Upside Down Day

Mornings are my favorite time of the day. Beginning long before the sun rises, and I'm surrounded by calm silent darkness, and the twinkle of the stars. No phones, no television, nothing to interrupt. Just quiet time and coffee with Jesus. This was going to be a great day, I could feel it in my bones. My spirit was peaceful and filled with joy, I was excited to start my day. I had plans for a terrific day that I had been looking forward to for a week. 

This morning like all others, after sunrise I let my precious "Olly" out to take care of business. Olly is my shih-poo whom I adore. He's lively, fluffy, and full of mischief. Olly fills my life with so much love, and entertainment. So today, like any other, I called him in for breakfast. 

 "Olly Olly Olly, come inside it's time to eat eat eat" I actually repeated this several times, yes I do sing to my dog...although i have no voice to sing with, but it makes me happy.

Olly burst through the door which is typical and instantly I got a whiff of something that just wasn't right. He stunk!! OMG the odor was horrific. After chasing him around, which he thinks is a game and checking his privates, I discovered the problem. Olly is quite a fluff ball and sometimes things don't drop as they should, and this was a disaster. I spent the next thirty minutes cleaning up my puppy, not my first plan for the day. Here I am bent over with my bad achy legs, butt in the air, wrestling with a dog. It's a challenge holding him still, and washing his butt repeatedly. It's not an easy task cleaning up this stinking mess that's matted all over the back of his behind. Bitterly I'm thinking to myself, first note of the day, call the groomer. 

As my morning moves on after a nasty beginning, I stop to check my social media and emails. Things are looking up again. I found the cutest picture of my grandson having breakfast at my daughters house in my inbox. It was just adorable, and my heart swelled with pride. Seeing the happiness on that kid's face over a plate of waffles, just filled my heart. Oh the simple things that make little ones smile. My daughter is the perfect Aunt to her nephew, and I couldn't be any prouder of that. So proud that I decided to make a Facebook post, sharing this adorable photo and highlighting his bond with his Auntie. That's what this Grandma does, shares the joy of her grandchildren. Little did I know that I'd get a nasty text from his Mother. I could not believe I was getting chewed out for posting a picture of my grandson over breakfast. She angrily explained to me that she took the post as a stab at her for allowing her son to eat breakfast at school. Nothing was further from the truth, or more ridiculous. She went on to tell me how nothing was ever good enough for me, how sorry my son was, and if I had a problem with her to come to her face to face. Well so much for the peaceful morning. Admittedly that did ignite a little fire in me at the moment.  The audacity of her to attack me in such a way. It was hurtful, and I had plenty I could say, but I had to consider the source.  I decided "no response" was in order, and that I wasn't going to let this ruin my morning, and the shopping spree I had planned for the day.  

Putting that  aside I continued onward with my plans. Shopping, Lunch with a friend, and checking out some new books at the library. The rest of my day was heading toward nothing but simple pleasure. I was meeting my dearest friend at our favorite place, Alfredo's. We had a lot of catching up to do, and I couldn't wait.  Lunch was great and we laughed endlessly about my Olly fiasco of the morning. As we were finishing up I noticed several call's I'd missed from my son, and a text to call him back ASAP. My anxiety kicked in immediately, it's never a good sign to get this message from Will. I held my breath thinking, "Oh Lord, what is it now"? You know there's always that one in the family, and Will is definitely mine. I left Jane Carol with plans to meet at the mall but first I had to make this call. 

As soon as I got in the car and headed out to the mall I asked Siri to call Will. No answer, and I dreaded that because I didn't want to have a conversation with him inside the crowded mall while shopping. There's nothing more annoying than shopping around in stores listening to others' conversations.  Two seconds later my phone rang. I could tell from the very beginning of the conversation that something was up. Little too much chatty conversation from Will. I played along with him, just waiting. And sure as day he spit it out!

"Hey Mom, you think you could lend me $1500 for a security deposit on a three bedroom apartment I found in Wilmington"? 

I nearly ran off the road. Here came the anxiety and tightening of the chest in full force. "He's lost his mind", "he's completely crazy", are the actual thoughts going through my head! I took a deep breath and I went on to explain how I felt this was way above his price range and that he needed to think about this logically. He had just gone in debt with me for a family cruise in May for $1400, he'd just been hit with $425 a month for child support, he had a $450 truck payment and other living expenses. I did not feel this was the time to bite off any additional expenses. Well of course he did not like my response, but continued to explain to me how he'd make it work. Wisely I knew there was no way with his income that he could handle this. His next response was, "I'll get a job as a bouncer on weekends downtown". Shaking my head I asked, "Who is going to keep your son"? He was on a 50/50 custody agreement, which was being enforced. I knew what he had in mind, but I knew that was not going to happen. I love the child dearly, but I'm not a full time nanny. I also knew that when his money started running short, who he'd turn to. Now for the kicker of this conversation, he seemed to forget that I'd just spent thousands of dollars renovating a property for him to live in. Although I understood why the location wasn't working out for him, I also understood he was looking at a difference of Eleven Hundred Dollars a month in rent. He could barely make ends meet now. Well the conversation did not end well, and of course I was the bad guy, always making things out to be negative. He hung up on me and I later texted him an ear full. As usual I would be the one who'd be upset and spend the rest of the day worrying.  I texted Jane and cancelled my plan to meet her at the mall. She was disappointed as well, but understood, I just needed to go home.

Driving home in tears, I was furious. I was mad about my day being ruined over some stupid idea he had, and the nerve of him to ask me for money. I'd sworn that morning that it was going to be a good day, and now look at what had happened. Rather than continue in this frame of mind, I went into prayer and changed my attitude. I decided to go on by the library, which was a soothing spot for me, and check out some books. After sitting in the quiet and reading a few minutes I gathered my books of choice, checked out and headed home. I was feeling somewhat better.  

 As I entered the house Olly went crazy as usual. He has this routine of jumping all over me when I return. That puppy can make me smile under the worst of circumstances and I decided I'd spend the rest of the afternoon outdoors with him. We ran and played ball until I was out of energy. We sat in the swing together just enjoying the warm weather we were having when the phone rang. This time it was my daughter, so I figured it was just chatting about the baby and the adventures of being a new mom. Today her conversation turned in a little different direction than normal.  

Tiffany and her family were planning to come down the next weekend for her sister's Baby shower. We had so much planning to do and preparing we had decided they'd come a couple of days earlier than originally planned. I was looking forward to them coming and spending some grandma time with Dublin. Her husband would arrive a day later, but Snack the Royal English Bull Dog would be arriving early as well. All the planning was going well until she started telling me how I must baby proof the house. Now I raised three kids of my own and had three other grandchildren. I wasn't really sure what she meant, I'd always picked up and put away things they could get into. However her instructions were much more detailed and much more demanding of my time. I just sat there and listened for a moment, and jokingly remarked that he'd just have to play outside with the dogs. Wrong thing to say because she lit me up like a firecracker. Already on edge from the previous argument with Will, this just took me over the edge. I just busted out crying and hung up.  I could not believe what she was expecting of me. I had no reason to completely redo my entire home for a weekend visit. And I did not deserve this type of disrespect. I'd never allowed one of the children to get into a dangerous situation inside my home, and I had no idea where all this was coming from. I gently explained to her later in the evening how she came across with what she said and that it had hurt my feelings. I let this pass but could still feel the jagger in my heart.  

Dinner time was approaching and I had plans to attend a barbeque at the neighbors house. They always have the best parties with a band, food, and drinks, it was always a good time. We'd planned to watch the big Carolina and Duke basketball game, and I was looking forward to this rivalry between friends as well.  As I was getting dressed the headache that had hit me earlier was coming on stronger. It began when Olly and I were outdoors playing and I had noticed my eyes and nose began running, but nothing Flonase wouldn't help. The pollen had been especially early in the season, so I knew what the problem was. However, that headache was extreme by the time I had planned to leave. I had to lay down because the pain was so intense, and I knew that party was not happening for me. Oh well, just another plan for the day down the drain. 

As I laid on the couch watching my Tarheels lose the game, I knew it was time to call it a day. I crawled into bed, closed my eyes and whispered a prayer that tomorrow would be a better day!!