It will take some getting used to (and that’s the understatement of the century, and could be a post in and of itself), but our household will start with the small things and work our way up.
And hopefully, one of the first return-to-normalcy activities we can tackle is attending in-person church services.
It’s been such a joy to stay connected with our church from home via our steaming service for these past 14 months.
And it’s also been wonderful watching the kiddos listen as they work on a little craft and sit through the whole sermon, since typically, during in-person services, they’re ushered out and to their own “kid’s word time” during the pastoral message.
More than once, they’ve chimed in with an adorable response to a rhetorical question from the pastor, or asked about a particular passage or subject matter, and I love that they’re acting as little sponges.
But I know it will be wonderful to get back to live and in-person worship, so that’s something we’re definitely looking forward to.
In the meantime...here’s our latest Sunday church service craft. Sundaes for Sunday! (Or, more accurately...Splits for Sunday, tehe.)
Another Mondo success. Quality, thick paint (not runny, like these kits can sometimes be), and a good brush and canvas unit. Two thumbs up.
Even Mama painted one today, hehe.
And now that we’ve concluded the sweet portion of this post, let’s follow up with a tale that packs a punch.
Or, rather—A BITE.
I’ll just dive right in and say that two nights ago, I got stung twice, BY A SCORPION.
(Pause for a moment while you gasp, because I certainly did! Amongst a whole boatload of four letter words!)
So...lemme first back up and say that I LOATHE SCORPIONS. Though, to be fair, who in the world really loves them!??? And they’re never anything we faced in our previous locations and homes. Even in Texas.
In fact, the only live scorpion I’d ever come across prior to our time down here was in our rental house in Norman, during college. Luckily, the hubby was home at the time and took care of the situation. And I hoped to never see one again.
Enter...San Antonio. Where we’ve certainly had our run-in with Wild. Life. In sooooo many ways. But definitely on the scorpion front.
This is officially the beginning of our third year here, and thus, our third spring, which is the only time we see them. Typically, we have around four sightings in the house each year, and every single one is terrifying.
All the locations they’ve appeared:
- On the stairs (we almost stepped on it).
- In Little Man’s bathroom (several, across different years).
- In the playroom (several, across different years).
- The living room, behind a curtain (it flung out at me when I shook the curtain out.)
- The powder bath (Chicklet was about to walk in there; it took her more than six months to go in that bathroom alone without an escort or a parental sweep).
- Our master bathroom (in one HORRIFYING night, within two minutes, we had TWO SEPARATE scorpions. One was sitting there in my vanity cabinet by my hairbrush when I went to open it and reach in. And after “disposing” of it, the hubby and I looked up and saw another one up high by the crown moulding and had to fling a towel at it to get it down and destroy it.)
- And...a bonus one beneath a pot on my front porch, along with a hive of ants. When I picked up the pot, I ran screaming down the porch steps so ever-loving fast. It was like a Halloween horror show under that pot.
Now. If you’re reading that list with your skin crawling, THINK ABOUT HOW I FEEL????!!!!! Each. Sighting. Is. Horrific. I mean...terrifying.
You really wanna come visit now, don’t you???
And, unfortunately, I’ve talked to our bug guy several times, along with other neighbors (loved the latest story I heard about a friend catching one under Tupperware until her hubby could handle it), and we’re not alone in this plight.
Perhaps we’ve had a few more than I would like to think is average (four-ish a season is TOO MANY), but we’ve also had above-average renovation and destruction in our house since living here, and the bug guy thinks they actually get in, perhaps through open doors, and then can’t get out.
So...there I was on Friday night, while the hubby was still out of town (of course), and the kiddos and I were all settled in Little Man’s room for a requested sleepover.
I’d just turned out the lights after a few minutes snuggling in bed watching Crikey. I bent down next to each kiddo to give them kisses just before I stepped into the adjoining bathroom to go to the restroom really quickly without turning on the light to cause a solar flare again.
But the second I began to reach for my pants, I felt something on my shirt, up by my breast, and immediately shrieked, flicked at the mother-fudger, which sent it flying toward my arm, where it stung my right bicep, and then I flicked again with my left hand to get it AWAY, OFF, BEGONE, and it stung me a second time, on the left hand that I was flicking with.
I was screaming and shrieking (but trying to stay a tad bit calm for the kiddos), then hollering for them to get up and get of the room.
I flicked on the lights and immediately saw the scorpion crawling along the tile, away from me and the kiddos, where it was trying to presumably hide a bit behind the toilet.
Now. I was in a bit of shock because THE PAIN WAS REAL. Like...EXTREMELY INTENSE. And I was just trying to make sure the kiddos were safe.
I called the hubby, but wasn’t able to reach him, and then called older bro and asked him to calmly talk to the kiddos for a second (whilst also googling for what type of effects I was in for and what to do), while I went in search of some very large shoes downstairs to try to get the FUDGER.
Alas...by the time I was back upstairs—shaking and really REALLY hurting from the intense pain and shock of it all—the FUDGER HAD DISAPPEARED somewhere behind the toilet (according to the kiddos, who’d been watching it from afar), and despite my VERY BEST EFFORTS to lure it out, scare it by tapping things, removing everything I could from the bathroom, searching every nook and cranny with the assistance of a very long mop broom handle...I couldn’t find it.
And that bothered me more than anything, because we’ve never failed to catch and destroy one before. And I hate thinking about it still in here somewhere!
UGH.
Unfortunately, the pain was so intense and the kiddos were enough on edge that I had to redirect my attention to getting us moved out of Little Man’s room (no way could I let the girlies sleep on their floor blanket palettes with that sucker loose!) and relocated to the master bedroom downstairs.
Hilariously, the hubby and I had yet to sleep in our own bedroom in 15 weeks, so this was our first round downstairs again, ha. And it took me a bit to gather my wits, drag all the blankets and pillows and blow up mattress and stuffed animals and water bottles downstairs and re-stage it all. OYE.
By the time all was said and done, the kiddos were super snuggly and concerned about me. I applied a baking soda paste to the bites and ended up showering (after all the sweating from running around and cursing through the pain), but...we eventually turned out the lights to sleep.
And as you might imagine, I did NOT sleep well.
And the bug guy will be called again tomorrow morning, ha.
For anyone who’s curious, I would rank these stings as worse than your average wasp, with a lot of burning thrown in there. And, of course, I had the good fortune of two bites in on attack. Yesterday, the bites minimized quite a bit, and then today, I woke with them raised again but ITCHING now. Crazy.
BUT.
I’m soooooo EVER LOVING grateful it was me and not one of the kiddos, and I’m hoping this will NOT be a repeat event. EVER.
Ah...the joys of NEVER having a dull day in this casa of ours. Ever.
Seriously, peeps.
The drama is real!
Wishing you all a happy kick-off to your week, mañana. And no creepy crawly things in sight!
Over and out.
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