Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Spiders and Such

So I found three poisonous spiders on our back patio in the last week or so. . . yikes. One was a black widow, and two were brown widows. Have you ever heard of these? They're brown (obviously) and a little smaller and more venomous than the black variety (yay). Apparently, all spiders are "poisonous," but these dudes are like the Godfathers of the other ones. You could actually die from a bite if you don't get to the hospital stat, and lots of people don't realize exactly what's happened unless they see the darn thing. My rather attractive (alright, really good-looking) bug man told us there's not a whole heckuva lot we can do about them, since you have to have a "direct kill" to get rid of them. Inside the house looks uncontaminated by pests, but I have 3 little ones, so I didn't want to do the whole spray-the-heck-out-of-everything-just-in-case scenario. Instead, we tried to knock down any webs we could see, eliminate the environments they like -- underbrush, piles of things we haven't pulled out and used in a while, small dark places -- and if we see one, kill it (sorry little Italian mob bosses).

No more scary spiders so far, but it did get me thinking about the habits of these bugs. They are reclusive, and they don't bite unless provoked. They also let everyone know they're evil with the red/orange areas on either their backs or bellies. It's like a "don't mess with me, sucka" warning sign. If only the other evil in the world were so courteous. Don't you see people who get caught up in terrible stuff? Unknowingly, they're lured in and take the bait. Then, months later, they are in a pickle. Friends of ours got sucked into a sales idea that's pretty much a pyramid deal (you know -- get your friends to sell this and you can just sit back and watch the money roll in -- right). I know, you thought I was going for drug abuse, alcoholism, or insert deep dark sin here, and I guess that's true too. But I'm thinking of the other evil out there. The way your brain starts to accept backward ideas about things and you don't realize you are becoming a different person. Maybe it's a certain person's opinion or an entire world view that seems innocent enough. One day you wake up and realize all the time you've lost being an idiot. Maybe it's just me. At least widow spiders give you a heads up, that's all I'm saying. You're know you're messin' with danger with those little boogers.

On a very unrelated but more upbeat note, my little boys are now 6 months old! Their aunt Neen called to wish them a happy 1/2 birthday yesterday, and until then I had sort of forgotten. I try so hard not waste energy worrying about them -- they're in God's hands, and they are little miracles no matter what happens. Jack has started to really get into his toys, and Woody's slowly getting to be himself again after surgery. I can't wait to start their physical therapy -- we've waited so long to get that started. I know Ellie is excited she can make them laugh and keep them happy now. She won't know what to think when they start to become more mobile. She calls them both Jack . . . half the time she's right!

6 months old . . . half a year . . . 182.621099 days . . . I just read an article about a guy who was sentenced to six months in jail for yawning. He was in court and charged with contempt (he wasn't even on trial). Wow. What would he have gotten if he had farted? Sorry.

This was also the first week of Ellie's preschool. She absolutely loves it; she tries to tell me everything she does, and I don't understand a word of it, since she talks so fast. All I can catch is that she "pways with fwends" and "take tuhns." Chris can recall going to Pre-K and telling his mom he would "go to school forever". It's so true -- if not school, then work . . . for the rest of your life. What's with the long sentence? It's not like we yawned in court.

1 comment:

Adriane said...

I can't believe they are all ready six months old! I love reading about Ellie, Woody, and Jack. Oh, and I lol at the thought of a man sentenced to time in jail if he had passed gas!