It's T-Shirt Time!!!

This past weekend I headed down to Wildwood, NJ with one of my best friends (who helped give me the idea to write my blog, create it, and spice it up), Megan. On the car ride down she asked me how my blog was going and when I told her, "I signed off for the summer," she got really upset with me and told me, "that's not how it works." So, this blog post is dedicated to Megan for a) making me laugh all weekend, and b) reminding me that people enjoy hearing my awkward/crazy/competitive/[insert whatever adjective you want here] stories even if I am stationed in NJ for the summer. Plus, since there's only so much Hillary to go around, my Swiss teammates can get a little piece of my craziness while I am so far away from them =). Today, I'm officially signing 'back on.'

 

Unfortunately, I don't have as much time to write while I'm home, since I am working, training, and trying to see as many of my friends as possible. Even so, I can give you one anecdote from my weekend.

Each night while I was in Wildwood with Megan, her family and I sat down for dinner. Now, her family knows me pretty well, I've been visiting Wildwood at least once a summer for about five years now, although I have to admit that I'm still generally pretty quiet around them. This year, however, there was a new addition to the household: Pippy. 

Pippy & Chippie

Pippy is a Chiweenie. Pippy enjoys biting anything and everything, from fingers to flower heads, rocks, cigarette butts, and wood chips. Pippy doesn't like to let go of the things she bites. Pippy is very cute and lovable, but Pippy is not the only dog in Megan's family. Enter Chippie. Chippie is a 9-year-old chocolate lab, and probably my favorite dog of all time. Chippie is a trained therapy dog and nuzzles right up to your legs when she sees you. Chippie puts up with Pippy's tugging and nipping and playing like an incredibly patient older sibling, only lifting her lip every once in a while to show Pippy her teeth when she's getting out of control. 

After our last day and dinner in Wildwood I went around and said goodbyes and thank yous to my friend's family. Then came time to say goodbye to Chippie, at which point I started bawling. I can only imagine what Megan's family was thinking when I started crying after saying goodbye to their dog. It's a little bizarre when I think about the things that make me cry. Take, for example, when I got really attached to a stray cat down by school one year. I tried all year to coax the cat into letting me pet it, only succeeding in chasing it into Megan's house and watching it hiss at me. About a week before school ended that year, I saw a similar-looking cat on the side of the road and just lost it. I mean, I didn't know that cat, and Chippie isn't my dog, but I just love animals so much. It's good to have a friend like Megan though, who encourages me to laugh at myself when I become ridiculously overly-attached to things. 

That's all for now! Till next time...

Love you Chippie (and Pippy)!!!