my beloved furry friend came home from the doggy ranch on monday. he was there for an entire week. i was at rally (rally!) from monday through thursday, and i let him stay for an extra few days of fun in order to have some me time.

let me just say, for the record, that a week of sleep is a beautiful beautiful thing. it turns out that there is really only one thing standing between me and a full night of sleep – and his name is atlas. (well, that is not entirely true. i am the one who let him sleep on the bed in the first place. clearly i did not think that through. then again, i am doubtful that the knowledge that i was giving up a good night's sleep for the duration of his life would have changed things. in the face of his cute puppy-ness and his whining, i would have done the exact same thing.)

i usually drive to rainier and pick him up, but this time, he came home on the doggy ranch bus. have i ever showed you a picture of the bus? it is the best. thing. ever. there are pictures of the bus about five rows down on this page. please go look at them. they will make you smile. if you have a dog, you will want to send your dog there. (if you live in or near portland, you should. double dog ranch is like doggy heaven on earth.)

anyway, when i spotted atlas on the bus, he was sharing a seat with another dog, a dog that was about as large as him and much furrier. i am not entirely sure how they both fit in the same seat. sam said that when atlas got on the bus, he ran all the way to the back and hopped up on the seat with scout. sam let them sit together, and scout licked atlas' ear the entire drive. apparently they were the best of friends. isn't that sweet?

atlas has such a good time with his friends at the doggy ranch that i often wish he had a doggy ranch friend (or a good doggy friend in general) in daily life. except that in daily life, it is also true that he really just wants to be with me. i guess that's ok too. sleep or no sleep, i always like to be with him.