Quick note (for me at least) - nope - it got longer

I have a failproof cure for lice but I can't give it out here. If anyone wants to know, email me.

No don't. I should have made clear it was a joke and I've already emailed two commenters who seriously wanted to know the magic cure. Here it is as I sent it to them:

This is something you could never use on any of your kids. I should
have been more clear it was a joke. However, you'll either laugh or
never speak to me again. I'll go back and fix that post.

Shave one side, pour kerosene on the other, light a match and stab
them with an icepick as they run to the other side.



Hi and welcome to The Subversive Librarian. I'm not sure now where I ran into her. Probably through a comment on another blog. That happens often. She's from Georgia, she's funny, she's raising a child, and her story is a little different than mine although from reading her profile we have many things in common. Another addition to the growing blog roll. I'm going to write another short post about the blog roll maybe.

Andrea - cleaning solution? Some people used kerosene and many probably still do. Don't light a match.

Madcap - I'll check out your suggestion online. I'm all for anything non-chemical that will do the job. In this case, we grabbed for the first cure that came to hand. Of course, that's usually the case. I don't think too many people plan for lice.

Anon - thanks for your comment and the suggestion. The girls are technically "wards of the court" and I have legal guardianship. The court hasn't bothered with me since 1996 when the judge signed the papers. What it means to us is that the State of CA foots their medical bills. In Elcie and Rebecca's case, they have been substantial. Elcie has had surgery twice on her legs and twice on her eyes. She spent a large part of her 2nd year in casts and a splint after surgery and then recovering from the casts and splint. They've bought at least 3 wheelchairs, crutches, braces for a while, and would put a wheelchair lift on the van if I asked. I'm thinking about it. Rebecca has had eye surgery and has been casted because she was a toe walker. She's had tubes placed in her ears twice. She was a tiny preemie and has some minor problems which may or may not be a form of cerebral palsy. No one is sure and I let the specialists argue amongst themselves. So far, the orthopedist who recommended the least invasive treatment has won and the toe walking is gone except when she's a little tired. The state has no problem with the "high end" medical treatment. What they need, they get. I'm in a much better position than many. We also receive a small check from the state for the two younger girls and Elcie receives permanent disability. Ray and I have social security and I have a small retirement pension. We're much better off than many people raising kids these days but it's still tight.

My problem is more one of principle than personal needs. We're in that area just above poverty where any additional expense makes the month more difficult but we always get through. I rant about the people for whom any additional expense makes the month impossible and are forced to choose between medicine (NIX qualifies so far as I'm concerned) and paying the utility bill. Many of these people do work, at low paying jobs with either no health insurance or with premiums that take half their paycheck for lousy coverage. They often qualify for Medi-cal but the more the program cuts, the worse it gets.

All of you who have hung around since I started the blog already know all this but when I look at the blogroll I realize how many friends have joined in since. Once I read anon's comment, I thought perhaps I should explain our situation again.

Rochelle went to school today. The nurse will check her head and decide. We checked Elcie again this morning although with that mop of hair, it's hard to see much.

Rebecca is able to whisper but I'm keeping her out today and will probably get her into the walk-in clinic bad as I hate the idea of sitting around and possibly making her sicker. She's lying in my bed watching Nick (she reverts to little girl easily when she's ill), propped up on a booster pillow and covered with blankies. Just where she should be. Maybe today she'll be more inclined to eat something soft. Broth? Jello? I think I'll go start boiling water for red Jello. I forgot about that yesterday. Okay did that and also grabbed up a couple of boxes of Instant butterscotch pudding. That should slide down nicely. I'll worry about nutrition later.

My buddy Gawdessness just chimed in. She had a post the other day about delousing her dogs and I was dumb enough to tell her about the recent lice outbreak and say so far we were clear. Serves me right.

She has a large photo of a louse on her blog. Aren't you glad I didn't do that? Special person is Gawdessness. I've probably known her, between Blogging Baby and here, for almost a year by now. I recommend Building the Bigger Family (or something close to that - I just click on a desktop icon. It's sort of like speed dial - I can never remember phone numbers any more). Anyhow, she's over there on the blog roll.

My friend Dawn is coming back in a few minutes and we're going to (seriously) wash off the front bathroom walls. We've picked up some mold in this clammy weather. I'm pretty casual but I don't let that horrid stuff live.

Take care everyone. Ignore the typos please. By now you should be able to figure out what I did and I'm not sure how much I trust a spell checker that doesn't recognize the word Blog.

Excuse me Roger, b**g. He hates that word.