A mite-y big problem

Smack dab in the middle of an otherwise uneventful day, I experienced a massive dust mite infestation.

Well, I guess the dust mites were there all along. I just didn’t know about them. Mind you, before yesterday my ignorance of said mites didn’t appear to be having a negative effect on my life. And conversely, their ultimate revelation initiated an extermination process that took about five hours.

I blame Oprah.

I didn’t see the whole show, but overriding topic appeared to be something along the lines of “you don’t even KNOW how disgusting your house is.” Great, like I need more to worry about.

But lo, the power of Oprah! After the dust mite segment, the teddy bear that sits on my bed was transformed in my mind from a treasured childhood toy, to an enemy fortress and breeding ground. All that between commercial breaks!

Apparently these dust mites live in our beds, pillows, sheets and anything else around our beds, like curtains and stuffed animals. They’re invisible to the naked eye, but they showed a picture of them under a microscope, and they were seriously disgusting. And they can make you sick!

So I did what any hypochondriac with the tendency to overreact would do. I pulled everything out of my bedroom and washed all the stuff that could be washed. Everything else was thrown in to the dryer in hopes of overheating and/or suffocating the vast colonies of dust mites that were thriving on my possessions.

I guess since it’s 49°F outside right now, Spring Cleaning in January kind of fits. Unfortunately, the warm weather is also awakening pest populations that shouldn’t be active until much later in the year. For example, in the midst of my dust mite extermination yesterday, I had to kill three box elder bugs. My battle on that front will continue today.

Don’t worry about me getting too caught up in it though. I’ll take a break around 3:00 -- that’s when Oprah’s on.