Tom crashed on the living room couch last night as I went to work on my computer in the bedroom. Updating journals, proofreading old journals, studying Italian, completing offers and surveys for points/cash – that sort of thing. Next thing I know the place turns into quite a horror show as a huge centipede whizzes along the wall into the closet and out of sight. I sprayed the shit out of the closet but never did see it again.

Later I tried to convince myself it was ok to turn the lights off and that I need not have the willies. So I turned the lights off and relaxed in the dark for a while. Then I got up, turned the light on, and what should be waiting for me in the corner by my desk? Oh, just a big old cellar spider that’s harmless, but huge. They look like big daddy long-legs, and it’s the biggest spider I’ve seen so far since moving to California. I looked up Northern California spiders to identify it.

I then decided that we absolutely had to bomb and that the reason last summer didn’t seem so bad was that they bombed before we moved in. So I went to check and see what we had for bombs that are under the sink, and what should be waiting for me in there? Mouse number 12! Yeah, it was stuck on a glue board. So much for the bug spray and the rodent poison doing us any good. The mouse may be just a super cute annoyance, but giant centipedes and super-sized daddy-long legs aren’t my things.

I felt a little better when the sun came up, knowing that most of my creepy crawly nightmares are nocturnal, though it was still a little nerve-racking going to sleep knowing the centipede was still hiding in the closet.

Once I got up at 3:30, I decided it would be too many days before I was back on days, so we moved the rat’s cage through the slider and onto the porch at 8:30, then took off for just over an hour.

We walked through the parking lot along a strip of stores just to see what was around. I enjoyed the dry heat and the exercise. Exercising like I have been really makes a difference not just with big tasks, but with regular everyday things like browsing through stores. I can really feel a difference both in my stamina and my joints.

So we grabbed a few things we needed from a grocery store called Bel-Air which is kind of pricey. I’ve wanted to try chocolate-covered blueberries, so I got that, plus some milk chocolate/caramel cookies I shouldn’t have gotten and went down a pound. Yeah, I was shocked, although I haven’t gotten to the cookies yet. Just the chocolate-covered blueberries, which are wonderful, and the chocolate soda I also wanted to try. That was pretty good, too.

Then we got gas, came back here and sat in the car and talked for a while before we aired the place out and came back inside. Along with the rats, of course.

June is going to be my first month with absolutely no wins at all. Wow. Things have really changed, haven’t they? I’ve totally given up on sweeping.