The dreaded word...SPIDERS

And that's exactly what it is..the dreaded word. The word alone makes my skin crawl. I can honestly say there isn't TOO much I'm affraid of in this world but Spiders are one of them. Most of you that know me have either heard of incidents or actually been a first hand witness to me having an absolute breakdown over seeing them. Most people ask me "What's the big deal Trudy, they're smaller than you!". Or "Why are you so freaked out by them? They are a good thing cause they kill other nasty bugs". My response to that? I DON'T CARE, period. They are creepy and gross, end of story.
Well, I wanted to give a little history on why I become hysterical and sweaty palmed.
When we were younger, we lived in this house that was near the beach and deep in the woods, both of which make a perfect home for the notorious Wolf Spider. These things are huge, hairy, and frightening...especially to a little girl. They were in our house all the time and on cue everytime I saw one, screamed bloody murder, my mom came running, and killed it. It was traumatizing.
Fast forward about 15 years. I'm living with my aunt and uncle in the basement of their house that is #1 on the lake #2 in the woods. Are you getting the idea here? Yes, I was once again faced with the wolf spider. I'm not kidding when I say these things were the size of small baseballs. I have friends that will testify! SO, at the ripe age of 23 I would call a friend or my mom crying..yes, crying and saying I can't kill it cause I can't get close enough, but I can't go to sleep knowing it's there either. What do I do?!?!? Thank God I did have an awesome cat who loved to hunt them (rather, I trained him) and so the ones on the ground were easy..it was the ones on the ceiling that were awful. So, my aunt and uncle had this pontoon party boat. One fine evening we decided to cruise around the lake with cousins and some friends. Dogs were tied onto the front, some folks in the middle, and me in the back reading a magazine. I feel something on my leg. I look down to see on my BARE LEG is a giant spider. I jump up, scream like I just got stabbed, and start dancing like I'm from an african tribe. The entire boat stands up cause nobody knows what the heck is happening and the front of the boat starts going under the water. The dogs heads were barely floating when we all race to the back of the boat to level it out. Water comes gushing up on the boat and soaks everyone. Boat is safe, spider is gone, and everyone is staring at me. I think I just said something very meakly like.."sorry, there was a spider on my leg". I was never allowed on the boat again.
I'm not sad about it though because that boat was a spider magnet and that is not a place I wanted to be.
Fast forward 9 years. I have my BFF's kids up here in AK. I have never seen a spider in my house. The first one I see is when they are there. I almost had cardiac arrest until I realized I can get Andrew, the courageous 7 yr old to do it. I looked at him and say "Andrew, are you affraid of spiders?" He says "yes (creepy face)". I feel the sweat starting to bead on my head and hands..."Uhhh,ok..well, I'm gonna need you to be a huge tough guy and kill this thing for me. I need a big, strong, brave man to take GOOOD care of me ok?" A little ego pumping is all he needed. He nailed that thing and even put it in the toilet for me.
So then last weekend at Bruce and Sandy's..Bruce tells me of how funny it was that the other day he saw this spider going tearing across the floor in the kitchen. I'm not sure what part of him thought I would want to know that since I walk around in bare feet there..but he seemed to enjoy it. Naturally, the entire time I'm there, that's all I can think about. Then he tells me once I'm back home "Hey, I saw this spider in the bathroom the day after you left and I thought of you!" I'm glad my fear has become a laughing matter for those that love me!
Anyway, to this day, I am totally and utterly affraid of spiders and will cry, kick, and scream before I get close enough to kill one. The END.