About two weeks ago, after 6 hours of yard work (the yard in this house has been poorly kept - which is a great challenge for us, since we love spending time in the yard - but it's not so great when you have to bag all the debris up so the county can pick it up, therefore taking absolutely too long to make the yard decent) Norm got some sort of rash on his feet - his face swelled up so we went to the urgent care when he woke up with a fever of 102 the next day.
He got on some meds then somehow, whatever he had evolved to an upper and lower respiratory infection (i.e. sinusitis and bronchitis). After another visit to the doctor and spending about a whole week at home on antibiotics, steroid and natural remedies such as ginger tea with honey and lemon, he finally got better and went back to work.
In the meantime, I managed to get some sort of crazy bug bite on my arm. When it developed a red ring and wouldn't stop itching, I went to the doctor to make sure it wasn't something crazy. Nonchalantly, the doctor gave me topical medication (which I manage to get all over my clothes, my desk and my car because the bit is in a very inconvenient place on my arm). Two days after that, I noticed a similar bite, also on my right arm. Yesterday I realized (after about 3 bites) that I was getting bit at work - by something else - the work bites don't look like the crazy bites.
Last night, I discovered a flea in my bed.
This is out of control. Last time I checked, we moved to the CITY. To an URBAN environment, with cars and pavement and pollution. I guess after an average of 9.57 inches of rain for the month of June, any sort of living creature will not only exist but thrive [like Kaiser Permanente]. Check this out. Not to go off on a tangent, but it has already rained more in 2013 than it did in all of 2012... we are only halfway through the year!
I had to work this morning, so on my way to work, I got a can of flea and mite killer and sprayed my office from top to bottom and left to right. When I got home, I searched for a pet-friendly way to treat fleas at home. I found this:
And got ready to spread it:
Apparently since it is so fine, it can easily get in to your lungs and make you cough when it's not "settled" - i.e. being applied. Per instructions, I sprinkled it everywhere fleas (and roaches, oh yeah, because they have decided to come visit too) might like to live. Disclaimer: if you come to my house and see a white powder in inconspicuous places, please note that it's not powder sugar or crack.
I have learned more than one can possibly want to know about fleas and their life cycles. Let's just say I am going to be vacuuming every two days to make them jump out of their cocoon so they can become adults and eat the Diatomaceous Earth and die by bleeding out. You can read more about it right here.
At this point, until the sky decides to quit crying and the earth decides to air out, I think there is little to no hope for living with this creatures. *sigh*
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