I wouldn't consider myself a sissy girl. You know, the girl who needs who hair perfectly coifed (my natural genes don't allow for that anyway), nails done, makeup on, etc. I like being outside, wearing jeans and a baggy sweatshirt, and my idea of a perfect date is going to a fun sports pub, ordering a nice juicy cheeseburger, bacon on it would be the creme' de le creme', and a coke. With fries.
And if we could throw in watching a baseball game in the cheap seats afterward I'd feel like a million bucks.
The one an only way I feel like a big wussy is when it comes to bugs. Bugs, reptiles, things that don't have fur and walk or fly gross me out and elicit shrieks and girlish jumping with hands waving and gagging. Involuntarily.
So imagine my delight when our home here in the "state for Lovers," seems to be a refuge for wayward critters.
John & I were heading out of the house to run some errands and I went and turned off the air conditioner. Once it was turned off I continued to hear this extremely loud buzz. Upon further inspection I found this guy flying around our windows. Initially I thought it was a wasp but, no, turns out there are flying ants in this world. And this guy found his way into our home. The fly swatter didn't cut it. I'll spare you the details but John shuddered at the end of our flying ant's life.
Three frogs have found their way into our comfortable home. One made it out alive by freaking me out as he was jumping with his incredibly long legs and sticky fingers into my face and out the back door. Two were not as lucky as they apparently found a nice toasty spot to sit and roast. And I was not so lucky by sweeping and finding their toasted selves looking at me.
This was the pinnacle of the critters showing up in our house. This guy is called a five-lined skink. He is a great bug-catcher so maybe we should have kept him in the house but I didn't appreciate lifting up a pillow and seeing him crouched there staring back at me. John was home, thank goodness, so he could use his ninja skills to catch him and lovingly
throw show him the way outside. After reading more about him we are thankful that John didn't grab him by his tail as they immediately separate from the body as a defense mechanism.
This is Mr. Toad and he lives outside our backdoor. He keeps growing. I sometimes dream about a giant toad staring at me from the back door.
This guy was sitting by our kitchen table today. He was enormous. And I told the kids (because John was at work) that I needed them to cheer for me because I had to be brave and I didn't really want to be. I started with the long tube of the vacuum hose to try to get him to move. He just turned and stared at me. Seriously. He was a very curious critter who wasn't in a hurry to cooperate. Then I tried the handle of a broom. And then I got braver and got a much smaller piece of paper that he would (hopefully) crawl onto and then I could show him the door. It worked and I felt courageous as the kids chanted, "Go, Mommy, Go! Go, Mommy, Go! You can do it!" And we totally did a round of high-fives when he successfully wandered away into the grass.
I wish I were the mom who collected these things for a cool bug display in our house where the kids could watch their habits and learn cool things about the creatures in the wild. But alas I am the mom that involuntarily screams and moves to higher ground. And then tells my kids how silly it is that mommy just screamed at the harmless slimy critter that surprised her. And then encourage them that they will be so much braver and cooler than me. Fingers crossed they will believe me someday.
