Have I ever mentioned that upstate NY has the biggest freakin mosquitos I've ever seen in my life? This is not like being in the south at all. These mosquitos are as big, if not bigger, then house flies. Their freakin suckers are like 1/4 of an inch long! They are out all day, and go in when the sun goes down. Again, not like the southern blood suckers. Normally the bats would have helped with this situation by now, but they don't seem to have returned this year. I was cursing these bats 2 years ago when I discovered they lived in a little metal overhang above my garage door. Now I think I would throw them a homecoming...if only they would come home. Of course there would be a bit of a problem since the bats come out at dusk, and the mosquitos seem to be all gone by then. This particular breed of mosquitos seem to be resistant to repellent. This afternoon we all sprayed down with Off brand Skintastic family something or other. It didn't matter. Those
huge vampires little suckers kept dive bombing us. Several would get within an inch of my eye and turn around because of the spray. Others didn't care about the spray and would penetrate my clothing for a
pint taste of my blood. They didn't seem to be bothering the kids as much, although Elijah did talk about them all the way upstairs for bed. I had to
lie to reassure him that they weren't in the house. Hopefully he won't have nightmares. Tomorrow I have to go to the Agway and try to find something to spray or sprinkle in the yard that won't hurt my children or my garden. Otherwise all outdoor play may be suspended indefinately, and I'll need full body armor to tend my garden. Planting the 20+ sunflower seeds the kids gave up on was no fun with those pesky creatures in my face this evening.
And where do the Girl Scout cookies fit in here? Well, they don't really, not with the mosquitos anyway. Unless I add that we were outside waiting for the troop leader to arrive with money so that I didn't have to invite her into my messy house. Of course she didn't come until the exact minute we were all seated for dinner. So volunteering to be the Cookie Mom has been one of the worst things I ever did. The troop leader and co-leader both took home extra cookies they didn't order. They did this because they have a place to sell the extras. The troop leaders dad owns the local Agway so she sells them there, and the co-leader works at the elementary school. Usually this works out great. Apparently this year someone broke into the school and stole the cookie money. Ask me why said co-leader didn't take the money home with her every night. Go ahead, ask me. I have no freakin clue! That's why! So now we have around $200 missing stolen and for whatever reason she may not be held accountable. This money may have to come from troop funds cause the cookies have to be paid for somehow. Anyone besides me think this is ridiculous? I don't care how much money co-leader has, she should have to pay it back. It would basically be considered personal property, not school property, so I don't think the school insurance will cover this. Actually, selling these cookies on school property is probably illegal, although I don't know for sure. Add to all this that I did not take proper inventory of the cookies to start with. They were counted out by several different people, AND not all extra orders were accounted for. By extra I mean troop moms needing more cookies, going to said troop leaders to get them, and not being properly written down so they could be taken from one persons inventory and added to anothers. I have 5 people who still haven't turned in their money even though we said it was due last Wednesday, 1 person over by $24, 1 person under by $24, and no, the money wasn't accidentally swapped. Normally it wouldn't really matter as long as the troop total was the same as the total due, but since some of it was stolen, and the inventory from this person is a bit skewed, it all makes a big difference. OH, there's one more thing.......the main person incharge of all cookie orders from all local troops had a fire in her apartment. ALLLLLLLLL paperwork was lost depending on individual troops to hand in proper copies!
Normally my rant here would have made me feel better, but unless you can come over here, count the cash and checks, straighten out my personal paperwork, make the bank deposit, and kill the freakin mosquitos, oh, and find the stolen money, then this didn't help!
Sorry for not answering anyone back about the military ball issue. I'm probably not going to go, just because my husband honestly doesn't care if I do or not. Also, I've read very bad reviews on the "resort" the ball is to take place, and this is the same place we would be staying over night. Truly the only reason to go would be to see how slutty the skinny bitches look!
On a good note, Dale's cell phone finally works in Iraq. He got a text this morning saying something about international something or other. He emailed me about it, and I sent him a text. He got it. After about 10 messages back and forth (we don't have a text plan), he called me. It was nice to talk to him on something other then the MWR phone. He was more himself, and it was very nice. Of course the 20 or so minute conversation we had is probably going to cost us a fortune since we also don't have an international plan. The rate list I found is $1.99 per minute, but I don't know if you have to purchase a plan to get that or not. And it seems that in order to get a plan you have to sign a new contract. Ours is up this month anyway. Sooooo, I can call him!!!!! This would have been awesome a few months ago when I needed immediate answers for something, but it's great now too. He doesn't get a signal within the concrete barriers though. He can walk outside of them and still stay within the confines of safety though, so it's all good. :)
iraq
