#1 Reason Why You Should Always Have Earmuffs Handy

BUGS. Yes, I said bugs. Last night I put my book away, turned off the lamp, and settled in for bed. Right on the verge of sleep, I felt something fall on/in my ear. As any normal person would, I flicked at my ear. Thinking the offender was gone, I attempted sleep again. Instead of sleep, I found a scratching/crawling/scrambling around IN MY EAR. The creepy thing about a bug being in your ear is that you can feel it AND hear it. This is the closest I hope I ever come to going mad. I hesitated to wake the hubby, knowing he would think I was having one of my crazy dreams. I tried jumping up and down and shaking my head vigorously. But, once I convinced myself that the bug was burrowing through to my brain, I leapt up and had a full on freak attack: thrashing, flicking, crying, and cursing. There's a good chance I would have let someone cut my ear off to get the thing out. Husband didn't run for the knife and responded much more rationally than I did.

Several years ago, a tweezer company sent a model with a light attached to a magazine I worked for, hoping we would feature the gadget in a column. As a silly parting gift, a co-worker gave me the tweezers when I left the job. Despite the "as seen on TV" gimmick, they aren't bad tweezers and I've used them ever since.

After husband tried to flush my ear with water, I told him to get the tweezers. I wanted him to see the bug so I could prove that I wasn't crazy. He turned off all the lights hoping the bug would come toward the light and out of my ear. After laying eyes on the bug and insisting I not move while the thing crawled around in my ear, he eventually grasped the thing with the tweezers and extracted it. Here he is:



Whole ordeal: 20 minutes. I had a bug in my ear for 20 minutes.

How on earth does one go back to sleep after that? Here's how:



FYI: After a thorough internet search this morning, it appears mineral oil or olive oil can be poured in the ear, left for 10 minutes to drown the bug, and then drained and flushed with warm water. That is, of course, if you don't have lighted tweezers.

Square One

1) My absolute favorite television show as an incredibly dorky 10 year old. I particularly loved the Mathnet segment. Only 10 year olds who also watched Dragnet on Nick at Night would recognize the clever parody. I know...dork...HUGE dork. I did have friends, but they all loved Square One as well.

2) My first complete knitted square. Actually not my first. The first two were were practice on a fuzzy yarn I didn't like. This one's the real deal on a nice cotton blend. Much softer. I knitted two strands together for extra thickness. I am sure this isn't "real" knitting language, but I am sure people will get the gist. I've got 11 more to go before I can stitch them all together to make a blanket. We shall see if this actually ever happens.