Well today has been a normal abnormal day in the Bey household.
It started just a bit before 4 a.m. when the young Mr. Bey decided it was time to get out of bed and greet the day. I can’t say I blame him for wanting to get out of bed at that point-- it was soaked.
So we were off to a swell start.
After a bit, it was clear that Nolan wouldn’t be going back to sleep now that he was clean and dry. Since I had a full work day ahead, Kirk suggested that I go back to bed for a bit. To say that I was grateful would be an understatement.
Kirk woke me when he left for his run at about 6 am. When he got back, he had to chase Frodo (our older cat) out of the bathtub. Frodo has been in poor health lately, and he’s been hiding and sleeping in odd places. His current favorite is the bathtub.
It’s strange, and we don’t understand it… but it serves as a reminder that our time with him is limited. Over the past several months, Frodo has been losing weight, but he’s gotten quite thin. His voice is raspy, and he seems to want to move as little as possible. We’re assuming his thyroid cancer is calling the shots these days, and it feels like one dark cloud just hanging in our skies regardless of the day’s weather.
After chasing Frodo back out of the tub for my own shower, I was off to work for the day.
Once my day was under way, I got a text from Kirk. The pitcher in the photo? That’s iced coffee. Clearly, he’s our child.
That reminded me that I’d started a grocery order the night before that I hadn’t finished. And seriously? Ordering groceries for delivery is my new favorite thing.
I’m sure folks in more densely-populated areas have more options that we do, but our only real option is Instacart. Now, the good people at Instacart aren’t paying me to tell you how awesome they are, but maybe they should. Seriously, this has been a game changer for me. I can make my list to stay on budget, someone picks up what I’ve asked for, and it gets delivered right to my house-- usually in 2 hours or less. My favorite part is that I can send an order in while I’m at work, and my boys get the groceries before I even get home. It lets me stop thinking about another errand that I have to run after work and frees me up to be less distracted while I’m at work. (Seriously, they're not paying me, but I'm not above sharing my referral code-- if you're thinking about signing up or trying out Instacart, click here and we'll both get $10 off an order.)
By this time, Kirk had already tried to convince Nolan that it was a good day for a Dunkin’ run, but for some reason he was uninterested. It seems Nolan wanted to stay home and spread a little NolanBrand™ Sunshine (no actual trademark implied-- BACK OFF LAWYER PEOPLE!) But that’s for the best, because that’s right when the groceries showed up.
Yes, we did get two ice creams. Don't judge me...
From here the day wore on. And the day wore on Kirk.
They took a walk, and a neighbor and his wife showed Nolan a baby rabbit. Amazingly, Nolan did not scream, run, push or throw anything (most importantly not the bunny). Remember how Nolan isn’t a fan of animals? Yeah-- the little ones are typically no exception to that rule. That rabbit was in danger whether it realized it or not.
But then the mood swings started. This is the first sign that he’s finally starting to get tired.
Kirk was really starting to fade by now.
Since it’s my week to be done with work at 4:30, Kirk texted a bit before 5:00 to see if I was on my way. He’d forgotten I left work early for an eye exam.
Normally, I would’ve expected to be home a little after 5. But of course, that was not what this day brought. Instead of being in and out in about an hour, I was there for a bit over two hours. That’s a new record for me.
I ended up leaving with a new prescription, a referral to a specialist for follow-up on a laser procedure that I had done over 15 years ago (and may have to do again-- nothing major, but a pain in the hinder to schedule and go to and blah blah blah blah blah….) and a much lower balance in my Health Savings Account. Oh, and guilt knowing that I hadn’t been home earlier to let Kirk get a breather.
As soon as I got home, Kirk took a break and went for a bike ride. I was so off-schedule and discombobulated by my long appointment that I was almost an hour late with Nolan’s medicine. Hopefully that means he’ll sleep later tomorrow (a mom can dream…)
Eventually Nolan got his medicine and we navigated our bedtime routine. He brushed his teeth with the typical 2,371,985 reminders to “Brush-- don’t chew!”, and we put his bed back together since it needed to be stripped earlier in the day. As I finished getting the bare minimum together on the bed, Nolan crawled in-- he knew he was tired and welcomed the rest.
It wasn't a great day. But it wasn't a bad day either. It was just a day.
As I leaned over to kiss him goodnight, he let out the kind of fart that only a 14-year-old boy can. It was a fitting end to the day.