Part 276 ~ 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.

The Parrots did a circling fly-by, but didnt stay. It wasn’t the entire flock either, just a few of them. Of course I took pictures but they’re the same old, same old. Sunset was blah again too. I looked, I photographed, I got Horizontal.

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Ben was in The Zone doing his chalk thang. Daughter put a couple pieces of chicken in his mouth but chalk beat hunger for the moment. I ran his bath at 5pm and it took fifteen minutes to get him away from the chalk. That’s on top of the twenty minutes worth of lead up warning prompts before I ran the bath. It’s like talking to a wall. He just ignores what I’m saying. I know he heard me. Occasionally I’d say something he didn’t like, he answered then… usually with “Dont do that!”

Anyway, got him in the tub, cleaned up, playing… yadda yadda yadda. Younger showed up with Gigi at 6:10pm. We left Ben home and I Drove Miss Daisy. She did the “Tuck and Roll” exit of the car as I slowed in front of the hospital (kidding… kidding…), then I raced back home. Younger was almost in tears because the whole Thing, whatever it was, was becoming more about Partner than Younger Daughter. Partner was “trying to do something nice” and Younger wasn’t following the program or whatever, according to Partner. Younger was stressed and not even wanting to participate… if that makes sense?

I got home, got Zeus into Ben’s room, sent Younger on her way with hugs, (She got her NEGATIVE test result, BTW) got Gigi into Daughter’s room, and called Sophie Cat in to eat. I texted Older Daughter somewhere in the middle of all that to let her know I was home safe and everything was okay. Sophie Cat ate, got spooked by Gigi whining and crying, and went back outside, so I let Gigi out of Daughter’s room. She hung out on the bed with me, followed when I did the Things and Stuff, then I put her back in Daughter’s room so I could eat and get ready for sleep. She was tired enough by then that she didn’t complain. Both cats came in, had their sibling scuffle, got settled and we all went to sleep by 10:30pm. Whew!

I woke a few times, moved a cat and went back to sleep. Sophie Cat woke me up at 5:15am by licking my face. It was very sweet of her to give me kisses, but I would’ve preferred if she’d waited another hour. I got up and started my day.

Ben was up at 5:30am and he let Gigi out of Daughter’s room, so there was a stampede that crashed into the bathroom door. Ahhh… mornings at Casa Cuckoo… definitely never boring! I opened the side door to let the dogs out (Yep, it was me… I let the dogs out. Now you know who.) and went to see Venus. I took a couple pictures cuz I take pictures of everything, and went back inside to see my friend, the Coffee Dragon. Also because it was c-c-cold! 37°F (3°C). The dogs stayed outside.

Ben wanted to give them treats, but Gigi eats special food, so I grabbed some baby carrots from the fridge for Ben to give to the dogs. Gigi found a few of Zeus’s scattered toys so Ben was throwing toys down the hall for them to chase. I curled myself into the Couch Dent and tried to stay out of the way. All three of them were panting and looking for water before long.

I made a few more trips outside, but sunrise wasn’t very exciting, and no visits from Georgie or Gracie.

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At 7:15 I put Gigi’s leash on, herded Ben, told Zeus to be good, and headed out the door to get Daughter. The dogs probably would’ve been fine together, but I was playing it safe. We had to let the car warm up enough to thaw the frost on the windshield, but after seven or eight minutes we were on the way. Daughter was waiting this time, and she had a bag full of take-out containers from a local “public house”… Fish and Chips, Corned Beef and Cabbage and some pasta and sausage thing. The first two were for me cuz she won’t eat either, YAY! She said the place had donated a bunch of food to the hospital staff and there was lots left over so everyone took some home. It’s nice that restaurants are delivering food to doctors and nurses.

Daughter also got her “invitation” to get the vaccine. There are a very limited number of doses available so the hospital is giving them out to the most at risk employees by invitation. She’s scheduled to get her first poke on the twenty-seventh, right after work, so we don’t have to make a special trip. Very nice!

We got home, and the dogs went crazy again. I sent them outside. Except for the half hour or so the dogs spent trying to both sit with me on the chaise, things calmed down pretty quickly. I think they were still tired from earlier.

Younger and Partner came and got Gigi around 1pm. She was filthy and tired… just the way a “grand” should go back to their “parents”, right?! She and Zeus had fun playing together and Ben had fun having two dogs instead of one. Younger is talking about picking Zeus and Ben up and taking them both to the dog park to run around with Gigi. It’s actually a great idea, cuz dog parks are fully fenced and Ben loves to run around or throw a ball for the dog. Right now it’s just talk… we’ll see.

Older got up after Younger left. Not because of their bickering ways, but because our crowded living room was ridiculously crowded with two extra people, an extra dog, and the Christmas Tree. She took over Couch Sittin Duty and I thankfully got Horizontal.

I went out to take my Sciencey Pictures of the sun going behind the apartments around 3:30pm, the usual time. Surprisingly Zeus didn’t follow at first. Gigi wore him out. Good!

Just about time for sunset. No clouds today so I might just hang out on the bed again. Zeus isn’t the only one who is worn out. We still have dinner, bath and bedtime for Ben to get through, but no time pressures. Hopefully it will be a relaxed evening.

Just because I like this song…

Thank you for spending another crazy day at Casa Cuckoo. Why are the craziest parts of the day the beginning and end? It sure seems that way to me. Tomorrow’s agenda is nothing. I may need to get a few things from the grocery store, or the market, but Daughter is off work until Tuesday night. We’re gonna get the dang tree decorated and just chill. That’s the plan anyway. Things change quickly though, so who knows?! ¡Hasta mañana!

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HUGS!

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