i dropped maude off at my parents’ house tonight.  i’m not leaving for austin until tomorrow, but with everything i have to do to get ready in the morning, i didn’t want to worry about her, too.

when i go out of town, i always miss maude a little.  i’m usually busy when i’m gone, so i don’t think about her too much, and i almost never call my parents to ask about her more than once.  after all, i know she’s going to be okay, and they would call me if anything went wrong.  but i do miss her a little.

when i’m in my apartment without maude, i miss her a lot.  it’s so strange to be here by myself: to have dinner without her coming over to see what i’m eating, to watch tv without her next to me on the couch, to do laundry without having to take her out of her comfy spot in the basket of dirty clothes.  there are empty little chihuahua-shaped spaces all over the place.

i’ll be out of town for over a week this time.  when i come back, maude will be happy to see me.  she’ll run around the room in circles, wag her tail like mad, and jump up to lick my face.  i’ll be pretty happy to see her, too.