R.I.P.

Today I am writing to commemorate the life, and death, of a creature who has become a member of our family. Our spider! She introduced herself on the Sat. before Thanksgiving. That was Nov. 22nd. We have kept her in a jar, peacefully building webs since then. Several times I have though she was dead, and she has gleefully surprised me. However, I never got brave enough to feed her. We started feeling guilty about torturing her this long, (nearly six weeks!) and Andy was considering walking out into the empty field next to our house and letting her go, but then I read that a female black widow spider was more poisonous then a rattlesnake - that idea got vetoed!

 Instead, she got flushed down the toilet. What a way to go... like a really fun waterslide! Wheeeee! 

 For some reason, I can't get any pictures to upload, but if you click on the link, you can see the older video and pictures. 

 And please, give a moment of silence and respect for our unwelcome, but educational, long time visitor. 

More spider!!!!

I know you guys are probably tired of hearing about this, but since I nearly had a heart attack, you get to hear it anyway, so deal.

 My spider is STILL ALIVE!!!

 I was showing her to my friend Christy on Monday, when she was over here for Gingerbread house decorating (homeschool co-op project, more on that later!) and Christy said, "I think it just moved". I didn't believe her, so I got really close to the jar, and that thing absolutely, without a doubt moved. As in, crawled all around, waved it's legs in anger at us, and freaked me out nicely. 

 So, here I am, back at square one. Still in possession of a very angry, very hungry, and NOT DEAD black widow spider. For now, it stays in a jar on my shelf. And yes, this is Wednesday, and I just checked again, and it is still alive. 

 It would be funny, if it wasn't so very NOT funny. 

More spider

I had no idea my spider was going to be such a big hit.

 Yes, she was a black widow. Yes, she was the biggest one I have ever seen. We have caught at least three since we have lived here. 

 When I was first trying to take her picture, I accidently had the camera on the video setting. Since she has been so popular, I decided to post my short little foray into "The life (and death) of Mrs. Black Widow". Luckily, it cuts off before you can hear me "cuss". (I was about to say crud, not the other word... )

 And Carrie, I feel the need to apologize. I gave you grief about the untimely death of your fish- then, when this spider was in my life, I was completely and utterly without any sympathy or grace. We left her in a Mason jar, without food, or possibility of escape, and went out of town. 

 Strangely enough, when we got back, a full week later, she was still alive. At least, Andy said she was. I didn't bother to get close to enough to check. I just told him to take care of it. 

 After all, husbands are good for those sorts of things, aren't they?!

 Anyway... I just wanted to apologize for giving you grief. I will promise not to judge your fish raising skills ever again, as long as you promise to give me any fish you wish to dispose of, okay?

 And spiders... well, spiders better just stay out of my line of sight!!

Post holiday catch-up

Anyone looking at my blog lately would think that I have nothing to say. 

 Let me assure you that is not the case. However, I have had absolutely no time to blog lately! It is very frustrating! I told Andy the other day that I was going to do a Lent type of idea for the Christmas season. Rather then give up meat, or chocolate, or caffeine, I think I will give up sleep. That may be the only way for me to get everything done! Since that is not a very realistic possibility, I am just going to have to cut some things off of my to do list. Since many things are "need" to do, and some of them are "want" to do, the needs have to come first~ who came up with that brilliant idea? I sometimes really dislike responsibility! 

 It is currently Tuesday evening - we got home from our Thanksgiving trip on Sunday evening (the normally 4 hour drive took 7, with the holiday traffic, rain and multiple wrecks). As of right now, two of our four suitcases are still packed. Does that give you an idea of what my last two days have been like? However, on a cheerier note, the Christmas tree is up, and decorated, and my boys had a blast doing it, so who cares if their clothes are still in suitcases?! 

 And, we spent two hours at the grocery this afternoon, and are now fully stocked with yummies. For you non-military people who don't know, the commissary is closed on Monday - since we got in late on Sunday, we have had to just make do with what was left in the fridge and freezer from last week for the last two days. It wouldn't have been a tragedy to go to Publix or anything, but I wanted to wait for my cheaper food - thus, we have been scrounging a little! 

 Here are, finally, the pictures from Thanksgiving. The spider is from the day we left - she was on the tarp with I grabbed to cover the back of the truck. Luckily, Andy saw her, and not me. I might have passed out, had I realized that I was holding her!! 

 I have several really bad pictures of Andy, but he was deliberately being non-cooperative, so I posted the pictures anyway. Laugh at him, then next time you see him, tell him to smile for the camera and stop being so difficult! 

 Doesn't that "roller coaster" ride look great? The boys were having such a great time, it almost made me wish we had some hills around here - almost. 

 I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful. Enjoy your blessings every day, not just on one Thursday of the year. 

Spiders and Playdough and Fires, Oh My!

I feel slightly Dorthy-ish right this minute. This trip has hardly started, and already I am singing, "Oh my". I should be prepared for adventures by now, right? I did grow up a Binkley, and have spent the last 7 years as a military wife. Surely I should know....

Mom and I got less than 3 miles from my house when am ENORMOUS, HUMONGOUS, LIFE THREATENING, TEXAS SIZED (Okay, I might be exaggerating a tiny bit) spider dropped from the ceiling of her car directly in front of her face. While she was driving.
I think that if you were someone on the outside watching, it was probably a really funny thing to watch. She and I are both screaming. At first she thought it was a wasp, so she rolled down her window, and the wind is whipping through the car, blowing our hair, and the spider everywhere. Mom pulled the car over, and I jump out, grab Zion's coloring book out of his hands and run around to the drivers side. By this time the spider had crawled back up to the ceiling, and every time I try to swat at him, I miss, because I am standing outside the car, and he is conveniently curled up in a corner inside the car and I can't see him at all! Mom finally grabs the book and swats the thing out the door and I see him nonchalantly stroll away, like he hadn't a worry in the world.
So, I might have exaggerated his size a little, but he was big enough for me to see him nonchalantly stroll away - under the car - so I only exaggerated a little.

I suppose the whole incident only took about 90 seconds, but it sure was a heart pounding way to start the trip!

We met my sister and her husband for supper at the Sweet Tomato's at Barrett Pkwy. That is always fun, since Emilee can't actually eat anything, and Kevin doesn't eat vegetables. I guess they met us for supper, since they just sat and watched us eat! It was actually kind of convenient though, having extra adult hands. Emilee is getting all kinds of mommy practice! If nothing else, she is learning that once you have kids, you can no longer go anywhere without wipes in your purse.
Let me restate that. You can go places without wipes in your purse. I just don't recommend it.

Zion was sleeping when we got to Mom's house last night, so at 6:15 this morning he woke up and didn't know where he was, or how to find me. That was fun!
My Mom and Dad have put in a new hardwood floor in their kitchen since the last time I was here. (Which was actually a project that Emilee and Kevin did - aren't they good children?) They are beautiful. The floors look fabulous in her kitchen. I hate them.
Why you may ask? Because I have already had to pick playdough out of them with a toothpick, and I have been here less than 24 hours. Who knows what joyful and lovely junk my two year old will decide to stick in the beautiful decorative "cracks" next. My Mom's house isn't kid proof any more.

Last story... I promise.
I decided to make bread this morning. My dad has been in India all week, and my Mom has either eaten out or at a friends house pretty much the entire time, so there was in her fridge, exactly: 10 eggs, 8 mini yogurts, a bag of apples, multiple condiments,(ketchup, sour cream, mayo, etc) milk (expired) juice (expired), shredded cheese, cottage cheese (expired), a pack of tortillas. That's it. So, the expired milk smelled okay and I figured it would be fine in bread. I found a pack of yeast, some butter, eggs. I went out to the garage to grind some wheat in my Daddy's vita mix. I put the wheat in, turned it on, then went back inside. Then, I got distracted. Later, the phone rang. After about 10 minutes, I remembered.... THE FLOUR!!!!
The smell of burnt wheat is horrendous, in case you ever wonder. It is not the same as burnt bread. The machine just runs so fast, and so hard, that if you leave it running, it just disenegrates the wheat, and eventually burns it. I don't know why. I have done it before, and I will probably do it again. That is the price you pay sometimes for fresh ground wheat--- a really stinky garage.