Day 42: Bed Bugs confirmed!

I know this blog is suppose to be about my journey of walking, but this affects me...it really does.

First, the thought that a bug is in my child's bed is....just....gross.

Second, I feel like a failure as a homemaker because I totally slacked on housecleaning trying to focus more on my children and their schooling. I feel like that plan totally bit me in the butt.

Third, I naively thought because we rarely stay in a hotel that we would be safe from the bed bug resurgence...I guess not. Did you know that bed bugs can crawl into your suitcase and take 2 or 3 months to crawl out and into your bed???? The last time we traveled was in October and we got hit at the end of December.....irritating.

Fourth, As with all things bugs - the vacuum cleaner is your number one friend (next to your exterminator and washer/dryer). The Orkin guy sprayed the beds, bed frames, and other areas today. I can start vacuuming on Saturday (I will probably wait until Monday). This means, instead of doing all the stuff in the plans, I get the opportunity to "Spring Clean" at least 2 bedrooms, but I will probably do mine as well. This spring cleaning will include everything in closets, drawers, plastic containers stored under the bed, curtains...yeah, everything. Bed bugs are so small that they will crawl behind picture frames, behind the plates of electrical switches, etc.. On top of the that, the carbon dioxide we breathe out is what attracts the little buggers to begin with. Sigh.

On a happy note, because I pulled apart bedrooms last week (but did not do clothes, curtains, closets, dressers or Rubbermaid containers under the bed) the Orkin guy thinks I killed a lot of them. A little tip, when vacuuming to get rid of bugs take out the vacuum bag or empty your canister immediately afterwards and take it out to the trash - bugs (bed bugs, fleas, lice, etc...) have been known to survive inside the vacuum cleaner and find a way to crawl out. Sigh.

So, I am going to walk because I have made a commitment, but my desire to walk has gone to the bottom of the to-do list. In fact, if this was my old self I would skip walking until this current little crisis was over and done with - my old self would see that half hour of walking as a waste of time. My new self, sees and understands the importance of walking everyday. Just not sure if the new self can talk myself into walking at the mall - the hour or so it takes seems like a waste of time!

Any thoughts????

Well, the old phrase, "sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" kind of takes on a different meaning for me...not sure I will be able to say it again....