Day 13: I'm pretty sure they're out to get me...

They're shaving years off my life and causing gray hairs to sprout. Spiders. *shudder* And, don't forget those long things with the thousands of legs. Just typing the words is sending chills through me and making me itchy. If you know me, you know my aversion to the multi-legged bugs, especially after this video was made a few years ago by my oh-so-considerate co-workers Matt Apthorp and Matt Hobbs. Yes, you're getting a shout out because to this day you continue to rustle it up, therefore freshly unveiling it every time I immerse myself in a new environment. I'm including it in this post, because at this point I've moved past the embarassment and can laugh along with it...most of the time. Some background info for those who have not seen it: my photog friends left a spider on my keyboard and set up a hidden camera to record my reaction...click here to see my freak out.

So there you go. I'd say that pretty much sums up my hatred of all things creepy crawly. (In my defense, I'm pretty sure that spider was the size of a tennis ball and had fangs.) Countless times I've opened a door, turned a corner or pulled back the shower curtain to see one just waiting for me and after seeing white for a moment from fear and shreiking while jumping back, I'm left with the task of getting rid of the little bastard. Since I've been living on my own the last 6 years, it's pretty much been up to me wipe it out...but it just never gets any easier. I get goosebumps, the shivers, creep slowly up to it and still take a good 5 minutes to actually smoosh it with my tissue wrapped flip flop. I realize this is a stupid fear, that I'm essentially a million times larger than this little bug, but I can't get past it! It almost gets more terrifying as I get older! I guess there are worse things in life to be afraid of, but I'd really like to get over it...any suggestions? Is there anything that gets the same reaction out of you? Share and sympathize...

P.S. Click here to see the very flattering musical remix of my spider reaction... Enjoy my humiliation. :)