The Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: dogs make everything better. They are like moms who can kiss any boo-boo and make the pain go away. When I was a kid, one of my favorite books (that I still have) was one by Judith Viorst entitled Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. It’s about a little boy who experiences a day where everything goes wrong. He wakes up with gum in his hair, he goes shopping with his family for shoes and gets stuck with plain white ones, instead of ones with red or blue stripes, his lunch bag is missing dessert, there are lima beans for dinner and he witnesses kissing on television--He resolves several times to move to Australia...Today I thought the same thing--It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for me. I won’t go into all the details, but it began with our lights going out late last evening during a storm. Those of you who live in the country know that when this happens it's total darkness and you cannot see your hand in front of your face. I'll admit that I do find it a bit unsettling. However Tanner (pictured here) for some reason has developed what seems to be a fear of the dark. I don't know if it has to do with his being blind in his right eye and limited vision in the other, but he paces and pants and won't settle down in the darkness. We lit candles and a couple of lanterns in hopes it would help to calm him. I was also afraid that I might oversleep so I kept waking up and checking the time. The power was restored around 4 AM. And despite a restless night and a headache from it all, the day started off okay. But then it took a turn…

On my way to work I realized I’d forgotten my breakfast and lunch—Then I remembered something else I’d forgotten. We used to have set days when our dog-walker Lydia would come to let the dogs out. However, with Carl’s new work schedule, we now just call her several days ahead and are added to her schedule as needed. But I remembered that I’d forgotten to call her about coming today. Of course I called Lydia and couldn’t reach her so I left a message. I also called the business owner Christy and asked her if we could be added to the schedule—Again, I had to leave a message, and once more asked for a return call.

When I got to the office the air-conditioning in our office wasn’t working, and neither was our internet connection so there would be no blog reading or checking e-mails. Add to that a couple of grouchy patients, and the request from a co-worker asking if I could work for her on my day off. To summarize, my work day was miserable and I because I’d not heard from my dog-walker, I dreaded what destruction I would find when I came home. Would there be an “accident” or two in the house? Would Rudi have found something to get into? Would Carl have remembered to close the door of the spare-bedroom, pick up the soft-toys and make sure the cat was inside?


I couldn’t get home fast enough this evening. When I got home there was barking on the other side of the door, but I didn’t hear them all—so imagine my pleasant surprise when I opened the door and I was greeted with wagging tails and smiling faces. There was no destruction, there were no “presents” on the floor, the cat was inside, and Lydia the dog-walker had come. Once outside for the evening walk and romp, the dogs were very attentive and kept coming to me for pats and attention. I don’t know if they knew I’d had a bad day, but it doesn’t matter, they really did make everything better.