In the grand scheme of things, this day of mine was really not a big deal. However, I don’t really give a flip about grand schemes when it’s so often the little things…..and some not so little……that make one want to go somewhere far away and very quiet. A place where there are no pooping dogs, and where 32 year old sons can go into the public restroom and not be heard from the hall as they laugh and whoop very loudly.
My day began at 3:45 A! M! Our elderly Great Dane, Jackson, sleeps in our bedroom with me and Gary. Not with us as in the bed with us. NO, NO, NO!! But he sleeps on a bed at the foot of our bed, on the floor, where big Great Danes belong. He’s been getting me out of bed quite often lately, needing to go outside to potty, and usually it happens at about the awful hour that I awakened this morning. But it wasn’t Jackson that woke me up. It was an odor. A very unhappy odor. Not wanting to awaken Gary, and assuming that Jackson had left me his usual large gift of a turd or two on his bed, I got out of bed and didn’t turn on the light.
Big mistake.
Both of my feet soon landed in soft, gooey poop. So there I was, in the dark, trying to walk on the sides of my feet to the bathroom where there was a LIGHT SWITCH that would help me to see what I already knew was there. I nearly fell backwards as I tried to wobble forward, and wondered how I would explain all of this to the ER doctors as I lay on the gurney covered in poop with bones poking out of my poor broken body.
I know that’s dramatic. I was actually very composed…….probably in a state of near shock as I first cleaned my feet with a Clorox wipe, and then tackled the carpet. Jackson lay on his blanket, separate from his bed. Yes, he has a bed with a comforter on it and his favorite blanket. And then he has yet ANOTHER blanket on the floor beside Gary. He’s spoiled. He watched me with a bored expression. I glared at him but didn’t speak. Then I made him get up and go outside to potty anyway, and I left him downstairs.
There!!
I never went back to sleep. Our diffuser helped dispel the odor, but my body and brain were revved up!
I guess Aaron was revved up this morning, too, because at 6:30 he came into the bedroom where I have my quiet time and he just quietly stood there……staring……at me.
I turned and stared back.
“Mom,” he said with no emotion. “I woke up.”
I was still in a poopy frame of mind. “No joke,” I replied. But the sarcasm was totally wasted on Aaron, who doesn’t get sarcasm. And I, having had enough of waste, just turned and continued with my reading. He must have thought I was hopeless, because he went back to his room and shut his door.
Today Aaron had a doctor appointment at the air base. It was time for his physical, as well as his post-hospital visit with his primary care doctor there. I was so prepared the night before……clothes picked out, and all of his paperwork filled out and put in a nice folder on my desk. I was good to go! Until it came time to actually go. I don’t know what happens in the last five minutes before we leave. I mean, does Aaron plan to go barefoot?! Why are his shoes and socks not on when I told him what time we were leaving? Then I had to quickly clean his glasses, grab my earrings, don’t forget my phone, turn off the radio, answer his multiple questions about where we would eat lunch today……and LET JACKSON OUT TO POTTY!!!!!
We were about two miles from the house before I realized that I had forgotten the carefully prepared folder with all of Aaron’s physical paperwork that I MUST have. So I did a quick turnaround, went back to the house, up the stairs as fast as I could, and off we went again. Aaron put his seat back and slept. We hit every single red light on the way, I do believe, but made it just before our appointment time. Why does Aaron walk SO slow?! And so much for getting there 15 minutes early. I was very thankful that it wasn’t mentioned by the receptionist.
Aaron went to the restroom then, and as I stood at the check-in counter quite a distance from the bathroom, I heard the unmistakable sound of Aaron’s laugh……and his excited whooping yell……and several booming claps. Not of thunder, either. It was Aaron clapping for some reason known only to him. I stood outside the bathroom door at that point, and when the door opened Aaron got the “evil eye” for sure from me! He was unaffected, of course, and just followed me up the hall where we waited for our name to be called.
And where he almost……almost……got off another loud clap. But I intercepted it, and hissed out a stern warning to him about NOT clapping!! And NOT making such noises in the public restroom!!
“You’re a grouch today,” was Aaron’s response.
“No joke,” I wanted to say but didn’t. Why waste my breath.
There’s that word again!!!
Aaron’s name was called at last, so we followed the medic into the hallway. Aaron knows the routine, so he stopped at the scales…..took off his shoes…..and was weighed. Then to the exam room, where he sat Indian style on the exam table but soon was stretched out comfortably after his vitals were taken. No sense wasting a good place to lay down!
Did I really say wasting?
It was then that I noticed the large coffee stain on his shorts…..and another stain…..and some spots on his shirt. So much for trying to be nice and clean to see the doctor! Exam done, papers filled out, TB test read, and assurances made that he did not have to pee in a cup again today – and we were done!!
Put a little gas in the van, make our way through multiple construction zones, back to our side of town, and finally we were at Aaron’s favorite place – Carlos O’Kelly’s! We sat down in our booth and our server was there. And immediately Aaron said…..loudly, of course – “Can I have a regular salad?!” It happens every time, and every time we tell Aaron to wait until we actually order food to order his salad, but he just MUST be sure that the server knows that if all else fails……if there is no other food…..no water…..if the table collapses……if the walls crumble…..CAN I HAVE A REGULAR SALAD??!!
We finished our grand day at Wal-Mart, which is the grandest of the grand in Aaron’s book. He went to the electronics, of course, where he saw more movies that he wants and a computer mouse and headphones……
And in our cart were other things he saw and knew he could have…..CheezIts…..flavored water……and some beef jerky for Dad! All picked out by Aaron, who was very happy.
And very tired. He told me that he would sit on the bench and wait for me, but I saw this sight as I left the register after paying.
He surely doesn’t mind being comfortable wherever he may be. Doesn’t faze him one bit to lay down in front of everybody at Wal-Mart, or make noises in the bathroom, or talk loudly for all to hear, or any number of other things that sometimes makes Mom grumpy on a bad day.
But Aaron isn’t trying to make me have a bad day. He’s just being Aaron.
Kind of like Jackson was just being Jackson, doing what a dog needs to do when a dog needs to do it. I may as well not waste my breath fussing about any of it.
I said it again, didn’t I?
Kind of like Aaron, don’t you think?
He Said What?! 