Oh, the Day

It's been one of those days. The kind that everyone has every now and then but nobody likes to hear about. But since I've had time to sit and stew a while, and cry a wee bit, I'll share the one part that I've been able to see as a little bit funny if it hadn't happened to me.

After a stressful morning out and about, I headed home at lunch to put Micah down for a nap before going to the vet. He's getting a cold and is very tired and grumpy. Kinda like mommy on most days. But since he fell asleep on the way home he wouldn't nap once we got here. To pass the time waiting for the vet appointment, I decided to bath the dog.

So we headed to the vet. In the small car, not the big van. There's just enough room in the back seat for Micah's car seat, Sam's closet full of winter coats (???) and the dog. Once we get there I realized that bathing the dog just before leaving wasn't bright. She was still damp and smelled very much like wet dog. And remember that Micah didn't nap and he's already cranky? Yeh. He was incredibly loud and scared the wits out of all the dogs there, including ours. He insisted that he wanted to drag the dog by the leash from one end of the clinic to the other, and I simply wouldn't let him. Hence his loud protests. After throwing a fit and throwing his coat, the leash and his toy across the floor, he had a complete and total melt down after I made him pick them up.

It was at this particular moment that the receptionist informed me that my husband was on the phone. He needed me to pick up some parts for the van and deliver them 20 minutes in the opposite direction from home. Bear in mind that the vet appointment was scheduled for 10 minutes before the kids were due home from school. They're at home by themselves and now I'm asked to not only perform a task clearly within my husband's jurisdiction, but do it with a sick boy while leaving the other kids home alone even longer. Micah was screaming loudly enough that the receptionists couldn't really tell if the other lines were ringing or just their ears.

After we had the dog examined I took her to the car to wait while we waited for the bill. But once we got to the car I nearly ran back into the clinic. THE DOG HAD POOPED IN THE CAR. Mind you, she was stressed so it was quite loose. And remember how there wasn't much room in the back seat? She cleverly chose a wide open space. IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT. After stepping all through it, she looked out both windows, jumped into the back seat, in the car seat and up onto the back ledge. Shades of Poo is not a nice interior color on any car. Micah, the neat freak with sensory issues, is gagging from the smell and is about to contribute to the mess. There are no napkins in the glove box so I rummaged in the mess on the floor and found a crumpled up, used one. (Don't judge. I am not the primary driver of this car.) I managed to get the largest deposits scraped out the door and had no choice but to lay one of the many coats over the mess for the ride home.

Yes, home. What makes you think for one minute that I want to stop at the auto parts store? You and I both know that they invent things to ask women just to make us sound stupid, and after the day I'd just had I didn't need their patronizing insults added to it. But driving through town I realized that I was being petty and selfish and if I was the loving wife that I should be, I'd stop. So I did. Partly to make the counter guy smell me while he asked me made-up questions. Maybe he'd actually just give me the parts I needed without playing his little game since I had a wonderful aroma about me. Wet dog, baby snot and poo are not a lovely combination no matter what time of day. At half past I'm Seriously Stressed it just reeks. And by golly, it worked! An auto parts store employee was super efficient for the very first time in 15 years of pick-this-up-for-me experience. He did reluctantly ask if the gas line was for a regular van or a fuel-injected one. I eye-balled him and shrugged my shoulders. He quickly went about his business and said "I'm sure this will work." You've gotta give the guy points for bravery on this one. But I was out of there in record time with parts in hand and aroma intact.

Micah fell asleep on the way home. And it was the cutest thing I've ever seen in my entire life and of course I didn't have the camera. The dog was resting her head in his lap and he was stroking her silky ears, both heavy eyed and drowsy. I loved it so much that I wanted to stop the car and just look, but I knew it would rouse them both and couldn't take the chance.

In every cloud there is a silver lining.