Bleck!

So, I am not sure when it started. I hate bugs! I mean HATE bugs.

Since I was young, I have been terrified of spiders. I remember in grade school and high school, waking up at night to find a small wood spider on my wall. We lived in a wooded area so it is not surprising these little creatures would find their way into our house. I would go downstairs and wake my father up to kill it because I would not be able to fall asleep knowing it was in my bedroom...somewhere. Just so you know, my bedroom measured 20 feet by 19 feet. It was half of the ENTIRE upstairs so the odds of the spider actually making it over to me, without being sidetracked with something more exciting than a terrified teen, were low at best. Nonetheless, dad would come and kill it so I could get my much needed beauty rest.

I am afraid this spider aversion escalated into ALL bugs.

In Chicago, we had silverfish and house centipedes. You, know those disgusting things with the thousand legs and when you kill then its like they were never there. UGH...those things creeped me out and DAMN could they run fast. No matter how much dusting, cleaning, spraying we did we always had a few throughout the year.

I would say the most difficult part of my move to NC are the bugs. Palmetto Bugs my ass. These suckers are cockroaches the size of Mini coopers. They have nothing to do with cleanliness...they just live here ALL the time. Obviously, they mostly come out in warm weather so I get a brief reprieve in the winter months. When I moved into my house, it had been vacant so they were not happy to find out that a new tenant arrived. I SCREAMED the first time I saw one. No roommate to bribe into killing it either. After 1000 sprays of Windex it was dead and I was finally breathing again.

I quickly learned that all southern homeowners have three things: a plumber, a handyman and a pest person. My pest person is Amy. I have her on speed dial...seriously. She comes once a quarter to spray and if I see one any other time, she will come again for FREE. I love her. I gave her a Christmas present to show her how happy I am to have her in my life. She has made adjusting to southern life quite pleasant.

But now I have a new foe...a small, tiny one that I can barely see. The TICK! Bleck! YUCK!

We went hiking on Saturday. It was warm and sunny and it felt great to be outside. Upon arriving home, Christian shared that she had found some ticks on her. I instantly went to panic mode, jumped in the shower and washed all over. I even made Michael do a tick check for me. I got the all clear and breathed a sigh of relief.

Fast forward to Sunday morning....I was getting ready to get in the shower when Michael noticed something on my side. I couldn't look so I shut my eyes and cried. I had a tick...on me! He went through the proper procedure of getting nail polish remover and applying it so that Mr. Tick would pull off easier and not leave behind its head...ugh. It hadn't done any damage but I was horrified. I showered again...did 15 more thorough tick checks and crossed my fingers there were no more. Not quite sure if this incident has ended my summer hiking plans but I'm damn sure I'll be buying stock in tick repellent.