Monday, July 2, 2007

Dragging My Feet

I am, oh, so very tired. *yawn* On the night Mr. Skunk so thoughtfully left behind his lovely scent, I was on the Video Phone until 3 in the morning. My friend and I had a lot of catching up to do and keeping in touch is hard to do with 6 kids between the two of us and the rest of what goes on in our lives. She is going through a rough time and needed someone to lend an ear and listen to her pour her heart out. I am happy to say that I will be seeing her on Wednesday for the holiday, but know that we wont be able to escape for private girl talk.

Anyway, going to bed at 3 am and waking up as usual the next day left me dragging my feet. I find it impossible to fall asleep until I know Hubby is home safe and sound, which is usually by midnight. I wait around until he gets home, and we have a little bit of quality time together, talking about his day at work and my day with the girls, so I don't get to bed until 1:30 am.

Saturday, we needed to flea-bomb the house. The girls and I, the cats too, are being eaten alive by fleas that multiply faster than you can say, "oh my giddy aunt!" Hubby with his thick skin, doesn't seem to be bothered by the fleas, but I've had enough! So we bought 6 cans of Flea Fogger, set them up and went for a nice morning of yard sale-ing. You need to stay away for at least 4 hours to let the flea killing chemicals work and then air out the house for a bit. Now comes the fun part-- cleaning the house from top to bottom. Apparently they changed the ingredients from the last time we bombed the house (seems like we do it once a year) and we got headaches almost right after we went into the house. We kept the girls outside, playing. After opening all the windows, turning on all the fans and discarding the empty cans, we sat outside to wait, our heads pounding.

Finally it felt safe enough to enter the house again and I set about to clean all the rooms, change all the bedding, mop, wipe down surfaces, wash the windows, vacuum... Oh! And give the 2 indoor cats a flea bath! Not fun! I am amazed I managed to bathe 2 cats and avoid their razor sharp claws this time. The two wet cats are giving me a wide berth every time I come near and have only just started coming close to me again, provided I have cat food in my hands. I worked room by room, starting with the girls' rooms first and working my way to the living room, dining room and then the kitchen. By the time I was done, it was 10 at night and I still hadn't caught up on my sleep from the 3 am phone call. I was pooped! I should add that Hubby cleaned the sun room and the office and the kids helped, too. I tried to keep the help from the kids to a minimum because I didn't want them to get any residue from the chemicals on them and knowing kids, dirty hands end up on faces and in mouths. So I had Hubby keep the kids amused as much as possible so I could clean alone quicker than I can with 3 little helpers.

Sunday was more cleaning, what I didn't finish the day before-- washing the large mound of bedding and clothing, the towels from washing the cats and the kids. My dryer picks this weekend to act up and take f o r e v e r to dry a load of laundry. I can't find my clothes line so I am hanging all the sheets and blankets on the line we have set up in the basement. Not the same as hanging them outside, but it does the job.

Waking up this morning, knowing Hubby has to go in early today and work a 12 hour shift to cover for people on vacation this week, was absolutely difficult. I am so, so, so tired and I made the mistake of lying down on the couch this afternoon while the girls were watching a movie. Next thing I know, Oldest is waking me up telling me the movie is over and she's hungry. I drag myself to the kitchen to find 3 peaches butchered and left for dead on the counter! When I ask, Oldest points to Middle. Middle confesses she hacked them up with the knife trying to get the pit out but only succeeded in smushing the peaches all over the counter. A fourth peach had teeth marks all over but not a single bite was taken out of it. So much for peach cobbler for dinner. That'll teach me to fall asleep and let the girls roam free.

On the bright side, I am caught up on the laundry, the house is spotless (give it another day) and I plan to go to bed early tonight. But here's the kicker.. we still have fleas!! AGHHH! I think I shall take up a flea circus and tour the country.

11 comments:

D-HOR said...

OH man I remember when I was a kid and our dogs would get fleas in the summer.

(before my parents discovered frontline, are you using that? It is the shit and they never have fleas if they keep up with it)

Those tiny beotches have a BITE to them. Ow ow ow. *shudder* That sux that you still have them. Freaking lame.

I had a bug prob in my last apt. and when I moved in to my mexicans place. Both times I used 3-4 more cans than recommended - and hoped like hell my place didn't blow up.

I swear it's more of a bitch to me to turn off ALL apliances than it is to clean up afterwards. But at least nothing blows up.

Hope they're just slow and die today for you. :)

Sparx said...

Ooh, I hate fleas. Our cat passed on when Charlie was 3 weeks old and at the time we didn't realise he had had fleas (the cat, that is). So, there I was with a new baby, a broken heart... and fleas. We had to do the whole house in the end. I kept thinking it was just one flea and then another would show up a week later... one day I was breastfeeding C and one jumped on his head and that was that...

Love the new format, have been away and not caught up for a while.

Drunk Mummy said...

Your cats sound like hard work - have you thought about getting a goldfish instead?

Rob Clack said...

We, and our neighbours, also cat people, swear by Frontline, just like Lindystar's parents. Apparently the fleas migrate between body and head on a daily basis (sounds weird now I come to write it!) so you put a few drops of the pizon on the back of the puddytat's neck. Structions say every month; we do it 2 or 3 times a year. Just works.

If the cat sleeps on a dark surface for a bit and then you find tiny white dots, them's flea eggs. Eggs fall to the floor, hatch into larvae that live in cracks and especially carpets. I think they eat the dust (ie shed people skin). Vacuuming is a surprisingly good way to reduce the flea population.

Is the theory. Since Frontline works for us, we haven't put it to the test. Vacuum cleaner stays firmly in the cupboard!

Unknown said...

We have a dog and a cat. For fleas, we use k9 advantix, because they help with mosquitoes. Frontline only does fleas and ticks. It's a little expensive, but you wouldn't have to flea bomb your house every year. Just a drop on their necks once a month does the job.

Go to 1800petmeds.com for more information. They have good prices. Just something to think about. I would hate for you and your family to go through that again every year. :)

lady macleod said...

Pardon me I may have to lie down to type this - I am exhausted reading that. I DO know your pain with the fleas! When Q and I lived for a few years in Alabama USA they (shudder) invaded our house (we had an INDOOR cat) and I bombed, and had it cleaned, and bombed, and lost a housekeeper, and bombed! They stay clear of me as do most bugs, must not be very tasty, but they eat Q head to toe. We had another run in with the little buggers one summer at her grandmother's house when they were still in San Francisco, USA. They are as difficult to get rid of as cellulite!

I agree with lindstar the Frontline is good stuff.

I wish you deep, restful sleep full of quiet, peaceful dreams.

I love the peaches story, I always thought a sibling would be handy...

DJ Kirkby said...

Hi Jenny
This wont solve your current flea infestation problem but may work as a preventative; my mom puts brewers yeast (very cheap to buy) in her cats food. It takes a while for them to get used to it but now they wont have it without! The fleas don't like the taste of it. p.s. I've told you beofre but I gotta say it again... you are such a good mommy and wife!

wakeupandsmellthecoffee said...

You need to read Darth Sardonic's blog. He's exhausted too from his little ones. Fleas are nearly impossible to get rid of unless you are vigilant about everything. I'm not, but am trying to turn over a new leaf.

IndianaJones said...

I hate fleas and when we had them (thank God no children to think about at the time!) our dog had a horrible allergic reaction to frontline. She broke out in hives all over her snout and then got deathly ill...the whole shebang ended up costing us almost $1000 in vet bills to save the dog and then when we got home we found that the bombing didn't work and we still had fleas! Still add three kids and an entire house to clean instead of a dinky apartment and your situation sounds far more tiring. Hope you get a bit of rest from nature's icky beasts for a while!

jenny said...

Thanks to ALL for your tips and advice... We used Frontline once upon a time and will go out and buy a pack this weekend. Brewer's yeast is something we tried once and gave up when we couldnt find it anymore. Will buy 9 cans of fogger this time and bomb the house for what will hopefully be the last time!

Welcome to the newcomers and Thanks for coming by!!

Thanks to the regulars and thanks for coming back!!

Lisa C. said...

I stopped using the Frontline on my dog over a year ago because she was very sensitive to it. She eats some dog food with small amount of garlic in it that keeps bugs from biting her. Her desire to scratch decreased.