Well, we bought a lovely tree yesterday--nothing from Walmart, we're not doing that place anymore. After today's revelation about creatively cutting employee hours to deny them even the abysmal health benefits they were getting? All done with Walmart. We have Wegmans, we have Costco, both of which have terrific records when it comes to pay and benefits.
Anyway, the tree. It's a Fraser Fir, same as last year. Got it from a little lot over by Sudley. Local folks who bring in trees from North Carolina. Sad about the Fraser Firs, though--apparently, some nasty non-native insect has decimated the old growth Frasers. They reproduce eagerly, so there are plenty of babies, but once they're large enough for their bark to start cracking and giving an opening, they may be toast. Apparently, they thrive in Scotland, so that's something. Until some dip introduces some awful non-native thing there, too.
We were a bit worried about the dog with the tree--after all, is it realistic to bring a live tree in the house and expect a dog to not lift leg? Luckily, we've had no issues thus far. Of course, the decorations aren't on yet. Let's see how that goes, chewing-wise.
Last night, our boy announced that he'd found a louse on his arm earlier in the day, after his Hapkido session. He had tried to put it aside, but it had escaped somewhere in his bathroom. So I took the fine-toothed, rat-tailed comb and went over him. Nothing. This morning, I was taking a shower. After shampooing my hair, I looked down at my hand to see two strands of hair being held together by . . . what was that? Was it moving?
Was it a damned LOUSE?
Yeah. Yeah, it was.
One is a coincidence. Two? Two is something more sinister.
Once again, it was time to check heads. This time I checked our boy's while hubby checked mine, and then I checked hubby's. Nothing. NOTHING! Now, it's not like I don't know how to look for lice--last go-round, I mastered parting off the hair and checking, line-by-line, for those bastards. No lice on either of my men's heads. Our boy does have what looks like maybe nits, but not down near the scalp--these are 1-2 inches up the hair shaft, which isn't indicative of a going infestation.
After all the combing through and checking, I feel a tickle on my bare leg. I look down, and, sure enough, there's a LOUSE on my leg. Smaller than the first ones, but absolutely a louse. No mistaking it's blood-filled little abdomen.
What the hell?
So that's another 40 bucks in lice treatments. It's not that this has been an ongoing thing--the last (first) infestation, which only affected our boy, was back in early July. Five months ago. This is a whole new group, and here's the thing--we don't hang out with anyone, really. The closest contact we have with anyone is shopping, visiting various historical sites, our boy's Hapkido, and hubby's daily bus commute. My money's on Hapkido, since that involves a lot of close contact and rolling around on the mats. Whatever it is, I've gotta say, I'm unhappy. You know I hate ticks, but at least ticks don't lay EGGS on you. Of course, lice don't have the potential to give you possibly deadly diseases, so I guess it's "ick" factor vs really dangerous.
But ICK, you know? I really may scream myself to death.
Our boy just started another online course, this time with hubby. A course on logic and arguments, offered up by Duke University. We're really liking this Coursera gig--gives us the opportunity to fill in any gaps in our boy's education. He's got the basics, but this gives him those electives.
Anyway, I need to give up my post on the computer so they can get back to work. It makes me very happy to have them sharing the time!
Anyway, the tree. It's a Fraser Fir, same as last year. Got it from a little lot over by Sudley. Local folks who bring in trees from North Carolina. Sad about the Fraser Firs, though--apparently, some nasty non-native insect has decimated the old growth Frasers. They reproduce eagerly, so there are plenty of babies, but once they're large enough for their bark to start cracking and giving an opening, they may be toast. Apparently, they thrive in Scotland, so that's something. Until some dip introduces some awful non-native thing there, too.
 |
| Our Fraser Fir--pay no attention to the horrendous mid-decorating mess. |
We were a bit worried about the dog with the tree--after all, is it realistic to bring a live tree in the house and expect a dog to not lift leg? Luckily, we've had no issues thus far. Of course, the decorations aren't on yet. Let's see how that goes, chewing-wise.
Last night, our boy announced that he'd found a louse on his arm earlier in the day, after his Hapkido session. He had tried to put it aside, but it had escaped somewhere in his bathroom. So I took the fine-toothed, rat-tailed comb and went over him. Nothing. This morning, I was taking a shower. After shampooing my hair, I looked down at my hand to see two strands of hair being held together by . . . what was that? Was it moving?
Was it a damned LOUSE?
Yeah. Yeah, it was.
One is a coincidence. Two? Two is something more sinister.
Once again, it was time to check heads. This time I checked our boy's while hubby checked mine, and then I checked hubby's. Nothing. NOTHING! Now, it's not like I don't know how to look for lice--last go-round, I mastered parting off the hair and checking, line-by-line, for those bastards. No lice on either of my men's heads. Our boy does have what looks like maybe nits, but not down near the scalp--these are 1-2 inches up the hair shaft, which isn't indicative of a going infestation.
After all the combing through and checking, I feel a tickle on my bare leg. I look down, and, sure enough, there's a LOUSE on my leg. Smaller than the first ones, but absolutely a louse. No mistaking it's blood-filled little abdomen.
What the hell?
So that's another 40 bucks in lice treatments. It's not that this has been an ongoing thing--the last (first) infestation, which only affected our boy, was back in early July. Five months ago. This is a whole new group, and here's the thing--we don't hang out with anyone, really. The closest contact we have with anyone is shopping, visiting various historical sites, our boy's Hapkido, and hubby's daily bus commute. My money's on Hapkido, since that involves a lot of close contact and rolling around on the mats. Whatever it is, I've gotta say, I'm unhappy. You know I hate ticks, but at least ticks don't lay EGGS on you. Of course, lice don't have the potential to give you possibly deadly diseases, so I guess it's "ick" factor vs really dangerous.
But ICK, you know? I really may scream myself to death.
Our boy just started another online course, this time with hubby. A course on logic and arguments, offered up by Duke University. We're really liking this Coursera gig--gives us the opportunity to fill in any gaps in our boy's education. He's got the basics, but this gives him those electives.
Anyway, I need to give up my post on the computer so they can get back to work. It makes me very happy to have them sharing the time!
 |
| The tree--not done yet, I'll likely fiddle with it for a few days. But done-ish. |
I itch for you!
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