Did any of you ever watch “Welcome Back, Kotter?” when you were kids?  A common quote around our place these days is, “The fleas are dying …” said with a very nasal, Horschack-y twang.  (If you remember, Arnold Horschack would say Horschack meant “the cattle are dying …”) 

Well, anyway, we hope the fleas are dying.  They seem to be lessening, but our poor Golden Retriever is just a ghost of her former golden glory.   She’s lost a lot of fur and her skin is very irritated.  Poor baby.  The smaller dogs seem to have fared a bit better than she.  In addition to the plans of attack implemented in my last entry, we sprinkled salt on the floor and worked it into the cracks … our floors looked like the beach, they were so “sandy”.  Then we tried “Flea Stoppers” … a white powder with which you basically do the same thing.  I spent $150 I didn’t really have on a Hoover Windtunnel vac with bags so that I can vacuum EVERY SINGLE DAY and throw the bag away (after giving it a vengefully heart-felt spritz of flea spray).

Believe it or not, it seems that vacuuming at least once a day provides us with the greatest amount of relief.  I think that as I vacuum up the “teenager” fleas before they can lay eggs, we will eventually eliminate the problem.  Nothing else seems to be working that well.  On average I am getting 4 or 5 very tiny fleas a day that will try to bite my feet.  The dogs have a few more, but we continue with the baths and the Adams flea spray.  I will be contacting our vet for advice on perhaps a different monthly treatment, since the Frontline Plus does not seem to be phasing them at all.  I know it is getting better though, because I put on some white socks and walked around a good bit — I only picked up three hitchhikers in my travels, so that is much better than last week.

I took the opportunity while our bedroom was empty to pick up a couple of cans of paint and paint our bedroom.  I’m very pleased thus far.  The walls are Eddie Bauer “Shale” (Valspar at Lowe’s).  I’ll be painting the trim “Craft White” from the same color palette, and the large built in wall unit that serves as my closet will be painted “Java”.  And when I have TONS of energy (ha!), I plan to paint the wood floors throughout the house “Bittersweet” …  But for now, I am very pleased with my “Shale” walls …

I must needs go check on the laundry — my girl is going to summer camp for four days beginning tomorrow at 12:30, and so I need to make sure all her things are washed up so we can pack.  She is a little nervous, but I think she will enjoy herself greatly.  She said, “It’s TWO HOURS away …” and she’s never been that far away from us before by herself.  I told her about the time my youth group went skiing in New Mexico … I was only a year older than her, and I had a GREAT time.  That was probably an 18 – 20 hour trip, if I recall correctly.  So she is feeling a little better about the whole thing now. 

Have a good one!

Our home is a toxic waste dump … by our own choice.  We have engaged in chemical warfare against the dreaded Ctenocephalides canis, otherwise known as the flea.  But we do not speak in the singular, as these little monsters reproduce in the hundreds, nay, in the thousands.  My husband has sprayed under our house with Malathion, and sprayed the interior with a mixture recommended by our local feed store.  Each dog has received several baths, plus an additional treatment of Adams Flea Spray.  Things are quiet right now.  We hold our breaths in hope that the enemy is vanquished … and pray that they are not merely rallying for the next engagement.  I am off to vacuum up their dead little carcasses, laughing all the time as I do it.

I just hope that we do not sprout extra arms in our sleep as a result of the extreme chemical measures we’ve taken …………

Check out Ann Coulter’s column for the full scoop of sharp witticism.

I just talked with my sister and she has some exciting news … but first a tiny bit of background history:

When she left her ex (with good cause), she ended up getting stuck with a lot of debt that he’d run up on credit cards.  Granted the divorce settlement said that he was responsible for it, but when he stopped making payments the credit card companies came after her anyway.  They do not care about decrees and such … they just want their money.  So for the last several years she has been working long hours, working two jobs, etc. to protect her “credit rating” … it has come to a point where it is affecting her health, her ability to parent her children well, and her general quality of life.

She just told me that in the last two weeks, two of the three companies have offered to settle with her for approximately 25 cents on the dollar.  She will pay the settlement amount over the next four months and the debt will be gone.  She will be able to work a normal amount of hours and be there for her kids like she has wanted to do all along.

This is an incredible miracle, as she was considering bankruptcy she had become so desperate.  Doing the happy dance, we are!

A —
“Amie” (Pure Prairie League) — I remember hearing this song covered by a band playing at the Mine Shaft in Charlottesville, Virginia back in 1984.  I was visiting a friend for spring break and I loved the geeky, intellectual atmosphere … the band did their sound check by reciting Chaucer’s Prologue to The Canterbury Tales.

B —
“Baker Street” (Gerry Rafferty) — I think I probably heard this for the first time when we lived in St. Croix in the late 70’s.  I just love this song.

C —
“Classical Gas” (Mason Williams) — Some of the most awesome instrumental work (IMHO).
“Come Monday”(Jimmy Buffett) — Probably my favorite Buffett song of all time.
(I couldn’t make up my mind between these two …)

D —
“December, 1963” (Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons) — Just love it, just love it.  No reason.  Just do.

E — 
“Everybody’s Talkin'” (Jimmy Buffett) — Moving where the sun keeps shinin,’ through the pourin’ rain, going where the weather suits my clothes …

F —
“Fire and Rain” (James Taylor) — Great song.  Saw him in concert back in 1988.  A gal at work had won tickets on the radio and didn’t have a CLUE who he was.  I cheerfully took them off her hands … seats on the floor, probably all of 10 or 11 rows back from the stage.  Pretty cool night, it was.

G —
“Give It All You’ve Got” (Chuck Mangione) — He plays an instrument with a weird name (flugelhorn), but dude!  The man can play!

H —
“How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” (James Taylor) — Can you tell I like James Taylor?

I — 
“I Feel For You” (Chaka Khan) — Yeah, I know.  But this song makes me smile for some reason and I remember having a great time dancing with my friends back in college …

J —
“Jungle Love” (Steve Miller Band) — Jungle love, it’s driving me mad, it’s making me crazy, crazy!

K —
“Kyrie” (Mister Mister) — So many of these are from college days — but I’m not sure I think anything worth listening to has come out since then.  😉

L —
“Limelight” (Rush) — Having been involved in theater in high school, and having had a crush on one of the guys in the drama club who was a big Rush fan, it was only natural that I’d have a strong affection for this particular tune.  🙂

M —
“More Than A Feeling” (Boston) — I remember riding over to Clear Lake with some friends to see a performance of “The Merchant of Venice” at the University of Houston.  We rode in my friend’s black ’78 Trans Am and this song came on.  I’ve always loved it.

N —
“Never Been Any Reason” (Head East) — Back before John Schlitt sang for Petra, he was the vocalist for this band.

O —
“One of These Nights” (The Eagles) — I like just about anything sung by The Eagles. 

P —
“Piano Man” (Billy Joel) — I really love his older songs … the ones that tell stories. 

Q —
Can’t find a song that starts with “Q” on any of my music lists … I’m sure after I post this, I will find something. “Que Sera Sera” (Doris Day) — I knew I’d think of something after I posted this.

R —
“Red Barchetta” (Rush) — I LOVE this song’s lyrics … pure poetry.

S —
“Summer Breeze” (Seals & Croft) — I don’t really like summer … it’s so incredibly hot, but this song makes me think that summer could be a good thing.  Maybe in a parallel universe, but it could be a good thing.

T —
“Tangerine” (Harry Connick, Jr.) — We started looking for Harry’s CD’s after falling in love with the “When Harry Met Sally” soundtrack.  Good stuff, good stuff.

U —
“Unchained Melody” (The Righteous Brothers) — I love it when my husband sings this song.

V —
“Valerie” (Steve Winwood) — I’ve liked it ever since the first time it came out in 1982.

W —
“Whenever I Call You Friend” (Kenny Loggins) — Back before he came the King of the Soundtrack (Caddyshack, Top Gun, Footloose, etc.)

X —
See “Q” …  (Still nothin’.)

Y —
“You’ve Got A Friend” (James Taylor) — There’s that name again …

Z —
See “Q” … (Still nothin’.)

Striking Oil
Burt Prelutsky
Monday, June 09, 2008

Sometimes, I swear, when I see what our tax dollars get us in Congress,
I feel like asking for my money back. But, other times, I find myself
thinking that the laughs those clowns provide us nearly, but not quite,
make up for their incompetence, hypocrisy and mendacity. The Marx
Brothers, at their goofiest, couldn’t hold a candle to these
self-important bumblers, although I’m sure that Groucho would have been
sorely tempted to try.

You see nincompoops like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and John
Murtha, bloviating on TV and you realize that when poll after poll
indicates that these political hacks have an approval rate only half as
high as George Bush’s and only a point or two higher than measles, they
somehow assume we don’t have them in mind.

Because of their arrogance and pomposity, they can’t help
being amusing, but they are never more hysterical than when they hold
hearings and sit in moral judgment of those they regard as lesser
beings. Which, when you get right down to it, includes virtually
everyone who pays their salaries.

A couple of years ago, we got to watch them chastise baseball
players who’d been accused of using steroids and human growth hormones.
As a lifelong baseball fan, I resented these guys for breaking
long-standing records they never would have approached if they hadn’t
cheated. But I got no satisfaction from watching a bunch of puffed-up
mediocrities, who prostrate themselves to lobbyists on a daily basis,
lording it over a bunch of athletes who, steroids or no steroids, had
spent 15 or 20 years standing in a batter’s box just twenty yards away
from iron-armed freaks hurling baseballs 98 mph in their direction.
What’s more, I knew darn well that after performing for the TV cameras,
these same politicians were lining up to get autographs for their
grandkids.

More recently, I got my year’s quota of laughs when Congress
decided to grill oil company executives because, I guess, the price of
gas was higher than it had been in 1958.

There’s nothing that rich, pampered politicians like better
than putting rich, pampered business executives on the hot seat…at
least until they have to go, hat in hand, to grovel for campaign
contributions.

I actually found myself sympathizing with the executives
because they pretty much had to sit there and take it. God forbid they
opened their yaps and pointed out that we’d not only have cheaper gas,
but not have to toady to the Arabs, the Russians and Hugo Chavez, if
these same politicians would quit caving in to the environmental
fascists and allowed American oil companies to drill in Anwar, in the
Dakotas and in the deep blue sea. It would also be a good idea if we
finally began using nuclear power in a big way. Heck, if France can do
it without turning Paris into Chernobyl, it can’t be that hard.

In the meantime, thanks to these buffoons, I’m stuck paying
$4.15-a-gallon for regular. Which is bad enough. But what makes
watching these windbags flap their gums even more disconcerting is the
realization that Washington could easily supply us with energy for the
foreseeable future, if only someone could figure out how to replace
fossil fuels with hot air and snake oil.

Copyright © 2008 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.

See above for a new quote, and read here for the full article.

It’s a busy week for us … last night was our cast meeting for the summer production and tonight is the set crew meeting for those working on set design and construction.  Tomorrow night is the technical rehearsal for Jami’s dance recital, Thursday is the dress rehearsal and Friday night is the big show.  Then Saturday is the homeschool conference in Houston, where I hope to find exactly what I need to make our little academy work this coming year.  We tried Sonlight this year, but it was just too cumbersome for us … with our crazy schedule, we need individual subjects that we can grab and take with us if we need to hit the road for business or family reasons.

One curriculum that I am sticking with is Saxon math.  Even though it’s fairly “dry” (i.e., not a bunch of fancy illustrations and games), she actually prefers it over some of the more “colorful” curricula out there.  When I suggested we use something different, she said “NO!” rather emphatically.  And imagine my delight when I discovered Saxon now offers computer CD’s that will work on my Mac … since math is NOT my forte, it’s a relief to know I have a resource that will help explain the lessons more clearly than I might do.

Well, I have much to do today, so I’ll be seeing you around —

A friend of my husband’s submitted a photo to the Ron Jon Surf Shop site and they posted it!  Click here if you’d like to see my guy “praying for surf” (second column, fourth picture from top) LOL