Sarah's moving to Chicago (for reals this time), and yesterday she had us all meet up at Zeitgeist to send her off in true drinking-lots-of-pitchers-at-dirty-picnic-tables fashion.
After a few pitchers, and me running into some random old friends, we went to George's house for dinner, where she made us some amazing pasta and we feasted with bread, butter & lots & lots of wine.
Oddly enough George lives where Jane, Sarah M and Mat used to live, and where I met many of the awesome internet friends I have now. Wild! Now George lives there with Jason (lawgeek), and it was really neat to be back in that house again, now with very different energy.
I hadn't planned on going out at all, but I'm so glad I did, because it was so fun! I think I was home & crashed out by 11:30. haha.
My last photoshoot, for the baby onesies & bibs, is tomorrow... and this sweet little munch (Jess' nephew, and her nickname for him) is one of my baby models! Can you even believe how adorable he is!? I can't wait to meet him!
This was us on Friday... but we were also there on Tuesday and I was there again on Saturday. heh. Ya, the Hemlock got a lot of our lovin this week. :)
On Easter Sunday my friend Aubrey had a "Vice Party". See, she had given up cheese for lent, so on this glorious day she was reunited with her true love, and that gave everyone else a great reason to indulge in our favorite things, too (twist our arms!). I brought Aubs Cheez-It's, string cheese & a cheescake to celebrate, and a carrot cake for me & Ali because we'd been talking about it for a week! :p
I have yet to upload my photos from the party, but Aubrey's are here!
For those of you following my Flickr stream, this is basically the same info...I just thought I'd post it here for (the informational/educational aspect) those who don't. I feel like I was fortunate, but I feel like everyone needs to be made aware of how serious a cat bite can be. OK, now onto the story...
I got bit by a friend's cat* last Thursday night, and although the actual tooth puncture healed up in no time, the area where he clamped down (between my thumb & forefinger) got suuuuuper swollen and sore throughout the following day, to the point where by around 8pm, doing basic things almost brought tears to my eyes.
But, by the time it was at it's worst, it was Friday night, and I figured 'of course it's going to hurt the most the next day - especially since it's my right hand I've used it all day probably more than I should, because I need it to do everything', so I let it slide.
After posting this photo on Friday, my friend Kristin send me this link to helpful information about cat & dog bites which DOES state if it's super hurty, red & swollen it's probably an infection, and I had noticed my skin around this area was oddly red! I'd also been feeling some pins & needles. But did I listen to that? nooooooo! jeeshk.
I guess a big part of me felt like I was being a big baby about it, but I'd watched way too many ER/House type shows to know that infection can get pretty severe within 24 hours, so I was watching it closely and being hyper aware of it's progress. I kept watching it throughout the weekend... and by this morning (Monday, 3 full days later) the swelling had gone down a little, but I still could feel swelling... and that made me worry.
So I called my HMO today (Kaiser) & tried my hardest to make them just call me in a Rx for antibiotics to avoid actually having to go in, but when my actual Doctor called me back, she basically insisted I go straight to the Emergency Room. I felt that was extreme, and tried to plead w/ her - even asking her if maybe I should just try to soak it**, but she just kept telling me over & over & over that cat bites are serious stuff and the bacteria and risk for infection is way higher than almost anything else and that *any* time you get a cat bite on the hand or foot, you should have it looked at immediately within 12-24 hours.
Anyway, I did go to the Emergency Room today, but the very, very good news is apparently my immune system has kicked it's ass (woohoo!), because there's no doubt there was some infection with the pain & redness, but that it's just my luck, it's healing up on it's own. And now it's just still feeling hard in there because the swelling that once was is kinda contracting/hardening up and then will dissolve (or some fancy doctor explanation). Blah, blah blah - AKA on the road to recovery!
That said, next time I am not going to mess around & I'm going to just go straight to the Doctor (and so should you!). No sense in risking somehow hurting or hindering your body out of wanting to seem tough.
Anyway, that's my cat bite story. :) A big thanks to all of you who left me comments & showed your concern! Living on my own, I don't exactly have anyone here to kiss it better, so it meant a lot. xo
*Note: I do not blame the cat, nor my friend. I completely 'get' that feral cats can just be a little bit unpredictable, and I must have pet him in a way he didn't like, so he clamped down on me to tell me so. Sorry, Don!
**Tip from a nurse I spoke to, with a bite like this, don't just dab it w/ hydrogen peroxide to clean the wound. Apparently that can hinder the healing. Instead, soak it in hot/warm water ~3-4x/day & that can help draw the infection out. But also see a doctor ASAP!
Mateo - I mean the Easter Bunny! - delivers an Easter basket to us every year... so sweet!
This morning we found our Easter surprise (and it is such a surprise, every year!) on the porch, and opened it up to find coffee, Godiva chocolate (yumm), Jelly Bellys, catnip & 2 new mice!
Needless to say, Kazoo was VERY excited about this:
Last Saturday night (after an amazing day of finishing my taxes & taking a hike) I met up with all my girls for dinner @ Andalu. Tapas are so fabulous for a big group. We all feasted and the bill wasn't bad at all. Most notable dish: Macaroni and Cheese sticks! Genius.
Helen Jane (the pretty girl in purple above) was in town for One Night Only™, which was extra fun, and so after dinner we went & had a drink at the 500 Club and then headed over to Kenneth's "I'm Bringing Snobby Back" party. I really thought it was going to be an early night, but we ended up having such a blast chatting & drinking yummy wine at Kenneth's party. Isn't it just the best feeling to be at a party, surrounded by friends cracking up? It's one of my favs. :)
Last weekend I went on an amaaaazing hike in Tilden Park with my girlfriends Lucia & Aletha! I love hiking so much & want to make it a point to start doing it more often. We have so many incredible places to explore here, too! *sigh* I'm seriously so in love with where I live.
This was at a station in Santa Cruz. Hopefully we'll get one of these in the city soon! Right now I have to actually pre-plan/schedule going to SFBiofuels because they're only open in 2 hour windows a couple days a week. AND they only take cash or check. So ya... hopefully we'll get a real pump where I can actually just pull up & use my card like this one!
