Part 29 ~ The Adventures of King Ben & Zeus the Big Dumb Dog

If you missed the start of this series, you can find it here. A lot of things will be the same or very similar.

I survived my trip to the store last night. I really need to practice wearing a mask without fogging up my glasses. There must be a way. I tried the washing them with soap thing…still foggy.

I went to get Ben’s meds and to look for substitutions for stuff that wouldn’t be in our delivery that was coming between 8-9pm. I was rushing, trying to get back home to put a sign on my car in case the delivery person got lost. GPS sends people to the wrong place. So I got stuff, got home and was carrying the bags up to the front door, and there was my delivery… at 7:30. Well, alrighty then. I had a difficult time getting to my door, Daughter ordered a LOT.

I got all the stuff in and put away and then I went to rest. Going out in public is stressful now. I’m more concerned about keeping my distance, trying to breathe and trying to see, than I am about the THINGY.

I did see something interesting, intriguing and slightly disturbing while I was standing in the booze aisle waiting to move 6 feet closer to the checkout

Peanut Butter flavored Whiskey? Has anyone tried this? I’m imagining mixing it with grape juice or something chocolatey. Intriguing and disturbing…

Last night’s sleep was again, not great. The high pressure? Sophie Cat? The disturbance in the Ether? The enchiladas I had for dinner? I’m maxed on the medication I take for sleep, so I’m stuck with whatever it is.

The Bounce occurred at the usual time and in the usual way. Ben cuddled just long enough to make sure I was really awake, then hied out to the living room. Calls of “Gramma! I need help!” got me out of bed to see what was needed.

First up was the TV. I think the batteries are going dead in the remote and the TV itself doesnt have an actual On/Off button…stupid TV, stupid remote.

Then Ben informed me that he “Need help wipe a butt.” Since he wasn’t seated on the Seat Of Ease at the time, I knew I had a job ahead of me. I won’t give a play by play (you’re welcome) but 3 wipes and new underwear were necessary.

We settled on the couch, Ben with his tablet and Blue Ramen, Zeus in between us and me with my coffee, dozing in between requests for “nother juice, please”.

I was awakened by Daughter coming in the front door. I hadn’t gotten a text when she clocked out, so was surprised to see her. I had given Ben his meds at 6:30 and she gets off work at 6:45, usually arriving home around 7:15.  She showed me the text she sent on her phone, and I showed her that I never got it on mine. I’ve been getting texts and emails late or not at all recently. I wonder if its because the cyberwebs are overloaded?

Anyway, Daughter’s co-worker, the TP gifter, had bought an Easter basket, on sale after Easter, for Ben. It was Paw Patrol themed and Ben was thrilled. Zeus tried to steal the plastic baseball AND the plastic ball from the paddle ball set. Naughty Zeus! In his defense, Ben has taken and hidden or lost every ball we’ve gotten for Zeus, but still… We dont take things that don’t belong to us. (Unless our name is Ben… we’re working on it)

Ben was having fun beating the paddle ball against the paddle (a piece of clear plastic stretched in the loop of the paddle frame) and singing Supercalifragilisticexpealadocious at the top of his lungs, while Zeus barked his head off and Daughter tried to tell me about her shift. Welcome to Casa Cuckoo!

We got both Ben and Zeus to bring it down a few notches and she explained that another staff member tested positive and a patient was sent out to the hospital during the evening shift with “COVID like symptoms”. They wont know until the hospital gives them the test results, but the Administrator wanted vitals on everyone in that wing of the building. Immediately!

Daughter worked in that wing last night. She didn’t have contact with the patient or the staff member, but in Skilled Nursing Facilities, kooties spread like wildfire. They can ask patients to stay in their rooms, but they can’t lock them in, and they can’t control the patients with dementia.  She’s worried about bringing it home to Ben, and to me. If her employer would provide proper PPE then she wouldn’t be as worried. It’s getting riskier every day.

She changed and came out to do Living Room Duty while she ate and relaxed. I went to my room to try to get more rest. I knew it was a lost cause when Ben ran past me and threw himself on my bed. He was still super amped up, extremely bouncy.

I got in bed with him and told him if he wanted to be bouncy he needed to do it in his room or the living room. He calmed down and watched the tablet. At one point he said “I so tired!” I told him he could have a little rest, that would be perfectly fine. He had his earbuds in, so he was quiet.

Around 9:00 I got up to get coffee and noticed an absolutely unbelievable sight… Ben was sleeping. Remember, he takes adderall in his morning meds. Adderall is speed. It helps people with ADHD focus. What a strange morning…

Ben woke up to drink some juice around 10:30 which was awesome because that’s when his next dose of meds was due. I gave him his meds and HE WENT BACK TO SLEEP! Did I slip into an alternate universe during one of my dozes? Am I sleeping now and dreaming this whole thing? Ben is NOT a napper. Ben didn’t take naps when he was a toddler.

If I had been even slightly intelligent, I would’ve gone to sleep too. But, I’m not, so I didn’t. Honestly,  I kept expecting him to wake up any time. He doesn’t nap! I fiddled around with a game, went through my WP reader and waited for Ben to wake up.

He did wake up several times to get a drink and to roll over. Part of me was all for letting him sleep, he obviously needed it. The other part of me was thinking that if he slept all day, he wouldn’t sleep tonight. I made an executive decision and let him sleep. If he stays awake all night it will be me who has to deal with it, Daughter will be at work. The high pressure the past few days was hard on all of us, he might’ve just needed the extra rest.

At noon I put Sven in the shower. He looked so sad with his ‘helmet’ of unshed skin.

He didn’t even seem to mind the toothbrush as much. He kept turning away from it and giving me stink eye, but he didn’t try to climb the walls of the tub to escape like usual. After his shower was time for nom noms…

and the Go Away stare. He is SO messy.

At 1:30 Ben finally woke up for good. His eyes were kinda wide like ‘where am I?’ and it took a few minutes for him to be fully alert. After 4 hours, it makes sense that he’d be a little confused. I checked his forehead and cheeks, but they were only ‘sleep warm’, not feverish and he hadn’t been sweating at all during the nap. He got up and ran for the bathroom, yelling “Gramma come living room!” as he went.

Daughter had set her alarm to get up at 1:30 and met us in the living room. I told her to go ahead and go back to bed. After her turn in the bathroom she did go back to her room, but didn’t sleep.

Ben and I hung out on the couch. Just chillin… with Zeus in the middle, as he prefers. He got up a few times to play with this or that. Had me tape some stuff. Generally pretty chill.

At 4:30 Daughter came out to take over Living Room Duty and to cook some steak for Ben’s dinner. I gladly went to lay back down. Sitting upright for any length of time hurts my back, shoulders and neck. This is why long car trips are difficult for me, movies are difficult, even concerts where I can get up and dance… horizontal is my preferred position (oh, stawp).

I need to go to the corner market for a couple things after Ben goes to bed… whatever time that ends up being. He may just go to bed at his regular time. We’re living in some strange days… strange days, indeed… Oh, song reference

I’ll leave you now. I won’t be far, and I’ll see you tomorrow. Casa Cuckoo is always open, always ready to receive visitors, and I’m ready to help out in any way I can. Take care of yourselves and practice smiling like you have a secret. Hugs!