Rain, Rain, Go Away

I come from a desert. It doesn't rain a whole lot in Utah. And when it does, everybody is very grateful for it. It rains so little, that I went a summer with a broken windshield wiper on my car.

That's not the case here. All it has done is rain and rain and rain and then rain some more. And when it rains, it's not just a nice little pretty rain. It pours! It comes down hard. I think there's some places were it hasn't been dry this entire spring. Definately different than last summer, when it didn't rain at all.

Colleen gave us two of her old bird feeders. She has some new ones and no longer has any place for the these ones. We put them up on Saturday and the birds absolutely love them. We have woods about 20 feet from our backdoor, so we already had a bunch of birds, but now they're everywhere. I don't know the names of them all, but we do get cardinals and mourning doves and bunch of finches. It took them about a day to finish off one feeder.

I had a horrible headache yesterday. It was bothering me at work and felt like it could turn into a migraine. When I got home, I ate some dinner, took my migraine medicine, and laid down on the couch. Well, the head just got worse. I wouldn't notice it that much if I was laying down (or is it lying down?), but when I could up, it hurt so bad I felt like I was going to pass out. Carl called up the pharmacy and asked if I could take some Lortab I had left over from a car accident last year with my migraine medicine and they said I could. So, I took some of that and that knocked me out about a half hour later. However, I woke up at 2 this morning with my still hurting (although not as bad) and wide awake. I never could get back to sleep. I tried everything. Too bad we didn't have any Benadryl. I didn't go into work today because my head still hurt a little and I was so tired!! Not a fun night at all!

For some good news, grades came back and I got all A's. Yippee for me!!

Yay for being done with school!

Yay! I'm all done with finals! This was not a fun week. I only had three finals, one on Wednesday and two on Friday. However, my two on Friday were in my two hardest classes and were one right after the other. Not fun at all. To top it all off, I had a cold this entire week and just exhausted. I had a hard time studying because I couldn't stay awake for long. I kept having to take little naps so that I could get my studying done.

All in all, I think I did well this semester. It was so nice actually being in nursing classes. I enjoyed my school so much more. It was actually things I wanted to learn and do. Carl once made a comment about how I seemed much happier about school now. It's true; I am. It's nice actually learning things that I know I'll use in my career. I'm much more interested in the classes I'm taking and therefore much more interested in studying for them. Except for microbiology. That class sucked.

Bug Identification Quest

With the aid of the ever useful Google, Google images, and Wikipedia, I have successfully identified the insect that so loving frightened my wife. It is commonly known as the "house centipede" and scientifically as "Scutigera coleoptrata." This lovable creature has an average of 15 pairs of legs, but at birth has only 4 pairs. Each time the bug molts it gains 2 pairs of legs. Surprisingly, these bugs can live 3 to 7 years (assuming there aren't any bug-spraying husbands nearby). In addition, this lively critter feeds on cockroaches, spiders, ants, bedbugs, silverfish, and other household pests. Maybe the next time I see one I will offer it a spider or an ant before I spray it with bug spray...

As a side note, the bug is not life threatening and, according to Wikipedia, its fangs cannot usually pierce human skin. However, if it does, the bite is usually no worse than a bee sting and is rarely life threatening (only in extreme allergic reactions). I hope that makes Tiona feel a little better having a house centipede in our bedroom!

On a happier note, these bugs are loved in Japan, and can even be bought from the local pet store for your loved one at home! Luckily, I don't have to buy them!

Pesky Critters

I received a call from Tiona yesterday and she was absolutely distraught. As a good husband always does, I asked her what was wrong. With this little voice--full of terror--she said, "I found a spider in my car!" So I asked her what she did, and she said, "I tried to kill it, but it ran under my chair." After a long pause, I finally asked her if she was able to drive. Her reply was very meek and full of embarassment, "You wouldn't believe how hard it is to drive without putting your feet on the floor." After a few moments of thought, she added, "But it is giving me a great calf workout." She was so worried about having a mad spider below her chair that I finally had to convince her that since a spider's brain is so small it would have a very short memory. I convinced her that the spider had forgotten all about her previous attempt on its life and that she was now safe. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I made that up... Luckily, she got home safely without any spider bites.

This morning she had fully recovered from her agonizing, automobilic, arachnoid adventure. She reported that she had no nightmares of the experience. However, while I was enjoying a magnificient, mouth watering bowl of cereal I hear a scream that made my blood run cold. As I go running into the bathroom, fearing I would find my beautiful wife lying on the floor in a pool of blood, I spot her with eyes fixed on the wall in our bedroom. There, on the wall, peacefully sat an enormous, 28 legged monstrous sight. Shedding all fear, leaving all rational thought behind, I charged to the rescue of my helpless wife. She stood there transfixed, helpless, and frozen with fear. I knew that I could not wrestle the 28 legs without a plan, so I sought the only weapon available: Raid. The glorious bug spray caused my wife's worst nightmare to writhe in pain and agony before falling to the floor. Within seconds, the running bug slowed and curled into a ball. My wife, with a newfound strength, ran into my outstretched arms and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you," she said, "You truly are the best husband ever." Holding the priceless beauty in my arms I felt time stop. I secretly made a vow that I would never let my dear wife experience such fear again.