orkin

This morning I woke up, and was a little slow to get ready. I got up and did a few things in the living room and kitchen, and I was walking back to my room - and I saw the result of Mia's first kill in the apartment. I was, obviously, grossed out. But, happy that she was here to take care of these things!

Maybe my old (sad to write that) roommate is the one who knows best what probably happened when I saw this. But, I screamed. I screamed, and I covered my mouth with my hands, and then I convulsed a little - in extreme disgust. And then I sucked it up and took care of this sucker. Luckily, it was right near the front door...so armed with a few paper towels (to protect me from the bug) I opened the door and brushed him outside. I convulsed again, still disgusted, and used two Lysol wipes to clean the floor where the bug had been. Problem solved. On with my morning.

So, about now I get into the shower. I stopped to admire my new bathmat and the shower curtain - they are both very nice, and match my bedroom nicely. I'm sure I smiled at my good taste as I stepped into the shower. I do feel, in general, people are most vulnerable when they are in the shower - perhaps the events of the morning would have transpired differently if I had not been in the shower. But, I was. I reached over for the conditioner, and there he was - hiding behind my bottle.
I was immediately out of that shower, shrieking, and dripping everywhere. My gut instinct was to run far away - so I ran, dripping and naked, out of the bathroom, out of my bedroom, and into the kitchen. Once there, I huddled in the corner, convulsing and sobbing. HOW GROSS. And then, I was struck by the awful thought - if I am not watching him, he may get away and I won't know where he is. So, I ran back to the bathroom. I looked at him - in that same place. (I mean, really, at this point he hasn't moved at all, and he might be dead). But, I am still intermittently screaming at him. I decided that I'd be safe standing on the toilet where I could watch him intently, but from a distance. So I stood here, for a while, and calmed down. I decided to call my old roommate, because we've been through things like this before, and I figured she could talk me through it - or at least make me laugh about it. She did.

Now it's time to deal with this bugger, but how? I mean, I didn't want to squish him - under other circumstances I might think he was cute (although, Allison knows I don't touch reptiles...) but, this morning, in my shower - not cute. I returned to the bathroom armed with a plastic cup. At which point, he was off and running - FAST. All over the tub. And I'm back on the toilet screaming. I decided that the plastic cup would not contain this guy, so I got a glass. And I trapped him in it! Then I left it there, for a long time. I was riddled with guilt that he was suffocating, so I went back to deal with it. I slid some paper under the glass, and then cardboard under that, and then using a hand towel to protect me, I got him out of the bathtub. I ran to the front door and quickly released him. And convulsed in disgust.

About 2 hours later, my dad was leaving the apartment and the lizard came back - bee-line for the bathroom. This time there was much less screaming (but not none), and I grabbed my lizard-catchin'-glass, and I removed him a second time. This time he was released farther from my door.

If he comes back once more, he gets a cage and a name. Any suggestions?

And - the perfect end to a day like this? We tried to go to the Congress Street bridge to see the bats. We didn't see any bats, and I guess I was disappointed, but I think I've had enough critters for one day!