Have you ever had a day where, from the moment you open your gritty eyeballs, you just can’t get anything right?
Have you ever had the kind of day where every god, goddess and bad guy in the universe is seemingly engaged in a conspiracy to prove that you are a total waste of molecular energy? The kind of day where, if you could just quiet the roaring of your overflowing toilet, you’d actually hear the sound of distant maniacal laughter?
No?
Welp. I have.
In fact, as you have probably already surmised, I had one of those days today. And, yep, you’re right. You’re going to hear about it.
Let me just set the stage first, alright?
Today was the last full day in the life of my beautiful old hound dog, Tucker the Wonder Puppy. Also known as “The Wolf King.” At the age of 12 and a half, Tucker has walked his last walk, chased his last frisbee, eaten his last beef bone. He is losing his vision, and can barely get himself up or down the stairs, even with lots of loving human support.
It’s time.
The call has been made, the appointment is set. Today is his last full day on this lovely green earth.
So of course, last night Paul and I were up at 3 AM easing him down the stairs and out the front door to poop. We were up again bright and early this morning doing the same thing. We are sad, tired, nostalgic, sick at heart.
We are not at our peppy best.
And this is the first full week of school, which means that it is Nonni’s first week of trying to juggle a three month old and a two year old, both of whom miss their Mommy all day long.
All of that would have probably been more or less OK, except that it was also pouring and pelting buckets of rain all day. And I somehow messed up the bottles so that the wrong nipple was on the wrong bottle and poor baby Johnny could barely get a drop of milk all day.
Oh, and I invited my granddaughter’s best best friend and her Momma to come over to visit today. Because…why not?
So.
There I was.
New company at my door. Rain pouring down. Old dog whining on the rug. Puppy yipping, jumping and relentlessly trying to mate with the young woman who came to visit. Baby Johnny desperately trying to get milk, to no avail. Two year old Ellie and her bestie, Hazel, trying to work out the fine points of sharing while Ellie shrieked “ELLIE’S TOYS!” at about 95 decibels.
I was trying to bake a gingerbread cake, but it was in process when our guests arrived, because I had spent an hour sobbing over my old dog and I was behind schedule. I was trying to control the puppy, but I have honestly never seen him so determined to fuse himself with a human while yelping and yipping nonstop and shedding at the same time. I was trying to help Ellie with her sharing while simultaneously trying to get her to stop screaming at the top of her tiny little lungs.
I wanted our new friends to look at me and think, “Wow! Nonni sure is on top of things! What a lovely nurturing figure she’d be in our lives!”
I failed.
I failed wicked.
Instead of looking calm, serene and loving, I looked insane, sweaty, tearful and overwhelmed.
I mean. Jesus. This is NOT my first rodeo. I swear; I really can host lunch for a mommy and her adorable, sweet little girl! I CAN!
Except that today, I couldn’t.
Get this.
I offered them lunch, saying that I had lots of cold cuts and peanut butter and jelly. “Sure!” said lovely young Mommy. “We love peanut butter and jelly!”
So I went to get it out. And I discovered that…….
…..I had no bread.
None.
So I served peanut butter and jelly on graham crackers while the baby cried and the puppy howled and the old dog moaned and the wind blew and the rain poured down.
I. Absolutely. Sucked. Today.
My only hope at this point is that lovely young mommy and sweet little best friend will give us another chance. Maybe when old dog is gone, puppy is calm, the weather is good, and I’ve remembered to shop.
Sigh.
I guess you can’t win ’em all.
Please!!! Please can I lick your face off????!!!
Empty Nest, Full Life 
Actually, under the circumstances, I think you managed your day pretty well! So sorry about your old dog – very hard to farewell such a faithful friend.
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Thanks, Carmel…last night I was laughing as I recounted the whole thing to my daughter. Luckily, I’ve been through enough similar days to shrug it off more or less.
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You didn’t suck, what sucks is having to say goodbye to Tucker. The Wolf King has had a great run, but it’s never long enough. I’m so sorry. Give him a kiss from me. I know Sadie’s waiting to welcome him, so he’ll go right from you to her.
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Ah, my dear, I just said the same thing to Paul. I am patting Tuck’s head, saying, “Go find Miss Sadie. You can tell her all about Lennie…”
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What a day indeed! But look, you made Art out of it : )
I’m so sorry to hear the Wolf King has to leave; I absolutely loved your story about him at the family party. Bless him. Honour his passing, but remember he’ll always be around… G
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He will, for sure…
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❤️ Sending lots of love your way …I’m positive you didn’t suck.
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Oh, my God, you should have been here. I DID suck! It was a cross between hilarious and humiliating. I wanted to just lock myself in the bathroom until Kate got home!
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I agree with Embattled, you did not suck, the day and circumstances did, and I think you handled it well. So very sorry about the King, even though it was coming, it is never easy to say goodbye. You never know, you may have opened that mom and little girls eyes to a new taste treat and they will never go back to PB&J on bread again.
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My young friend was absolutely lovely; she kept saying, “Oh, wow! I forgot how much I love graham crackers!”
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Did the gingerbread cake turn out?
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I am sorry to have been facetious, but sometimes all you can do to save a day is find the humor in it.
I know you will mourn the loss of the Wolf King; it is so hard to say that final goodbye.
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No, I loved your question! And you’re right; cake is always a reason to celebrate, right?
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“…cake is always a reason to celebrate, right?”
Any time a recipe works is a time to celebrate, but cake is at the top of the list!
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Haha! It did! It was a recipe that a second grade class at my school used to make!
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So sorry about the dog…it is always hard to lose a pet that has been with you for any length of time.
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It’s bringing me right back to the empty nest.
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So sorry about the “Wolf King” 😦 you can’t expect to be on top of your game with such a heavy heart. 🙂
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Thanks…he was a sweetie, for sure. Still….I did kind of suck….
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Oh dear. Give yourself a hug from me — you got out of bed with a broken heart. That is a feat!
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I think you managed it pretty well improvising with crackers instead of bread. I think given the circumstances I would of just cried the whole time! So sorry about Tucker. I lost my lab two years ago and it still breaks my heart today. Dogs are such wonderful creatures I just wish they lived longer xx
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Well, after my guest left, I did cry. And I am for sure still crying over my Tucker. I’m sorry for your loss, too. I hope you have another doggie in your life!
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Well, if it makes you feel any better you made my day seem a LOT better! LOL! I am new here and can’t wait to get to know you a bit! Hugs to you and ugh, I am not looking to the day when our grand pup is “gone”. Thinking of you!
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I”m so glad!!! I bet you have had similar days, right? The best part of the blogging buddy world is how we all make each other laugh!
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