Escape from Grey Gardens

4 days...eek.
Called bank, credit card, confirmed flights and apartment, made packing list, still working on paper, have done lots of things for work since I get back the day after classes start and am missing chairs & directors retreat, department orientation week, etc. I am apt to have professional whiplash along with jetlag upon return.

But meanwhile Grey Gardens LA & its inhabitants, animal and mineral, are doing their best to clutch at me and make it harder to leave. Ergo the title of my blog.

To wit: today the car died. Hopefully it is just the battery. Gary's out getting one now. The truck is unreliable and on a short leash. I would not, for instance, trust it to ferry me to the airport.

One of the dogs is sick. I came downstairs an hour or so ago to find one of them had been violently ill on one of the (just washed) dog beds, the floor, part of a rug, continuing into the parlor. I think it's Beckett since he was closest, but I heard nothing and I can't be sure. So I am watching them all closely now, which makes getting stuff done difficult.

2 or 3 days ago I woke up to find I had bites all over. I thought it was mosquitos, since with all the demolition and comings and goings of workers there have been lots of opportunities for te little devils to get into the house. But as it turns out, it wasn't--it was maybe worse: fleas. I was feeding the kitties yesterday and happened to look down at my white pant leg to see lots of little dots hopping around. Yeesh, yuck. I just got in the shower with my clothes on, then had to go on a cleaning tear: washed all the dog beds and toys, the kitchen rug, all our bedding (since Hattie gets in our bed so much), all in hot hot water, vacuumed all the rugs, etc. ad nauseum... The dogs get Advantaged once a month and weren't due for a week, but I did them anyway. Careful examination yielded only one flea on Hattie, and I mooshed it--it was already dying from the Advantage. The fleas are horrible this year, since we had no hard freeze last winter and it's been hot and damp for 3 months solid. But I think the real issue here is the kitties, because they have not yet been treated and I am not sure I can take on the responsibility of having them right now. They live on the porch, and the porch is hopping with fleas, and you have to go on the porch to get in or out of the house. Gary's going to spray the porch later, but I don't know how long that will last. Hattie has lost her place in the people bed, at least until we get this in hand for sure.

I'm torn on the kitties. They follow me around like I'm their ma, and they are sweet and funny and need a home, but since I am so allergic I will never be all that affectionate with them, and they will have to live outside, thereby being exposed to all kinds of dangers. I'm not too attached at the moment to say goodbye, although it will be sad. Gary's taking a day to decide. Our vet bills are already outrageous, there's that to consider too, because I will not own an animal without it getting good vet care--spaying, neutering, shots, flea treatment, physical exams, heartworm medication, etc. I think I need to sort this out before I leave. They may have to go to the shelter tomorrow, dammit. I feel very guilty about this, but honestly, we don't ask people to dump animals out here. The fleas bites are itching horribly--I seem to have an allergic response to them, they swell up and itch like mad, so I'm doped up on Benadryl and coated in calamine lotion. I can't help associating the itching with the guilt. But maybe it's telling me, time to figure out what to do about the kitties for real. Feeding them and watching them go from scared and starving to frisky and plumping has been nice, but that's not all they need.

Bad things come in threes, so that's it: dog sick, car died, fleas.
Wait, I forgot, the phone went out--just the phone, it's not affecting the alarm or the DSL, so I think it's something to do with the bathroom reno, some wire or another got disconnected. But anyway that's four. Does that mean I have another 2 coming?

Grey Gardens LA, let me go!