'Squito brew

Thanks so much to all of you for the advice. I'll have to check out Cousin Lisa's suggestions, and definitely need to get down to Ikea ASAP. I recently read a report discrediting skin so soft, and also two of the "natural" bug sprays, but who can believe anything anymore. I might as well try it--my backdoor neighbor sells the stuff.

So, here's what I did last night. I found out there is no safe indoor substance for trapping/repelling mosquitos to be found in the standard retail establishment. But, I read that mosquitos hate catnip. I also remembered that my homemade bug spray for the garden is castile soap (same peppermint kind) with some cayenne pepper (and some mashed garlic--blend then strain through cloth). I went out to the garden, where I have PILES of wild catnip, picked two big handfuls of leaves and put them in a blender with some water, added cayenne pepper, strained, added soap and a bit more water to fill the bottle. It was way dark, vibrant green stuff and smelled half minty good and half weird and not good.

I sprayed all the kids walls and around their beds on a light mist (it is VERY green, so too much shows up). The aerosolized cayenne makes for a few minutes of coughing, I intelligently realized afterward. I also shot directly any mosquitoes I saw. If I saturated them, they died instantly, but they may have drowned. If I just persistently misted around where they were, several of them spiraled down, and if they didn't die, they were too slow to fly away while I swatted them. It can't be comfortable, it's basically pepper spray for bugs.

At midnight I checked on the kids. Two mosquitos in Sophie's room (last night was way more) and they were away from her bed on the other side of the room. Sprayed them. One mosquito in Ben's room (way better than last night). Sprayed it. None in hallway, one my bedroom, sprayed.

I woke up hearing mosquito buzzing in the early morning. (BTW, that means that mosquito is VERY close to your ear.) I had only one new bite. Ben had only one new bite. I deemed the effort a success and sprayed around beds again tonight before bed.

Today we rose early and went boating with David's brother Danny, his wife Jessica, Jessica's sweet parents, Paw/Maw in Law, and David's sis Karen (and daughter Morgan, just three weeks older than Noah--they look like twins). I've never ever been boating. I got dragged around by a boat on a tube and on a knee board (although I can't honestly say I was on my knees for that one.) I didn't dare try the skis. It was all fun and I have many bruises and aching muscles to prove it.

I had a nice talk with Jane, Jessica's mother (and long time Jr. High principal), and it was refreshing to talk to someone that was so supportive of my working and positive about the good things. If I have to work, which I do, it gets old having everyone mourn over it like there's been a death or something. It's true, lots of good is definitely coming from this change and we all see it already. We all know it's ideal for moms to be at home, but it doesn't benefit me to lament that everyday. It was really nice to have her support, and hey, Jessica turned out very well, so I guess childrearing failure isn't imminent after all.

Anyway, I swam in the lake, I sat on the shore and watched my kids make sandcastles. It was a fabulous, gorgeous day. We applied sunscreen twice and all have splotchy sunburns anyway in random places. We all had a ball, and the kids, having arisen very early, all crashed hard tonight. I'm ready to do the same.

I'll try to do the pictures tomorrow. I owe you many.

Where did the week go?

I am off to Target to find out if there is such a thing as a mosquito killer/repellant you can put indoors. Everything I've seen says outdoors only, and the bug spray I bought to put on the kids basically says on the back, "Don't put this on anything or anyone at anytime." Let alone let small children sleep covered in it night after night.


The kids leave the doors hanging open half the day and our house is full of mosquitoes that come out at night. Last night I spent 45 minutes with a wet towel whacking all the ones in my bedroom so I wouldn't spend another night being eaten alive (complete with dreams of being eaten alive). I finally felt like I had all those in my room and went into the hall to check the kids rooms. The hall had TEN mosquitoes on the walls and ceiling. Sophie's room had 8. I turned on the light in Ben/Noah's room and up on the wall by the top bunk where Ben sleeps was no less than 7 mosquitoes, right next to him. I killed one and it left a Ben-blood spatter on the wall.



Ben is covered in bites and sores (because he won't stop scratching them). He looks like he has chicken pox. Most of them are from sleeping, not from being outside! The bug spray I bought today said don't put on skin with any cuts or scrapes. Great.



Sophie looks like she has teenager acne, with bumps all over her face. The bug spray I bought said don't put on kid's faces except for very, very sparingly if at all.



It's really very frustrating to not feel like I can protect the kids. We can do mosquito nets, but they are $35 a piece for one that goes around the whole bed but still lets them crawl out (not tucked under the mattress). We may have two incomes now, but we won't be feeling like we do for a good six weeks, so that's not going to happen either.



Advice?

Oh, I do have advice for what to do after you have been bitten, and it's works like a charm--soap!! We use Trader Joes Pure castile soap with peppermint (liquid), and put a drop on the bite and rub it in. A minute or so later, the itching stops, and it actually helps heal the bite--sometimes I can't even find the bite if I put this on fast enough. Just rubbing a wet bar of soap on it works too, but I like the TJ stuff.

The 24th (Pioneer Day--State Holiday) was fun, complete with pancake breakfast at the park, games, fair rides, cotton candy, snow cones, pony rides, and the fondly remembered "tiger paws," now called "Brigham's Frybread." The booths and signs hadn't changed from 20 years ago. We watched an indian play a flute and a lady spin wool by hand and on a spinning wheel.

The night before I took the kids to the Bountiful parade in front of my grandma's residential living facility. They had a great time and it was raining candy, popsicles and toys. I did have a moment at the parade where I realized I was not only watching the same parade I grew up watching, but I was watching it practically at ground zero in what I fondly call the "Triangle of Pain." I tried to put that out of my head and enjoy it anyway, and was pretty successful.

Melodramatic, I know, but even though I live here, there is a large swath in the middle of town I avoid at all costs. Unfortunately that swath includes both the library and my grandma's place, although only the former holds bad memories. I call it a triangle, but I'm not sure if it is. Let's do a brief experiment. There. In David's mapping program, I marked all the places I avoid because of unpleasant associations or violent nausea--old schools, places of humiliation, certain people's homes, my homes--and voila! Almost a triangle it is! Happily, my house, the inlaws and my mom are all outside (and on opposite sides) of the triangle. I always drive around.


David and I have discussed the downsides of living in your childhood town, but boo hoo, we're both fine.

I argue that an unhappy childhood makes for an interesting adult. At least I hope so.