PLAYING IN TUNE

“It was one of those days – one of those crazy, crazy days.” Remember that tune? It was playing in the back of my mind all day yesterday; with good reason.

My first call came early in the morning. My youngest son, Jo, wanted to tell me there was a new baby on the way. Yippee!! That was the good news.

After 2 hours of frustrating traffic, I walked late into an office where 4 stagiares were sitting waiting for me to give them work. My fault. I hadn’t amply prepared before leaving on Friday, nor did I follow-up during the weekend. I already had a full agenda for the morning, so it was rock and roll trying to get everything in order. Throughout this havoc, our one toilette blocked and “runneth over”. The janitor pulled a no-show, and by the end of the day those of us who had not gone knocking on our neighbour’s door to borrow their service were doing the “gotta-go” dance.

I had an appointment at the vet for Bud, my oldest pit. He had a big swelling on his bum and on his paw – it looked like abscess – and I could tell it was hurting him. With all the stern at the office, I left late, endured another long trip in traffic, and rushed as best I could to get home, pick up the dog, and get to the vet’s in time. That, of course, wasn’t going to happen. I finally got a very mucky dog (it has been raining here for the past few days, and Bud loves mud!!) into my clean truck, and was nearly at the destination when my cellular rang. It was Fran telling me that my brother, Bird, was running a high fever, and she was worried. She had called the hospital and they told her to bring him in, but he was refusing to go.

It was a torturous hour before we got away from the vet’s, an episode in itself about which I will tell you more later. Suffice it to say that Bud does NOT like the vet, and the vet no longer likes me, there was pain involved, and Bud astounded everyone with his strength! Let your imaginations work on that one, lol!

I raced back home, released the dog from of my previously clean truck, and then stopped at the pharmacy before running to my brother’s apartment. By this time his temperature was close to 103 – not good!! He was still refusing to go to the hospital, and I don’t really blame him. With our Quebec nurses drastically overworked, none of his experiences in there have been good ones. Fran and I dosed him with fever reducer, covered him with ice packs and cold cloths, then we waited. Slowly, the fever abated. I was to meet a new employee to go over her contract that evening, but called her to postpone to the next day – I didn’t want to leave until I was sure Bird would be okay on his own. That actually happened earlier than expected, and I finally crawled into bed, the telephone beside me just in case, thankful that the panic was over. But it wasn’t.

My 18 year old grandson, driving to work in the wee hours of the next morning, had a tire fall off his newly purchased car, fought for control, and ended up smashing into a guard rail, totally scrapping his automobile. The miracle is that neither he nor his passenger was hurt; they came within an inch of going over the rail and rolling down the side of the mountain. Being young, he was more upset about now having to make payments on a vehicle he can no longer use, but, of course, his mom and the rest of us see it in another light. To hell with the car! To add insult to injury, that same afternoon he discovered that his bank debit card had been cloned, and the thieves had emptied $300.00 from his bank account. And I thought I was having a bad day!!

The update in this soap opera of our lives is that I really am going to be a grandmother for the sixth time; Bird is feeling much better (must have been the 24 hour flu); my grandson was reimbursed the $300.00 by the bank, and is shopping for a new car and will never, never again buy one without it being thoroughly inspected; the janitor left a message saying he repaired the toilet last night; and Bud is easily taking his medication, albeit wrapped up in cheese. The crazy, crazy day is back to normal...for the moment.

Sending you all a big warm SMILE, and wishing you an exciting (but not crazy) Wednesday!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec.