I do not have fleas

Yesterday I took Lulu to the vet, because she needed to start her vaccinations and I was beginning to think she had fleas. What led me to this conclusion is that when I would pet her I would feel what I just thought was dirt, but when I looked it up was really eggs. Also since she sleeps with me have been feeling itchy and my bed had all of these black specks on it. The vet confirmed this and said that I do not have fleas, but I am itchy because of the eggs in the bed and I am probably getting bitten while I sleep. Hooray for me!!

I called Frank, my husband, to tell him the great news and his immediate response was, "ewww, they better be gone by the time I get there." Then he proceeds to yell to his friend Corey who he was with at the time, "Dude, Jillian has fleas." Don't you just love male sensitivity.

The solution to this problem is to apply this flea powder to Lulu once a day for three days. The vets says after that all the fleas will be gone. The slight hiccup with that is Lulu cannot ingest any of the powder, so I came home from the vet and made her a cone that goes around her head to prevent her from licking the powder. Lets just say she is less than pleased with me. All I can say is that I hope these three days go by quickly.

Clearly Internet communication is not for me

Ok as many of you have noticed I have not posted anything on this blog in over a month, which really goes against the whole idea behind a blog. In my defense, I have been super busy and after a long day I do not found blogging particularly soothing. I love you all and I am not trying to cut you out of this experience, so I am going to try to make an effort to blog more often.

Top ten interesting things that have happened since I stopped blogging:

1. Frank has officially given notice at work that his last day will be December 23, 2009, which means when I return to Haiti after the holidays on January 2, 2010, my husband will be in tow. Probably the best news ever!!
2. I am the proud mother of a little gray kitten named Lulu. She is precious, but a menace for sure (I have the scratches to prove it). The problem is that I, even after three weeks of mothering this kitten, am still not a huge cat lover. Lets just say this relationship is a work in progress.
3. My mom came to visit last week and we went to the beach, went out to lunch, talked for hours, and almost died coming down from Wynne Farm on the Kenscoff Mountain road. The story behind the last comment is the breaks on our car completely failed while coming around a corner. I was driving and after discovering the brakes were gone, I yelled at my mom “the brakes, the brakes are gone.” I pulled the emergency brake and turned the car off the paved road in hopes that the dirt and rocks would slow us down. After about 100 yards we came to a stop in front of an electrical poll. No one was hurt thank goodness, but lets just say my heart was racing for a few hours afterwards.
4. The Mission House had its first group which is one of my main job responsibilities, so it was a lot of work pulling things together, but such a relief that the first one went well and is over. I took the group to a Co-Op for women artists and to Arc en Ciel, an HIV/AIDS orphanage. The real test comes in two weeks when 11 doctors arrive for a full week medical mission trip. Wish me luck with that.
5. Three UN soldiers from Nepal asked me if I would take a picture with them because I was the first white person they met in Haiti who could speak kreyol. Hooray, I guess? It was definitely an interesting situation and I wish so badly I had had my camera, but you will just have to picture it yourself.
6. I got an 85 on my first kreyol test, which is great news since Jean Mari told me he was going to buy a whip and punish me if I did not start applying myself to my kreyol studies more. I would cautiously label myself a functional kreyol speaker.
7. One very angry Nun bitched me out; because I had so much to do I did not take the time to say a proper good morning to her. Lets just say I hope that does not happen again and if it does maybe next time I won’t feel like a 10-year-old kid in the principle’s office. I guess I do carry scars for all those years of Catholic schooling.
8. We got our cable fixed so now I am able to watch FOOTBALL on the weekends. If you know me at all you know how crucial this is to my mental stability.
9. I feel like I have more of a social life and I would even go as far as to say that I have friends in Haiti. To prove it, I am going this Saturday for a music festival and then down to the beach on Sunday to watch drag racing. Neither activity, I will be doing by myself or will Elizabeth be there. Finally, I am loosening my grip the security blanket I have wrapped myself in.
10. I am now a Pilates nut. They have a class at my gym and my friend Alexis teaches it and it is AMAZING. I never knew how concentrating on your breathing could affect the way your muscles worked and increased your ability to do certain motions. I still find it very difficult, but I am loving every sweaty minute of it.

Alright that is it for now, I promise to try and write again soon. Thank you all for your patience.

PS. My blog sucks when it comes to uploading photos and actually having them in the text of my posts, so I have added new photos to my slide show.

Emotional State: Feeling content that I actually live in Haiti

Goal: to have more patience