Extermination #2

Tomorrow is extermination #2, and our "last" scheduled treatment. I am doubtful that the second treatment will be the final one. We have caught more than 50 since the first extermination. That, to me, is not a decrease in activity. I am fully expecting to have to get a third treatment. I found another live one today. I had a pile of beach towels on our heater (we have the tall cast iron coil radiators) that I hadn't gotten around to putting away. As I was doing that task today, I found one. So all of them now have to be washed and dried on HOT! Then I will pack them away. The most frustrating thing to me is that everything I have read says these bugs want to be close to a host and will come out to feed at least every three to five days. Our bugs aren't following the rules!! I have found some in the most unlikely places and it makes me nervous that some of these will be left behind and not die. I would never have imagined treating my coupon bag or the pile of towels. IT IS FRUSTRATING!! What ones am I missing? It is really making me crazy. Please pray as we get exterminated, that it would be effective and that we would not miss any. Please pray that the evil little creatures will come out from hiding and DIE!!!

Do bedbugs...

take the weekends off? After a horrendous Tuesday and Wednesday and a few on Thursday, we really haven't found anymore. I think Andy found one today. It was this way last weekend, too. We are all getting quite tired of the routine of plastic bags, things packed away, and no Christmas decorations (except for our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree!). The kids are starting to get grumpy about the whole situation. Which tends to make parents grumpy. Please pray that this will end soon. As of right now, declaration day is January 26th. That seems like an eternity away. I am hoping we can hold out that long before going bonkers!

Yesterday and today I have been deep cleaning the kitchen. I have pulled everything out of the cupboards, all the baskets down, and pulled everything off the shelves and cleaned. I also decided which Longaberger baskets I will be getting rid of and thinking of how to scale our personal inventory down. I am REALLY trying to become a minimalist! Not such an easy task. I didn't even go out for Black Friday. I am trying so hard not to buy things that we just don't need. I double and triple think on every purchase. I am also hoping that this will help with our bottom line. Not that we were very frivolous, but I wouldn't think twice about purchasing a book for the kids, or an educational toy. But now I am taking advantage of the library more and seeing if friends have the educational item to borrow. I think the scaling down will take quite a while, but I feel good with what I've accomplished today. The only reason I am thankful for bedbugs is the whole push to down-size life!

Wanna see?

I decorated for Christmas when we got home from our Thanksgiving festivities. Here it is....

I am unsure if we will do any decorating this year while dealing with bedbugs. I can't risk packing one away only to resurface next year. We'll see.

Thanksgiving 2008

Like Daniel's shirt? That's how I feel right now!Our decision to stay home instead of sleeping at the Schultz' proved to be a wise one as we caught many bugs again. It was unreal. A few of them were little. I was up until 3:00 am, then could no longer take it and crashed into bed. I even found one before we left this morning. I left the house praying that God would protect our house and not let them invade.

We left the house around 10:30 am and at the last minute I grabbed my coupon bag. It takes about 1 1/2 hours to get up there and I like to do something while in the car, so I decided to clip some coupons. I was happily clipping when I pulled out a grouping and there it was....a small bed bug. I thought I was going to lose it. I was so upset. I made Andy pull over and I immediately dispatched it, first squishing it and then opening the door and escorting it out of the car. Panic mode set in. Here we were, going to my favorite place in the world, and there was a bedbug tagging along. UGH!!!!! We were only a short distance away from the Schultz' and as soon as we got there I unloaded the entire bag and found another. Andy went and got some Ziploc bags and I bagged all my coupons and the bag I carry them in. We checked all the kids thoroughly as well as ourselves and then entered the house. Andy's parents are so wonderful. I only had one minor melt-down and they tried to reassure me that this would end someday. I am so tired of dealing with these beasts. I am starting to become extremely doubtful that this will ever end. There are days when I feel like this is how life is going to be from now on. I am losing hope. Nothing is safe from these bugs and we keep finding more. All I keep asking is "When will this end? What point is there to this trial? Why must it go on so long?" I know I can do all things through His strength, but I am tired. My house is a wreck, my kids are not being focused upon causing them to go hey wire, school is suffering, and I can't sleep. Please pray that I would trust God to do what is best. If that means more bugs, then pray for the strength to handle it.

We went to my mom's house after the Schultz', where we celebrated Thanksgiving #2. We had fun there, too, stuffing ourselves with more great food. I don't believe Weight Watchers will go well this week! I'll have to exercise double for the next five days in hopes of breaking even!

All day I have been concerned about the bugs overtaking the house while we were gone. We haven't seen any yet. Andy is touring as I type and I am praying he doesn't find any. I can't wait until Monday when the exterminators come again. Please pray they bring something stronger that will put an end to these retched things.

New Look!

Do you like the new look? I LOVE it! I didn't have any idea how it would look as my incredibly talented webmaster friend, Carisa, did it for me as a surprise! She is so cool! It is so nice to have friends that know how to do these things as my brain is just not able to comprehend these things! THANK YOU, CARISA!!!!

We decided not to risk our house, or Andy's parents, to bugs. So we will be heading up to Schultz farm in the morning and enjoying a Thanksgiving lunch and then we will head to my folks to have a Thanksgiving dinner. I am trying to plan what I will eat ahead of time so as not to overdue it! I was disappointed this week as I gained 2 pounds. Not planning meals and lack of exercise has done it's damage. I am back on the horse and am writing everything down and will get back to exercising this Saturday. I am done focusing my life around 1/4 inch bugs. I need to get back into a normal routine and life as it once was.

Now it's off to make pumpkin pies! I so love pumpkin pie! So do Matt and Sarah! I hope and pray everyone has a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

The Battle Continues

After beginning to feel comfortable over the weekend we have had a resurgence of the nasty bedbugs. It is completely frustrating. Last night alone we caught 10 more. It makes us worried about our plans for today. We were to go up to Andy's parents and spend the night, but we are concerned that if we are not here we will be overrun by tomorrow night. We are frustrated because the exterminators told us it takes 7-10 days for the pesticides to take effect. Today is day 9 and there is an increase in pests, not a decrease! It makes me worried about what the house next door must look like.

I was really looking forward to getting a good nights sleep tonight. But I guess that will have to wait for another time. Someday this WILL be over. Someday my house will be back in order. Someday

UGH! Starting the count over!

Yes, I found a live one last night, actually early this morning, around 1:00 am. It was on the carpet in the boys room. It was a little one, too. I am disgusted. I am really hoping that it didn't hatch over here. I am praying that we, or the exterminators, haven't missed a nest somewhere. I thought we were on the rebound and would soon be able to get life back to normal. I was even contemplating getting out some Christmas lights this weekend and doing a little decorating, but now I really don't know what to do. I guess we'll just wait and see. December 1st can't come soon enough! Please pray with me that the second extermination renders ALL bedbugs incapacitated permanently! The new date for declaring our house bug free is January 20th. It seems like an eternity until then. The day will come when we are bug free. I just have to be patient and wait on the Lord. Waiting is NOT one of my strong points!

Please continue to pray for the Hinson family. Frank is scheduled for surgery December 2, 2008. It is a 6-12 hour surgery. Please pray for the kids, especially, as this is proving to be a bit difficult for them, being shuffled from caregiver to caregiver. Kids thrive on routine and their lives have been anything but routine as of late. Please pray for Frank and Carisa as they make some other decisions about their family and the surgery.