Tick Magnet

Pip the Tick-Magnet

Fernando and Pip

Went out on a date with Tabs and Pip. We attended the movie Soul Surfer. It was a good movie. I want to move to Hawaii. I love the Hawaiian life style. Pip wasn't sacred--didn't have a chance to be as Tabs covered Pip's entire face during the shark attack. Tabs was so cute. She had seen the movie a few weeks ago with a friend and was thrilled to be going to it again with us. She warned me about any up and coming frightening scenes for Pip. Though, it was I who had to forcibly remove Tabs' hands from Pip's eyes as Tabs deemed much of the movie too frightening for her little sis. A great date.

Afterward, we were thrilled to discover Mist had arrived home from Vancouver. Then, as I was tucking little Pip into bed she told me, "I can't put my head on the pillow because it hurts the "owie" on my head." I checked and sure enough, another giant wood tick! It must have climbed aboard last Sunday on our Mother's Day hike. It was big and painful. Of course, I could not remove it with her screams and hysteria. Also, it had a red circle around it on her scalp so I thought it best to make sure it wasn't carrying lime disease--onward to the hospital. We lucked out--we were only there for 2 h.  Home by midnight. Doctor froze her scalp with a needle anesthetic. The needle hurt perhaps more than pulling the tick out--can't be sure, she screamed through both procedures but then miraculously returned to complete calm instantly to finish a game she was playing on the iPad. Doctor asked me if I was like that as a kid?

Today the cousins were over to play. Peter teaches all day at the Uni. I am writing the last of the revisions on my thesis. And then perhaps, I will treat my gals to coffee out. Loath to do another hike today with Pip--that was the second giant tick on her head this spring.

--Tabs just whipped down to tell me it's the last day for 1/2 price frapuccinos! I guess that means a Starbucks visit--I must tell of a little compliment I received the other day at Starbucks--so I don't forget myself. An older gentleman approached my table and started talking to me. I removed my ear buds and said, "Pardon me?"

"That dress is dynamite!" he said, "You really up the classiness of this office in that dress."

I had to laugh and thank him. I love that he referred to Starbucks as an office and I hadn't heard "dynamite" since I was a kid in the 70's. But I agree, the dress I was wearing was a dynamite dress--Grecian style, taupe in colour. 

South Thompson River, BC

My girls and Toby the dog

My dad

My parents yard backs onto the South Thompson River

Pip

Mist

Tabs

My mom and I

Pip, "Let's pick up sticks mom and then we can play Harry Potter. Who do you want to be Mom?"

Granny and the girls

Mist and Tabs

Tabs and Pip enjoyed their trip to visit my parents. Mist and I enjoyed our night as well. My mom made salted-carmel sundae sauce---I ate too much. Walking behind my parents house is always pleasant except today, we learned we had picked up an unwelcome hitch-hiker. Little Pip had a big, fat, tick on the top of her head. I tried to get it off with tweezers but it wouldn't budge and Pip was really starting to cry in pain--it was holding onto her scalp for good. Took her to the doctor and had the doctor remove it. It finally came attached to a hunk of her scalp. Pip cried a lot.
Tonight I will attend a talk downtown by Judy Chicago about women artists. My girls are going to a play down town tonight "Alice in Wonderland." Mist's friend Ashley has a part in it.
The job search is nothing short of depressing. I have eight years of post secondary education and for what??? I have options though: keep going with graduate work (PhD or MFA). Try to get into the k-12 system again, or keep trudging along looking for work at what ever I can get.