Itching- in more ways than one

if it wasn't that my last insect kerfuffle in this house happened two years ago; I'd start to worry that I'm some sort of bug magnet.

So what's the latest you ask?

Wolf Spider bites, while we sleep.

Thankfully not on the girls, unfortunately in the worst possible places on us, (ie. on the back of my ankle and on the husband's butt). On the positive side I think we found the little jerk and disposed of him/her outside. Also a plus is that my white blood count must be up because the welts are starting to go away much faster than bites usually do for me (two to three weeks is about an average time for me to get rid of a mosquito bite). So I've got some itchy bites but they are going away.

On a less literal note I'm also itching to write. Oh, to have the time to post regularily again. Don't get me wrong I'm taking full joy in the Bean and my Peanut. Right now my girls are playing together in the living room. The Bean has just treated us to her first laugh and the Peanut is going out of her way to get another one. But I wish to write about the way the Bean's lashes remind me of hoar frost, how they seem to lie on her cheeks like lacy black snowflakes, you know the kind, the big ones that envelope you in sense of awe in the silence of a winter night. I wish to write about how the quiet moments I get to spend with my Peanut are becoming even more special to me since they come so few and far between. I wish to write about how the Peanut has begun to sing loudly and with gusto as she runs around the house when the Bean naps.

The thing about taking joy in this time with my girls is that I have very little time for writing. Case in point: it's taken me three days to write this post up to this point. My spider bites are currently red welts with very little itch right now.

I'm also feeling an itch to make. I've been trying to grab a moment here and there to make more stamps, I've been trying to make notes of any ideas I have. Once the cycle of feeding, burping, change the diaper, slip in some time with the Peanut, have a nap and start all over again ends I'll be ready to go

Updates and a litany of woes

from the sounds of my title you'd think this post is going to be a pretty negative one. Well, it may be a little on the long side, but I like to think that I can usually find the positive in most situations. I'm pretty sure I've been able to do so here. To make up for the lack of photographic illustration I'll be posting a word free post to make up for it.

Before we get started, help me celebrate one whole year on Etsy and enter my giveaway! The deadline to enter is rushing this way, you don't want to miss out.

Besides the news of my Step Dad's heart problems last week we've been hitting a streak of weird bad luck but more on that later. My Step Dad is home and on the mend. It turns out my Mom saved his life by getting him to the hospital as fast as she did and there are going to be some changes in lifestyle and diet there. It was very hard to be out of the loop last week in regards to wanting to be there getting the blow by blow after they got home and knowing that he's going to be OK make up for it.

In other news over the last three weeks I've lost my mobile phone and had it stolen. How is this then? The phone slipped out of my pocket on the bus and was found by an unknown and dishonest girl who; after answering my phone and assuring me that she would give it to the bus driver to take to the lost and found instead took it and made $60 in texts and phone calls in two days. Lesson learned? Cancel the mobile if or when it gets lost again. Fortunately, when we finally called to cancel service to the phone our provider was good enough to delete all charges to our bill that were not our own.

The day after the Peanut's birthday party we decided to hit the Jazz festival at David Lam Park in Vancouver. We used to go every year for an afternoon of good music and people watching. When I was pregnant we decided on the Gastown venues so I wouldn't have far to waddle and we'd be closer to the Seabus if the Peanut decided to show up a week early. Since then we've missed the festival, and this year was no exception. After we moved into the new place after the fire, the ball joint in the left front of the car broke causing $400+ to fix. On our way to this years festival we passed the library downtown and lost the right side tire to the other ball joint. One very loud noise and some fancy driving by my husband later we were double parked on Georgia with tourists posing in front of the car and pointing at the tire. We've since donated the car and joined the Car Co-op with very positive results.

Have you ever been awakened from a deep deep sleep by a creepy crawling sensation? Like say some unknown insect type thing has somehow entered into your ear at the ungodly hour of 3AM?

For those who have pondered this and other survival questions I will tell you:

You get that little bugger out by any means necessary, as fast as you can.

Then you attack your ear canal with an arsenal of things that should never be put into your ear based on years and years of professional medical opinion ie. elbows, q-tips, hot water and hydrogen peroxide if you have it; among a few other things.

What this does, is give you a little peace of mind while you stew over the possibility that the bug you squished out of existence while trying to get it out of your ear canal did not

A: have a friend who got in undetected and is setting up house out of reach of the above mentioned ear contraband.
B: bite you in the ear while you were mercilessly removing it from existance.
C: start to nest in there because you really value the ability to hear things.
or in a related to C option D: come from a nest that was (as in option A) previously undetected by you.

Then you visit a Dr, who thinks your story is very interesting ie. something he's going to tell all his friends in order to make a sensation at his next cocktail party; and examines your ear with that really nifty ear and throat instrument so that he can tell you that everything is clear up there, not even a thin coating of earwax to be found.

Then, and only then do you consider the irony of reading about someone who had a bug crawl into their ear the week before and being totally grossed out by it, and having the same thing happen to you and being totally grossed out by it (or is that irony? Ever since that Alanis Morrisette song I can never tell for sure)