Saturday, February 14, 2009

Valentine's Day

Even though Mike is in Las Vegas, he hid some Valentine cards and treats for his girls with Luke. This morning we were presented with cards and candy. Thank you, Mikey! His being in Las Vegas for the weekend is the reason we celebrated last Saturday at Red Lobster. I am jealous, though, he had dinner tonight at Aurelio's Pizza. There are actually two in the area and we went to both when we were there last month. Aurelio's originated in Homewood, IL and is one of our favorite Chicago pizza places. He even sent me a picture of his pizza and his appetizer, which was fried ravioli. It looked delicious! Not to be outdone, we are having homemade lasagna tonight, that I made at Christmas time and put in the freezer. It may take forever to cook, however, since I forgot to take it out of the freezer until this afternoon.



Alex and Shauna surprised me by making some brownies today. I asked them to set the oven timer for 30 minutes because I wanted to take a short nap and then shower because we were going to Steven's new house for a little while. Apparently they decided to make brownies while I was sleeping and kept setting my timer for longer so they could be done before I woke up! I guess I got a little bonus nap time and I'm not complaining.

They cut the brownies with a heart shaped cookie cutter and put some on a fancy platter to take to Steven, which I thought was nice. Steven appreciated it and even hugged Shauna (although he called her Skeletor!). He also hugged me when I was leaving!

He and Will have been working on their room and it looks really nice. He even made his bed, which believe me is a total first for him! Poor Sassy is still scared about being in a new place and spends most of her time in the closet when she isn't hanging with Steven on his bed. I hope she gets used to it soon, I feel so bad. Steven's finger looks a bit better today. The swelling has gone down a bit and it isn't visibly throbbing anymore.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Cats, hysterics, and dog bites

Well, yesterday started out normal and turned into quite an eventful day. First of all, Steven was on day two of moving out. He came over to get some clothes and a few other things, like a cat. I mentioned before that he was going to take Booty-Boy (aka Spaz) to live with him. Well, that didn't quite work out because we couldn't get Booty into the cat carrier. Not even with a catnip bribe. So, we tried a box, but that didn't work out, either. There were four of us and we could not get this cat anywhere near the box or carrier. It was actually quite funny and CUP, Luke, Steven and I were having a good laugh, much to Shauna's dismay! While we were trying to stuff 20 pounds of furious orange and white fluff into a container, Shauna was in the room sobbing and screaming because Steven was taking Booty. She was really hysterical, so I was trying to calm her down at the same time as we were trying to wrestle the cat. Hannah and Alex were already in bed and had no idea anything was even going on, although, how they slept through all that noise is beyond me.

Since Shauna was so upset and we couldn't get Booty in the box, anyway, Steven asked Shauna if she would be happier if he took Sassy (aka Fridge Cat, Kitchen Cat or Cabinet Cat) (No, none of our cats have one name, like normal people's cats!), instead. Shauna said she would still miss Sassy, but she would be a little better with Sassy going instead of Booty. So now she was still sobbing, but the screaming stopped. First they put Sassy into the box, but then as they were taping it shut, she crawled out. So, they put the carrier out and Sassy, being the most laid back cat on the planet, just walked right into it. She had to be pushed a little to go all the way in, but it went really smoothly. So, Steven left with his clothes and his cat. It took me a while to calm Shauna down, but she had taken her melatonin and was getting tired, so that helped. Steven had told her that she could come visit Sassy anytime, so she was already making plans to go every day to see the cat!

After I got Shauna into bed, I decided to watch some television and crochet for a little while. CUP had taken Steven to his new "crib" and was going to help get the cat settled and check out the new house. About an hour or so later, CUP came home and told me that Steven's new house is very nice and the people who live there are very nice and that Steven had gotten bitten by one of the dogs. These dogs seem to be really nice dogs, but one of them was eating a cigarette butt and Steven didn't want him to get sick or choke on it. He put his hand out and said, "drop it" and the dog bit him. He is used to our dog and we trained him from a puppy to let people touch him and his food, so he doesn't bite, even when the kids pry his mouth open to get things out (which happens more often than you would think!). This dog got upset and sunk his teeth into Steven's middle finger. He has one pretty serious cut and several other puncture wounds. One of his housemates had a first aid kit, so he cleaned the cut very well and while I knew Steven would have to at least go to the doctor since it was a dog bite, I thought it could wait until today.

When I got to Steven's house today, it had begun to swell, but didn't look infected at all, which was great. Steven called the doctor's office said they couldn't handle a dog bite and we needed to go to the ER. By the time we waited and waited and waited and finally got it to see the doctor, it had swollen up quite a bit more. The doctor said that had he come in last night, he would have gotten stitches, but it was too swollen at this point. He took an x-ray, which I'm assuming was negative because he didn't tell us anything more about it. He put Steven on two antibiotics, gave him instructions about cleaning it and keeping it very dry and told him he has to go to a hand specialist right away on Monday to have it checked further. He also told us what the danger signs are if it starts getting infected, which he said may still occur, even though it has been well-cleaned. Animal Control will also have to be notified, as mandated by law. I just hope that the dog is truly current on his shots (as the owner's say he is) because if he isn't, they will quarantine the dog for 10 days. Probably not the best way to start a relationship with new housemates! The doctor also said that Steven can't work for at least a week, so I'm not sure how he is going to be able to pay his rent. Steven's boss is really mad because Valentine's Day is one of their busiest days and they were counting on everyone working that weekend.

So now Steven is back at his place and I am home, completely exhausted and fighting a headache. I took ibuprofen a few hours ago and it is still hurting. I don't get headaches very often, so this is a little weird for me. I think I just need a really good night's sleep.

A quick moving update-more tomorrow

I have to go to bed, but this was funny and I wanted to blog it before I forgot. Steven came home to eat because, of course, food was one of the things he didn't realize he needed. Oh, and he needed to take some clothes because, remember, he had only taken the essentials like television and stereo yesterday.

He ate and was sitting with us in the family room, watching tv. All of a sudden, he looks around at all of us and says, "You aren't doing a very good job of welcoming me to your house." I said, "WHAT???" He said, "You know, I'm a guest here now and you aren't entertaining me or anything." My reply was, "You've only be gone for 10 minutes!"

More funny stuff happened, but that will be a blog for tomorrow.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Uninvited

So I guess we are uninvited to Steven's "new crib" tonight. I called and he has some friends over. He also doesn't want us to come over all at once. I said I would only bring Hannah, Shauna and Alex and he said that was too many. What??? It is a house, not a cardboard box, I think we'll all fit. I grew up in a house that was probably about 900 square feet and we used to have huge parties all the time. So I guess we'll see what happens.

Apparently he helped himself to at least one, probably two pairs of Alex's skinny jeans, so I have to go over to at least retrieve those before he loses them. Maybe Jack and I will take a run over tomorrow before he goes to work. I think I'll fill a couple of garbage bags with the dirty clothes he left here. They could be a sort of housewarming gift!

Quote of the day

"So you aren't doing your job as mother, again?"--Alex


(This was after he asked what we were having for dinner and I said, "I don't know, what are you making?")

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Moving update

Steven just called and invited me over to see his new house and meet his housemates. I told him that I was sure Hannah and Shauna would want to come and they aren't home, so we are going to go over tomorrow, instead. He also wanted me to bring his cat over. He wants to take Booty-Boy with him. They already have an indoor cat and two dogs and the couple he is renting from thinks another cat to hang around with theirs is a good idea. I just don't think I can bear having a son and a cat move out on the same day! Those of you who are snickering and thinking, "She's going to miss the cat more than the boy.", can just be quiet now!!!!

Steven, age 11 months, 2/10/91

Steven, age 17 months, 8/23/91

#3 is moving out

Steven and his friend, Will, started moving Steven's things out today. They took the most 'important' stuff, his entertainment center, tv, and stereo. He left his dirty laundry, surprise, surprise. Another surprise, he doesn't know his new address and doesn't know if the house is air conditioned. He hasn't given a thought to things like towels, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc. All the things he took for granted while he lived here. This is going to be very interesting!