Tuesday, July 16, 2013

This Good Day




Here's what I do not understand- why it is that some days are just too bloody hard for absolutely no apparent reason and then a few days later, one is made perfectly happy and satisfied with life simply by remembering when one is in the grocery store that one is almost out of espresso and buys it.

Really. Why?

I do not know. But so it is.

I went with Lily and the boys to Owen's dentist today. He had a check-up and I went along to take care of Gibson. Lily takes Owen (and will take Gibson) to the same office where I took her and her sisters and brother when they were young and it is a pediatric dentist office and now the son of the dentist who took care of my children is the main guy there. And so it goes. But my Lord! The office has expanded and completely redecorated and there is a play room complete with every sort of fantastical undersea motif and toys and walls and carpet and there are bean bag chairs and Super Hero pillows, huge and soft, and books to read and a flat-screen TV with some sort of children's programming on it and there was even one of those Keurig coffee makers for the grown-ups to use (I chose the Paul Newman Robust blend, thank-you very much) and all I could think of was how, when I was a child you were the luckiest kid on earth if the dentist's office had a copy of National Geographic to look at before you were called back. Not to mention that the only sort of refreshment offered was the peppermint rinse at the end of the procedure which you swished around your mouth and then spat into the whirling water of the tiny white porcelain sink sitting beside the chair. And dammit, I still miss those tiny white sinks and I hate the saliva sucker, I do.

Anyway, it was a short and lovely time at the dentist's and Gibson and I played while Owen let the hygienist clean his teeth and he was very brave and got to choose a tiny toy and a sticker and was presented with a most colorful and cheerful toothbrush when it was all over.

For this we rewarded him with a trip to Target for a toy. Yes. I know. But still.


(Question: Why are the giant Target balls no longer red?)

We went to a different Target than the one we usually go to and Owen knew we were not taking the normal path to Target. "How do people remember directions?" he asked us. 
Lily and I looked at each other and laughed because we are the wrong people to ask, forgetting, as we do, the directions to many places all the time. 
But it was a great question and we answered it the best we could. 

After Target we went to lunch where Lily and I could get sushi and Owen and Gibson could get noodles. 



Owen got his own seat right beside the fish tank and although it took forever for the kitchen to rustle up a plain bowl of noodles, he played happily with his new dinosaur and watched the fish while his mother and brother and I ate sushi like it was about to disappear from the planet forever. 
Another grandmother came in with her granddaughter, the girl perhaps about five or six and the grandmother was very stylishly dressed and youthfully coiffed and wore an armful of golden bracelets and drank wine with her lunch. The child was extremely quiet and well-behaved and ate her lunch quietly and it seemed that everyone there knew her and her grandmother who rather made me feel like an extremely inferior sort of grandmother although I had put earrings on before I left the house.
And a sort of bra. 

There may have even been ice cream after lunch and when I dropped everyone off at their house, Owen hugged me good and told me that he loved me. So I guess that even though I am not a stylish wine-with-lunch grandmother, I will do and I am glad. 

And that was my day and it was as perfect a day as I can imagine even in its complete ordinariness. Now my husband is home and I am cooking green beans from the garden (which I am still not tired of) and chicken and carrots and other delicious things and I have talked to May and gathered four lovely eggs. It has rained some and I remembered to buy espresso. There. That is enough. 

One more thing- have you visited this site? We Are Not Trayvon Martin? 

Please. Just go although if you are like me, you may end up doing what I did last night which was to read and read and read and read before I slept. 
It gave me some peace. 

Much love...Ms. Moon







13 comments:

  1. I know Vonnegut said we are here to fart around, but I think we are also here for days just like this one.

    I know the feeling, but you are inferior to no one.

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  2. I miss the spit thing at the dentist too and they way they make you lay down. Why can't we sit reclined like they used to do?

    Just imagine the uncomfortable bra that woman must have been wearing.

    It has been a good day and I found 2 eggs for the first time ever.

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  3. There may have even been ice cream after lunch... I love that. Sweet Jo

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  4. Fun day ... I quit trying to figure why the whatevers declare this day or that day to be whatever it is.

    the planets and moon and sun and ocean and muses and stuff get together and play or dance or not.

    Unless something happens to my son or my g'babies ... I let the universe roll .. as it's prone to do

    man do I love your meals ... well not the sushi but the green beans and chicken and carrots ~

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  5. I'd choose you for a grandmother any day (EVERY day)...

    Those boys are so damn cute...while I prefer long hair, I must say Owen is beautiful whatever his hair length!

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  6. I can absolutely guarantee that Owen and Gibson would rather you be their mer mer than that wine drinking one. Your day sounds divine, the best.

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  7. I'm trying to figure out what "a sort of bra" might be.

    Seriously, this sounds like a fabulous day. What more could a person want? Oh, and for what it's worth, the balls in front of the Target near my parents' houses are still red!

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  8. We still have the porcelain spit bowl at our dentist office -- AND celebrities outside.

    I am so glad you had a good day.

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  9. Often the relaxed days with kids are the nicest ones. I was glad to read of your lovely day. I'll take a look at the link now.

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  10. I'm pretty sure that quiet and well behaved little girl would have much preferred you as her grandmother.

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  11. loving that owen is all tatted up.

    my grandfather was a dentist. there was always highlights, that magazine for children.

    xxalainaxx

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  12. Ms. Vesuvius- I love Vonnegut. He spoke plain. Which is rare and fancy.

    Gail- The first eggs are so special! Good for you and your lovely hens!

    Sweet Jo- And there may have been dark chocolate messes.

    Carolyn- I wish I could let it roll. I do.

    Lulumarie- We all mourn a little when Owen gets sheared but it grows so fast. He'll be my little rock star again soon.

    Angella- I don't know. I might be more fun if I drank mid-day. But then I'd pass out.

    Steve Reed- You do not need to know what a sort-of-bra might be. Trust me. And feel grateful. Yeah, we couldn't figure out that new ball color.

    Elizabeth- Sigh. In so many ways California is superior to Florida. I can't believe you still have the spit bowl! Celebrities too? Damn.

    Jenny Woolf- I hope you read some of the stories there.

    Ellen Abbott- She surely was staring at our far-more nosy party.

    Mrs. A- Oh god. Even as a child I thought that Highlights was so boring. But at least he had them.

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  13. It sounds like a good day except for the dentist part. I'm glad that Owen was good. I don't have fond memories of going to the dentist as a kid. The extraction of wisdom teeth in college was another bad thing. Luckily I have excellent teeth so something must have been done right

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