Critters!

I have truly always feared the day our family would get lice. I kind of knew it was inevitable. Some people say their families have never had lice, but we all know they're lying. Well, our crack at it was the last two weeks. Pure hell, I tell you. It started last Monday when I got the phone call on my first day at my new job. It was the school nurse and Rebecca had lice. Crap. I wasn't about to take off, so I called Michael and he graciously picked her up and tried to de-louse her. Total brownie points earned. He stays home with her the next day, and while I'm observing preschool story time, I feel something on my head, squish it, and voila! It's a freaking louse. Michael delouses me and we feel much better knowing that we've got this experience out of our systems. These creatures are probably the most evolutionary advanced little buggers out there. They weren't gone. Oh, no. Next Monday I'm checking the kids before taking them to school and they are crawling. I do know that my family is done with this battle and it is time to outsource this shit. Who do I call? Lice Knowinghttp://www.liceknowingyou.com You of Seattle. Best choice ever. This may sound like a paid advertisement, but seriously it was a life saver. The three of us were treated in four hours, the kids played Wii and watched cartoons. I commisserated with other unfortunate moms, and we left completely de-loused. I've meticulously checked our heads and haven't found anything, but should we, we are guaranteed for thirty days. The cost: a measley 95 dollars an hour. Ouch!! Double ouch!!! But definitely the best money I've spent in awhile. And if anyone is looking for a lucrative business opportunity, look into it. Granted, you're nit-picking all day... Anyway, I just wanted to come out of the lice closet. And if you/your family catches these nasty nasty friends, don't be afraid to outsource this chore if you can afford it. It saved our sanity.

Washington

Okay, so I haven't blogged in years, and I'm pretty sure I have no readers, but I logged in here to follow my brother's and sister-in-law's pregnancy blog (woot!) and thought I'd update my own. We've been in Washington for a year and a half now. We bought a house in Lacey and both kids are in a great school full-time now. Rebecca loves school. She loves reading Magic Rainbow Fairy books now and this is her favorite game to play at recess. She read a book called "Rebecca the Rock n Roll Fairy" and this was her name at recess until someone called her "Rebecca the Butt Fairy." Tears were cried. She is one of the best readers in her class and is great at all subjects. Rebecca is also becoming my crafty child. This year she's learned to loom-knit and wants to learn to sew. Liam is in Kindergarten and definitely is enjoying being the class comedian. He tries his best to make people laugh all day, every day. He continues to be my snuggly child and truly brings a smile to our face most of the time. Michael has a great 9 to 5 schedule at his new job. He has had to adjust to working a desk job; his preference is definitely as flight commander or something like that, but he's doing great in his new position. He continues to brew great beer. I looked high and low for teaching jobs when we moved here, but none were to be had. I didn't try substituting because childcare would be a nightmare with that schedule, but I applied for all open positions. Turns out teachers are a dime a dozen here (especially English teachers). But I did decide I wanted to work at a library. The libraries here are all consolidated and I applied for every open position for three months, until I finally got a call for an interview for a part-time associate position in a nearby small town. It was the best job I've ever had. A small-town environment, laid-back, friendly co-workers, doing weekly storytimes, and talking with patrons daily. Loved it! The pay was about the same as a teacher's salary here, and with 1000 times less stress than my teaching job in Delaware (granted, things would have gotten better). Last week, I accepted a full-time position in a different library. I'm still getting acclimated to the new environment, but if libraries continue to stay in business, I definitely want to be working in one! This has turned into an annual Christmas-letter-like format, but since I never sent one out this year, there you have it. Maybe I'll keep at this, maybe I won't!