Bright and Shiny

So, what do you get when you have a baby who sleeps alot during the day?

Yes! You get a nice day where you get to do, surprisingly, a whole lot of things you haven't been able to do in a while. How nice is that?

It's sooooo nice, until about 2 o'clock in the morning the following night.

Because that baby will then be up until about 5 a.m., wide awake. Or, "Wide Awake Sue," as we like to call our girls who are up and about at hours when the rest of us want to be zonked out.

Ugh.

On the other hand, I and Wide Awake Sue were able to watch the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy, so it wasn't a total wash, but wooohwee, Gentle Reader, I'm feeling it this morning.

Meet Our Newest Pest

The Wolf Spider:

Habitat: Common household pest in the fall when they are looking for a warm place to overwinter. They are commonly found around doors, windows, house plants, basements, garages, and in almost all terrestrial habitats. They do not spin a web but roam at night to hunt for food. Wolf spiders are often confused with the brown recluse, but they lack the unmistakable violin-shaped marking behind the head. The wolf spider is shy and seeks to run away when disturbed.

Oh. Really. Hmmmmmmmm. Isn't that interesting.

It sure as heck doesn't change that fact that the TWO that we've had in our house in the past week or so are now both DEAD. D.E.A.D. Why? Because they are freakin' HUGE and SCARY LOOKING (the picture above freaks me out just looking at it...shudder!). I mean, really now, where do I post the "WARNING" to these creatures that I have had it...TO HERE (see me reaching HIGH above my head...and I mean HIGH ABOVE MY HEAD) with BUGS of ANY SORT, SIZE, SHAPE, and HAIRINESS, regardless of where they want to winter or how socially benign or plague-like they are. (see me twitching? Chief Inspector Dreyfus has NOTHING on me)

So, the question I have for these UNWELCOMED and UNINVITED pests is this: Do you feel lucky? Because I am BRUTAL and FATAL with one of Super J's shoes. En garde!

AND, especially since tomorrow I am calling the PEST CONTROL PEOPLE! I mean, seriously, enough already. Sheesh.

I thought this was beautiful and wanted to share

You'll probably want to go directly to the website, CatholicVote.com, because I can't get this thing centered for the life of me, but I wanted to draw your attention to it. It's really well done.

A Good Idea When You Read It...

So, I was reading on my sister's live journal page that she is thinking of getting some housecleaning help. A Merry Maid, so to speak. But she's kinda wavering on the idea. I just have to give my $.02:

GO. FOR. IT!!!!

Stop waiting and get-er-done. DO. IT. Call whomever, ask around, post an ad, etc. etc. I'd try to find someone reputable (obviously), who won't steal all your art stuff, but heck yeah! Get some help!

And just so you know, I have just deleted this whole long diatribe about how I'D get someone if we had the extra $$, but why make anyone read that because it's nothing new to anyone who's had a baby...or actually, most anyone for that matter...that if you had the extra $$, you'd want someone to come clean your house for you.

So, since I and many several (which, like, totally means "a lot" in case you didn't know) of other people think it's a good idea, My Sister, you should act on it. Don't chicken out. Be good to yourself and get that help. You'll be glad you did. I know I'd be. :)

Frenemy Update

Miss A: 1 louse and many several nits (say it with me: ARGHE!!!!!!). Will be combing again tonight; however, it was caught early (HALLELUJAH!!!!)

Miss E: 0 lice, 0 nits

Miss O: 0 lice, 0 nits

Miss Q: 0 lice, 0 nits (as darn well expected, I should say! She's very crabby from not being held so much, though.)

Super J: 0 lice, 0 nits (of course. He's convinced it's because of his hair gel usage. He may be on to something. Go Super J's Super Hair Gel! I think I will start slathering it on the girls every morning. Sure they'll look a little funny for a while, but people will get used to it.)

Miss L: 0 lice (thank the heavens!!!), 0 nits, psychosomatic lice: 1007

She's got the Look (she's got the look)

"What in the world can make a brown-eyed girl turn blue
When everything I'll ever do I'll do for you
And I go la la la la la
She's got the look."

Gentle Reader...I have, um...an interesting story-ish thing (and brown eyes to go with being blue). It is now midnight, but just after 9pm this fine Saturday (remember how calm my morning was???), my neighbor called. Are you ready for this????

Her daughter has lice.

Well!!!!

Moments later (because truth be told, I had to get my bra back on. Confession, while we are at it: I HATE having to wear my nursing bra. WHY must some things feel even more binding than their non-lactating counterparts? WHY I ask. I also must ask why I am so brutally honest and revealing after midnight.) I went over, conditioner, lice comb and Wondertime Magazine Article in hand and shared my saga and tale of triumph while my neighbor looked at me. I knew that look. It's a look of trying not to panic while wanting to itch your hair while wanting to get your child out of bed and scrub her and your whole house down (though not her husband. Her husband has no hair. He will not be afflicted, lucky thing). It's also the look of trying to figure out if this overly helpful neighbor who's just arrived with conditioner, lice comb, magazine and lice tales has a daughter who gave YOUR daughter lice. Hmmmmmmm.

I immediately came home, feeling somehow responsible, and tried to figure out the life cycle of lice. Could Miss A have given our neighbor's daughter lice???? Well, let's see...At most, head lice can live approximately 30 days (Gentle Reader, let's not talk about the scary life cycle and longevity of BODY LICE. Let us also take a moment and pray none of us EVER gets that plague). That puts us back around August 20ish. That means that Miss A could NOT have given her daughter lice, because by that time, Miss A was LICE FREE. Wahoo. And she has been lice free ever since. And I know because I check their hair obsessively now.

Picture the monkeys in the zoo, combing through each others hair. That is me with my children. I am waiting for the obsession to stop.

Anyway, I truly felt strangely guilty, like we'd infested the neighborhood (which we could NOT have done, unless they went digging through the trash and found all the lice-nit/conditioner-ed paper towels we disposed of weeks ago and rubbed them on their heads!). Nevertheless, being who I am, I felt guilt for...oh...until about the time I started blogging this.

Because just about a minute before I started typing, I had this thought: Miss A has been playing with her daughter this week and went over to her house on Monday to play.

Are you thinking what I am thinking????????

Miss A could have lice...again.

Oh dear. Oh holy flippin' pancakes cow.

It is midnight.

And I now have, "The Look."

"And she goes: na na na na na." Ugh.

...to be continued...