Wee Beasties...

Yellow slugs: I know when they come out it is time for me to stop weeding.

Cave Crickets: Extremely disgusting and very good jumpers. They look like a cross between a roach and a cricket. I caught one in my bathtub the other night and Michael saw one in his room tonight, but didn't catch it.

Spiders: We haven't had any of the BIG mamas in the house yet this year, but last night I caught a small spider trying to make a web between the headboard of my bed and the dresser. Tonight there was an unusual gray one on the wall by the couch. It was very aggressive. When I tapped my finger on the wall it ran to attack instead of running away - probably a new species of killer.

Mousies: I finally saw the mousie tonight. I've been watching since Michael first saw it. Usually you find chewed open packages and mouse poopoo and can tell where to trap them. This one was under the sink where only storage dishes are stored. Maybe it's a little damp under there and it's a thirsty mouse. I set two traps. One under there and one in the food cabinet. Within fifteen minutes I heard a trap snap. I don't want to go look, though, It was so cute with its big eyes... I've always used peanut butter as mouse bait, but the natural kind you have to stir up first was a messy and runny deal. I'll have to get some Jif, despite the hydrogenated oil, if we continue to have mousies.

Centipedes: I haven't seen any more in the house, but I saw one in the garden a couple of days ago that was bright orange, so I knew not to eat it.

Fish: I cleaned the fish tank tonight. It has been on the list for about five days. I think they look a little peppier now.

Damn Dog down the street: It keeps yipping into the wee hours every night. I think I am going to go over tomorrow and ask her if she can take it in at night - try the nice neighbor approach first.

Cat: Emily has asked me to catsit Miss Kitty again until she gets a real job and gets settled. I don't really want to. I have asked her to please talk to Mandy first and find out even if Emily doesn't go live with Mandy and Casey if they want the cat. I don't know, though because Casey has a chest tube for her chemo and I know when Heather had a port for her dialysis it wasn't a good idea to have animals in the room while she was doing an exchange. People in the room were supposed to wear masks, even. I think the actual chemo actually takes place at the hospital, however, so maybe her chest tube would never be "open" at home. Maybe having a co-dependent cat like Miss Kitty would be nice for Casey. (I hope so!)

Positive thought: That there was only one mousie and it has already died a quick and painless death.