A Walk in the Park

The only thing easy in my life right now was brunch and the walk in Chaoyang Park that we took today. It was a beautiful day and Dan and I just sat on the edge of the lake for an hour and a half. In spite of the fact that school has only been going for two weeks now, I really needed this three day weekend. I have been working hard to teach, working hard to study for two grad classes, and spending a lot of time with my new puppy. I am exhausted and trying not to get sick!

Last night we said goodbye to our friend Matt, who is heading home to coach swimming before taking a job in Germany. We went to Hatsune for some really delicious Japanese food and tried to make plans to see each other again soon. Soon, I've found, seems to get further and further away as I get older. Soon used to mean a couple days from now, or next week. Then I went to college and it meant in a couple months. When I left the States, soon started to mean in 6 months to a year. Now, it often means two years, maybe more! I'm not sure where the time goes.

Today we had brunch with Filipa and Stan before our escapade in the park. Delicious food and good company makes me smile. I ate bread, which I haven't done in about two weeks, but it was totally worth it. As long as I'm going to eat something with wheat in it, I might as well binge. So, binge I did! I haven't been good about keeping the corn out lately anyway, so bad skin is to be expected. I'll just have to be extra careful this week!

It's far easier to control my diet than it is to control stress. I have a lot on my plate right now, and I am constantly preoccupied with my puppy. Something about actually managing to save her, with a LOT of help from my friends has made me worry even more. She's about three and a half weeks old now and appears to be really healthy, so there's not much to worry about. Oddly enough, I find things. Maybe she's a little sleepier or not gaining as much weight or fell off the bed, and I worry about every little thing. It's stupid, I know, but I can't help myself. I feel like it's my duty to protect her! I've also been struggling with the fact that she's looking like a big dog. At three and a half weeks, she's about four pounds. Beijing doesn't allow dogs over 35 centimeters or 14 inches, so unless she's just going to stop growing up and start growing out, I might have a problem. I'd be willing to pay the 5,000 RMB fine if that means that I can register and keep her, but I'm not sure that's the case and I don't want them to take her away and kill her. And they would. They are pure evil!