Part 284 ~ 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 sunset surprised me. It was my third surprise treat of the day. I was getting frustrated with my phone camera’s inability to capture the colors I was seeing. I started playing with the settings in “pro” mode. I’d only ever changed the “ISO” number before (I still have no idea what that is), so I tried changing the “white balance” from “sunlight” to “cloudy”. BINGO! The colors my eyeballs were seeing could now be captured…

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We woke Ben up at 5:45pm to give him his night meds and see if he wanted to eat the “orange chicken” daughter made. He did eat and then said he was ready for bed. We let him skip the bath, and The Boys were tucked in around 6:30pm. Daughter went to her room and watched some shows until around 8:30pm when she went to sleep.

I did all the usual and was getting ready to take my meds when I thought I heard Ben. That was around 10pm, and I had already dozed once. I waited to find out if he was awake or asleep. At 10:45pm he slammed his door open and ran to the baño. Dang! I followed him, then escorted him back to bed, covered him up, and told him to go to sleep. Sheesh! Replay of Saturday night…

I took my meds, went to sleep around midnight. Woke a couple times, then woke for good when the, Yep! med alarm went off at 6:25am. The house was quiet. I tried to be quiet as I left my room and headed toward the baño. Either I wasn’t quiet enough, or Mr Murphy was having a laugh cuz I’d barely taken my seat when Zeus was sniffing under the door… The Boys were up. Another Casa Cuckoo day had begun. Sigh!

I gave Ben his meds, got his stuff and got him settled. Then I got my stuff and went to look at the sky before beginning Couch Sittin Duty. It rained overnight and the sky was still cloudy and Meh, so I went back in. I visited the Coffee Dragon, then settled my butt into the Couch Sittin Dent.

Around 7am I went back outside to see if the Sun was gonna come through the clouds or if any of my avian friends were around. I saw some crows fly by, high overhead and I wished them a Good Morning, but it was still Meh. The clouds were moving fast, and I watched them for a minute or two, saying hello to any bird that flew by. It was cold, so I went back in.

Daughter was awake in her room… I don’t know if I woke her when I was calling to the birds, or if she just woke up. She came out at 7:15am-ish, took over the Duty, and I went to the Coffee Dragon to top up before getting Horizontal. I looked out the kitchen window and saw Georgie on the market roof, so I went back outside. Gracie was there too, and another Gull flew in and circled a few times.

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I had to laugh when the G’s flew to the alley/street for their breakfast and in the parking lot of the 7-11 across the street was a Corona truck with “Find your beach” written on the side. I felt kinda bad for the crow that was hanging around hoping for a share.

I went back inside, got my coffee and got Horizontal. Ben decided to join me. I spent the next thirty or forty-five minutes enduring bedquakes, elbow jabs and various other collisions as Ben got up and Bounced back onto the bed several times. Then the wiggle-jiggles as he got settled. It was pouring rain by then.

When the rain stopped, Ben went outside. He’d gone out with the umbrella while it was coming down, but came right back in. It had been too cold… 47°F (8°C) Anyway, the rain took a break, the Sun came out and Ben went to the Dirt Hole, which was now the Mud Hole. I told him that if he got all muddy he was going straight into the shower. He said “okay”, but it felt like an acknowledgment that I’d spoken, not acceptance of what I’d said, so I said it a few more times.

I took his 10:30am pill out to him. I knew what to expect by the pile of clothes next to the side door. Yep! Naked and covered in mud. I don’t know how he was able to be naked in the cold, let alone slapping cold mud on himself, but he has always been hyposensitive, that’s why he bangs into everything. I put the pill in his mouth and held the water bottle for him to drink. I wouldn’t let him touch it. I reminded him again that when he was done playing, he was going directly to the shower, and getting his hair washed too. He gave me two thumbs up.

I told Daughter what he was doing and what I told him. She said she’d handle it. About twenty minutes later he came inside and they went to the bathroom and the yelling and banging began. When he came to my room in his bathrobe with his hair in a towel, I offered Daughter a break, I’d finish him up and she could get away from him for a bit… Declined! With a glaring LOOK even. Alrighty then…

I got clothes and helped him get dressed cuz he was stomping around naked and it was cold in the house. He sat on the couch, grabbed his tablet… Daughter brushed and braided his hair. I went back to my room.

Everything was calm and peaceful when I hollered out the 12:30pm med alarm, and had been for a while. Ben went outside for a while and Daughter told him if he got muddy again, he’d have to take another shower. I worked on my WP reader, so far behind… I didn’t start reading until after noon. Balancing writing, answering comments and reading with all the crazy stuff that happens at the Casa can be a challenge sometimes.

Anyway, around 2pm I went to get more coffee and saw that Daughter was asleep on the couch. Ben had come inside and was hanging out in my room. I woke her and told her to go lay down in her bed, it would be more comfortable. She said she was fine. I was in the baño when I heard her yell “Damnit Ben, stop touching things that don’t belong to you!” which meant he’d done something to her laptop. When I came out, I again offered her a break from Couch Sittin Duty and she glared at me. Alrighty then…

Around 3pm she told me she’d gotten an email from his school. Uh-oh… There has been an outbreak of the Kootie amongst the staff so school will stay closed through January. No GLYSB on January 4, 2021 for us. The email also said that all students who had been in contact with infected staff had been notified. None of Ben’s teachers or aides are amongst the infected staff. They say “distance learning” through January… we won’t be doing much of that. It doesn’t work for Ben, and it causes problems. Nope! Not happening. I am angry though. I am angry at people who think rules don’t apply to them and who don’t realize the effect their actions have on other people. ALL of the students at Ben’s school need to be IN school. They need their supports and therapies. GRRRRR!!!!

Around 3:45 Daughter went to her room to charge her laptop. Ben had been in my room with me most of the afternoon. She drives me bonkers with her contrary ways. She should’ve just gone earlier when I offered to sit with him if he wanted to go to the living room. It’s ironic that she gets so upset when Ben acts in contrary ways.

It’s getting to be about that time. Time for me to brave the cold and look at the sky… or not. No work for Daughter and Ben is still clean (amazingly) from his shower earlier so just food and meds and bed. Daughter says her arm still hurts from the vaccine injection but otherwise she feels okay. She got the Pfizer one.

Felt like a CCR kinda day…

Thank for spending another crazy day with us. It wasn’t all mellow and relaxed, but it wasn’t all horrible either. The rain and cold kinda dragged me down a bit, but not too bad. Tomorrow is an unwritten page… bring your pens and let’s graffiti it up! ¡Hasta mañana!

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HUGS!

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