Poor Chappy had an emotional rollercoaster today.

Now, don’t get worried. It wasn’t a SCARY kind of emotional rollercoaster.

You already know I’m on vacation this week. And I told you yesterday that I was taking my car into the shop today. So we pretended this was a work day, in terms of sleeping arrangements. In other words, Chappy was in his crate last night and this morning, I got up and dressed at the same time as if I were heading to work. The only difference was Dad followed me out the door. A little confusing, but not too unusual. So while Chappy was a little disappointed about Mom heading back to work on a rainy Tuesday morning … he curled up on his pillow and settled in.

We dropped the car off and came back home, about 30 minutes later.

Chappy gave me a greeting as if I’d been gone for months. He was so happy, so surprised, so excited to see me. He jumped, he spun, he licked. He was quite simply ecstatic. Even after I came upstairs and sat down, he came running in as if to say, “I’m so HAPPY you’re home!”

But then, an hour later? Mom and I left. Woe is Chappy. She and I took advantage of the wet, rainy day and headed to Short Hills Mall, a place we haven’t been in months. Last summer, maybe. It’s possible I may have bought a birthday present while I was there, but  nothing else.

We tried to get frozen yogurt at 40 Carrots in Bloomingdales (we love their frozen yogurt), but we couldn’t get two chairs together. You would THINK that, with single patrons using every other chair that somebody–the server, or one of the patrons–would think, “Oh look, there are two people at the door that have been waiting for 10-15 minutes. Why doesn’t somebody move over one chair so they can sit together?” But no. so, after we stood there for a while … we gave up and came home hungry.

But the point is that we came home. Eventually. My usual lunchtime, of course, is 12:30 and Chappy knows this. So at 12:30, Dad says that Chappy was at the door, waiting for me. And when I didn’t come and didn’t come, there was some whimpering involved. When Mom and I got home around 1:30, he was ecstatic again … “I missed you so much, where were you? You were late? I’m so glad you’re home!”

Phew! By now, he was getting kind of tired. We sat down together on the couch for a while and he did some serious napping … until 3:00, when I called the garage to find out if my car was ready. Turns out it was, which was great. So Dad and I got ready to go get the car … and Chappy looked devastated. Absolutely crushed that we were leaving … again! Honestly, if we were going to be gone for longer than half an hour, I would have been just as upset as he was.

So … we went to get the car. It feels so much better now. She tells me it doesn’t hurt to go over the bumps any more, and she’s so glad not to be winking at all the other cars any more. And she loves the new shoes. So, that’s all good …

Well, it made my check book hurt a little. Like, $1000. (Yes, one thousand.) On the plus side, the nice people at the garage rounded DOWN the price and didn’t charge for the alignment.

Then, back home, where I got yet another desperately happy greeting from Chappy, who basically told me that I was simply not allowed to leave the house again today. At all. Period.

Yes, sir.

Hey, you know how I keep telling you how much I enjoy the Sharon Lee & Steve Miller Liaden books? How they keep showing up on my “books read” list every couple months? Well, I’m not alone. Check out some of these quotes from other Liaden fans, starting with Anne McCaffrey and other great authors. And then? Read the interview with the authors.

Are you still uncertain what the Liaden books really are? Sharon Lee describes them as, “The Liaden Universe is an original space opera geography where honor, wit and true love are potent weapons against deceit and treachery.” Steve Miller, though? His description is “Zorro and his Cartwright cousins back-up the Texas Rangers as the Goths invade, with music, knives, attitude, spaceships, allies, and moxie.”

I mean, really, how awesome does that make these books sound?

Okay, two videos for you. You must watch this adorable little book trailer for “It’s a Book!” by Lane Smith … which I’m now trying to justify buying.

And then, for those of you who are Chuck fans like me? Have you SEEN the trailer for next week’s finale?? Because… WOW.

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