Mimi love and dog doubt

I think it’s safe to say that I spent my entire weekend eating. (Again.) It’s not like I had a choice in the matter – when you hang out with Mimi, it just kind of happens. Between homemade pita chips, chocolate chip cookies, caramel brownies, corn on the cob, and chicken salad, the food coma was my friend. Although JG and I did our best to prep our two friends who came along, they were staggered by the amount of food Mimi had prepared for the four of us and their jaws dropped when she whipped out a bar’s worth of liquor and said, “Anyone for a cocktail?”

In short, Mimi’s house is the place to be.

In between stuffing our faces, we took in a scenic tour of Mimi’s little town, where she knows everybody and their parents. In the afternoon, we lazed by the pool at her country club and the low humidity heat was perfect for turning somersaults off the diving board and finishing books on chaise lounges. Mimi took us back to the club for dinner, where we witnessed an odd wedding reception where the dress apparently ranged from shorts and a t-shirt to full-on prom dress. Even with the day’s inherent entertainment value, having Mimi’s commentary and perspective on it made for quite the amusing, but never snarky, experience. I’m really glad that we had a chance to spend time with her as a kind of end-of-summer last hoorah.

Oh, and did I mention that we brought Ted?

Mimi would have hardly let us come if Ted wasn’t in tow. He was admirably calm during the car ride and, once we arrived, he kept busy by terrorizing Mimi’s dog, Samantha, a 17-year-old, one-eyed, blind, and deaf Lhasa Apso. Ted’s get-acquainted routine of running up, sniffing her face, and letting out his high-pitched bark only produced Sam’s deep, bass-toned growls, and then, scary Sasquatch roars. JG thought Ted might learn not to antagonize her after the first few big barks, but our little guy is persistent, even to his detriment.

Unfortunately, Ted is not so much in my good graces at the moment. He was an angel on the way home, but he insisted on barking his face off and resisting JG’s firm repetitions of “no” last night. Granted, I was a little crankier than usual because I had a terrible sore throat and the last thing I wanted to hear was constant barking and chiding. Ted earned back some cute points by lying quietly on the sofa later on, but he went back to the black list by refusing to go for his walk this morning. I don’t know if the change of environment threw him off, but whatever it was, it’s hard for me to be as gracious as JG is. So far, Ted’s high cuteness factor has covered up his sins pretty well, but I’m not naturally a patient person, so I’m worried about how I will react when that’s no longer the case. Here’s to hoping for fewer sins and more cuteness, I guess.