Spiders

I hate spiders. I dislike them even more since it is believed that I was bit by a brown recluse last summer. They just aren't my friends.

That being said, Will, the bug enthusiast, came to Allan and I and told us that there was a Black Widow spider in our water meter. I obviously was not about to check things out. Allan gave Will the old "OK, we'll check it out later" response. To be quite blunt, neither of us believed the child.

The next day, after hearing about this Black Widow in our water meter a million times, Allan decided to go take a look see. Given that Will IS a bug enthusiast, I have to ask myself, "WHY did we not believe him and check it out immediately?" Lo and behold, there really was a Black Widow spider in that water meter. Scary! Allan disposed of it and life went on.

No joke, not two days later, I was working in the flower bed, donning my flip flops, when I caught something out of the corner of my eye, down by my feet. I moved on, but then came back. What I saw freaked me out. It was ANOTHER Black Widow, with an egg sack tucked into the bottom of a tree stump!!!! I quickly used an entire can of wasp spray trying to make that nasty thing die.

Now, here we are, a couple of weeks later and Will came running like a lunatic, requesting that I check out the spider on the zip line. I should have learned my lesson the first time. I didn't and put him off once again. It just happened that I went to use the zip line and found this gigantic orange, black and white spider hanging from it. Will and I did some research and found that it was a type of garden spider. It looked like the picture below.

I know spiders do good, but I wish they did it in someone else's yard.

I Played Football!

Tonight was an absolute riot at Will's football practice. As usual, I parked my chair alongside the other mom's and started up our usual mom banter (yes, I admit that it is banter). Not long into practice, the coach pointed at myself, his wife and another mom and requested our presence on the field. We women, along with about 5 dads, played against the kids. All I can say is, Thank God I wore my sneakers tonight!

We had a BIG time and the boys just LOVED it! I feel that it is only right that I divulge all information about my playing abilities - or lack thereof! I managed to knock a ball away from a receiver, miss a ball that was thrown directly at me, and lunge at a boy that only came up to my kneecap to take away his flag. The kids got a lot of giggles out of a mommy being laid out on the grass to get a flag!

This was, by far, the most fun football practice that Will and I have ever been to. And we both concurred on the way home. You bet kids keep us young!