Back from China

Well, the three globetrotters are back safely from China.

One of the projects I took on while the husband was away in Hong Kong was to wash the pillow covers, duvet, etc. And then I stuffed them into garbage bags and put them all in the chest freezer--just in case those pesky little microscopic dust mites might have survived the warm wash and hot dry.

On the way home from the airport I mentioned to the husband that I had everything nice and clean (and frozen) and recommended, half teasing, that he strip down upon entry and allow me to wash everything, in order to eliminate any China cooties.

Then my sister-in-law piped up from the back seat. "You should see the bite marks he has on his back!" Maybe you can figure out what they are!" Oh no! Bed bugs, I thought.

So when he entered the house, he stripped off his shirt and pulled up his t-shirt, exposing, to my horror, the back pictured above. I had expected maybe 2 or 3 little red bumps.

"I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT," I shrieked.

They had to confess. He had been to an acupuncturist to try to relieve the (presumed) pinched nerve in his neck that had really flared up on the trip. The hickey-like marks on his back were actually from the suction cups that were attached. The doctor spent about an hour with him and charged him roughly $75 American.

They really had me--and my bragging about dealing with the dust mites was a perfect opening for them to punk me about the spots on his back.

He is not sure how much the treatment helped--but he emailed his doctor to hopefully get an appointment tomorrow--his phone died in Hong Kong, showing only a purple screen--not totally dead, but in hospice (his word) for sure--about the same color as some of those circles on his back.