Company's Here

Let me preface this post by saying that my mother, her dog, and many of her belongings are staying with my sister, myself, and our 4 cats for the next 10 days before she moves to Pennsylvania.

Night One:

Woke up 4 times in the middle of the night. Once because the cats broke into the dog food bag to have a midnight snack. Next, after being denied the bag, said cats found the dog food bowl. Mom cleverly hid that in my underwear drawer. Third, woke up to a soft rustling noise to find the fattest cat chewing on possibly poisonous hibiscus plant. Lastly, cat/dog stand off at the foot of the bed, more then likely the result of some confusion over who gets to sleep on the feet.

Night Two: (The first night when everyone has to work in the morning.)

I don't think I ever really fell asleep. The dog had a meltdown about once every hour. Likely causes: upstairs neighbor and his girlfriend (who wears high heels 24 hours a day on wood floors) pace their apartment multiple times throughout the night. Drunk other neighbor and his best friend decide 2 am is the best time to welcome my mom to the building by singing opera outside my bedroom window and yelling for one of my cats to come say hi. After tripping all over mom's stuff to get to the window and scolding the boys outside the window, the dog is uncomfortable with the state of the blinds and barks at every leaf that blows by. Half hour later, drunk other neighbor's best friends girlfriend stops by to join the party. Seeing her through a crack in the blinds, hearing her open the outside door, walk up the steps, knock and say "hello" is more then the dog can handle. Growls for 15 minutes straight. Grab leash and slippers and let the dog poop and cool off outside. Return to bed and sleep for another hour and a half before mom gets up to get ready for work. Dog paces the bed, afraid to get off because at least one angry cat is lurking under the bed. Paces and whimpers until mom leaves. Almost. Asleep. then mom comes back because she forgot her hairpiece, dog freaks out again. She leaves, talk dog off the edge of hysteria. Deep slumber is approaching, but then . . . drunk neighbor and friends leave at 5:30 A.M.!!!! Dropping what sounds like a large metal filing cabinet down stairwell. More Barking!!!! Sister returns from overnight at 7:15 a.m. Time to get up and get ready for work.

And I am not even going to get into how my actual day went.