Spider Ninja

We had dinner with Momma C (The Husband's mom) for her birthday this past week and I was reminded of a funny story. For reasons that would take too long to explain, Momma C was living with us for a short time when we first got married. This story is about the day she saved us from the creepy-crawly stranger who invaded our home.

So, the house we lived in was a very tiny place with only one small bathroom. In order for things to run smoothly, Momma C usually let us get up, get ready, and leave the house before she got ready for the day. On the day in question, The Husband and I had already left and Momma C was heading to the bathroom to shower.

Now most of us don't think twice when getting into the shower, but as she tells it, she had an overwhelming feeling to pull back the shower curtain and actually look into the shower before getting in. Good thing/God thing.

A good-sized tarantula had decided to hang out in the shower area that day. Momma C totally freaked out and waged war on this unsupecting creature. The Husband got home before me and so he found the note on the toilet that said, "Dead spider - do not look in tub."

Well of course he had to look. Spider bits and legs were all over the place. Apparently, Momma C and not only killed this creature, but completely mutilated it in the process. The Husband described a picture of blood and legs all about the tub. He made sure to clean it all up before I got home.

In her defense, she was doing this for us all. She said she knew that if she just ignored it, it would end up somewhere else in the house and probably scare one of us (most likely me) to death in the middle of the night, and as we never had spider problems again, I claim that the word spread quickly about the spider-ninja in our house.

Susy Home-maker I am not

All joking aside, I am really lacking in on the home-front. When I do actually clean, it usually isn't even done very well. However, I am getting better in the baking/cooking department. Thank goodness! Life would be pretty bad if I was 100% horrible at my job (Yes, as a stay-at-home mom, this is my job.)

As it turns colder, I get these unstoppable desires to bake and cook delicious things. As I looked in my fridge today and noticed the bunch of over-ripe bananas, I decided it was time to bust out some banana bread - no nuts this time...didn't have them in the house. Making the 6 loaves (it was a big bunch) reminded me of the first time I ever made banana bread.

I got the recipe from my grandmother because she makes THE BEST banana nut bread. I got all the ingredients out. Greased and floured my pan. Followed the directions to the letter. Baked two beautiful looking loaves of bread. Then I cut into them.

There were all these round, medallion-looking things inside my banana nut bread. What the heck? My grandmother's bread never looked like that. As I run through my mind trying to figure out what I did wrong, it hits me..."Crap! I bet I was supposed to mash the bananas before I baked it." I know that seems so simple that it is hard to believe that someone would actually bake banana bread without mashing the main ingredient up, but I was that dumb. What's worse is that I was actually out of college - so like 23 or so when this happened. Yikes...perhaps I should have taken one of those home ec classes in high school.

Regardless of how it looked, it tasted fine and the two loaves were promptly eaten by The Husband - who at that time was The Boyfriend. Just goes to show that it's hard to screw up a baked good so much that there isn't someone who won't eat it.

Distant Dentist Memories

Since I'm on memory lane, I thought I'd go ahead post another. A few days ago, I was listening to a friend talk about their recent visit to the dentist. My mind did what it always does when I hear the word "dentist"...retreats to the dark corner in my brain where my most humiliating memories live.

So, I was about 5 when I went to the dentist for the first time. Maybe 4, but young nonetheless, young and TERRIFIED! I went with my grandmother to her dentist. We had just moved from the wilderness - literally...park your car at the bottom of the hill and hike up to the log cabin without running water - to Austin, Texas. My grandmother decided it was time for me to go to the dentist and off we went.

Now days, there are all kinds of dentists for children, with colorful walls, toys, pictures to distract them, etc. When I went, that was not a popular trend. Looking back, I'm sure his office was a standard set up, but to me, it might as well have been hell.

I was already pretty nervous, not knowing what to expect, but when they took me back to the exam room I lost it completely. The first thing I saw was the chair with a light directly above it, followed immediately by a drill on the side table. That's pretty much all I remember. Within seconds, I was under the chair, trembling in fear. Then as the dental assistant attempted to get me out, I started a marathon of running to different places to hide in the room. No desk, chair, or machine was off limits. I was (and still am) a scrapper. I screamed and hollered and threw a total fit. I'm sure people in the waiting room thought I was being tortured.

The dentist took all this surprisingly well. At least I assume he did. He ended up being my dentist till I moved from away from the Austin area 11 years later and yes, he would frequently remind me of my first visit.

I recently asked my current dentist the age he would suggest I take The Wee One in, and he said that 3 is the average age. That's about a year away and I find myself thinking how I want to approach the situation so as to best prepare her. Thank goodness I have some time.

Planning for the future

Okay, so I admit that I am a little obsessive about the "practical things" in life. I like to be prepared. I like to be organized. It is odd that for as organized as I like to be, I can't keep my house clean. I mean really, it is only clean when we have company coming and it is a wreck the rest of the time.

Anyway, over the years I have gotten even more particular about getting my personal business in order. You know, things like wills, life insurance, retirements, college funds, etc. Part of this is just my practical approach to life. I've always been that way. The other part is that I have witnessed enough to know that life is unpredictable. I have a strong faith in God, and I believe that He has a plan for me. But, since I don't know what that plan is, I also believe that it is a wise use of the brain God gave me to prepare as much as I can for those things that I can't control. What I want is to know that I have done what I can to prepare for my future and the future of my family and then to not worry about it. For me, knowing it's all taken care of gives me freedom to not stress and worry.

Here's the catch - if you really want to do that stuff well you have to keep up with it. I just finished taking care of some life insurance for myself and thought I had everything on my checklist finally complete. Then today I get a letter saying the fund we have set up for college for The Wee One is drastically changing and we need to consider what we want to do with that account. Gheessh! Oh well, I would rather know that things are in order and taken care of, even if that means I need to keep on it. So, here's a little push to all of you...do you have affairs in order? It is worth looking into, I promise.