In the last week before we leave to travel around the world , I haven't spent much time thinking about our trip or even about the things we have left to do before we leave on Saturday.  Instead, I am spending all my spare time thinking about and being with our two wonderful dogs, Chewy and Abby .  Every time I see their sweet, trusting faces, or their tails wagging as we pet them, my heart breaks just a little because they have no idea that we are going to be away from them for so long.

Without a doubt, the hardest part of traveling long-term is being away from them.  I know that my parents will love them and care for them; I know that Abby will spend the days laying by the window watching cars drive by and barking at the postman; I know that Chewy will spend his evenings following my mom around as she cooks dinner.  I know that the dogs will be just fine .  But, still, we worry.

I don't want to express all the fears and anxieties I have about leaving them; in fact, I don't even want to admit to myself many of those concerns.  I would rather spend my time spoiling them.  So, I baked them "pupcakes," carob-infused cupcakes for our two dogs, which smelled so good that Patrick wanted me to make a batch for him.

Chewy did not leave my side through the baking process.  He plopped down on the floor while I was stirring together the ingredients, managed to connive me into letting him lick the spoon (darn those cute puppy faces), and posed for me while I was taking pictures.

I couldn't get a single non-blurry picture of him eating the pupcakes because watching him eat is like watching a tornado rip a house to shreds.  Abby, on the other hand, daintily ate her pupcake in several large bites.  I didn't taste them but, as far as I can tell, the pupcakes were a rousing success.

. . . keep reading pupcakes after the jump