Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Feeling Springish

"Springy" sounds like more of a commitment to spring than what I'm feeling at the moment, so let's go with springish.

I had big plans for our back yard this spring. I was going to clean the whole thing up, yank out all the weeds, plant some planty things, and make it all clean and shiny and lovely. Then The Incident happened. I went outside to clear some toys and debris from the yard, and just as I was lifting up a plastic tarp out popped A FREAKING GIGANTIC TARANTULA THING. Okay maybe it wasn't a tarantula but it was the biggest dang spider I've ever seen in my life. When a spider makes a thunking sound as it falls it's way too freaking big.
Luckily Adam's friend who doesn't mind spiders was here at the time and found the creature, picked it up and threw it out of our yard. We named it Aragog.

Now, I know most people aren't fond of spiders but I really think my fear goes beyond the norm, to a genuine case of arachnophobia. I cried, people. Sobbed. That night I couldn't sleep because all I could think about was The Incident, and when I did sleep I had spidery nightmares. And I'm so sad now because I don't think I can go back into the yard again, at least not for a while. Our garden will have to wait. In the meantime I'll stick to my usual method of gardening.

Other than being scarred for life, spring in Maryland has been very pleasant so far. The sun is sunning, the birds are birding, the flowers are flowering, and so on and so forth. It appears that since last spring Autumn has done that growing thing that children tend to do, and most of her warm weather clothes no longer fit. We'll be doing some shopping (and maybe some sewing) to remedy that soon.

I wish I was still growing so I had an excuse to get new clothes every season. Not that the lack of an excuse stops me from doing it anyway. I love getting new clothes, especially springish clothes. Crabmommy's post about shorts reminded me of the endless joy of spring skirts and dresses. There are few simple pleasures more enjoyable than a crisp cotton a-line skirt or a flouncy sleeveless dress on a hot sunny day.
Up until this time last year I wore jeans and t-shirts almost exclusively, until I had to buy new clothes for our Florida vacation. I left store after store empty handed, unable to find a single pair of shorts that fit me properly. Apparently women of my proportions are thought to be extinct because if you have a small waist and a big butt you're pretty much SOL when it comes to shorts. If it fit my hips, it was too big around the waist. If it fit my waist it squished me everywhere else. If it fit my waist and hips, it was way too short. After emerging from the tenth fitting room I threw my hands in the air and said, "Screw it, I'm wearing dresses this summer!" and never looked back.
Best style decision I've ever made. Not only do dresses and skirts actually fit, but they're way more fun. Why would you want to wear boring old shorts when you can wear polka dotted confections like this every day?

I know you're all jealous of my awesome modeling skills. By awesome I mean terrible and by skills I mean complete lack thereof. Anyway, that dress is freakin cute.

3 comments:

laura capello said...

dang! that's a cute dress!

and you sound just like my husband. okay, he doesn't cry but he DOES squeal like a little girl when he sees a spider.

Faye said...

I totally thought of you yesterday. I was at Hot Topic, and I saw a zombified Devil Ducky. I looked at it and thought "oh Xan would LOVE this." See? me, thinking of you.
Ok. the spider thing is kinda oogy, but they like to live in dark damp places, hence under the tarp. I keep forgetting you even have a backyard. The dress is freakin adorable.

Tia Colleen said...

OhmyGOSH. I bet it was a wolf spider. LKDJLSDJLFJ ...sorry, I had to shudder. One morning I woke up to one in my bathroom. I hyperventalated and slammed the doors, ran into the kitchen to call my husbands shop, and demanded someone come and capture the tarantula that had tried to kill me. It turned out it was a full grown Texas wolf spider. My husband took it into his work, and they all agreed, biggest damn spider they had ever seen. We measured it. About 5 inches long (including legs). When I say we, I mean him. I was too busy breathing into a bag.