This week is a pretty big deal for us. A lot is happening: some of our best friends are moving to Arkansas, our floors are getting refinished, I become fully vested on Friday (which sounds like I get to wear a full-body vest, which would be awesome/interesting), and Friday is Flag Day (!!!).
On Sunday we moved all the little things in our house into the basement and the upstairs bathroom (I had no idea it was possible to fit so. much. stuff. into a bathroom) so that the flooring contractor could move the big furniture on Monday and get started on the floors. That afternoon we headed to Nate’s parents condo in Old Town, where we are staying this week. It’s like a mini-vacation! There’s cable, restaurants and shops in walking distance, and beautiful parks along the waterfront.
Athena isn’t used to city living. She’s used sniffing around the yard, basking in the sun, rolling in the grass and chasing squirrels. That said, she’s adapting really well. She stands by the door and stares at us when she needs to go outside, and she knows which door to enter when go into the condo building. Interestingly, she knows which door is her’s in a directional sense, but not spatially: she knows it’s the first door on the left, but doesn’t understand that she needs to keep going up the steps because it is on the third floor. Every time we pass that first door on the left she stops and sits.
She’s been very enthusiastic about her new digs, and when she’s tired she plops down on her dog bed with her blanket. She’s not used to hearing noise coming from the hallway, or the living space next door, so she barks and looks at us for reassurance. We quietly tell her “no” and she’s figuring out she doesn’t need to bark and that she can just relax. Apartment living with a 45 lb energetic dog isn’t ideal, but we make it work. If Athena approaches each new post with as much excitement and adaptability as she’s shown over the past few days (and every other time we’ve taken her to stay someplace new), she won’t have any problems adjusting to life as a Foreign Service puppy!
According to Athena 