Things That Bug Me (HA! You'll Appreciate This More After You Read the Post!)

So it was actually a pretty darn nice weekend. Beautiful weather both days, and good times as well. Great America on Saturday was fun, when we first got there we were able to ride the Eagle three times in a row because there was no line at all. We stayed until about 4:00, then went to my cousin’s house to see the baby squirrels her daughter found and “adopted.” Lexie LOVED them. Loved, loved LOVED them. They were really cute, see?

Only, when she was trying to feed one with the little tiny bottle, the other one tried to cut in and nipped her on her finger. She felt bad and got really worried that my cousin or I would be mad at her, and came upstairs with teary eyes when she told us. My cousin reassured her, and told us that they had actually brought the squirrels to the vet to get rabies shots, so we shouldn’t worry. (I really wasn’t worried anyway, it was a little pinprick of a nip.) So she washed it off and went back to play with them some more.

And now, of course, she wants a pet squirrel. I told her she should just keep watching the ones on our balcony, because that was as close as she was going to get to actually owning one.

Then Sunday was the Christening. As soon as we got to the church and found my brother and sister-in-law, I went up to my soon-to-be-godson. And of course, he smiled and laughed and gurgled. I told you, smart kid. He loves me a whole lot. Everyone kept commenting about that. Funny thing is, if I hold him, he squirms and wiggles because he likes being held like on your shoulder, only if I hold him like that, he can’t see me and doesn’t like it. But if I pass him off to someone else, and he can see me, he’s all happy again. Go figure.

The mass itself was long, and apparently the Lutherans have changed the Lord’s Prayer. Since I was raised Catholic, I was not aware of that. And they make you hold hands, so at the end of the prayer, I really wanted to say “KEEP COMING BACK!” like I used to in the 12-step meetings, but I restrained myself. That would not have been good. The funny thing is, since I have decided that I am a more spiritual person than “organized religion” type, I wasn’t sure how I would feel being back in a church. Last time was for Lexie’s communion – and that was three years ago. And guess what? Unlike all these people who tell me how safe and connected and wonderful they feel in church, I felt VERY uncomfortable. Like tensing-in-my-shoulder-blades uncomfortable. The LAST thing I felt was a sense of peace. All I wanted to do was get the heck out of there. I just really like my own personal God relationship. I guess I’m just not big on sharing my God time. But in any case, I was honored to be there for Erik, and he was soooo good, he just slept through the whole thing. Even the baptism itself. (Pretty impressive – if someone dumped water on MY head while I was sleeping, I’d probably wake up swinging!!)

So then we had a really nice brunch and went home.

DUM DUM DUUUUUUUUMMMMM!!! (That was supposed to be ominous music there – foreshadowing some not so wonderful upcoming occurrence.)

Lexie went into her bedroom and came out crying. “MOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!” I jumped up off the couch and asked what was wrong.

“I’m SORRY I didn’t clean my room sooner, you were RIGHT, now it’s INFESTED with BUGS!!!”

Ok, so I told the kid that she would get bugs in her room if she didn’t clean it, just like my mom used to tell me, but I honestly didn’t think her room was THAT bad… So I go to her room, and she was right. There were a couple dozen black buggies with wings all over the wood frame of her window. ICK! ICK!! ICK!!! And I didn’t have any bug spray. Because we have NEVER had bugs. There was no reason to. So I got the cats out (yes, my boyz were enjoying the whole buggie thing, I think they ate a few) and slammed her door. We went up to Home Depot and bought some spray. Apparently we have carpenter ants. I sprayed the shit out of them and watched them drop like flies. (But just to be clear – they weren’t flies – they were BIG UGLY FLYING ANTS.) I did some research on the computer, and found that these guys like to build nests in wood. And my PRETTY NEW WINDOWS have WOOD frames around them, which said buggies were scampering behind. They can build a nest and not be seen for months, then suddenly, on a nice spring day like yesterday, come POURING out of the nest. Which is exactly what they did.

After dreaming about bugs of all shapes and sizes last night, I called the window installers this morning, since I have a 5 year guarantee. They told me that the bugs aren’t their fault, I would have to get an exterminator. But that they WOULD have someone come out on Wednesday morning and caulk around the frame and the wall.

Ok, let’s see… there is a nest of carpenter ants in the wood frame of my daughter’s window. And the guy wants to come out and CAULK. Thus removing their little entrance/exit, which would (according to Cute Neighbor across the hall) force them to burrow even more and make holes to get out from the wood. PLUS, CN told me that the wood may already be in pretty bad shape, depending on how long buggies have been living there. So HIS suggestion was to have them tear down the wood frame and replace it with new wood. When I mentioned this to Window People, they insisted that their wood is treated for pests, and there was no way the bugs were in there when the windows were installed. According to them, “Our treatment prevents ANYTHING from living in that wood. There is NO WAY bugs could be in our wood. They must have come in from outside. You’ll need to call an exterminator.” After I hung up, my dad called. I told him what they said, and good old dad brought up an EXCELLENT point: If the wood had been treated to prevent bugs, why were they in there now? Wouldn’t the treatment have deterred them from nesting in the frame? Obviously, if they were in the frame, even if they DID come from outside, it means the wood WASN’T treated at all. Hm. Good point, dad.

But I didn’t call them back to say that, I will just talk to the guy on Wednesday morning. And there is NO WAY he will be doing any caulking, THAT’S for sure!! EWWWW!! Just the thought of those stupid winged carpenter ants milling around my daughter’s room makes me itchy. I HATE bugs. My brother tells me I am too melodramatic, that this isn’t the end of the world, and I told him I REALIZE this. It just sucks. I am dying for Lexie to get home from school and call me to let me know if they are back crawling around or if the spray is still working. When I talked to CN, I asked him if I could send Lex to him to spray more if they came back, and he said sure. So that is good. But I really hope they stay gone.

I guess if the Window Jerks (I mean Guys) refuse to replace the wood, I will HAVE to call an exterminator, to the tune of $200. Which I don’t want to do. But I don’t want to live with buggies, either. So we’ll see.

Anyway, now that I have probably grossed you all out, I have to go. And if anyone has any advice, I’d appreciate it. Otherwise, sympathy works just as well! I’ll keep you posted!