Sunday, September 26, 2010

Battle of the Bugs

Attack, Kill, and Destroy! These were the words going through my head each time I blasted another creepy critter with spray that would end their life and hopefully be a warning to the rest of their clan that Summer 2010 would be the end for them all. For about two weeks, I drowned the house in toxic fumes killing spiders, destroying their webs, and covering the outline of every entry way with a coating of poison that would kill them all.

Let me share some background information first: About four months ago the search was officially over. After a year looking for a "Replacement Friend" or one that would be the most like friends from home, I had found her. Once I made the "break-up" decision, I had to find a new place to live and quick so of course I turned to my number one resource Craisglist! She was the first post I read, so a few emails and one interview later, of course she picked me! Basically what I am saying is that my roommate of now going on 4 months is no other word but AWESOME because she is just like me in so many ways.

Independent, Career Driven, Not Boy Driven, Shopping, Nice, and just again I have to use the word AWESOME.

So here we are two girls living in her house as the beginning of summer approaches. Our first battle was with the lawn mower as this was my first time ever in life to cut the grass. We managed to overcome this task for two weeks until her ex was recently hired on for the position. What we both failed to remember was that when the summer comes, so do the bugs!

I still beleive that they all came overnight and attacked at once. One day we were fine, next day it was a battle to walk in the front door at night as they all hovered at the light entrance. It wasn't until I was bit by something (which I believe happened at work) and my foot swelled up so big that I couldn't even put a shoe on. This slow process eventually had me in urgent care getting a steroid shot in my booty which eventually caused the inflammation to go away.

Since I had seen a few spiders around the house, I assumed this is where I was bitten and so at that point REVENGE WAS MY MISSION! I bought two separate sprays. One would take care of the spiders and roaches and the other would kill the flying insects outside. During the first weekend, I can remember killing three spiders specifically! Most of my kills were on the front or back porch, but I did happen to catch a few crawling inside. After a week of this, I realized I had become a little crazy. I was getting an adrenaline rush each time I got in another kill. It was like I was that little boy I remember from my childhood pouring salt on the slugs and watching them dissolve away. I would spray and just stare at each of my victims as they died a slow death, hoping that they were in pain and all their friends were watching. This is so out of my character, but like I said it was Revenge!

I started to wonder, why after over 20 years of summers, this is the first time I felt like bugs were taking over my life. And then I realized, this was one of those jobs kind of like mowing the grass that I never had to deal with. My step-dad took care of it back when I was younger and I started to remember that my ex would buy spray when we lived together.

So the lesson learned is this. While tanning, blonder hair, and new bathing suits are a priority at the beginning of summer. Don't ever forget that preventing bugs needs to be somewhere on that list as well.