Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Spiders - Ewwww!

I don't know about you, but I hate spiders.

Oh hell, why limit it to spiders. I hate bugs.

Still, spiders are up at the top of the hate list (just under those bugs that sting) and when I find one in my house, I get a little freaky.

On Sunday, one blonde spider happened to show up in my bathroom. It was up where the ceiling meets the wall. Too high for me to reach. Sure, I could have gotten a step stool, but I tend to be unsteady on those and I didn't want the thing to fall on me. And I know that would happen, because that's what always happens!

Better the spider stayed away from me. So as long as it stayed up there, I was okay with it.

Sort of.

On Monday morning, it was still there. As long as I could see it, I was fine.

On Monday evening, it was gone. I looked on all the wall space. Nothing. I looked at my cluttered countered and worried.

Could it have climbed into the vent on the ceiling? Could it have shimmied behind the mirror? Or did it crawl into my Kleenex box, or my jewelry box or any other open container I had on the counter (I said it was cluttered!).

I wanted to think it had left. I knew better.

This morning I flipped the switch and looked around the ceiling. My eyes were blurry, still getting used to the light, but no sign of the bugger. I looked at the walls. I looked at the floor. I looked everywhere. Nothing.

Once I finished doing what every other person does when they wake in the morning, I went and grabbed the previous day's towels to put in the hamper. As I walked by the light switch – there it was!

Yee gads! Did I almost touch it when I turned on the light? I could have sworn I checked that wall. But I can't imagine that spider moved that quickly. I shudder to think how close I came to touching it!!

I had towels in my hand, but I wasn't about to soil them that way. I grabbed the Kleenex box and squished the monster.

I am the spider slayer!

I can now breathe easier.

9 comments:

Anne Gallagher said...

I had to laugh. We have bugs here, bigger than cats. I hate those but they stay outside mostly.

I have a pet spider in my kitchen. Because we've had so much rain, ants crawl all around my sink. I've killed them, I've sprayed them, I've set off nuclear explosions to get rid of them, nothing worked. Until, one day, I moved my aloe plant to clean the counter and there I saw a lovely black spider. And under her web were hundreds of little dead ant bodies. I cleaned up the bodies and let the spider be. Don't want to take away her food supply, and I don't want to live with ants. Circle of life.

Anonymous said...

Stacy McKitrick, Spider Slayer and Author should definitely go on your business cards. :)

Despite a husband and two teenage boys in the house, I'm the bug-slayer in my house. I don't mind. Sure, I give a good girly scream and make faces. Then I whack it with whatever is closest (usually a shoe) and that's the end of that. Exception: Palmetto bugs. gack!

This state has the biggest cockroaches in the world. Suckers are like three inches long. AND THEY FLY. *shudder* My cat used to take care of them. Now Husband has to. I refuse to go near them.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Ann - I don't like ants, either, but they're more of a nuisance and I don't seem to have a problem squishing them with my finger! Luckily, we don't have an ant problem here (thank goodness!).

Stacy McKitrick said...

Hi Melissa!
I think palmetto bugs is the MAIN reason I won't move to Florida (besides the heat and humidity, too). In fact, I didn't even witness my first cockroach until I joined the Army (I can't imagine California doesn't have them, but they never existed in our house).

If a big flying bug came inside our house, my husband would have to take care of it. I just won't go near them!

Thanks for visiting. Hope you're enjoying my chapters!!

Todd R Moody said...

My wife won't come anywhere near spiders! The boys and I are the spider hunters in our house, but the big ones still give me the heebee jeebees!

Stacy McKitrick said...

Hi Todd!
I tried to get my husband to be the spider hunter, but he tends to lose them more than squish them - and I can't have that!!

Of course, if it was REALLY big, then I might reconsider.

I wonder what it is about spiders that just creeps us out??

Thanks for visiting and good luck in your studies.

Anne R. Allen said...

There seems to be a spider meme today. This is the second blogpost I've read by somebody who met a spider in the bathroom. And I discovered a major black widow colony behind a decorative plaque in my yard this morning. The day of the spider?

They terrify me, too. I've read that if you're scared of spiders, you have mother issues. (Snakes mean father issues) I wonder if they're signaling the dark side of Mother's Day...?

Linda Leszczuk said...

I came across a big black hairy spider one time when cleaning out some cabinets. I was armed with a can of buy spray so I gave him a big squirt. He responded by coming several steps in my direction. I sprayed him again. He seemed to be enjoying it, like a nice shower (I think I heard him singing). That's when I realized I was using the bug spray wrong...and I hit him with the can. Problem solved.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Oh Linda! Thanks for the laugh this morning!

I've used the Dow Scrubbing Bubbles before on spiders (it suffocates them - and leaves a fresh smell behind), but it doesn't work on the big ones so much. Using the can itself - why hadn't I ever thought of that? I love it!