I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, I really am a chicken! It’s pathetic really. I determined I just have this fear of things running/jumping out at me, which is why I don’t go in my attic. I also don’t like to move boxes in spaces that might harbor mice, snakes or spiders. This brings me to my latest dilemma.
My house has this storage space under the stairs which is great for storing holiday decorations, etc. Problem is, there is also a hole in the wall that I think goes out to the garage (not really sure where it leads). I intended to patch the hole after my mom “de-spidered” all the Rubbermaid containers that had been in my garage in the old condo and put them neatly away in the storage space (what can I say, she loves me and has become quite aware of how depilating my fear can be). Of course, I didn’t around to it before my roommate moved in and put some of her own stuff in there. Now the storage space appears to be full and the only way I can get to the hole is to pull her stuff out of the storage space – hence my problem.
With cooler weather approaching, I need to get in there and patch the hole before a mouse decides to move in and take up residence. But to do this will require moving my roommates stuff out of the way and I can’t do it. I have tried do build up the courage and I just can’t. I had a hard enough time just opening. It seriously freaks me out (like the furnace incident). What’s even worse is that I have some really great fall decorations that I would like to put out, but again, I’ll have to crawl into the storage space and pull stuff out. My plan is to put up sheet rock in there and maybe even install a light – but that won’t be happening this year.
I hate that these kinds of things freak me out so bad. You should have seen me when I would go to get the seasonal decorations out of the garage. I would pull out a box, set it down really fast, and then run. When I thought it was safe, I would get a broom and sweep any cobwebs away and then off to the next box. Just thinking about it has me anxious and stressed. I’m not being overly dramatic here – it really freaks me out. I have laid in bed the last several nights trying to figure out how I’m going to deal with this.
Now, if I see a spider, I can kill it. If I see a mouse or snake from a distance anywhere other than where I am living or sleeping, I’m okay. It’s the whole element of surprise from these creatures that I can’t handle. Really causes some issues when you are a single homeowner. IF I ever get married, he can’t be afraid of stuff like this – he is going to HAVE to be the attic and crawl space inspector of the family.
Oh, and on a side note, though slightly related – I am now a firm believer in keeping my shoes in shoe boxes (especially plastic shoe boxes.) When I moved into my house, I decided for organizational reasons, to start keeping my shoes in shoe boxes and purchased some clear plastic shoe boxes for the shoes that did not have a home. This morning when was getting ready, I pulled out a pair of shoes I hadn’t worn since last fall and opened the box. Low and behold, there was a dead spider in the box. Which means that spider had been in my SHOE at some point. Yeah, flip flops are now the only shoes allowed to be without a box. YIKES!!!
5 days ago
4 comments:
I'm there with you on the spider thing. I can't even kill them. The best I can do is get out the vacuum with the long hose and vacuum them up. So there are probably a bunch of spiders crawling around in the vacuum bag. I probably won't even be able to get myself close enough to the bag to change it out.
Oh, I did that once. And it took me a year to get brave enough to empty the bag b/c someone told me they probably nested in there (they didn't by the way. They all died).
I don't know if they still make them, but I would recommend buying a Jack-in-the-Box. Find one that has a tune when you wind it up. Use it. Take a little time every day and once you are used to "Jack" popping out at you, replace "Jack" with some plastic critter that you currently fear. Show this Critter-in-a-Box to your trustworthy friends when they come to visit you. Show them your assortment of critters and invite them to change the "Critter" in your box while you are not looking. Soon you will be used to the randomness of it, or you will go stark raving mad. If you go mad, then my appologies in advance. If on the other hand you become more used to random critters popping out at you, then you will be ready to tackle the real critters. It is important to hum or whistle the tune from your box as you rummage through your stuff. If something unexpected jumps out, stop whistling, laugh to yourself and say, "I didn't expect that one," and continue with what you were doing as you begin the tune anew.
-jp
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