ok, confession time: i have been battling lice for a very long time. as in, just before sasha started kindergarten long time. it's not so bad, if a little gross, lice doesn't really bother me all that much. i wash hair with lice killing shampoo, comb through hair and am in general, pretty much aware of what's going on with the kids' hair. this will be a never ending battle (and i don't really need advice, thanks) because no matter what, they will always bring more home from kindy. just waiting it out, really. poor sasha gets it the worst, with her long hair and (seemingly) tasty self (she's also very popular with the mosquito crowd) but we wash and we comb and we use tea tree oil (the tea tree oil conditioners are great!) but then sasha feels unwell at school and they have her lay down in the office on the futons and BAM! here come the lice again. the boys don't get it so bad, though when tommy does get lice, he hates the lice ridding procedure(s) and it can get really rough in there until i pin him down and get the job done.

thankfully i have to do these things, though, because last night tommy had a tick on his head!! ARGH!! (ok, imagine me screaming in horror.) i hate ticks. gross gross gross. thankfully it was still small and also that i could get it off without breaking or squishing it. i have no idea where it came from. yesterday morning, when i took the dog for a walk, it looked like he had a blister on his ear. i wondered where it came from but when i looked at it closely, it was a tick! a bloated, shiny tick! *shivers* i tried to get it off but it wasn't going to come easily. after i came home, the kids were up and sasha found it first. she kinda freaked out about it, poor girl. then yoshi came downstairs and i told him there was a tick on his dog's ear. at first he looked *inside* the ear and didn't see anything. i turned the dog's ear and showed him the tick. OMGSHOCK! yoshi had never seen a tick before, can you believe it? i tried to carefully take it off but failed--the head detached. now we are on ear watching duty for the dog, and head watching duty for tommy. totally squicked out over here. and i never ever ever want to take a hike in the woods again! or even go into the back garden (it has really overgrown this rainy season. time to put on jeans, thick socks, long sleeved shirts, bandanas and hats and tackle the garden--with thick gloves, too, of course!