"Frick-it" These Crickets

Still hunting crickets....

                            ....and not having a lot of success....

Out of the 36 that escaped, we have caught maybe 10.  The crickets are in every room of our house, except amazingly Spencer's room, where they originated from.  Suppose they know they were going to be lunch for the turtles? 

At night the chirping is incredible.  It may still be like winter outside (we got 4" of snow today), but inside my house it sounds like a warm summer night.  Hey, people pay big bucks to have this kind of ambience.  The majority of the crickets seem to be congregating underneath my stove and refrigerator.  Mike pulled out the bottom drawer of our stove in an effort to see them.  The only thing he found was dust bunnies, magnetic letters for the fridge, and the long-lost mommy for Sammi's dollhouse. We have caught crickets in the bathtub, the laundry basket, and in the potty chair.  Let me tell you, opening the lid and finding a cricket doing the backstroke in their potty, has done nothing to speed up the potty training process.  Arghhhhhhh....     

Since the great escape, Mike and I have been wondering a few things.  What is a crickets livespan, how quickly do they reproduce, what do they eat, and how the heck can we get rid of them?  So, this morning I did a search on the web....

The first bit of disturbing information I found was that crickets do indeed thrive indoors.  Crickets can feed on a wide variety of fabrics, foods and paper products. Cotton, linen, wool, rayon, nylon, silk and  furs are susceptible, along with soiled fabrics, sizing from wallpaper, glue from bookbindings, fruit, vegetables, meat and even other crickets.  Do you suppose I could train them to eat just wallpaper?  Hate the wallpaper in my kitchen.  : ) 

But oh, it gets better.... Each  female can lay an average of 728 eggs with the immatures (nymphs) resembling the adults except being wingless. Nymphs molt seven to eight times and reach adulthood in about 60 days. These crickets complete their life cycle by laying eggs in cracks, crevices and other dark areas such as behind baseboards.  What do you suppose are the odds that the crickets we had were all males? :::sigh:::

Mikey 2, calls the crickets "frick-its"...  I think it's a very fitting name, and these days "Frick-it these crickets" can be heard muttered quite frequently around here.  It's apparent now that just catching a few crickets here and there, is not going to solve the cricket problem we have.  But what to do?  Because we have small children and animals, we are very leery about using insecticides.  As an alternative, I found this on a website; gluetrap monitor, Gluetrap Monitor, GLUETRAP MONITOR, glue traps, Glue Traps, GLUETRAPS, glue trap, Glue Trap.  Hmmm, why couldn't this website just write glue traps once?  Anyways, hoping that these gluetraps do the trick. 

But now I'm wonderin'.....

How long will a cricket chirp while stuck to a glue trap?  :::shiver:::  Did I ever tell you I hate bugs?

Mikey's First (real) Haircut

Ok, didn't wimp out this time.  His first real little boy haircut.  Is it just me, or does it look like he aged at least a year?  

Ahhhhhh, I will miss those wild blonde curls, but it was time....  :::laughing:::  Ok, so it was time about 6 months ago.   

Still Recuperating

Day 20, and still recuperating from the flu....  We've all done alot of sleeping the past few weeks, so why am I still tired?  The little ones are almost better; they're starting to get into mischief again.  I thought I was getting better, but tonight my left ear hurts so bad.  Que sera, sera....

Tonight Spencer brought home crickets for his turtles.  He brought them in his room and then went to a friends house.  About an hour later, I suddenly realized that I could hear chirping coming from underneath my stove.  Just as that realization hit me, I saw another one scurrying across the kitchen floor.  I went into Spencer's room to see where he had put the crickets.  The container that he usually keeps them in was empty.  Empty, why?  Because there was a huge hole in the corner of the plastic container. Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!  We currently have 36 large crickets roaming the house.  Just as I was typing this paragraph, another one crawled across the rug by my feet and is now chirping from underneath the piano.  How in the heck will we catch all these crickets?  They remind me of roaches, shit, I hate bugs.  Sitting here wondering what the lifespan of a cricket is?  Hoping they don't reproduce very quickly. 

Not much going on this weekend besides the obvious, cricket hunting.  Until most of the crickets are caught, don't think I'll walk around barefoot for awhile.  I'm entering  a poetry contest and I need to get my poems postmarked by tomorrow.  After the post office, we'll bring Mikey for his first real haircut.  The last time I brought him, I  only let the hairdresser give him a trim.  But sadly it's time... After the haircut we're planning on going to an art show near Boston.  Should be a good day.

Well, off to pop a few tylenol and hit the hay....

                                                          ....Still recuperating

Six Days 'Til Spring

 

Iceberg, oh iceberg, melt away please....

Float away to some distant sea.

It's been a cold, long winter here

I'm tired of wearing long underwear.

No more wooley mittens, scarves or boots,

Just want to wear my birthday suit.

Throw aside sweats that hide all my faults,

G'bye hot chocolate, I want to drink malts.

Refusing to shovel anymore snow,

Need to feel beach sand between my toes.

Please winter loosen your icy grip,

One more fall and I'll break my hip.

I've asked you nicely, why won't you go?

Quit dragging your feet, don't move so slow.

Iceberg, oh iceberg, melt away please....

Float away to some distant sea.   

written by: Michelle/s0ngbird1962   

No deep thoughts today, just a few tidbits from my life. 

~~One hasn't lived, until they attempt to put eyedrops in the eyes of an uncooperative 38lb two year old....

~~Spencer had TWO car accidents this week....  The first was minor, the second a bit more serious.  He rear ended a VW bug on the highway while changing lanes.  The VW didn't stop, he ended up following the car for three miles until the VW turned off onto another route/highway.   The front end of Spencer's car is damaged, but thankfully his body is fine.  We have decided that his new nickname is *Crash*.   I need to buy more haircolor to cover up the gray hairs I've sprouted.     

~~Only 8 days until Spring and we are having a snowstorm today.  Must admit it's the prettiest snow yet.  Huge fluffy white flakes quietly blanketing the earth,  bare trees & my satellite dish.  With no satellite signal, I would like to publicly thank the person who invented VCRs and DVDs.  That aside,  this is the kind of snow that fairy tales and Bing Crosby sang of.   :::singing:::: "I'm dreaming of a white....Spring?"     

~~One box of Chocolate Thin Mint girl scout cookies down, three to go.... 

Winter still has a bitter hold on us, as does the influenza....   

Monday night a snow/ice storm blew in....  only dropped about 6 inches of snow, but the snow glazed over with ice, very heavy stuff.  Because of the icing conditions, the roads were covered in patches of black ice, causing many accidents.  And although there was a road advisory saying, "stay off the roads if possible", they didn't cancel school.  Go figure.  So, unfortunately Spencer had an accident with his car on the way to school.  I warned him to go s-l-o-w, but I'm sure his inexperience and haste to get to school dictated otherwise. :::first mistake:::  As he was driving to school, he hit a patch of ice and began to slide.  Instinctively, he hit his brakes :::second mistake:::.  The car behind him rear ended his car and sent him into a snowbank. 

The good news in all this is... he was hit by his best friend.  And as luck would have it, his friend's dad is an auto-body repairman by trade.  And luckiest of all?  No bodily injuries, just some shaky nerves and a few dented fenders....  The next snow storm is blowing in on Friday.  Predicted accumulation for this storm is 4 - 6 inches. Hoping that Spence has learned his lesson, and though he swears he was driving slow, I have a feeling that our definition of *slow* is different.  He drives *I-still-wanna-look-cool-hey-look-there's-that-girl-that-I-like* slow,  and I drive *Please-no-accidents-hey-jerk-get-off-my tail* slow.  

The two little ones and I are still fighting the influenza.  Day 13, and still no relief.  We are infected from the neck up.  Besides all having a cough that would make any chain-smoker proud, Mikey has conjunctivitis in both eyes, Sammi has developed an ear infection, and I have a sinus infection.   We are all on medications, though I don't think that this cough will go away until Spring.

Speaking of Spring, it's only 10 days away.  But there are no signs of Spring here in  New England, yet... The temps are still below freezing (it's 21 degrees out today) and a foot of snow still covers the ground, with more to come this weekend.  Where art thou, Spring? 

                              ....Fingers crossed that you don't forget us.

 

Quote of the day:  "Autumn arrives in early morning, but Spring at the close of a winter day."  ~~Elizabeth Bowen

A Heartfelt Apology

No report No activity Sporadic Local Activity Regional Widespread

Just a short note of apology to my fellow residents of Massachusetts.  Because of my selfish desire for sunshine and warmth, I traveled to Florida during school vacation.  I never even gave a second thought to you poor suckers, ahhh I mean souls, who remained behind in the frigid cold and the never-ending snows of this winter.  Yes, I was one of the lucky ones who managed to escape, even if only for 10 days, from winters firm embrace.  I reveled in Florida's  green grass, flowers in full bloom, warm beach sand,  warm temps of 82- 84 degrees & tall swaying palm trees.   I shamelessly enjoyed every minute of it, never thinking of the consequences.... 

That is, until I realized that we brought home more than just cheesy souveniers from Disney and road side rest stops.  The national influenza map shows that Massachusetts (light orange color) is currently one of the healthiest states in the US.  Up until this week, we have had only local flu activity, while most states (dark brown color) are experiencing widespread flu outbreaks.  Well, no doubt that will soon change, when the upper respiratory flu that we picked up in Florida begins to circulate among the once healthy population of Massachusetts....

And for that I am truly sorry....  

Really my fellow citizens; had I known how much sickness there was in Florida, I would have surely stayed home. :::Ok, ok, so that's not true:::   But if I had my choice, I would have brought you home lots of sunshine instead of the influenza. 

We Found Mickey!

Not sure I can condense 10 days of vacation into a few paragraphs, but I'm going to try.  : )

Bags finally were packed, glasses repaired, new crickets bought for the turtles, and the *no hot water* mystery was solved.  We hit the road one hour later than we intended at 7pm.  We had driven only about one mile, when a little voice in the back chirped, "Are we almost there yet?"  And so began our awesome adventure.....

The first night we drove until 3am, we stopped to sleep in Delaware.  Already the snow was almost non-existent.  The next day we awoke with our spirits as bright as the warm sunshine.  We traveled for 16 hours that day, couldn't believe how well behaved the kids were.  I incredulously asked myself, "Are these MY kids?"  We had trouble finding lodging that night; we finally found a place to rest our heads at 2am in Townsend Georgia.  I wish we hadn't....  

That hotel ended up being a house of horrors.  I knew it was bad when we opened the door to the room, but desperate for sleep, Mike talked me into staying.  I checked the sheets and they looked clean, so we all fell into an exhausted slumber.  At 8am we woke up, and it was then that the full horror of the room was exposed.   I swear, there should have been yellow police tape up indicating that the room was a crime scene.  There was lots of blood on the bedspread, blood behind the toilet, blood and other unidentifiable stains on the box springs, the filth on the bedframes was unimaginable.  Cigarette butts & hair were on the floor, the shower was disgusting and the carpet was so stained it felt gummy when stepped on.  Yes, all this for $78.00... Literally sick to our stomachs and itching we immediately vacated the room.  I complained at the desk, but that story is for another entry.  Needless to say, I will be making a formal complaint to someone who hopefully will care.

Around 2pm on Sunday, we arrived in Deltona FLorida.  First stop was to my brother Danny's house, his daughter was having her 15th birthday at 4pm.  It was great to see them, wish we could have spent more time together.  I  miss them all so much.... That night my folks surprised us by making a reservation in a suite at the Holiday Express near them.  It was one large room with a sleeper sofa and wonderously clean. The first good nights rest since we hit the road.  Thank you Mom and Dad, we've kept the receipt so we'll remember our gift when our birthdays and Christmas rolls around.  : )   Monday morning we went to Cypress Gardens with my parents.  Had hoped to meet up with my Aunt and Uncle, but my Aunt was sick with the flu/strept throat.  Couldn't believe how much the gardens had changed, the kids had alot of fun there. 

Tuesday morning we headed off to Orlando.  Mickey Mouse here we come!  We stayed at the All-star Movie resort and though the rooms were small, they were very nice.  Disney did not disappoint, the grounds at the resort were fantastic.  We spent Tuesday at the Magic Kingdom; and although I have been there many times before, it was exciting to experience it through a small childs eye.  The highlight of the day was when Sammi finally met Mickey Mouse.  After her much anticipated meeting she asked, "Can we go home now?"  We stayed until the park closed that night enjoying the shows and light parade.

Wednesday we headed to MGM.  There were some shows that the little ones did enjoy, but many of the 3-D shows (even the children's ones) were a bit too intense for them.  We went on one ride that seemed pretty benign. "The Greatest Movie Ride Ever."  ...Let's just say that Sammi now has an intense fear of aliens.  I'm afraid she might remember that experience as strongly as her meeting with Mickey Mouse.  Poor kid...  I went on Terror Tower twice.  Once with Spence and once with Mike.  I've gotta fess up that I screamed like a girl.  Oh wait, I am a girl, so I guess it isn't THAT embarrassing.  On Thursday, we stayed at the resort and just enjoyed the amenities.  We spent the day exploring the resort and swimming.  Because I forgot to pack my bathing suit, I bought one at a local Wal-marts the day before.   A word of warning to women who have 30+ pounds to  lose. DON'T buy a black and white bathing suit.  I looked like a holstein cow, truly a very moo-ving experience, lol.   

Friday we had planned on returning to Cypress Gardens (we had a free pass to return).  Again, I had hoped to meet up with my Aunt and Uncle but fate had other plans.  We awoke Friday morning to the steady beat of rain and Sammi burning-up from a fever.  Her eyes were glazed and her usual pale skin was pink from the heat.  When I asked her if she was sick, she said "I don't know what happened.  I saw that alien show and went to sleep.  Now I'm sick."  All plans cancelled.  

Everyone had a wonderful time and this vacation has filled us with memories that will last a life time.  It was tough leaving the glorious warmth of Florida knowing we were heading back into snow.   But, it was time to go home....  Before we left the state we stopped to see my foster sister Missi and her family.  Although the visit was very brief, it was great to see her.  Another person in my life that I miss....

We traveled until 2am, stopping to sleep in Florence South Carolina.  Sammi vomited thru the wee hours of the morning, finally falling asleep around 4am.  When we woke up at 9am, she felt a bit better.  Unfortunately Mikey began to get sick.... He began to vomit Saturday night at 9:30pm.  Amazingly, both kids were real troopers and didn't complain once.  At 2am, we crossed the CT border.  Although road weary, :::we had been on the road for 16 hours by that point::: Mike and I looked at each other and decided we should just shoot for home.  Aside from getting a bit tangled up in Boston due to detours, we made it home at 4am on Sunday morning.  Mikey woke up as we drove up the street to our house.  He asked if we were back at our *old home*.  When we told him we were, he said "Good old home."  Out of the mouths of babes....

Yes, it's good to be home.  Well, sort of.  We now all have upper respiratory infections, and can't say I'm loving the blizzard  we are having today.   This storm has dumped a foot of snow on us.   Hoping the old wives tale, "March in like a lion, out like a lamb" is true.  I'm so ready for Spring....