Ticked

Warning!

It’s a bad year for ticks!

We found three on us in the matter of ONE WEEK!

I’ve lived in this area  for all but 6 years of my life, and in that time,
I have had two ticks on me, separated by at least 3 decades.

It’s just not something we’ve been worried about.

Until now.

The first two ticks were found when we went to visit Flynn, east of Nowhere.
We had gone walking in the “wilderness” through some long, dead grass.
(It’s a prairie wilderness which is VERY different from the wilderness we’re accustomed to.)

Belle found one crawling on her the morning after.
It was NOT embedded, thank heavens.
The rest of us were clear and safe.

Until later that evening.

We went on another walk through the long, prairie grass and when we got home,
did a check as a precaution.

Sure enough, Scooter had one that had attached behind his right ear.

AUCK! BLECH! ARGH!

Totally disgusting.

We got the little bugger out, with minimal effort,
and ended it’s pathetic little life.

Life moved on for the next week.

It was opening weekend in my National Park.
Of course we were there!

There is still some snow and muddy spots in our favorite
off-the-beaten-path hike which meant we had to
go “off trail” through some bushes and rocks.

But still I wasn’t worried.
I’ve never worried about ticks before.
It’s not a big deal.

We spent a LONG day in the Park.
We got home at 11:30 pm.
Scooter walked in the house, and collapsed in bed, clothes and all.

When we got up the next morning, I checked his head, as a joke.
His hair is kind of long and I like running my fingers through it.
I said,
”Let’s just see if you got another tick yesterday.”

I about fell on my back side when I parted some of his
strawberry blonde locks and saw a big black squishy bug stuck to the back of his head.

Flynn was just as shocked.

“YOU’RE KIDDING!”

Poor Scooter.

We got out the oil and slathered the little sucker.
It was STUCK!
It wasn’t going to back out for anything.
We turned the hairdryer on hot and held it over poor Scooter’s head until
he yelled that he was getting burned.

No give.
I HATE STUBBORN BUGS!

More oil.

More heat.

Patient Scooter.
What a trooper!

I decided that I’d see if there is another way to get ticks out.
I looked up the CDC website and they said that oil and heat are old wives tales.
(I know! We were shocked to learn that too!)
That all you need to do is use your tweezers, get as close to the tick’s head
as possible and pull straight out.
Then clean the area well with rubbing alcohol or hot soap and water.

I was so glad Flynn was there.
My queasy stomach wouldn’t let me grab onto a tick and pull it out,
with it’s black skinny body (which was getting plumper) and squirmy legs.
Absolutely NOT!

But Flynn is brave and he got that creepy thing out of my son’s head.

The tick was TICKED!

So mad, in fact, that he brought a piece of my son’s scalp along in its mouth.

Look closely.
YOU CAN SEE THAT PIECE OF LIGHT PINK SITTING VERTICALLY IN THE
TICK’S PINCERS.
(I put a little arrow there to help you see it.)

Scooter was a hero through all of it.
He said he had a slight headache when it was all said and done.
But other than that he’s fine.
However, we’re watching the scab where the tick was.
If a rash or a fever occurs within a month,
we need to get him to the doctor immediately.

And we’re going to wear bug spray whenever we’re out in the forest/prairies this year!

The Crazy Who Lives Next Door

Here’s what happens when the wind quits blowing, the sun starts shining and it gets warm outside.

Most importantly, here’s what happens when you live next door to a crazy lady!
(I’m sorry. I didn’t edit these pics. This is how they came out of the camera.)

She happened to have a bottle of colored bubbles. I’ve never seen them before,
but Scooter and Bullseye learned ALL about them!

The boys learned what a (clean) “swirlie” feels like.

You have to wash those colored bubbles off, don’cha know?

And if you think… for just a minute…
that you can go across the street and warm yourself up by laying down
on the sun warmed sidewalk,
YOU’VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re so glad that summer is coming!

(That wasn’t all the hijinks involved in our sunny afternoon….)

Scooter’s bicycle was HIJACKED!!

WE LOVE YOU, JILLWANNA!
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Thanks for bringing crazy fun into the neighborhood!

Swift Justice

June trial set

A June 4 trial has been set for the federal criminal cases against a former Healthcare official and (another) man who are alleged to have conspired to embezzle nearly $850,000 from the organization.

Former (Chief Executive Officer) and (co-conspirator from out of state) pleaded not guilty to 15 felony counts at their arraignment in Court.

The two men are free on $50,000 unsecured bonds pending their next court appearance, but are prohibited from traveling without permission from federal authorities. Court records say CEO will be living with his mother, while co-conspirator will remain at his home.

CEO, who had been living in Thailand, was required to give up his passport as a condition of his bond, as was co-conspirator.

They appeared in court voluntarily last week and were not taken into custody.

The 15-count indictment from the Grand Jury, alleges a scheme between the two men that began in March (2011). That’s when CEO allegedly told (the hospital’s ) (director of recruiting) that he’d be handling all physician recruitment. The indictment alleges that was part of a fraudulent billing scheme in which CEO would send money to a limited liability company created by co-conspirator and claim it was for recruiting.

In reality, co-conspirator— who has a background in music and religious education — was to pocket 25 percent of the money and send 75 percent back to CEO, the indictment says.

CEO had (the hospital) pay (money) to co-conspirator via 12 checks, according to the allegations. Those checks, sent via Federal Express, are the basis for the 12 counts of mail fraud.

Co-conspirator allegedly kicked the money to CEO via checks and overseas wire transfers. Co-conspirator also transferred some of the money to himself via an overseas wire transfer, the indictment says, related to the count of money laundering.

On Sept. 25, with (hospital) auditors questioning the payments, the two men allegedly exchanged an email containing fabricated invoices and contracts — constituting the count of wire fraud.

On Sept. 26, CEO resigned, though he later asked to rescind his resignation, citing “deceitful” communications from (management company who) is suing CEO in connection with the embezzlement allegations.

The 15 counts carry a maximum combined penalty of 290 years in prison and $3.75 million in fines. However, under federal sentencing guidelines, the two men would likely face only a fraction of those penalties if convicted, given their apparent lack of prior criminal history and other factors.

Is The Glass Full or Is It Empty?

All I have to say is….

What a weekend!

There was some crazy stuff going on, that’s for sure!

Since it was Easter, Flynn was coming home to be with us.
Due to work issues he didn’t start his trip home until 5:30.
It’s a 7 hour trip, so that put his e.t.a. around 12:30 am.

Not good for my husband who is asleep every night at 9:30.

After being on the road about 2 hours, he texts me a picture he has taken with his phone…
remember how our family is prone to flat tires?

Well, he got one.
His second in a month.

Bad luck!

Due to stormy weather, the ground was too soft and his jack was too short to
get the truck up high enough to get it changed.
I texted him some numbers of tire stores and he called for help.
Get this… they said they’d come change his tire
for $80/hour, TWO HOUR MINIMUM!

I think we need to sign up for AAA.

Thankfully, before the tire people could get to him, he had a moment of
inspiration and figured out how to change the tire.
$200 was saved and he was back on the road.

That stop lasted over an hour, which meant his new e.t.a. was 1am or later.

As he was nearing Bozeman, the roads and weather were getting bad.
He slowed down his driving speed and and I asked him if he needed to stop to rest.
He was doing okay. But stopped for some gas.

I decided to get ready for bed.
At 12:30 am, just as I finished brushing my teeth and washing my face,
the phone rang.
Believe it or not, I wasn’t worried.
I should have been.
Flynn said something to the effect of,
”Well, it’s finally happened... I hit an elk.”

My heart stops.

He knows me.
He knows I scare easily.
He was calm and that kept me calm.
He told me he was okay, but the poor elk was running in heavenly fields now.
I told him I was putting my bra back on and that I was leaving the house right then to come pick him up.
He was fine with that.

He hung up and called 9-1-1.
I finished getting dressed and kissed Scooter good-bye and told him I loved him.
(Not that he remembers.)
I went to Belle and Beast’s room to tell them I was leaving.
Beast insisted that Belle come along to keep me company.
I’m so glad he did.
Having her in the car kept my wild imagination at bay and kept me calm while driving over
TERRIBLE roads in the middle of the night.

Our average speed was 50 mph.
We were the only car travelling in our direction on snowy roads.
Ours were the only tire tracks in our lane.
Of course, it was 2:30 a.m.

Flynn texted that the tow truck would drop him off at Walmart.
And we trudged on.
And on.
It was a terrible drive.

Finally, at about 4:15 a.m. we pulled into the Walmart parking lot.
We were sleepy and had t.b. (tired buns), but seeing Flynn walk out of the store
whole and healthy was one of the best sights I’ve ever seen.

He took us to the shop where the truck was.
I wasn’t prepared for how extensive the damage was.

Terrible, isn’t it?

Man! What bad luck we’ve been having lately!

Or is it?

On the surface, it appears that the gods are conspiring against us.
Every time we try to get ahead…
when it looks like we can get a debt paid off…
WHAM!!
Something hits us (literally in this case).

But we would be totally ungrateful if we didn’t recognize the blessings in this accident:

* Flynn was in his truck. If he hit that elk in a smaller vehicle, we’re certain he would have been injured.
* No one else was on the road at the time. When Flynn came upon the elk, there were
three standing in the road at the time.
He chose to swerve into the left lane to try to avoid hitting all three.
* Can you imagine the damage if he HAD hit all three?
* He hit the elk in a canyon. Only about 1/2 mile from the accident site, there is
no cell coverage and he would have been on a blind corner.
*The highway patrolman stayed with Flynn until the tow truck came.
* He was only about 20 minutes out of town.

And for us:
* Full moon. By that moonlight, we were able to see fairly clearly, even though it was snowing
very heavily.
* That moonlight showed us several herds of deer standing on the road. We were able to slow down
and avoid destroying both our cars on the same night.
* I was able to stay awake ALL NIGHT. I wasn’t overly tired, which would have been dangerous.
* My own tire issues. We noticed on Sunday, AFTER the fact, that the tires on my vehicle
were completely bald and I had a spot on the rear tire that was ripe for a blow-out.
I’m so grateful that I was able to make a 7+ hour drive on icy mountain roads
with those tires and had no problems.
(Flynn bought me new tires Monday morning.)

So, while it appears that bad things are happening,
I’d beg to differ.
In spite of it all, I am very aware that Heavenly Father is watching out for us
and keeping us safe.
I feel very loved and protected by him.
I feel the power of prayer as my parents and family prays for us every day.
I feel the power of my own prayers, every time Flynn gets behind that wheel
to drive home to us.
And in spite of a very smashed up truck sitting in a mechanic’s yard in Bozeman Montana,
our life is GOOD!

Repeat Post: 2006

Scooter’s 3rd grade class is working on writing autobiographies. So, one of his homework assignments this week was to come home and write down some important dates and events from his younger life. This is where blogging has come in good and handy. We ran to the bookshelf and pulled out the printed blog from 2005-06 to see if we could find some interesting/fun things from his “childhood.” We found this entry dated June 11 and laughed til tears were coursing down our face:

The Stand Off

The scene in our home this evening: the time 6:00 pm.

DING DONG

Its’ the home teachers coming for a visit. They are new, having never been to our home before. Flynn is in the kitchen doing dishes, Belle is downstairs on the computer, Scooter is outside.

“Come on guys, the home teachers are here.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be there in a minute.”

It takes a full 2-3 minutes AT LEAST to get Flynn and Belle to put down their activities and get ready to join us in the living room. Scooter is a different story.

“Scooter, time to come in! The home teachers are here and they want to see you!”

WAITING…..

A little more firmly, “Scooter, I’m serious, you need to come in NOW!”

WAITING….

Getting impatient, “Scooter, COME IN THE HOUSE NOW!”

A good 5 minutes have passed by now. Scooter comes slowly, obviously dragging his feet. He almost makes it to the door, has an obvious change of heart and takes off running away while screaming,

“NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
I HATE HOME TEACHERS!!!”

Mom chases after him in her slippers and dress, through the grass, dodging Lola’s lawn bombs.

“You will come in the house NOW and you will sit down and be pleasant.”

“Grumble, grumble, moan, moan…”

They make it into the house and Mom puts Scooter down. He hits the ground running. Mom is blocking the outside door so he can’t make his escape that way. He heads for the stairs. He plans on barricading himself in his bedroom. Time to call the SWAT team, which is Dad.

Dad grabs the boy and carries him, kicking and screaming into the living room with the chant continuing amidst the tears,

“BUT I HATE HOME TEACHERS!!!”

The home teachers, patient men that they are, are still standing in front of their chairs, waiting for the invitation to sit. Stoic smiles plastered on their faces. Ensign tucked under their arms.

Scooter got the ultimate revenge. He fell asleep while they were here and didn’t have to listen to them anyway!

I wonder if they’ll be back next month?!?

Hi. My name is Betty…

Hi. My name is Betty.
And I have a new obsession.
Yes, you can call it an addiction.

Surprisingly, it doesn’t involve chocolate
or peanut butter
or a combination of both.
I doesn’t require the use of my oven
or my Kitchen-Aid mixer.

It involves my iPad and a stylus.

It’s such a BLAST!

I am NOT an artist, but I like creating things.
So, I think that’s why I love this game.

Believe me,
I’ve drawn my fair share of stick figures!
But when I can actually draw something that kind of turns out, it’s pretty exciting!
(I didn’t save the picture of Madonna I recently drew for Beast. It wasn’t so great!)

So, if you have an iPhone, or a Smart Phone, look me up!
I’d love to DrawSomething fun for you!
(email me and I will send you my User Name… or look me up on Facebook.)