Rotten Potatoes

I'm not going to gross you out with the details-- nobody wants to lose their appetite. What I AM going to do is tell you about the cloud of little fruit flies that billowed up when I discovered that my potatoes were no longer round on the bottom. It was an invasion.

So I've had to put a lid on the cat's food bowl (she's being quite gracious about it, really), and take out the trash every night, and clean the kitchen within an inch of its life. I tried smoking them out with a sage wand, and spraying at them with my essential oils, and swatting where they congregate on the mirror in the bathroom-- with just about no luck at all. I started to put all the dirty dishes into the dishwasher right away, too. That was round one of the battle of the bugs. I'm pretty sure I lost that one.

In round two, I bought fly paper and discovered that the bugs were feasting inside my garbage disposal. So I put salt and vinegar down the drain once or twice a day now, too. That seems to have taken care of the drain divers. My flypaper strategy didn't work so well at first, however-- I'd see the fruit flies sitting on the fly paper feasting, and a while later I'd go back to see no fruit flies on the fly paper at all. But, after taking care of all other food sources, I'm relieved to report that my strategy is finally beginning to stick. And I've learned that if I cook my food and select snacks with lots of garlic in them, the bugs don't bug me much while I'm eating, which is also a relief.

This morning, however, I opened the door to the dishwasher to put my cereal bowl away, and a whole new swarm of fruit flies billowed out. Maybe only ten bugs this time, but since the old swarm is still only down by about half-- this is not good. So I'll be wasting water and running my dishwasher every night from now on, too. And the Battle of the Bugs continues.

The good news in all this is that I gave up nacho cheese chips when I got married (sad story)-- and my search for garlic-enhanced snack foods has led me back to them again. One of my favorite all time snacks. I'm truly thrilled about this. And the bugs don't bug me when I eat them, either. So, even when your potatoes rotted and your house has been taken over by fruit flies-- SOMETHING GOOD CAN COME OF IT!! (Not to mention how much cleaner my kitchen will be from now on-- and how I've finally learned the "buy only what you know you actually plan to use in the next three days" grocery shopping system, especially with potatoes.)

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. (By the way, speaking of "sticking," my favorite fruit fly death so far is the one that got itself stuck to my lint roller. VICTORY will be MINE!!)

Never Leave Candles Unattended

Never leave candles unattended. Or rolls of paper towel. Or ribbon. Or string.
Or pencils, or pens. Or... well... pretty much anything!





...don't you realize that I just saved you from a vicious purple THING? It was cleverly disguised as another roll of paper. You may worship me now.

Has it All

Driving home from work yesterday, saw a big macho truck.
And this truck had every macho or cool thing the owner could think of.
-It was jacked up.
-It was black.
-It had a skull and crossed bones sticker on the tailgate.
-It had steer antlers.
-It had a shark fin.
-It had the stickers that look like bullet holes.
-It was pretty funny to see ALL the gimmicks on one vehicle!

The little boy I nanny put in a special request for books about trains and airplanes from the "libbery" this week. He was so thrilled yesterday when I BROUGHT THE BOOKS!! Sat right down and flipped through each of them. I just love that.

The little girl took her first two steps yesterday!!! I called mom right away and told her about it, even though she was at work. She was so thrilled! Who knows how long it'll be until the next steps happen, but that was just SO COOL!!!