Who wants to hear a lice story? (Caution....swear words in post)

Day one:
I'm drying Isaiah's hair before school....I see something move......I look.......it moves again, along with other things that are moving.....
My FIRST WORD: "SHIT!" I walk away from the child, stomping my foot into the floor, saying, "shit, shit shit!"
Walk towards the girl, in disbelief....I have to check again! This can't be happening!!!! More lice "SHIT!" (pounding my hand with a fist) again.....I walk away from the girl.
Phone my sister (she's on pickup for school) She answers,
"Hello?"
"SHIT!"
"WHAT!?"
"SHIT.......WE > HAVE > LICE!" ........
Nin responds...."shit..." (It's become the word of the day)
(Later I profusely apologize to my girl for swearing and reassure her that it's not her fault)
Look in Noah's head, more bugs! K, now I'm freaking out! and call Joe. "We are INFESTED with lice!"

Pull off ALL bedding, all blankets, all coats, all towels, all clothes, pretty much anything and everything you can wash and form the biggest, most largest mountain my laundry room has EVER seen! Start with NIX........Treat everyone in the family......the result? Still live bugs!
Buy a BIG jar of mayo and slop copious amounts of it and crown it with lovely saran wrap. Sit for 5 hours........with grease dripping down our necks, the kids can't take another minute........ STILL LIVE BUGS!!!!

DAY 2: K......need to do something desperate! SHAVE NOAH"S HEAD! There! He's done! The two younglins are clean. But Isaiah, I'm NOT going to shave her head. So Isaiah and I dye our hair! It seems like that worked! No more live bugs. YAAA! Spend 2 HOURS picking out about 20 eggs. Feel like we're getting somewhere.

Day 3: I'm doing the routine laundry. drying ALL bedding so that the heat kills anything. Vacuuming couches, floors and mattresses. Some people may think this is over kill...... Do the daily routine check on Isaiah, and find 2 eggs! Did I miss them? Cause I SWEAR, I picked them all out the day before...but I guess I missed them..... Go to the top of her head....A DAMN LIVE BUG!!!! Where the %$#@ did he come from? Did this bug hatch overnight and lay 2 eggs? How did this bug survive all this treatment? Did she pick it up from a couch? A bed....that was vacuumed?

Each day, everyone gets a pure tea tree oil head treatment. We leave it on for 30 minutes with a shower cap on to hopefully kill and prevent reinfestation. Go to nit pick Isaiah....and find 7 more eggs! Will this ever end? Did I MISS them? Or did a bug lay these eggs?
Over the next 2 days, I do find an egg here and there on Isaiah, but no bugs. on day 5....NO MORE EGGS!

Tomorrow marks the 7th day and hopefully the day of completion. Tomorrow we again all treat ourselves, just to be sure. Isaiah has taken this all in stride. All the sitting and picking and washing and losing all their dear stuffties....

Pondering on all this experience, I have never been on the other side of lice before. It's opened my eyes to a few things. I will share that in the next post.

Thankful

Sitting here, checking my email....

I get a short and sweet message from my hubby that has been in Regina for a Promise Keepers convention that reads:

I miss you too, God is good. see you tonight.
Joe

It just hits me. I stare at the message. My eyes well up with tears. My heart is overwhelmed with the weight of these words. Why?

A little over a year ago, Joe walked out. For the first week, I had no idea IF he would ever come back. Joe and I communicated through emails for the first while. Each letter was cold, hard and calloused. Each letter broke my heart to read......
During our separation, I would sit at the computer and stare at his emails....and cry.....
I didn't know where he was, how I could even reach him, all he had to do was turn his phone off and he was forever disconnected from me.

Ironically, just 1/2 hour ago, I was sitting eating lunch when my heart cried out, "GOD....please don't let me go back to the way things were. Don't let all this be for nothing.....please make us into an amazing testimony that makes a difference. Don't let all this pain dump down a black hole"
......Only to sit down and have God open my eyes to a short, simple email. He showed me that we are a miracle. We weren't supposed to make it! We should be divorced! I should be alone....
But I'm not. By God's grace and mercy, Joe is building the most amazing relationships with the guys in our circle. He has a renewed passion for life and is filled with purpose. He leads us, loves us, cherishes us. I have a new husband!

The plane did crash....yes. I sometimes get mad that the plane had to go down. But I need to remember that I was pulled from the burning plane. I could have died in the flames. We could have died.....

God....please.....OPEN MY EYES ALL THE MORE! Show me your goodness in everything! Like you did today
Thank you