A story about a spider

I have a fear of spiders. A very large and terrifying fear. Several friends can attest to this fact. Some have seen me go into shock, throw up, scream horribly, and even one friend found me in the middle of my living room "trapped". Those that worked with me can remember the spider obsession I had a few years ago when 14 spiders were found living in my home. I took pictures and video of them to bring to work. A co-worker had a run in with a hobo spider and I needed to know if that is what I had. They weren't hobo spiders and after we had someone spray the house, life once again was restored to normal. Or so I thought...

For Thanksgiving we went up to Washington to spend 10 days with my parents and siblings. It was a great Thanksgiving and we had a perfect vacation. We got back home Monday afternoon. We unpacked the car, got the kids down for a nap, and started the routine of turning the water back on, turning the heat on, and checking everything in the house to be sure it was okay. That is when I headed to our bedroom...

I was going into the bathroom and turned the light on. As I did I saw something in the sink bowl jump around and act very unsettled that someone had just ruined the calm of a dark bathroom. That really got my attention. I can't remember a time in which turning a light on visibly disturbed a spider.

He was a big spider. I felt his eyes on me, still angry I had turned the light on. I don't like to anger spiders. I was also very tired from driving 620 miles and remarkably didn't scream. My blood pressure didn't even rise. I did however move very slowly. I always have the idea that the spider is watching me and looking for a moment to strike. I should never have watched Arachnophobia (twice).

I called for Dean and he walked in. During my spider obsession, I did a lot of research to learn what different spiders looked like. I was pretty sure I knew what the angry one in my sink bowl was. He was a Hobo spider (or so I think). One thing I did know about Hobos was they cannot climb. I felt a slight sense of security knowing he couldn't escape the sink bowl. I leaned over and got a good look at his large and harry body. Dean had a paper towel in his hand but decided against using it. A wise decision if you ask me. He took the drowning approach.

He splashed water on him at first, which I thought very silly and a bad idea. The spider was already angry I had turned the light on and now we were splashing him with water. I felt that a trip to the ER was in our very near future. I ran to the kitchen and got a glass to fill with water. We started pouring the water and Dean reached up and turned the faucet on. The angry spider was doomed.

We watched him curl all eight of his legs in and formed a small little ball. We ran the water for a few more seconds and Dean reached up to turn it off. We tried to run the water long enough to send him down the drain, but his little body was too large to fit. That's right. TOO LARGE TO FIT! I will never forget this next part...

He slowly unwrapped all of his legs and shook...He literally was shaking the water off before deciding to end my life. By now I was shaking as well and would have been happy to have shot him with any gun I could get my hands on. I am pretty sure this even freaked Dean out.

He quickly scooped the spider up in a paper towel and flushed him down the toilet.

I haven't seen another spider since Monday and I have convinced myself they don't travel in packs or pairs. We are planning on spraying the house very soon because I won't let them win. Now I have a hobo spider experience. It was terrible. Now I do a quick search of a room before I enter it and I'm always watching and waiting. When will they attack and seek revenge on the death of one of their own.

I'm pretty sure I need therapy.