They're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky, they're altogether ooky...

...nope, not the Addam's Family.
I'm talking bugs, people. Since moving to our lovely "waterfront" home in Wisconsin, I've had to gain a new *ahem* appreciation for bugs. First, it was the ants. Growing up in Maine, I got used to ants. We had the black variety in our house every so often, but after putting a few ant traps out, voila! They were gone. So ants in our house, I can handle. Second came the spiders. And these are the kind of spiders that you see zoom across the floor out of the corner of your eye, but when you try to locate them, (place them gently outside/squish them) they are GONE!
A few weeks ago, I was horrified to discover an infestation of box elder bugs. They are also known as "Halloween bugs" because of their orange & black markings. Did I say markings? Why yes I did, because they are big enough to actually have a pattern on their icky bug bodies. Ok, so. I got used to the infestation because they were outside around the dog kennel & garage. I could forgive them for being on my property because they were not in my face 24/7.
Not anymore. Nope. Now they are in the house, crawling on the walls, ceilings & inside the windows. Yesterday, my girly, princess/Dora/Elmo-loving child came up to me with a clenched fist, offering me what I thought was garbage to throw away for her. Yeah. It was one of those damn "Halloween bugs!!"
And today. The proverbial "straw that broke the camels back. I saw one of those stink bugs crawling on my window (inside, no less) that I have been hearing about on the news over the past few weeks. Yup. E & I were having our lunch of macaroni & cheese, when she exclaims "buck!!" and points to the window. I expected to see orange & black creeping along, but no. The infestation has moved to a new level.
I'll bet next week, I am gonna try to squish one to see if they are really all that stinky...

Apple Picking Adventures...

Yesterday, E & I went apple picking with the playgroup we've joined. Although it was a little early in the season, and they only had McIntosh apples ready to pick, it was a great time with lots of photo ops. E really enjoyed picking apples off the ground, and when I wasn't looking, started eating some too. After picking our apples, we took a little walk through the petting zoo, which had some of the most friendly animals I have ever encountered...and we've been to our fair share of petting zoos this summer. The donkey even came right over to nuzzle my hand & the baby goats RAN toward us to investigate. E just loved it!

This may be due to sheer boredom, but...

...I've decided to try my hand at blogging again. Call it boredom, call it a form of therapy, but I'm hopeful that I'm more consistent with it than I have been since little E was born almost 2 years ago!
The move this summer has unfortunately proven to be the most difficult yet. I had always figured that once I had a child to keep me company, it would be smooth sailing... Not so much. I actually went on an anti-depressant for the first time in my life (I admit that I took myself off it a week ago, but that's not the point...). I haven't yet figured out why I've struggled so much. I think it has been hard for me to adjust to being a mom instead of being a mom/social worker. Once I can accept it, I think it will be ok.
So now that summer is officially over, my goal is to continue looking for jobs and to look into the possibility of getting a bachelor's degree in nursing. Although I love being a social worker, money talks baby and I think I need to have a more lucrative career.