want him to have had such a wonderful week that he barely noticed I was gone.  And when I walked in today, that is the boy I saw.  Relaxed, well fed, excited yes, but not to point that I might suspect he was ignored.  No, quite the opposite, for the past seven days, he was extremely well-loved.

Vacation was wonderfully awesome!  I love, love, love those people. There was a lot of gratitude this week for what we have,  especially in a week where news stories included the 300 dogs seized from Spindletop Refuge in Texas and then the shooting in Colorado.  Loved ones being safe is my primary prayer for any given day. Prayers answered.

And now starts the marathon day of snuggling.  Let the laziness commence, cause I did miss my boy!