My Pet Rats

Did you ever have one of those days that seemed to be out of sync with the rest of the world? I had one yesterday, and I blame Louise. I like to blame Louise because not only does she love me (god knows why) but she also just doesn’t let it bug her. That’s mainly because I am probably wrong about fixing the blame.

I had a fairly busy day yesterday, not busy in the sense of I had to get that liver delivered or some poor child might not make it to Christmas, but busy in the “I had to cancel one of my coffee times” way. We all suffer in our own private Hells. I had planned to do some grocery shopping the first thing in the morning, have a coffee and read my book at Tim’s, come home and walk Buster, get the stew in the crock pot, tidy a bit, drive down to Ikea and pickup something that Louise wanted, maybe drop in on Lee valley if there is time and then go for my dental check-up with Dr. Julie. On the way home, maybe a coffee, but I had best get home and finish those Christmas cards, tidy a bit because Maegan arrives today for a visit. I will walk up to post the letters and perhaps visit the library. By then Louise will be home and after dinner I can have a relaxing night doing some carving and watching TV until Maegan’s plane comes in.

That is the way the day was planned. This is what happened.

I was getting ready to go to Superstore when Louise called and asked if I could do her a big favour. This is where things started to go south. She needed me to find a picture on the computer and send it to get some prints at Costco. This pushed the shopping trip back a bit and forced a cancellation of coffee at Tim’s. I got home and Buster and I went for a walk, but it was colder than I thought and therefore I cut it short. Not too satisfying for either of us. Quickly prep everything for the stew and nearly slice off a finger. I guess one shouldn’t rush when wielding a knife. Make a wrap for lunch and press a pot of coffee. Jeez, look at the time! There is no way that I can get to Ikea and Lee Valley is definitely out of the picture, in fact, I might just be late for Dr. Julie. On the way down, Louise called and I was a little curt with her because with the luck I was given, some cop might want to fill his distracted driving quota. I called her back from the parking lot and found she had come home from work for the day due to illness. Poor sweetie! Had a nice visit with Dr. Julie and then the hygienist did her thing. Arwen called in between the sharp pointy thing stabbing my gums and suction and I told her to call home because mom was there. I did the Ikea thing and drove home to find that Louise was OK, but Arwen had to go for some tests at the hospital. Everything seems to be good, but I would have to pick up Hurricane and Tornado for supper and who knows for how long. So, there goes the quiet restful dinner and evening I had planned.

When 11:00PM came up I headed to the airport, and of course there was an accident on the highway which raised my already topped up stress level. Maegan and I met, hugged, picked up the bags and got home and to bed as soon as possible.

You know, everything got done and then some. I did pick up the things for Louise and I managed to help out my daughter when she needed me. Sure, I missed the time that I had earmarked for me, but I will survive to drink coffee again. I used to laugh at the old farts that would have a schedule and couldn’t vary from it. I find that as I age I take comfort in my organized regime and resist change. If it weren’t for Louise I would never see the sun and be walking through tunnels of newspapers with my pet rats.