We drove to Memphis this past weekend to celebrate the 4th of July and Ab’s birthday. It was an awesome weekend…except for the fact that we drove to Memphis. Ab and I are not very good at handling long trips. We were road weary by the time we got to Round Rock…30 minutes from Austin. Ab made a car bingo game, we had snacks and new tunes and a deer antler (…for me. Really, it’s called a deer antler. Ab hopes to all hell that it isn’t ACTUALLY an antler but is too afraid to research it. We’ll continue to turn a blind eye). Alas, Memphis is about 400 hours away from Austin and there aren’t enough games in the world to keep us amused that long. We’re never driving outside of Austin ever again.

 Anyways…aside from the travel itself, Memphis was amazing. We went for a run on a golf course one morning…a very fancy golf course where professionals play tournaments….lots of water stops and sand pits and ducks. That probably describes almost every golf course in the world, but this one really is super fancy. Our hosts have a small dog and a beautiful home FULL of tennis balls, so I was in hog heaven. I also went on my first boating expedition. Ab has taken me out on numerous canoe and kayak trips..but never on an actual boat (if we can ever afford a boat, you may never hear from me again. I won’t have time to blog). As I’ve explained in previous posts, I am deathly afraid of swimming. I LOVE wading/splashing/playing in the shallow end…but I freeze up and sink when I’m in deep water. So when we got to the end of the dock and Ab jumped onto the boat and motioned for me to follow, I spread my legs, hunkered down, and tried to make myself immobile. I was eventually carried onto the boat, shaking and shedding and altogether terrified. Ab praised me profusely and assumed everything was cool between us once I was on the boat. I, however, don’t forgive that easily, so I contracted a flea infestation immediately upon our return to Austin.

In the span of 3 days, I have had my monthly application of Front Line, a flea dip, and one of those ‘magic caps’ from the vet that’s supposed to annihilate all fleas within 30 minutes. Ab flipped me on my back around 10pm last night (it’s easier to see fleas on my stomach b/c I’m hairless on the underside. And that is the most awkward thing I’ve ever mentioned in my blog. Moving on now.)…and found 3 young, healthy, happy fleas. I am the most gracious host ever. If there is a flea anywhere on this hemisphere in need of a home, I will find it, welcome it, and protect it against all anti-flea treatments. Even my veterinarian is impressed with my resistance. There were fleas VISIBLY bouncing off of me while we were picking up my magic cap…and yet I didn’t scratch or make any other attempt whatsoever to remove/disturb them. It’s truly remarkable. Ab claims that my fleas are ruining her life…and is thrilled to see that they may be relocating for the time being (we’ve only found 2 today). Rest assured, I will welcome them back at some point in the future. Possibly for Christmas…

We’re ramping up our running a bit at the moment b/c Ab’s running an 18 mile nighttime trail race at the beginning of August. I’m going along…but only for the camping part. Dogs aren’t allowed to run the race. FINE BY ME. It’s going to be like 115 degrees that day…and there’s a keg party afterwards. This has zero chance of ending well. I’ll try to take pictures.

And speaking of pics, here’s me..and my tongue..on the boat:

And here’s a pic of Ab, staring adoringly at the Peabody ducks:

Later pups,

Piggy