Day 205/365-Poop, Worms, Ticks, Throw-Up and a Flat Tire

Just so you know,

this picture has NOTHING to do with 

the story following it.

This image was taken at about 9:30 PM

when Brian was burning limbs he had cut

from trees that had those nasty, destructive caterpillars on them.

I was intrigued by the fire,

so I grabbed the camera.

A slow shutter speed makes the ashes have light trails

A faster shutter speed freezes the ashes in mid-air

I had the crappiest day ever the other day.

In the span of three hours

I had an encounter with intestinal worms,

an engorged deer tick the size of a dime,

three bouts of throw up in the car,

and

a flat tire.

I was ready to call the guys in 

the white van to come and take me away.

The intestinal worms are from

our baby kitten, Rontu.

Ladybug ran in after scooping the cat litter

and informed me that there was

"something strange in Rontu's poop."

Being the curious sort,
I got up and looked.

Yup, a live intestinal worm

was flipping and flopping around in the poop,

none too happy that it was

now on the outside of the cat's body.

*shudder*

I took a toothpick, picked up 

 one of the worms and put it in a baggie

so the vet could identify what type of worm it was.

 I then called the vet and immediately

got additional medicine for the

poor kitten

(he had been dewormed unsuccessfully twice already)

*Medical update:  Rontu is still pooping out worms

but at least now they are dead.

Progress.

About 10-15 minutes after the worm incident,

Ladybug ran into my room screaming

her fool head off, crying that she

had found a tick that was "huge"

on her head.

When I asked where it was she 

told me that she "threw it"

because she freaked out.

Great.  

Now I have a HUGE dog tick

creeping around her bedroom.

Off I go to find the offending tick

while Ladybug is still

squealing "ewwwww"

and "Ach!"

and hyperventilating.

I find the engorged tick,

which was, in fact, HUGE

(about the size of a dime

and much fatter)

and add it to the baggie

with the intestinal worm.

Then we watched the worm

and the tick

fight.

Cool.

About an hour later, 

I was on the way back from taking

Ladybug to her horse back riding lessons

when Toddler 1 begins throwing up 

from car sickness.

Since I was on a small country road, there were

no shoulders on the road in which to pull over.

So, as I was finding a space,

T1 continued to throw up.

Three times.

Into my new bag I bought at Blogfest,

which was on the floorboard under T1'a car seat.

And all over herself.

And all over the back of the

seat in front of her.

You get the idea.

I find a gravel parking lot

in which to pull off,

strip T1 down to her undies,

clean up the chunks,

line the car seat with rags,

and off for home we start again.

Until two minutes later when 

my "LOW TIRE PRESSURE" 

light came on.

Seriously?

Kill. me. now.

I put the hazards on and limp home.

I got out of the 

throw up smelling car

to find I had run over a nail 

and now had a flat 

back right tire.

Holy crappy day, Batman.

I am happy to report that 

was, thank the heavens above, 

the last incident of the evening.

God knows what we can handle,

and this was my limit.

My days have been better since,

and as a matter of fact, 

I am blessed enough to be

going to the John Mayer concert 

tonight to hang out with 

the band members again. 

This time, though,
I will be armed with a press pass

and will be allowed to take in my camera!

Woot!

I hope you found some humor in my pain

and some joy in my triumph.

I look forward to 

updating you on how the concert went

sometime tomorrow!

Happy weekend.

xoxo