Bound to happen sometime

with all the excitement of yesterday and skipping school, I forgot what day today was. It was PE day at school, and I forgot to dress T in her PE uniform. Instead, she was in her regular one. Neither of us realized until we pulled into the parking lot, T spied a classmate and yelled, "But its Thursday!!"

Ooops.

T was very insistent that I tell Mrs. Cabezas that it was my fault and not hers, which I promptly did. I knew this would eventually happen, it was only a matter of time.

Meanwhile, I put so much crap in T's hair everyday to ward off potential lice, that some of it develops into little white flakes. Everytime I see the least little speck in her hair, I'm picking at it like a crazy woman, afraid that its you-know-what. Oy, the stress.

Luckily, its all been a continuous pattern of false alarms, which is wonderful! So, we're doing homework, have a date with a shampoo bottle, and then I'll be trying to adhere all of the the girl scout daisy crap to her vest. I'm hoping and iron will suffice, and I don't have to break out a needle and thread.

Hope you all have a great night!

Rainy days and Mall days

Yep, T played hookie today. We both stayed in bed and slept in late.... To the very late hour of 8:00 a.m. I blame T. I was willing to loll around in bad for a few more hours, but she was up wanting to watch cartoons. sigh. Got up, dressed in some cute rainy day clothes, and headed out to Target until the mall opened.

The tropical storm has been a total non-event here. All I've experienced is a light to moderate rain...all day long. No thunder. No lightening. No sideways rain. No bands. No wind. Just a constant soaking.

We bought a few things at the mall, and were back home by 1:00. Our girl scout loot arrived, so stay tuned for t in her official daisy uniform.

Now, we're making cupcakes. The preparation was temporarily suspended when I discovered after mixing in the water and the butter that we didn't have any eggs. A quick run to the farm stores, and we're back in business. T helped quite a bit.

That's it for our big day off.

Fairy Tale Products and Tropical Storms

The all-natural products I ordered on Aunt Ceci's recommendation, to fend off Lice arrived today. According to the literature, you can use the products everyday, and they will repel lice. I suspect T and I will be bathing in the products for the near future.

I've combed out T's hair with a special lice comb last night, and I beleive that the professionals truly got all the lice stuff out. yeah! Hopefully we can put this sad chapter behind us.

Meanwhile, a tropical storm is headed to us. Its supposed to start raining tonight and not stop until tomorrow night. Flood watches, tornado watches, news media in a frenzy, etc. Tomorrow T's school scheduled an impromptu, unplanned early dismissal. Apparently a pack of nuns are in town from another state. Something about accreditation. So, since its also the last day of the year to use my floating holiday, I'm cashing it in. Thought T and I would have lots of fun and maybe go somewhere. This dumb tropical storm is putting the kabosh on that.

New plan is that T will stay home the whole day. No reason for me to wake up early to take her to school, only for a couple hours. We'll stay in, watch TV, watch movies, make cupcakes, and otherwise have a nice lazy day in the house.

Hope your day is just a fun, but a bit less wet!

Officially De-Loused

It's official. We have been de-loused. Never in a million years, would I ever think it would even be necessary, but there you have it. Neither Dot nor I had been infected We were thoroughly checked.

T, on the other hand, was a different story. As I said before, I had been constantly looking through her hair since the letter came home from school, but saw nothing. I did start seeing the "nits" or egg adhered to her hair, but no bugs until Saturday. I saw one in her hair at Target, but couldn't get to it to kill it. I saw it again in sears tire center and killed it. Looked through her hair, and saw no more, but called in the professionals just in case as a preventative measure.

Good frickin thing I did! They combed at least 20 actual bugs out of the childs hair, and an untold number of nits. I was dying. T hadn't even been itching. I never imagined that she'd have so many in her hair. Lady said that this was not a bad case, at all, but a light one. Good lord, I can't imagine what a regular or even heavy case would be like.

So, I have Leonor here de lousing the house. All the bed linens, towels, brushes, etc are being washed in scalding hot water. I also have many instructions for the coming week. Louse calls says, though, that she is now cleared to return to school, thank god.

So, there you have it. I'm exhausted from the stress of it all. On an upnote, the relief worker at my parents house seems to have worked out well.

Hope everyone's weekend was a bit less stressful and itchy than mine!

Holy Mother of God

I knew going in that becoming a parent would expose me to all sorts of gross things... poopy diapers, soupy poopy diapers, vomit, wet beds, bloody knees/elbows/noses, gross decaying bottles and food found in unlikely places, etc. What I never counted on?

Frickin' HEAD LICE.

Yes, hot on the heels of the school's announcement on Thursday that a kid in T's class has head lice, I found a bug in T's hair today. Also, odd tiny white dots adhering to her hairs...just a few. All I can say is thank god for google.

I immediately googled "head lice" and came up with the web site: www.lousecalls.com . The professionals will be coming out tomorrow and treating Taylor, and inspecting and treating me and Dot if necessary. They will also give me advice on how to de-louse my house. This is all I need.

I'm very much afraid that when I report it to the school, they won't let Taylor back into class for a week, after the 2nd treatment, which is applied 7 - 10 days after the first. We'll see.

Please say a prayer. The last thing I want to do is burn a whole week of vacation time, because of this idiotic reason. Sigh.

If I couldn't stop itching before, you should see me now. Apparently, a louse doesn't fly or jump like fleas. They are spead via close contact or common use of brushes and towels. Since T and I sleep together, I figure I'm screwed. The only thing that might save me is my liberal use of industrial strength hair spray. Oddly, lice like clean hair more than dirty hair.

Ain't motherhood grand?

Miscellaneous Nothings

**Well, its Friday again. I've spent the day at my parents' house. Why? Ico the aide calls to say that she's getting sick. Luckily, she has a friend who relieves her. The friend's name is Veta (pronounced Vita). Ico springs this on me late wednesday. I suppose I should be greatful that I got even that much notice.

I was very much worried that the new face in the house would be a problem, so I wanted to be here today, to smooth things over. So far, so good. But, I had to cancel a bunch of statements at work. I felt bad b/c I know a couple witnesses had rearranged doctors appointments, based upon my subpoenas. Anyway, they are reset til next week. Hopefully, Veta will work out, and Dot and I won't have to do weekend duty. That's the plan, at least.

**Meanwhile, I'm still itchy. Aunt Ceci recommended a line of hair products that is organic, that apparently repel lice. Apparently the little buggers don't like the smell of rosemary and other organic products. I can't wait for the stuff to arrive. I'll bathe in it.

** The new Naartjie winter line is out, and I bought a few pieces in the dark cranberry color. Figure it will be nice for the holidays.

**Still waiting for her girl scout daisy unform to arrive. I wish it would hurry up!

**We have no big plans for the weekend. Hopefully it will be blessedly quiet. If you're a praying person, please include us in your prayers. PEACE. GLORIOUS PEACE is what we're after.

I'm off in a bit to go get T, then search through her hair literally looking for bug. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd be doing that. I don't know anyone who ever had lice in their hair when I was in school. They'd check, but no one had it. Today, it seems to be quite prevalent. I wonder why?

Wishing everyone a peaceful and bug-free weekend.

Itch-a-mania

A note came home today from school. Turns out a kid in T's class has head lice. So far, I think we're ok. Problem is....

I CAN'T STOP ITCHING!!!!!!

Daisy Troop 275

Guess where we were this evening?

GIRL SCOUT ORIENTATION!!

Girl scouts are a bit different today than in my day. Now, the little ones can participate. They are called "Daisies". First meeting is Oct 11 at 6:15 p.m. We're very excited.

I see lots of cookies in our future!

Just one more?

Hmmm, I wonder if the kid could possibly add one more hair accessory to her tiny little head?

Glam on, T! Glam On!

I Hated It

Have I mentioned that I hate the barnes and noble book fair show? This year was just as bad as last year. The show is in the children's area, where there is a small stage. Problem is that there is no room for the parents. Everybody is crowded in, and you literally can't see anything. What's worse is nobody has any problem elbowing their way in front of you, and blocking your view. I didn't choose to enter the fray this year, and stayed toward the back of the room. Only good thing about it is that its over quickly, once it gets started.

All I could see was the top of T's head, as she played her toy guitar in her role of "the rhino".

I'll try and post a picture or two soon. Don't have high hopes. The only way I could take them was by standing on my tippy toes, holding the camera as high above my head as possible in the zoomed mode, and snapping. I think I was lucky and got a glimpse of T in the shot, between parents' heads.

The Show

Every year T's school has an event at barnes and noble. Each grade does a performance throughout the afternoon, and a proceeds of the sales go to the school, if you present a special coupon. The kindergarten performance is entitled, Giraffes Can't Dance. T is playing the role of "The Rhino Playing the Guitar". This will be a bit of an encore performance for T, as she played the guitar (electric barbie toy guitar), in the end of year preK show. So, I have high hopes. I just hope she doesn't suffer another wardrobe malfunction.

The dress code today is "wear a dress that you wear to church". Oy. While T has a number of suitable dresses, she doesn't wear them to church. I live in fear that I'm going to be busted on that one day soon. I figure its just a matter of time before T announces to the class and teacher, "But I don't have a church dress because we don't go to church". Aaaaaack!

So, I'm busy cementing my place in pergatory, by having the following conversations with T:

Me: Taylor, does anyone ask if you go to church?
T: No
Me: Well, if the subject ever comes up, you can answer Yes, because we always go to church on Easter. Right? Remember?
T: ignores me and continues watching TV.

I'm hoping this attempt at brain washing will avert religious disaster. Luckily, T's school is "catholic-lite", so even if she does let the family secrets slip, the consequences should not be as dire as in other schools. Just a bit embarassing. I figure I can get away with this for at least another year or two. Besides, the school will start dragging the poor child to church on a regular basis, so I figure that will be enough! Perhaps if I was dragged a few less times as a child, I'd be more willing to go now. ...but I digress.

So, stand by and I'll try and get some good pictures.

In Honor of Aunt Ceci

...guess who T is going to be for Halloween?

I was roaming Target at lunch, and came across this costume in the halloween section, which I immediately snatched up. There was just one in a size small.

T has been campaigning for a horendously expensive dress from Catching Fireflies. Its the Victorian Goth costume. Now, don't bet me wrong, I'm now above spending an outrageous amount of moola on a costume...if its cute. This one wasn't, and no amount of persuasion could get T to agree to the Carmen Miranda fruit on the head costume, nor the GoGo girl outfit. sigh.

Its started. T and I have different ideas of what is cute, and she's starting to assert herself more and more. So, I pulled a fait accompli, and just brought this one home. I think the head piece and the sequins won the day. Also the fact that its beige and in T's mind resembles a brides dress.

This costume is in honor of Aunt Ceci, b/c I happen to remember a certain halloween when she dressed up as Cleopatra. She was a bit oblivious, but you should have seen the guys falling over themselves to catch a glimpse of her, as we made our way (i think) to the bandshell. or was it a party? things are a bit fuzzy, and not just due to the passage of time!

Can't wait for halloween to come!

Good Weekend

Well, the weekend wasn't quite the bust that we had thought. Things were fairly calm over at my parents house, and I shipped T off to spend the day with Sophia and Nick. She was thrilled beyond belief. They swam in the pool, they played with water balloons, they played on the slip and slide, and generally had a WONDERFUL time.
Is it just me, or does it look like T has boobies in sophie's too-big bathing suit. Not just any boobies, either, but sagging boobies!!

Shades of what she'll look like at 75? Maybe!

We're home now, washing the pool out of our hair and getting ready for bed.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

T's First Test

T had her first test, ever, today in school. I was thrilled b/c she got 100% and a special note saying so from the teacher. Go T! She correctly read all of the "sight words" they have been learning. Frankly, she learned them last year and remembered them, so I'm not sure how much of a real "test" this test was.

Dot is traveling almost every week for the next few months. She's been spending lots of time in Bloomington Indiana and Twin Falls, Idaho of all places.

We go on duty this Saturday at around 5 pm, to relieve our aid, so there will won't be too much fun going on this weekend.

Blurry Photo Monday

If you have trolled around blogland for any small length of time, you have probably noticed that there are alot of really talented ladies out there, honing their skills with the camera. On certain days of the week, they post their fabulous photos. I don't participate b/c, well, my pics suck. Plus, I don't have a million dollar camera to assist my amatuerish attempts. So upon review of my most recent T pics, I decided "Blurry Photo Monday" was quite appropriate. Wonder if any othe moms will join my bandwagon?

As you can see, T has been fiercely practicing her hoola hoop, with great results. She's actually quite good! Capturing her little whirling dervish self on camera, however, is another thing.







Lastly, since we didn't do anything fun on this holiday and T was such a good girl when we were at grandma and grandpa's house 3 times this weekend (things there remain temporarily calm), the rainy day drove us out of the house to Target with its covered parking. T insisted on wearing her boots.

As usual, T had to pay homage to the barbie doll aisle. Though there are no new products, and she has stared at them all at least a hundred times before, once again, she had to go down the aisle, looking at and touching EACH. AND. EVERY. FRICKIN'. THING.

Target really should install seating in the toy department for the parents. If I can ever find a suggestion box, that would be mine. I was lucky, though, and found an empty spot on the bottom shelf, which was big enough to accomodate my large caboose. It wasn't so bad. I let T dream for 20 minutes, then called an end to it all.

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day, and that it was less soggy than ours.

Wannado City

We woke up bright and early and headed out to have some fun. Wound up having lunch at Cheesecake. But for Taylor's mom, it was more of a liquid lunch. I was mentally preparing for our first visit to Wannado City. Taylor was very excited about the concept of Wannado City, but no so much the reality. Lots of things the kid does without parents, and she balked. I think maybe if Sophia and Nick were with her, she would have participated more.

So, we ended up in the carnival part of the place, and T actually rode on some of the rides. Here, she is on the Merry-Go-Round.
T even asked to go on this airplane ride, which was a first. My girl is a big fat chicken when it comes to rides, and deemed rides such as this too scary in the past. She started out in the front of one of the planes, then at the last minute got out and joined this kid in the 2nd seat. By the end of the ride, she was issuing orders like a drill sargeant to the poor kid, and even reaching over him to grab the controls. Bit of a control freak, my kid.


Finally, we left and met Dot for dinner. A big shoe sale was going on, and T scored her first pair of boots. How could I resist? They were less than 20 bucks, and so stinkin cute I couldn't stand it. Reminded me of my black patent leather crinkle boots I had at about the same age.

I can hear old Nancy Sinatra now...

"Them boots are made for walkin' "

Its official, my daughter was put on the face of this earth and brought into my life to kill me...or drive me straight into a nervous breakdown. Cant decide which. We were at Bascom Palmer today for the followup appt with the ENT. As I said before, the treatment of JRP is DO NOTHING. I LOVED this appointment.

The hot on the heels of that appointment (pun intended), just when we get home and I start to relax, T comes over to me saying that she stepped on a pencil. She proceeds to hand me the broken off point. I can't tell if there is still some left in her foot, so instead of dealing with it myself, I decided to let the professionals handle it. I quickly bagged the pencil point in a ziplock with the skill of a MDPD crime scene tech (who really are the best), and went tearing out of the house to the doc.

Visions of lead poisoning were in my head...planted there by years of teachers lecturing about the dangers of eating pencils or stabbing someone with a pencil due to lead poisoning. Figured they might want to test the lead content of the pencil that T stabbed herself with. So out the door we went, with me screeching at poor T, "TIP TOE, TIP TOE!!!!!!!!!!!"

Um, not so fast.

First thing the doc says to me upon walking into the room is that pencils today are made of graphite, not lead. Luckily, T stabbed herself with a new pencil, and not one of the 40 yr old pencils from my parents house that I used as a child. Doc says the mark may stay for quite a while, and she may have tatooed herself. Oy. Luckily, its just a dot on the bottom of her foot...that has not come out in the bath.

I'll be off to the liquor store first chance tomorrow, to replenish my supply of baileys, kahlua, and vodka.

Meanwhile, the teach sent home some schoolwork that T has been busy with. I could only laugh upon reviewing it. Look closely at rule number 3.

Apparently, T still seems to have a problem recognizing the efficacy of that little gem of a rule. Its clear that her original, first impulse was to mark that rule "not a good rule".

Sigh. Call me crazy, but I'm envisioning some playground problems in our future.