I have a confession to make. I have been boastful. I have been downright holier-than-thou stuck up and proud of it.
Every day, customers ask for recommendations on how to combat the flea and tick infestation of the lower Keys. I dutifully tell them which products are the most popular, which sell out quickest, what the groomer recommends, but I invariably come to the end of my knowledge and admit that we "haven't had a problem" at our house with fleas or ticks at all.
About a month ago we took Buster to a local dog park and within about 5 minutes, I had about 30 flea bites on my legs. The next two weeks saw me covered in hydrocortizone cream during the day, and a baking soda & lemon juice paste in the middle of the night. I had to take Benadryl to even get to sleep.
A few days ago I started getting bites around my ankles. I was assuming this was due to the fact that I take the dog out, and there must be fleas where I walk with him.
Last night, I found a flea on the duvet. Tonight I found a flea on my arm. As we were dozing off, Buster spooning with Scott, Scott said "Buster has a tick." I was really hoping he meant that Buster had developed a head jerk or leg kick, but the truth is out... It was a real Tick. Gross.
The bastard was extricated and flushed. Buster will visit Bernadette for a dip tomorrow, and I will take advantage of my employee discount to purchase combative products.
The worst part of all is that I can no longer hold my head high and declare that we "don't have a problem with that." My naivety is crushed, much like the tick between folds of toilet paper.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Crafty!
As far back as I can remember I have loved making stuff. I was a footwear designer at an early age, manufacturing a ballet-style shoe from a single sheet of paper and about half a roll of Scotch tape.
Another step in my fashion design career was creating clothes for my Barbie dolls. The ribbed portion of a sport sock makes a lovely tube dress with holes cut in the sides for the arms. My mom was less than enchanted with the idea, primarily because they were her socks. Further exploits for the benefit of Barbie eventually became what my parents referred to as "the Pueblo Community", stacked cardboard boxes on their sides, each box a room that had been treated to my early stabs at interior design.
I stayed for days at a time with my maternal grandparents growing up, and my grandmother taught me to bake, sew, crochet and gave me many opportunities to make something out of something else. My cousin Josquin and I once created an entire "Macaroni Ranch" from uncooked noodles of all varieties. Last summer we brought the ranch down out of storage and after about 20 years, it still looked pretty good!
I always enjoyed clay, I remember sculpting a bust of my father that was about 3 inches tall and yellow. I painstakingly made his beard with the help of a thumb-tack.
During elementary school, the walls of my bedroom were papered with drawings of everything from the Portland, Oregon skyline done in Mr. Sketch to abstract portraits of imaginary characters - heads in triangle shape.
While in high school at a boarding school, my amateur sewing skills came in handy when girls wanted to make shorts from their jeans. Cut-offs were outlawed for their raggedy hems, but I was able to hem them easily.
A few years later I took up embroidery and my canvas of choice was denim. I covered the entire right leg of a pair of hand-me-downs with yarn and floss flowers and vines. A few friends would bring me a pair of jeans and some floss and I would return the jeans to them with the design of their choice (usually more flowers and vines).
I took up painting with acrylics about ten years ago and will complete a painting (usually an abstract of swirls and lines) every couple of years.
About two years ago I remembered that I had learned a method of finger-crochet sometime during my Pathfinder career, and started making scarves just in time for winter and Christmas that year. I then realized that several scarves side by side is a blanket and have since been crafting blankets with my hands.
I also dove headfirst into the scrapbooking rage and have been scrapbooking for about 5 years now.
When my ADD kicks in, I switch projects, which generally results in 4 or 5 ongoing projects around the house at once. At the moment I have 3 different scrapbooks started, a blanket in the works and a pair of shorts that I'm getting ready to embroider.
Another step in my fashion design career was creating clothes for my Barbie dolls. The ribbed portion of a sport sock makes a lovely tube dress with holes cut in the sides for the arms. My mom was less than enchanted with the idea, primarily because they were her socks. Further exploits for the benefit of Barbie eventually became what my parents referred to as "the Pueblo Community", stacked cardboard boxes on their sides, each box a room that had been treated to my early stabs at interior design.
I stayed for days at a time with my maternal grandparents growing up, and my grandmother taught me to bake, sew, crochet and gave me many opportunities to make something out of something else. My cousin Josquin and I once created an entire "Macaroni Ranch" from uncooked noodles of all varieties. Last summer we brought the ranch down out of storage and after about 20 years, it still looked pretty good!
I always enjoyed clay, I remember sculpting a bust of my father that was about 3 inches tall and yellow. I painstakingly made his beard with the help of a thumb-tack.
During elementary school, the walls of my bedroom were papered with drawings of everything from the Portland, Oregon skyline done in Mr. Sketch to abstract portraits of imaginary characters - heads in triangle shape.
While in high school at a boarding school, my amateur sewing skills came in handy when girls wanted to make shorts from their jeans. Cut-offs were outlawed for their raggedy hems, but I was able to hem them easily.
A few years later I took up embroidery and my canvas of choice was denim. I covered the entire right leg of a pair of hand-me-downs with yarn and floss flowers and vines. A few friends would bring me a pair of jeans and some floss and I would return the jeans to them with the design of their choice (usually more flowers and vines).
I took up painting with acrylics about ten years ago and will complete a painting (usually an abstract of swirls and lines) every couple of years.
About two years ago I remembered that I had learned a method of finger-crochet sometime during my Pathfinder career, and started making scarves just in time for winter and Christmas that year. I then realized that several scarves side by side is a blanket and have since been crafting blankets with my hands.
I also dove headfirst into the scrapbooking rage and have been scrapbooking for about 5 years now.
When my ADD kicks in, I switch projects, which generally results in 4 or 5 ongoing projects around the house at once. At the moment I have 3 different scrapbooks started, a blanket in the works and a pair of shorts that I'm getting ready to embroider.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
I'm a Lame-O
A friend of mine has started a blog. I commend him on his ambition to blog daily. I suspect that he is more focused with his "free" time than I am, seeing as my posting is becoming fewer and farther between.
If anyone is wondering (I know you aren't, just play along anyway) here is a rundown of how I spend my time...
5 Days a week I work 8 hours at The Pampered Pet, a local pet store here in Key West. Work at a pet store entails organization, cleaning, stocking, re-stocking, re-organizing, answering questions, catching fish, turtles, mice, birds and rats for sale, feeding and watering, cashiering, making signs, taking messages and special orders and a lot of running back and forth. My usual shift is from noon to close. I usually wake up around 10:30am and manage to get to sleep by about 1am. Between coming home from work and going to bed I often update the web page for the store, uploading pictures and information for new arrivals. (Pampered Pet Web Page)
The two days I don't work (usually Wednesday and Sunday) I usually sleep in until around noon, then try and spend time outside for awhile before catching up on laundry and miscellaneous house cleaning. More often than not I spend a few hours online every day, splitting my time between a forum that I administrate (BW Refugees), checking my email, checking my Myspace accounts (Personal, Music, Senior Class), catching up on the Young and the Restless since I never have time to watch it, reading various other blogs (Jim, Jake, Defective Yeti), updating my family website, updating our wedding website, and now Catster accounts for my three cats (Chou, Minx and Maui).
We are also home to a Boxer (Buster) that needs love, attention, food, water and walking, a Hamster (Tempura) that requires a cage cleaning once a week, a Betta (Won-Ton) that gets fed daily and a water change once a week, and several outdoor plants that need watering and dead-heading.
This week two baby raccoons took up residence on the porch, one of them is blind. Scott says I am running a furry soup kitchen.
Clearly, I am ready for a vacation, which I will be getting in just a few days, as I get to travel to Las Vegas with Scott for a family vacation.
Did I mention I'm planning a wedding that's taking place in 294 days?
ACK.
If anyone is wondering (I know you aren't, just play along anyway) here is a rundown of how I spend my time...
5 Days a week I work 8 hours at The Pampered Pet, a local pet store here in Key West. Work at a pet store entails organization, cleaning, stocking, re-stocking, re-organizing, answering questions, catching fish, turtles, mice, birds and rats for sale, feeding and watering, cashiering, making signs, taking messages and special orders and a lot of running back and forth. My usual shift is from noon to close. I usually wake up around 10:30am and manage to get to sleep by about 1am. Between coming home from work and going to bed I often update the web page for the store, uploading pictures and information for new arrivals. (Pampered Pet Web Page)
The two days I don't work (usually Wednesday and Sunday) I usually sleep in until around noon, then try and spend time outside for awhile before catching up on laundry and miscellaneous house cleaning. More often than not I spend a few hours online every day, splitting my time between a forum that I administrate (BW Refugees), checking my email, checking my Myspace accounts (Personal, Music, Senior Class), catching up on the Young and the Restless since I never have time to watch it, reading various other blogs (Jim, Jake, Defective Yeti), updating my family website, updating our wedding website, and now Catster accounts for my three cats (Chou, Minx and Maui).
We are also home to a Boxer (Buster) that needs love, attention, food, water and walking, a Hamster (Tempura) that requires a cage cleaning once a week, a Betta (Won-Ton) that gets fed daily and a water change once a week, and several outdoor plants that need watering and dead-heading.
This week two baby raccoons took up residence on the porch, one of them is blind. Scott says I am running a furry soup kitchen.
Clearly, I am ready for a vacation, which I will be getting in just a few days, as I get to travel to Las Vegas with Scott for a family vacation.
Did I mention I'm planning a wedding that's taking place in 294 days?
ACK.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)