A Bad Case of "Bugphobia" and AC layouts

I suspect stressful times affect people in different ways, emotionally and physically. My stress has manifested itself in a mental illness I have named "Bugphobia". I can't stop itching my head and freaking out about bugs in my house to the point of a slightly neurotic obsession with it.

First, the girls had lice. So I have determined that I must have lice and the nice lady who came out and charged me half my life savings must have been wrong when she said I was lice free. It has been a week and a half since she was here. The girls are clean. My house is most definitely clean. But my head is itchy and I can't stop combing it with the special nit comb to just make SURE I don't have any little bugs in my hair!  

Add to my bug phobia my complete abhorrence and fear of ticks. I have found ticks on Mayzie many times picked up from our long nature walks. I have become an expert on removing them. My girls have gotten a tick or two from said foofoo dog. But me? NEVER!!! No, no, no. Because if I got one, who would remove it properly? You have to use tweezers and take the little guys by surprise coming up behind them ever so quietly and grabbing them right where they are attached to the skin. If you don't do it quickly, they will vomit in you and their stomach contents can make you very sick. And if you don't get them right where they join the skin, you might leave their heads in which can cause an infection. The way you KNOW you got ALL of them is if you can see a little piece of skin hanging from their front teeth which is YOUR flesh...  

Saturday morning I woke up feeling something crawling on my leg in my bed - UNDER the covers. I freaked when I saw it was a tick (better then a bedbug though, right?)! And he was looking for a place to sink his teeth into! I yelled at Sophie to go grab some toilet paper and I bumped him with a pen to he wouldn't bite me. He crawled onto the end of my pen and fell off. Into my bed. And hid. Or so I thought... I searched the bed (tore it apart), me, my robe, and everything within a 10 foot area around the episode and no tick could be found. I told Tom we had finally found a solution to guaranteeing the girls didn't climb in our bed at night - a tick on the loose! But I didn't think I would be sleeping in our bed either...

I finally gave up and went in to take a shower. I was rubbing my head and I felt a bump on the back of my scalp in my hair. I HAD FOUND THE TICK!!! And HE had found a nice little breakfast cafe. In the ONE spot I couldn't reach! I had to have Tom remove him. He hates bugs and was so freaked out screaming the whole time because it had legs that were moving. He did successfully remove it and half my hair too and then ran from the room screaming. I proceeded to soak my head in alcohol not knowing where his bite was and wanting to make sure I was properly disinfected!

I then proceeded to check the dog and she had five ticks on her that day - we must have had a romp in the wrong location. We have now put Frontline on her and are tick free. But the combo of ticks and lice have me completely freaked out. Next, we will have bedbugs and that will completely put me over the edge! I can't stop itching - ahhhhhhhhhh!

And on to some better news...I found out yesterday that Huge is "stable". Going to the doctor next week to get some measurements and hearing tests to assure all is good, but the word stable has a positive spin to it, don't you think??? We wouldn't want an "unstable" growth in our heads, would we?!?!?!?! Yep, my mood has greatly improved. Now if I can just get rid of bugphobia, life will be good.

Here are a couple of American Crafts layouts that I made this weekend. I think I made each of these layouts in less than an hour - all the cute American Crafts products make it so easy to pull together quick layouts!

American Crafts Products Used: Patterned Paper: Dreamy (35385) - Peachy Keen Patterned Paper, Oh So Dandy (35372) - Peachy Keen Patterned Paper, Dandy (35397) - Hello Sunshine Patterned Paper, Duchess (89389) - Dear Lizzy Carded Ribbon, Dear Lizzy (89375) - Value 24 Pack Premium Ribbon, Hardcover Aquatic (53138) - Thickers, Duck (89391) - City Park Premium Ribbon, Sunset Blush (53182) - Thickers, Daylight (78148) - Details, Good Morning (42194) - Remarks Books, Pounce (43378) - Minimarks Sheets, Foreword (43389) - Minimark Sheets, Sunshine (72012) - Delights, Decorative Tape (61733) - Mixtape

American Crafts Products Used: Gossamer (35409) - Hello Sunshine Paper, No Sweat (35378) - Peachy Keen Paper, A Wrinkle In Time (35301) - The Classics Patterned Paper, Hardcover Dragon Fruit (53136) - Thickers, Pounce (43378) - Minimarks, Good Golly! (70068) - Flair, Dear Lizzy Christmas (85513) - Metal Rose Brads, Shout (72009) - Delights, Audrey (42191) - Remarks Books, Daylight (78048) - Details, 4"x6" Cards (64009) - Just Right

Have a great day blog friends!!! I'll be posting tomorrow about an exciting event happening on Saturday which is National Scrapbooking Day!!! And with it being Mother's Day weekend, I think we can all use that as an excuse to scrap allllllllll weekend long! Suzy

Comments

[Laurie]

So glad that Hugh is stable and you are healthy, yes ticks are the worst, my dog is white like yours so it's easy to see them, but they freak me out too, and we live in the woods so always checking the dog and kids...love your layouts, beautiful as always!!

[Janet]

I have been praying for you and Hugh. You have such a blessing Suzy, and that is YOU. You have such an upbeat, positive, energetic air around you and it really shows in your blog, your family and of course your scrapbooking layouts. Had to laugh at your post today..You are f.u.n.n.y too! I am going to keep praying for good health for you and your family. Have a a great week. and hopefully b.u.g. FREE! HUGS!

[lisa truesdell]

these are awesome pages, suzy. and SO glad for stable news from the doc!

[Jan]

Funny story - my youngest son's Jeep broke down on the side of the road (He was working on the governor's campaign at the time) so my brother in law and I went to pick him up. We came back to meet up with my sister and mother at a barbeque restaurant to eat lunch. While we were there I notice a tick latched onto his arm. Of course, we had no tweezers or anything else to remove it with. My brother in law suggested we try to drowned it with the Tabasco sauce on the table. We completely coated the thing with several drops of Tabasco and soon enough it let go and started scrambling. We caught it with a napkin and disposed of it. Who knew Tabasco would work so well?

[mary t]

poor suzy !! :) but at least hugh is stable!! I can definately relate to the itch thing.. if anyone even mentions ticks, lice etc.. I start itching... everyone I know has bugphobia!!
mary t

[Scrappin Shonie]

I totally get your bugfobia!! I'm a California girl ie. rarely any bugs that moved North of Philly ie. bug capital. I hate hate hate ticks and have been bit twice. I check myself and the dogs about a hundred times a day. And I feel itchy constantly. Bugs are so overrated! On a better note, cute layouts!

[Sandra A]

You crack.me.up! Great story on 'da bugs. They can be maddening. So glad that HUGH is stable. With all that you have going on, it's nice that he isn't growing. Love your layouts, of course.

[Tina Hicks]

Suzy I am so happy that Hugh is stable! That is wonderful news! I know exactly what you mean about lice and ticks.. another phobia I have is mice and snakes lol! Well take care and as always you humor and layouts make me smile :)

[Brenda]

Love the layouts and am so glad Hugh is stable! The bug story made me laugh - I can totally relate!! I hate bugs and just reading about yours made me start scratching new itches!!

[erin s.]

Haha! This reminds me... in my old house something must have died in the roof because out of the vents one night maggots started dropping. Hundreds of them! It was so awful, I would clean them up, my husband taped a plastic cup to catch them but they were everywhere. We had someone come out to clean the vents and they said there were none in there. After about a week of maggots dropping from the ceiling they finally stopped but it took me months before I could walk into that room without first looking up and then scanning for maggots. A year later the same thing happened again, it about sent me over the edge. This past fall we moved and in March I asked my husband if he wondered if the new tenants had our visitors back yet!

[QW]

Maybe if I comment on your blog you'll write me back! Glad Hugh is layin' low.. lice are nasty and I hate ticks too! Miss you lots! xoxo

[Little Lisa]

I'm so glad to hear that Hugh is behaving and stable. Thanks for the info on ticks. I had no idea. :O)

[Cindy Tobey]

Stable sounds good. I'm still praying for Hugh's disappearing act. Oh, and just so you know, my head is itchy now!