we found out last friday my daugter has lice. we think she picked it up at church camp. which is one reason you haven't heard from me in a while. (i've been kinda busy) and the main reason she probably will never return to any kind of "camp". she is supposed to be at choir camp this week. didn't happen.

i've never dealt with this before. and my daughter has long blond hair down to her waist almost. sigh... we did the nix stuff. didn't work. we did the organic health food store remedy my sister told me about. didn't work. we are now combing every stinking day. i've spent over $100 on over the counter treatments (everyone in the house is being treated), combs, laundry detergents, and who knows how much the electric bill will be. we are washing towels, bed clothes, clothes-clothes and everything else we can think of on a daily basis. and i'm going to the drug store to pick up the prescription stuff the doctor called in today. more $$$. we now have a "lice pot" in the kitchen that we have designated now and forever more for disinfecting brushes and combs. i never dreamed i'd ever own a "lice pot".

at first we were dismayed. then we started to laugh about it. 'the family that picks nits together stays together' - that kind of let's-make-light-of-the-situation kind of stuff. but now i'm just getting tired of it.

can we go to a movie tonight? no, we have to spend at least 3 hours picking each other's hair. can we go out to dinner? well, yes, only if we go early enough to go home and pick nits. can we go visit friends? i don't think so. we must be quarrantined. can the dd start school next wednesday? hope so!!!

i have been studying web sites. i can tell you how long the gestation period of a louse is. i know when they lay the eggs, how long it takes for the egg to develop, and the different stages of "nymph" that a lice goes thru. i know that a nit can develop into an egg-laying bug in 5 to 10 days.

if we comb and pick her hair and ours for the next three weeks, we are supposed to be completely rid of them. the theory is that picking everything out will pick it all out until there are no egg-layers left. maybe the prescription stuff will work. it has to be repeated in two weeks time. i'm not taking any chances. i'll do it all. i'll try almost anything at this point. i'm not so vain that i have to even have my hair. my husband is considering a shave. we could have matching balds. isn't that just precious???

and in the midst of all this nit-picking and washing and spraying and vaccuuming, my mother has been in and out of the emergency room and hospital and ended up having emergency surgery tuesday. she's ok now, back at home (her friend's home anyway - it's where she stays when she's here in town). and i have a cyst in my right ear. the doc says it may have to be lanced. (say what????? do they put a person to sleep for things like that???) in the meantime the pain drugs are pretty good. at night. i can't take them while i'm working during the day. i just suffer thru it. but this too shall pass. i think it's a little better today.

and of course my friend's husband passed away last friday morning which was the beginning of this past week's woes. they had been married when she was 16. he drove her to school so that she could finish high school. they were married 30 years and just had a granddaughter, their first grand.

i'll take the lice. we'll eventually get rid of them, mom is ok, the cyst will heal. we're still all here. death kind of puts it all into perspective.