Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Goin' for a Ride

Meet Rosie. She's my daughter, Drama Queen's best friend.

Hi, Rosie!

Recently Rosie reminded me of how much she likes car rides. I was off to pick up DQ after school a couple of weeks ago and she half-followed me to the van. On a whim, I asked her if she'd like to tag along. In she hopped through my door and up onto the driver's seat. After getting her to move over, we were off. It's actually less than a ten minute drive to the high school, but the poor thing whimpered all the way there. I'd thought about just picking DQ up and then heading to the Bulk Food Depot, but after the whimpering, thought maybe not.

DQ and her friend, whom I also give a ride home, were excited to see Rosie and she was very excited to see them. Ion (the name of one of his gaming characters) was happy to let Rosie ride on his lap, which left her really happy and excited. And wouldn't you know it, her whimpering increased! She was happy to be with DQ after Ion got out and yet she whimpered even more. By the time we got home, it was obvious that her whimpering was actually her excited sound. Half an hour later she followed us back out to the van, wanting to go again, tail wagging and ready to go.

Off we headed to the Bulk Food Depot, where she was not happy to be left in the van. I knew we wouldn't be in the store all that long, so she wasn't alone for long. And she totally enjoyed the trip.

Fast forward to last week, which happened to be Ohio Graduation Test time. Athens City doesn't require students who aren't testing to be at school until 9:30, so I cut DQ slack and drove her to school at the later time all week. (Normally Mr. Incredible drops her off on his way to work.) So, Tuesday morning we're getting ready to head out to the van. My hand's on the doorknob, DQ's about halfway into the dining room grabbing her bags, and Rosie's right behind her, head perked up and looking hopeful.

I'll be danged, but she followed us, right up to my side of the van, and in she hops. I tell her to move over out of my seat and she hops into the passenger seat just as DQ is reaching up to unlock it. Rosie totally stole her seat and got away with it! Half-exasperated, DQ says, "Fine! Be that way!" and plops down in the middle seat behind her. DQ wasnt' really upset, which is what made it even funnier. And that's when she snapped the above pic of a very happy dog. Happy at least until we got to the school and Drama Queen got out, leaving Rosie behind. She was most definitly NOT happy then.

She followed us out again the next morning, but we made her get in the middle seats for that trip. It was very cute watching her tail bounce as she followed DQ around the van and to the open door. I took her with me yesterday to pick the kids up again and she actually let me know that she prefers that door. At 11 years old, she doesn't quite have the umpf she used to have for jumping into cars. The sliding door lets her get in at the floor level and then climb into the seat. And it's been HIlarous watching her get her car legs and find her balance while the vehicle is moving.

She's a pretty sweet dog.

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