7th Birthday

I’ve been quiet for a few weeks now. It’s not that things haven’t been happening, I’ve just lacked the oomph to write about it. So, I’ recap the things I can remember to get caught up. I might do this in various installments so it’s not so overwhelming.

 

We celebrated Chica Marie’s birthday on the Friday before Christmas. I had this big grandiose scheme to go to an indoor water park, something fun and exciting for just the family. Chica Marie was vying for a big party but having a birthday right before Christmas makes it hard to have a big party. Sadly, the plans went awry because I was depending on the stipend I get from Primero to cover the cost and we only got a fraction of the amount I thought we would get. I still haven’t had the chance to call and figure it out, my hopeful guess is that because he turned 18 things needed to be processed differently, like they did after his adoption, and we should get the rest of the month of November this month. At least this is my hope. My fear is something is wrong and CYS didn’t get the proof he was still in school (I emailed it in plenty of time) and we will be up a creek, so here’s hoping that isn’t the case.

 

So, the water park was cancelled last minute and I’m not sure who was more crushed, me or Chica Marie. The missing funds also put a damper on Christmas, but more on that later. So, for her birthday I had plans to take Chica Marie to see the movie Coco, have dinner of her choice and get her ears pierced. I was hoping she and I could see the matinee of the movie while Love Bug slept, but that didn’t happen because Primero didn’t get home from school in time. While we waited, I cleaned the house, starting with the living room, because having a messy house for the holidays makes my head hurt. But, as life goes, I wasn’t able to get much cleaning done due to interruptions. First, Love Bug inexplicably pooped in his pajamas. He has not had but one poop accident since potty training in July. I really don’t know what happened, all I know was he was a mess. A big, stinky mess. So, I carefully stripped off his pajamas and threw them away (they were too small and ripped anyway), trying to keep as much of the excrement in them as possible, but of course some plopped out on the bathroom floor. Then, I stuck him in the tub, rinsed him off, cleaned the floor, stood him on a towel until I could clean and sanitize the tub, before putting back in for a bubble bath. No sooner had I dressed a clean Love Bug when the dogs started barking at the cat, as they do, and Chica Marie squealed, “There’s blood all over the floor!” I thought perhaps the bigger dog (our newest foster) had gotten swiped on the nose. So, I tossed her and the beagle out into the rainy backyard and resumed cleaning. Chica Marie, who is pretty bonded to the bigger dog, soon interrupted my cleaning to report, “It’s not her nose Mommy, it’s her foot.” I peer outside and see a veritable blood bath smeared all over my back porch. Blood and mud had mixed into a red-brown mess coating the porch, steps, and the dogs themselves. Good golly Miss Molly!

 

I needed to see what was going on with the dogs foot and the only way to do that would be to clean off the dog. I grabbed the beagle first because he was smaller and I could carry him from the back door to the bathroom. I plopped him into the clean tub and started dumping warm water over his back, watching the tub turn into a vat of stinky red-brown water and suds. Our tub drains slowly, so the beagle was up to his belly in water before I had him clean. I scooped him out of the tub and attempted to dry him off, but of course he thought he could do better, shaking the water all over me and the bathroom. I mopped up as much water as I could and sent him on his way. I needed to get the big door in, but could not carry her 60 pounds as I had the beagle. So, I scooted her along, through the kitchen into the bathroom. I gently set her front half into the tub and pushed her back end to follow. Once in the tub, she tried jumping out, but I convinced her to stay. Once again the tub was filled with tepid, brown water as I washed and rinsed the dog. I had a hard time getting her out of the tub because I didn’t want her to jump and injure her foot further. I made a sort of hammock with the towel and half lifted, half shoved her out of the tub. Did I mention this is an old, deep claw foot tub? So, it’s a big step up to get in and a big step down to get out. I managed to not hurt the dog or myself and dried her off before trying to see her foot. It was her dewclaw that was torn and bleeding. I tried bandaging it and putting her in the kennel to settle down. She immediately pulled the bandage off, but it did stop bleeding. Of course, after I got her settled, Primero came home.

 

So, I showered and got ready to take Chica Marie to see the movie. Primero had gone to his cousin’s place for her to cut his hair. I warned him to be home by a certain time for us to see the movie and he barely made it back in time. His hair cut was not complete. He had wanted to get some Christmas gifts for his friends at the mall (using my money because he has none of his own), so he dropped us off at the movie theatre and went with his friend and Love Bug to the mall. I liked the movie, Coco, although I’m not sure how Chica Marie felt about it. I was grateful they didn’t show the Frozen short before the movie, I don’t think either of us would have had the patience for that. After the movie Chica Marie wanted to have dinner at McDonalds but Primero, wanted to finish his hair cut. I had explained to him I was going to take Chica Marie to get her ears pierced and then I wanted to take the little ones to the local baseball stadium that they decorate in Christmas lights and had planned to have fireworks that night. And here is where things with Primero got hairy. I don’t know what it is with him, but it seems like since he turned 18 he has become so belligerent, cocky and unreasonable. And, no matter how calmly I approach him, I cannot talk to him. But, more on this later.

 

So, after dinner at McDonalds, we head to the mall to the jewelry kiosk to get Chica Marie’s ears pierced. She had no idea what we were doing and kept trying to guess what was happening next. Once we got to the kiosk and I said she was going to get her ears pierced, she started panicking. She said she didn’t want her ears pierced, she started crying and I tried to calm her down but it took some time. Finally, she decided to go through with it and the two workers managed to pierce her ears simultaneously. Primero took us back home and then went back to his cousin’s to finish his hair cut. I asked him to be back by 9 so I could take the kids to see the fireworks. He got back at 9:30. I would have been a lot more angry if I hadn’t started feeling under-the-weather and had fallen asleep in the chair in the living room. I called him selfish and went to bed early. I was upset that he was so indifferent to the plans I had made for Chica Marie for her birthday. It was only the beginning, as I was about to find out.