Part 223 ~ 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.

Ben ate his white chicken and then ran outside to the dirt hole to sweep some dirt into the air. I was Collecting Data and we were coming to the crucial moment, the time when the Sun first touches, then falls below the horizon. I was still trying to find the best “horizon” to use. I think I’m stuck with a very small space between the shed and the apartments next door. Thankfully, I’ve been taking pictures there for a while and I think I can show the transfer from one viewing spot to the next with continuity.

Anyway, it was time to get Ben out of the dirt hole and into the tub. I herded him into the house, started the water, and started brushing his hair. He fought a little but not too much. I was racing to finish rebraiding before the tub was TOO full. It was close, but I won! (cue We Are The Champions…) I got Ben in the tub, got him clean and left him to play.

I went to take more pictures. The Sun had passed over the hills to the west, but hadn’t sunk into the Pacific yet. When I went back out, there was a neon orange color that I hoped would show in pictures. It’s pretty close. Daughter got Ben into his jammas and he and Zeus were tucked in while I was taking pictures. No “Goodnight” for Gramma.

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Then it was time for the Things and some Stuff, but not all of it. I also played a couple games, wrote an email and did some WP stuff. (SO many freakin spam comments! No, I do not have ED, no I don’t need oil of cannabis, and the Jesus people, just NO! I seriously doubt Jesus would approve of you spamming me, just sayin…) The other Stuff was taken care of in between and around.

Then it somehow became 11:55pm and I needed to eat. I got the bowl thingy I’d nuked earlier and nom’d, took my pill and got under my blankets… time for sleepy nigh-night.

I woke up at 5am with a feeling that I’d overslept. I found my phone and saw the time and realized I hadn’t overslept, but Zeus was whining and yipping so I let him out of Ben’s room. He tried to go straight to my room, but I told him “Go potty” and pointed at the side door. If he’s gonna make noise to be let out of Ben’s room before anyone is awake, it better be cuz the house is on fire or he’s got a potty emergency. I got back under my blankets, it was cold! Then I woke again at 6am… still quiet. I thought about getting up to watch the sunrise, but decided to stay warm and doze. I need rest too. The 6:30 med alarm went off and I turned it off, and continued to doze while I could (aren’t you proud of me?) Then I woke up at 7:45am. I stayed awake that time. Nature’s Call was pretty insistent.

On my way back from the baño I uncovered Sven and turned his lights on. I left the blanket over the top to keep the heat in. I was wearing my “sleeping hoodie” and socks and I still felt the chill… after sunrise! He was still half asleep so I took a picture and got coffee and went back to my room to get under the blankets and wait for Ben or Daughter to get up.

Ben got up first and ran down the hall. It was 8:15am. I told him to go potty then come get under the blankets with me. He said “No bus today”, it’s his way of asking if he had school. I said “That’s right, no bus today. Stay home with Gramma and Mommy.” He continued toward to the front of the house.

I figured I’d better give him his morning meds. I’d thought about holding the half seroquel and keeping to the regular schedule, but decided to push his 10:30 seroquel to 11:30am and then keep to the regular schedule. That would have him taking meds every three hour instead of four. A good experiment to see if the coverage was better. I went to get his water bottle and tablet from his room, and saw that his water bottle was full. He didn’t wake a bunch of times and drink in the night, so I wasn’t surprised to find him on the couch instead of the Bath Room. I gave him his meds.

As I knew he would, he said “Gramma come living room” I told him I’d get my stuff and come sit with him. So I got my stuff and got Sven some fresh food too. Fresh, mixed greens, blueberries, two new worms joined the two surviving worms. I put the dish in and moved Sven cuz he didn’t look like he was gonna move on his own. He just stared at the food for a minute… long enough for the worms to burrow under the greens, then started trying to get blueberries. It took him many, many attempts and I think he only got two, maybe three before he gave up and stared at his reflection… ready to fight. Silly Sven!

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Then I sat down with Ben and that’s when Daughter came down the hall. I told her she could go lay back down, we hadn’t been up very long. She declined. I got more coffee, told her about the meds, she agreed, and then I grabbed my stuff and went to get Horizontal.

A very chillaxing morning and early afternoon. I took my hoodie off around 11:30am, then the long sleeve tshirt came off after a stroll around the back yard around 1:30pm. The Guessers’ Magic Eight Ball showed double sevens or 77°F (25°C) for today. That feels about right. There’s a nice breeze too. Picture perfect SoCal day… except the humidity is at like 13%. It’s making my already flared up Plaque Psoriasis itch like crazy. And it’s so dry and scaly that its cracking and that’s just a lot painful. I’ve been using tons of lotion but my skin just sucks it up and dries out again. I guess my skin is like a desert. In the grand scheme of things, it’s a very minor problem. When children are going hungry in UK, I can deal with itchy, burning, scaly skin. BTW, Thursday, October 29 is International Psoriasis Day. (https://ifpa-pso.com/our-actions/world-psoriasis-day/)

Ben came in to hang out a few times, then went back to the living room. He was pretty chill most of the day. Daughter came in around 4pm and said she’d probably do his dinner around 4:30pm. She wanted tonight to go smoothly. I agreed with her. I also wanted the Driving Miss Daisy portion of the evening, and all the stuff leading up to it, the Pregame Show, to go smoothly. No drama, no stress… Daughter is already upset cuz she looked at her work schedule randomly and saw that sometime recently they put her on the schedule to work on Halloween night, where previously she had the day off. A requested day off. She will be talking to her manager tomorrow morning when he comes into work.

Daughter is starting Ben’s dinner. After he eats, I’ll be giving him a bath and hoping everything stays relaxed. I’ll be doing my Data Gathering in between and around the prepping of Ben for Driving Miss Daisy. It’s time for the Pregame Show.

I found this Incubus song when a poem that Paula wrote sent me looking for another song. I love Thought Journies!

What a completely bizarre but wonderful morning, and a very nice day. I’m glad you came along for the ride. I guess the Casa Cuckoo Express rollercoaster was more of a “kiddie ride” today… works for me. Sometimes those big, exciting rides are painful with the jostling, and kiddie rides don’t need warning signs. We’ll be picking Daughter up from work in the morning, so no sleeping in like today. I have no idea what else we’ll be doing, except I’ll be on Couch Sittin Duty. Come hang out with us. ¡Hasta mañana!

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HUGS!

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