Bubble Bath Wishes...

Calgon, take me away.

My migraine and I are both desperately wishing there was a bathtub in this place big enough for the two of us. As it stands though, the only tub-like thing in operation is a bizarre triangular basin in the corner of the master bath, about a quarter of the size of a regular bathtub (in other words, slightly bigger than a breadbox). It works great for the dogs and the littlest of the littles, but I have no hope of squeezing myself in there. Oh, there's also a laundry sink in the basement, slightly deeper than the quasi-bathtub, but I'm thinking I probably won't fit in there for a soak either. Bummer.

At least the snow is gone, for now. No sun to speak of, though... just rain... cold, gray rain.

I have seen the sun shine in this place during visits over the past years... so I know it's not just a myth. Sure seems that way lately though.... c'mon sunshine... we need ya!

On a happier note, I've been dividing my time fairly evenly between cleaning/organizing projects and creative time spent in my finally organized office/craft room/work space, which means I have some fun stuff to show off when my head isn't throbbing and I can get my camera emptied. Truth be told, I'm only on here to kill a few minutes while the littles get ready for bed -- after which I will sing a silent hallelujah chorus and allow a hot shower to stand in for that soaking tub I find myself longing for tonight. I think I'll fit a few gallons...er, uh, I mean... a few spoonfuls of Haagen-Dazs Caramel Cone ice cream in there, for good measure.

On that note, I'm going to claim this scripture verse, which gives me peace at the moment... and be off. Goodnight friends. <3

The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." - Exodus 33:14

Guess What?

It's snowing.

Hard.

Please tell me I'm imagining this. It IS May 21, after all. Nine more days until summer vacation.

Sigh.

Critter Crazy.

Ow.

I just snapped my thumb in a spring-loaded mouse trap, like you see in cartoons. And, just like on Looney Tunes, it turned red, grew to thrice its normal size, and throbbed visually. I howled like Sylvester and stuck it in my mouth (why we do this, I'll never know), hopping around the kitchen like a lunatic.

Critters: 1
Accidental Rancher: 0

Then an anvil fell on my head.

Well, it sure feels that way.

The good news is that the sun is slowly but surely starting to re-introduce itself to this part of the mountains after a very looooooong (albeit mild) winter. Of course, as I type that, it's gray and dreary and looks like rain outside, so who really knows. The kids'll be out of school for summer in something like ten days, and we're still seeing occasional snow flurries, which baffles my mind and goes against everything pure and holy. Can ya tell I wasn't made to be a mountain mama? I need some sun, quicklike.

The bad news, though, is that all those dormant critters want to come out to play in the sunshine too and I'm thrown right back into full-blown critter craziness at the Ranch. We've caught three mice in the house since yesterday, and one Accidental Rancher (whoops), but have seen several more since then. I'm not exactly afraid of mice, but seeing them skitter and scat across the room gives me the heebie-jeebies in a major way. The paper wasps are hard at work on their nests, too (though, so far, they're all still outside) and the carpenter ants just invade by the thousands. My morning routine involves squishing at least a dozen of the beasty, winged insects and a spider or twelve that congregate in the master bathroom. I went head to head with a GIANT furry bumble bee in the living room yesterday, and it was a close one, but me and my big fat issue of Country Sampler came out on top, evening up the score.

Critters: 1
Accidental Rancher: 1

Our cat, Charlie, has proven his manliness in exactly the wrong way, impregnating his mom and fathering his own brother, a little Charlie Jr., but leaving the mice to their own devices (and mine, if you count the mouse traps). Note to self: Call vet. Schedule a cat fixin'.

Last week, I caught the Littles in a plot to smuggle a dead bat carcas to school, sneaking the tiny plastic-bag-casket into a backpack when they thought I wasn't looking.

Ew.

The weirdest part of that story is that I discovered the thing already dead, it's wing fastened tightly inside the window, as if someone had closed the pane right on the thing, in the guest room, no less. No one took credit for that particular incident (and I sincerely hope it wasn't the work of a guest), so I guess we'll have to leave it off the scoreboard. Don't feel too bad for the little guy, though, there are thousands more of them flapping around in the roof, fighting the swallows and rodents for living space.

Sigh.

I know... it all comes with the territory... and soon enough, we'll all be moving on with our lives and this eekie season of life will be over. It's the down side of the summer here (if you can call it that, yet), but we'll keep doing our part to remain at the top of the food chain around here and hope that the slug we found in our bed was some sort of practical joke.