Howdy from Cowboy Country,
 
Thought I would share the latest from our house:
*The Case of the Mystery Stains*:
 
I have been rattled for a long time over mysterious yellowish stains that
have attached themselves to the left shoulder of at least fifteen of my
favorite tops.  They are the *stains from hell*, and are resistant to
overnight soaking in all "stain removers" such as Biz, Clorox Two,
Scrubbing Bubbles (this is great for grease spots on clothes) and other
similar products.  These spots are even resistant to straight Bleach
applied directly to the yellow spot on white tops.
 
In exasperation, I discussed this with fellow teachers who offered the
following suggestions: Was it a certain place these clothes were hung,
where maybe a leak from the ceiling above would drip on them?  But why just
the left side?  hmmmmmm.  *Did the spots ever smell of animal urine: a
mouse, or God forbid, a ferret's?* (the nostril test was the first thing
I applied at the onset of the mysterious spots, with negative results)...
hmmmm.  I spent several frustrating moments at the top of a ladder,
inspecting the ceilings above my clothes rods..This became depressing as
the months wore on, and my clothes wore out from all the spot removers I
had used. <sigh>.  The big question was still: WHY ONLY THE LEFT SHOULDER ?
My family grew weary of my complaining (it never happened to THEIR clothes),
and husband was disgusted at my last conclusion: this was a Twilight Zone
experience; a *spirit* playing tricks on me!
 
Every night little Fang comes to lay upside down near me when it is his
bedtime.  Being an only furchild, and spoiled rotten, Mommy (me) gets up
from whatever she is engrossed in, to start his bedtime ritual: I give him
his Ferretone (always at bedtime), we exchange nighty night kisses, then
he gets tucked into his blankie in his cage, he checks to make sure I have
remembered to bring his little food bowl (which is very special,as it
sports a sticker that says: "Fang you very much" from a Halloween Dracula
item, and has to be put in a certain spot in the kitchen during the day),
then gets his cage covered with a flannel sheet, and he snuggles in for
ferret dreams.
 
Last night, as I was carrying him to bed after his Ferretone Fix ; I was
inhaling the happy smell of his little warm body cuddled up against my
cheek where I always carry him, when the lightbulb went on!!!!  The mystery
was solved!!!!  It was a glorious insight that brought leaps of joy from
my very soul!!!  (my husband just said, "Thank God, this is over."):  He
always rubs his little whiskers on my shoulder, and it was the Ferretone
from his whiskers that left the mysterious yellow spots!!!!  Sure enough,
there were the NEW spots on my favorite New sweatshirt!  I soaked it right
away, thinking being speedy might make the difference.  But, noooooooo.
Then, before I went to bed, I tried the new Clorox Advantage for an
overnight soak.  Turned out to be a gift from Heaven.  Now I am going
through ALL of my tops with the yellow spots, and thought I would share in
case any of you out there have mysterious spots also!  Now, I will put a
little towel over my shoulder as I cuddle him after his Ferretone Fix.  Oh,
the stories we tell;we fuzzy mommies and daddys!  (Every yellow spot was
worth the cuddle time).
 
Happy Tails!!!!
Lizzi
[Posted in FML issue 2919]