Thursday, June 18, 2009

It's War. Sneaky Underhanded Bug Style.

I think the bugs around here are staging a coup of some sort. Operation Invade is in full swing.

Two weekends ago, hubby took Kaia out to the "Spooky Forest" behind the apartment complex. They didn't go far and they didn't go for long, but they brought back an army of ticks. Deer ticks, lonestar ticks and some sort of tick I've never seen before. We spent that evening picking ticks off of both of them and off of me. We spent Monday picking yet other ticks off and cleaning with tick killing chemicals from top to bottom to get rid of the blasted things. Come Tuesday, I figured we were relatively tick free. Yeah, that was so not the case. Sis found a tick on the Little Princess's head and we started the tick hunt all over again.

Thursday morning, hubby woke up with his leg numb all the way up to the calf. He figured it was just asleep and went about his business. By Thursday afternoon, it was alternating between numb and painful and his foot seemed to be getting the worst of it. He pulled his shoe and sock off and lo and behold, a monster tick was having a foot feast. By the time he got home Thursday night, it wasn't any better. He was still bleeding where he had pulled the tick off, he was still hobbling like his foot was asleep and the thing was quite obviously infected.

A trip to the doctor later to have it checked out revealed the he had cellulitis from the bite. We didn't figure he had a tick specific infection, but they wanted to check for ehrichliosis. So far, we're assuming he doesn't have it since we haven't heard back from the labs as of yet. But ugh! Ticks.

Anyway, that was just the beginning of Operation Invade. The ticks handed out Party flyers (Bring Your Own Blood Optional) to the insect kingdom because on Friday morning I went out to the balcony to enjoy the scenery and this hideous bug that looked like a cricket with a hairless tiny human head (I'm serious!) was staring at me from the far side of the table. Staring. Just staring.

It was the creepiest thing ever so I happily gave him rights to the balcony and took my butt back inside to grumble about being intimidated by a cross breed bug. (Bugs 2, Humans 0). Come Saturday, we had green flying things with clear wings that look like no kind of moth I've ever seen before, visiting. Come Sunday, we had two new huge ticks in the floor and spiders dropping from places on the balcony that they shouldn't rightfully be dropping from. Come Monday, the spiders put up their own banner somewhere in the house and started moving in. Come Tuesday, I stopped counting the varieties of bugs that have pitched tents and grabbed pitchforks.

Big bugs. Small bugs. Bugs that fly. Bugs that bite. Bugs that crawl. They've either started their own Alpha Beta Bug Fraternity in my house or are using my living room as a killing field.



That's okay though. It's war now. Today, I'm calling out the big guns. Operation Take Back the House (and the Balcony) is a go. Yes indeed, I'm knighting The Orkin Man and sending him in to battle.

And then I'm going to sit on my balcony sipping a pretend Mai-Tai and waving merrily to the little blood suckers as they pull a full retreat with saddle bags and tents strapped to their backs.

Let's see how happy the little bastards be then, eh?

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Poems in drafting stages

These aren't quite finished yet but I figured I would go ahead and share them here anyway. Maybe it will shake loose those finishing touches that have eluded me thus far :)

Enjoy!


Dance

blot out the world
thick milky tears
don't need to touch you
to know that you're real
reach out a hand
grasp nothing but air
not even a chill
to say that you're there
can feel you in my soul though
dancing up my bones
covering me in shudders
and calling me home

you're an insubstantial nothing
a demon in the night
yet I feel you out there waiting
for my heart to take flight
I try to fight you off
and my world comes apart
there's nothing for it now
but to wait for the sun
to peek over the horizon
and a new day to start

can't stay with you
and can't be alone
night belongs to neither of us
yet was made for you alone
don't want to love you
and don't want to care
yet can't stop hoping
I'll see you out there

light sweeps over the horizon
turns you an inky blue
and I know once again
that it's time to say adieu
but goodbye isn't forever
not amongst friends
I'll see you out there another time
I'll see you once again.



Silent Awe

light shines
like a beacon
on waters
so still
so deep
yet rippling and waving
undulating against you
surrounding you
in goodness
in silence
you sleep
no longer worried
and no longer afraid
the smallest act of kindness
forever awake


Forever Aching

Once rapturous images
of days gone by
hold no appeal
when you smile just so

Life before you
forgotten
and washed away
in a haze of
dreamy sighs
and depthless, ever changing eyes.

Forgot how I lived before
your awkward giggles
and innocently told truths
surrounded life
in gently vivid colors
painted across once dreary skies

But know for certain that
life without
the warmth of your breath
and the touch of your skin to mine
was half complete
and left me forever aching.

So blessed
and eternally awed
to know that you
reach out a hand
and from the millions
outstretched before you
placed it into mine
to walk beside me

today
tomorrow
and forever.


Little Men

pretty little dolls
with sad blue eyes
little girl whispers
and little girl cries

love me love me
come be my friend
and I'll promise to cherish you
until the very end

pretty little dresses
with lopsided little bows
little girl heartbreaks
and little girl knows

love me love me
come be my friend
and I promise I wont tell anyone
until the very end

pretty little bruises
with fading yellow edges
little girl cowers
and little man wins

love me love me
come be my friend
and I promise it won't hurt
not in the end

The finish line draws near

Once again, it has been ages since I updated. So goes the life when you're hauling ass to the finish line of college though, huh? Despite not having a whole lot of time, it's not been too terrible really.

Okay, so I hate this Capstone class and Organized Crime sounded better in the description than it is in reality, but hey! 14 days until I'm finished! And oddly enough, despite finishing on the 2nd of June, graduation isn't until the end of July. I'll be well into my first term as a grad student before I do the graduation walk, but whatever :)

Graduation will be in Chicago and I made up my mind to go for it. I didn't walk in my high school graduation because I had surgery just a few weeks prior, so I figured I might as well. Besides, college graduation is a lot better than high school graduation. And I'll be graduation summa cum laude so I'm insanely pleased with myself about that.

Aside from the school work that has me buried, things here are nearly the same. Khourt and the kids recently moved back to Little Rock so they're a lot closer than they were. I'm thrilled about it. Bald Knob is this tiny hole in the wall town with absolutely nothing to do. She hated it. The boys weren't thrilled with it. So, they're back. :) Expensive slow life in Little Rock is, apparently, infinitely better than cheap slow life in Bald Knob. (I could have told her that!)

I'm still writing as often as possible. It's not nearly as often as I would like, but I'm just happy that I've managed to keep going despite the number of essays that has crept into my life recently! I'm no where near finished with the story that I have been working on forever, but I'm still okay with that. I like the direction it is heading and even though it's slow going... it's going in the right direction and that is definitely something!

Aside from those few things, nothing much is going on. Alo turned 4 yesterday and we had a mini party for him. We're doing his big party this weekend but in a typical move, have not yet decided if we're going to the Zoo or doing cake and presents at home. Amazing how often that happens, huh?

Fallon

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