Spring, Bosses, and Chicken Vents

Spring has been lovely so far, and it's barely begun.  I'm always happy just not being freezing cold, but it's even better than that-- everything is blooming and it's a delightful surprise to discover what's growing in my yard: daffodils!  Some pink flower that I haven't identified yet!  A rosemary bush!  A sage bush!  Mint that we can't seem to get rid of!  And all around my neighborhood the cherry blossom trees are blooming and willow trees are getting their soft green  leaves and I can hardly wait for everything to turn green and alive again.  {Happy Sigh!}

I have been really liking Charlottesville since we first decided to move here, but now that it's spring I absolutely LOVE it.  I love our neighborhood and I love going to the downtown mall and seeing all the people out for dinner.  I love the feel of it all.

But lest you think that our lives are absolutely perfect, I feel I should be honest and tell you about the one really awful thing here that completely blindsided us.

Currently, the fly in our ointment (so to speak), which I haven't blogged a word about, is Craig's boss.  She was hired at the same time Craig was, so he didn't interview with her or even meet her until after he'd accepted the job.  And even then, it took a couple weeks before we began to fully realize what a monster we had on our hands...  I could go on and on about just how nuts she is, but I doubt it would be all that interesting to you.  So to be concise, I will say that she's a bully, who cares only about the power she holds over people.  She's mean and nasty all the time.  And if that weren't bad enough, she's completely incompetent.  She wants everyone to do her work for her, and flies into rages-- leading to hours-long lectures-- every time anyone tries to do anything.  She has created the most toxic work environment imaginable.  And her favorite way to spend her time is by talking to Craig non-stop.  She has on occasion talked at him for over five hours.  In one sitting.

So, yes, she's terrible.  And I feel so bad for Craig because at this point there's not a whole lot that he can do about her (although he certainly has been trying anything he can think of).  I have resorted to praying for her to be fired while occasionally dreaming about poisoning her coffee...  You know, the Christ-like things one does when confronted with evil people.

Anyway, to give you the full idea of how bad she is, and then I'll stop talking about her, I will leave you with this one seemingly unrelated story:


On Kendra's birthday, I went outside to feed the chickens, and noticed that there was something seriously wrong with Quicksilver.  Her vents (that's actually the official term for a chicken's bum-- it's where eggs, feces, and urine all come out) were all red and irritated with the feathers missing, and she had poop stuck to the feathers beneath.  It was super gross looking and I felt terrible for our poor hen.  I called Craig and demanded that he come and help me out with this problem.  Since he was coming this way to bring cupcakes to Kendra's class anyway, this wasn't too hard to manage.

After cupcakes, we threw on grungy clothes and caught Quicksilver.  I held her under my arm while Craig poured warm water all over her backside (and me) and pulled the poop off from her feathers.  Then he smeared Vaseline all over the red area and we let her back to be with her flock, crossing our fingers that that would do the trick.  (It did.  She looks fine now!  Big sigh of relief!)

As we were washing our hands and changing back to clean clothes, I said to Craig, "Sorry you have to come home and help me deal with gross chicken butts."

"That's okay," he said cheerfully, "I'd much rather do this than listen to my boss yammer away at me all day!"


So that's where we are, folks!  With a beautiful spring all around us, life is almost idyllic here in Charlottesville.  Except for Evil Boss Lady.