Tales from the road

So this past weekend Paul, Xochitl and I piled into his truck and drove down to SoCal for a big Pet Expo. Overall things went well. Paco Collars sold a decent amount, we met some really cool people, saw some old friends, and managed not to strangle each other the entire time. On top of that, Xdog got a really cool new outfit.

The entire weekend was a lot of work, but there were some highlights (one of them not being Field-Trip-to-the-Pet-Expo-for-Every-School-Child-in-Orange-County Friday... that kinda sucked and forced us to hide all of our free handouts lest they strip us dry).

We totally scored when some cool folks we'd never met offered us a place to stay one mile from the expo, making the commute somewhat bearable. We also made up cool games and spotted SoCal trends, like "extreme plastic surgery" and "moms getting full sleeves." Xochitl got to meet another Xolo, as well as a slew of Chinese Cresteds and a handful of AHTs.

But the highlight happened Friday. A mother and her two children stopped by the booth. The daughter was a toddler. Xdog was sitting pretty for them and I asked the little girl, "Would you like to give her a treat?"

She nodded so I handed her a freeze dried liver treat... which she then promptly put in her own mouth.

Paul, her mother, and I all caught it at the same time and, before I could get, "Oh no, not for you," out of my mouth her little face began to twist and contort. It turned bright red and she let out a huge cry, followed quickly by the wiping off of her tongue with her hands. The three of us started laughing and Xochitl began barking, which only heightened the little girl's discomfort and she started crying harder. The mom picked up her daughter to leave but was laughing so hard I thought she was going to drop her.

I'm sure one day that little girl will be telling that story from a psychiatrist's couch, but the visual of her paddling her tongue with her hands completely made our weekend.