Living in the Ugly Bug Ball

A spider cricket-- disgusting

I've never had a big problem with bugs. If they are outside, that is their territory and I don't mess with them (except for mosquitos-- those have got to go). If they are in my house, chances are good I am going to get rid of them. Most of my girlfriends are scared of bugs, especially spiders, and have always tasked me with getting rid of them. I will never forget the time when I stepped out the the shower at my old house and from the other side of the door I heard my roommate whimper, "Sarah, can you help me kill a bug  for me . . . ?" It was a spider cricket, which was the nastiest and largest bug I had ever met-- until I moved to the South.

Growing up I loved the Disney Sing-Along tapes (because there certainly weren't any DVDs). My babysitter's mom even compiled all of them onto one videotape. One of my favorite songs, even though I never saw the movie, was "The Ugly Bug Ball." It is a super cute song, but I never thought I'd be living in it!

Handsome got to the house before me as I took my puppy on a road trip to visit some friends on my way to Georgia. He sent me a picture of a spider in our backyard and said it was the size of his hand. Since he has a problem with spiders I thought he was exaggerating. He wasn't.

Our Charlotte (right), her boyfriend
and their baby spiderpod (left)

Charlotte, as I now call her, is what is called a "banana spider." At first I thought Charlotte was a male spider. Until her boyfriend showed up. Then I did some research and found out that the females are larger. When Charlotte's boyfriend came to town he left her with this nasty looking pod (left), which I can only assume is filled with babies. Her boyfriend only stuck around for a couple days before peacing out, leaving her with the baby pod. We seriously considered getting rid of Charlotte until Handsome remembered the part in Charlotte's Web when that Charlotte's babies flew away. So we decided to let our Charlotte stay. 

Wilbur and Charlotte's babies

In addition to Charlotte and the various other spiders I have met, I have seen more cockroaches since moving to the South than I have seen in my entire life. I have no tolerance for cockroaches, they are terrifying! There are also these weird little bugs shaped like ladybugs but are all brown. Charlotte catches a lot of them in her web. 

So for my whole childhood I loved singing along to The Ugly Bug Ball, but I certainly never thought I'd be living in it. I just hope we can maintain a harmonious relationship with Charlotte and that she'll keep the mosquitos and cockroaches at bay.