We went to the movies today! For the first time in a year. Steve planned out our whole afternoon including dinner and the movie.
Charlie has never been to a theatre or even that part of town, so he was anxious. We got chickfila, and of course had minor celebrity status when Charlie did his job and carried my food bag out. It's always a little bit of shock when I hear the reaction we get for that, because it's honestly gotten to the point where I kinda zone out and think of his mouth as an extension of my grasp. Like, my left hand has my cane, my right hand has his hard bridge handle and that should be a dance enough to help stay upright, but then life demands a tempo change and I have to deal with my wallet, holding a drink and getting through two sets of glass doors. I'm so busy getting it done that I can't understand in the moment why there's a clamor. Oh. It's because the shiny coated 110lbs dog is carrying my dinner sack. Gotcha. ;)
It was fall like weather, and I checked the ground temp before we decided to eat outside. He was snug as a bug in a rug, I promise.
Steve and I had a good time. It was so nice to have a date and emotionally connect a bit. I didn't realize how stressed I've been.
So we get to the movies, and I've figured out a new way to rig his small bed. I roll it up, cinch a belt around it, hook it to an old over the shoulder purse strap and voila! It's on my back and I can't feel it. We've rigged it that way for game night a few times, and it's been very effective. I wish I had someone to pick their brain about how they deal with all the gear that is needed. He has a dog version of a diaper bag, but I don't know. I'm digressing, sorry.
Alright, I've got my cane, his bed, his bridge handle. (I left his bag behind in the car) He's got my wallet, his wallet, and I lost sight of Steve. I decide to go inside, and the only question I'm asked is "what's your dogs name?"
....I struggle with this question, because if I tell them, 90% of the time the first thing someone will do is use his name to try and talk to or distract him. They don't realize they're doing that. So now my response is generally taken as copping an attitude when I say "if I tell you, you can't repeat it. He's working and he needs to focus." So I instead said "he's working, I only use his name when I need something. Give us a second and I'm sure you'll hear it when you give our ticket back." And instead of just saying "up, follow" I said his name first.
(OMG, I just realized when re-reading this that it's annoying to have a story go so slow, but my day really is broken up in micro detail like this.)
It's Tuesday, so nobody is at the movies. Perfect. The handicapped seating is my ideal seat. I had plenty of room to park his bed, and would have plenty of room if it was a bad day and I needed my walker too. I think in the future I might ask in advance which movie screen it's displayed on, because we had to hoof it to the very last one, and I got winded. Charlie was not walking to my ideal, he was excited at the new smells and sounds, so my wrist is a little sore from correcting his gait and forcing him to slow into a perfect pace.
There was a cute cartoon before the movie started, and it featured an animated dog, complete with barking and whining. Charlie watched the whole thing, and whined when the dog tried to cheer his human up. No one will ever convince me that Charlie doesn't understand the concept of tv.
Charlie got up twice and alerted me that he wanted to leave, both times it was a loud, intense part of the movie. After a kiss on the head and a gentle command to lay down, he did perfectly. He even fell asleep for a good 20 minutes!
(I know it's dark. I wish I could have gotten better lighting!)
So, Charlie has seen his first movie in a theatre, and I had a date! Whoop whoop!
