Francie has a pet

Yes, while in Atlanta, Francie picked up a little pet of her own. I named him Fred. I don’t really know if Francie has a name picked out for him, but since I don’t speak dog, I took the liberty. Actually, they’re quite inseparable. Fred is a tick.

When I got back from a conference and saw Francie for the first time, I though she had a little tumor or something. There was a small but noticeable growth on her face just below her eye. At first I thought it was one of those sleepy eye krusties. Then, Sara informed me that it was a tick. Honestly, I’ve never seen a tick this big.

We’ve been delaying the inevitable, but finally last night I went out to get some matches so we could do the "heat the needle and poke it in the hiney" routine. It’s what Sara does for all my ticks. After 20 minutes of wrestling Francie to the ground and charring the backside of this tick, I think he’s planning to stay. I then went the tweezers route and was unsuccessful without leaving Fred’s head in Francie. So, we’ll have to figure something else out. For now, Francie teaching him to sit and stay which he seems to do pretty good.