Centipedes, Spiders, and Slugs.... Oh My!

As I have mentioned before, Bill and I have been looking to move to an apartment when our lease is up in February. We have been fairly happy with the house we have been in, but among a number of other reasons, we trying to get away from some of the bugs.

If we move to an apartment above the fifth or sixth floor, we will reduce the number of mosquitos that get into our home. This last summer, we slept with mosquito nets on our beds, and Raid mosquito plug-ins in each room. Bill actually used bug spray when he woke up in the morning, so that he wouldn't get eaten alive in our STUDY. One night a mosquito (or two) got into Ethan's net, and he was bitten 69 times (yes, he counted.)

We also, frequently, have REALLY LONG centipedes in the house. Although they seem really cool to look at in books, or on TV, I haven't found them to intrigue me as much when they are skittering across my kitchen floor. They, actually, to put it mildly...... completely CREEP ME OUT! I think the children, judging by how quickly they jumped onto my bed the other day, have the same opinion as me. 

Then, there are the slugs. I had seen a few, almost "cute" slugs, on the street while waiting with the kids for the school bus. If you look closely, you can see their antenna, and I almost picture them singing, like in "Flushed Away." But, one evening, when our kitchen door was accidently locked (we haven't been able to find a key for it), Bill ran outside to go through the back door to unlock it, and did not take the time to put on shoes. Apparently, the slugs that frequent our patio at night, are of the extremely large, mutant, variety, and have an especially squishy, slide factor when stepped on.

We also have a spider, whose web is suspended between two bushes right outside our house, where the children wait for the bus. He hasn't bothered us in anyway, minding his own business and collecting all sorts of bugs in his giant web. But he is one of those large, white, spiders, much like the one who was in my car after my 20 week ultrasound, when I was pregnant with Ethan. Some of you may remember my story. My ultra sound technician was really mean, and I was pretty sure she morphed into this spider that I found above my head in the car, after I left (what else could it be.... I'd never seen a white spider before.) Driving down the road, looking for somewhere to pull over..... feeling it fall on my head....... getting out of the car and doing the "there's a spider in my hair" dance in front of a condo complexes lawn crew. Good memories.........

Last week we did find an apartment we liked, and if everything goes well, we will be moving sometime in February. We will be on the ninth floor. We are hoping to, at least REDUCE, the number of bugs and such, in our living space here.

For the record, it is also a better environment for the kids..... more friends, better facilities, less crazy taxi drivers, etc.