My Week From Hell. Seriously.

Ok, so I already wrote about how I had jury duty scheduled to begin on Monday the 12th. And the rest of the week was pretty packed as well. Sunday I FINALLY received the Girl Scout cookie order, so I spent the day sorting it out into X's part and then further sorting my part into all the different orders and arranging them by delivery, etc. And sadly, this was fun for me. The last bit of real fun I anticipated for the week. 'Cause here's what else I had going on:

Monday: Jury duty. Need I really say more? Oh, and cookie deliveries after, once I had picked up the kids. (thanks Ro!!!!!! who was watching my kids) Oh, and MEA's started for Mark.

Tuesday: no jury duty scheduled, but I had a Brownie meeting until 4:30, then at 5 baseball signups, then at 7 Mark's basketball recognition dessert.

Wednesday: possible jury duty. and a school volunteer meeting at 6pm.

Thursday: therapy, if jury duty didn't cancel it.

Friday: no school for kids, no jury duty either, but a Brownie meeting at 9am to decorate cupcakes and then deliver them to the Coast Guard. (this, by the way, is a FIVE HOUR THING scheduled for first grade girls. I am thinking our Brownie leader is either insane or seriously into masochism.)

Saturday: Girl Scout cookie booth, Kira's time slot is 1-2pm.

And also in there I needed to deliver all the rest of the cookies, preferably as early in the week as possible since people have been waiting since January for them.

SO. Naturally Sunday night I was not sleeping well, as I was totally stressed out about the jury stuff ALONE, not to mention trying to figure out how I was going to fit all the other crap in there.

AND THEN.

At 1:32 am ('cause I was awake), there was a god-awful yelping/screaming noise right outside my (open) bedroom window. It sounded like the death of some kind of animal (and in fact I looked out there the next morning expecting blood on the snow, but there wasn't any). That was obnoxious enough, but then a moment or two later, I got blasted by a horrific eye-watering scent of SKUNK. It was AWFUL. Apparently the yelping was an animal that had startled the skunk (or possibly plural...really, it smells like there was a little army of the suckers) that LIVES UNDER A SECTION OF MY HOUSE!!!!

The smell ended up working its way through my ENTIRE house, most particularly concentrated in my bedroom and the playroom/storage on the first floor (it's pretty much a playroom in name only, as the kids haven't been able to play there in years). The dining room/living room got hit pretty good, too. The kids' bedrooms got it only marginally.

And of course, I had jury duty that morning, so there wasn't a lot I could do about it. Got the kids on the bus and headed out.

And that is when I realized what a funk I was carrying around with me. It was nasty. I ended up having to apologize to everyone who was sitting in a two-row radius around me, all day. (Febreeze did not help. I had tried it before I left, and also again at the lunch break.) An elderly woman who was sitting behind me leaned forward, tapped me on the shoulder, and gave me a little sampler of Chanel.

After an excruciatingly long day, I got home to a message on the answering machine from school, which turned out to have been a request to bring different jackets for the kids, as they smelled so bad they had to be put outside. Of course, even if I *had* gotten home before 4:45, I would not have been able to do that, since all the kids' OTHER jackets were in the playroom that got hit worse than the dining room where the jackets they wore that day had been.

So I ended up grabbing kids and some clothes, and abandoned the house to go to my parents'. Where we stayed the remainder of the week. I have done a lot of work this week in between all the other scheduled crap to try to rid the house of *most* of the odor, so it's at least liveable. Last night I actually stayed here overnight (without kids, who are with X). It's tolerable, but I also know that I now smell of skunk again. And I still can't sleep in my bedroom, even though there have been open windows and fans running constantly since Monday. (did I mention that it RAINED Wednesday and Thursday??) Last night I slept in Kira's room. And I think the girl deserves a new mattress, hers is NOT comfortable.

I have NOT been having a good week. It's feeling a little better right now, even though I am still in skunk hell, but at least I got a little time to myself yesterday afternoon, which I hadn't had all week, with the running around and the cleaning whenever I *wasn't* running around, and the staying at my parents' house. I've been feeling very displaced and discombobulated all week, and just being able to be by myself for awhile has gone a long way towards restoring my equilibrium. So that when I'm writing this, I'm really finding myself unable to really express just how hellish the week has been, because it's just not as bad right this minute. Bad, yes. As awful as I felt yesterday morning? No.

So, plans for the day: cupcake decorating this morning (I flat-out bailed on the delivery portion). Mark is staying at X's all weekend (dog duty, mostly, while D. sleeps), so it's just me & Kira till Saturday night. We're likely to get weather to cancel the cookie booth tomorrow (which does NOT break my heart at all). More cleaning of house after cupcake decorating, including hopefully going into the bedroom and getting started on making it habitable.

For right now, I desperately need a shower (like that'll help much, as I'll still be in skunk air after the shower, but still).

By the way, things that will help after a skunk attack outside your home: apple cider vinegar, charcoal briquettes, coffee grounds, baking soda, tons of Febreeze, circulating air (open windows, turn on fans). Rumor has it also Massengil douches, but I haven't gone there. Apparently tomato juice does NOT help. If you have an animal (thankfully I do not anymore), you can clean it with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dish detergent. (there's lots of recipes for it on the web, just google) This solution might bleach your animal's fur, but it beats the hell out of skunk smell. Nature's Miracle Skunk Odor Remover is another option, but it's a little pricey. (although when a skunk hits, you really stop thinking about prices and just want the smell GONE) Removing the skunk is an obvious preference. (which again, I haven't gotten to yet). Skunks are reputed to hate the smell of mothballs, so putting mothballs in the area of their suspected den should drive them out. (really gotta get to that)

OK. Shower. mk