The Bane of My Existence

I have this horrible ability to attract unwanted creatures. It is the bane of my existence. I don't much care for dogs but for some reason they pick me out of a crowd and run straight to me. I once saw a huge mosquito-eater fly into our house and I thought, I bet I'll find that in my room later, and you guessed it! I found it just sitting on the wall of my bedroom. It's like they are attracted to the invisible but very obvious sign hanging around my neck that says, "I DON'T WANT YOU HERE! I HATE YOU!"

Well, spider season has started early here in Provo. One of the consequences of warm weather is that there are more bugs/creepy-crawlies out-and-about. A few nights ago, I was innocently sitting in front of my computer at my desk when I looked up and saw a brown spider crawling toward me. Letting out a hysterical cry, I grabbed the nearest shoe and planned out how best to crush it (because everyone knows that if you miss the spider the first time you attempt to squash it, it could either drop behind something where you can't reach it or it could start running around frantically, making it almost impossible to catch). Luckily I got it on my first try.

The next day, I was sitting in my living room when I saw a hairy black spider with orange flecks crawling up above our entertainment center. I promptly squished that one with a shoe and disposed of it outside. (There's kind of a funny story to go along with that one: I was trying to describe the spider later that night to my roommates and a couple of friends. "It was black and hairy and it had orange spots on its legs...it looked like a Mexican spider!" After they all busted up laughing and said things like "Who's the racist now?" I emphatically explained that such a spider really does exist. I don't want to have a picture of it on my blog so if you don't believe me, type Mexican Spider into google and you'll find several images of the Mexican Red-Legged Tarantula. The spider I crunched looked like a much smaller version of that.)

When I woke up yesterday morning, I saw a spider crawling down the wall toward my bed. That night, I crushed another spider that I found on the ceiling with my shoe. This very morning I flipped the switch in my room and there was a black spider on the wall not a foot from my face, its many eyes sparkling in the light.

At least they haven't shown up in the shower yet...and yes, I probably just jinxed myself :)