Surprise!

Here is a spider:

And let me tell you how this spider ended up at my house, in a plastic bucket with a saran-wrap lid.

First, I was at a baseball game (which really isn't an important factor, but fun nonetheless, especially because Noah made a home run, and an excellent catch). Then I rode home with my mother in my brother's car. We couldn't take the rest of the kids because the car was full of Ben's fix-it and build-it gear and other miscellaneous junk that accumulates in the cars of the American Youth.

On our way home we stopped to buy some plants (another non-important though interesting fact). We crammed the plants between the build-it and fix-it gear and on top of the junk. Then we headed towards the freeway and just as we were turning onto it I saw our friend from Image no. 1 come crawling out onto the dashboard with some business in mind. In my panicked mind I believed that I was its business, since it crittered right over to me, as though it had something important to discuss.

Naturally I pushed back into my seat as far as I could and started jabbering, "Mom! Mom! Mom, there's a spider. Spider! Spider! Mom, there's a spider." and I started into some hysterical laughter.

She looked over from the driver's seat. "Where? Oh! Oh! Spider! Spider!" Instinctively we both started looking around for something useful. We found a half-empty bottle of water, sandpaper, nails, ruler, box, plants (tomatoes, sage, etc.), buckets, full-length red down coat complete with hood, cookies, baseball helmet, mini soda, purse, but nothing really help this spider problem. No paper for mushing, no cup for catching. We thought about catching it in the bottle, but the spider was too big for the hole (now isn't that frightening?).

But we really wanted to catch it because this spider was too big to kill. There's a certain point where a spider becomes a trophy for the ordeal of finding it and being clever enough to capture the monster.

Mostly, though, the problem was that we were driving at this point, over 50 mph with a whole trail of cars behind us. The spider changed his route from me to my more attractive mother and she really started to panic. "Brianna! Brianna, find me something quick!"

Everything within my arm's reach was useless so I took my seatbelt off and went through the rest of the junk, berating Ben the whole time for not having the proper kind of trash in his car.

When the spider got to the other side of the dashboard and climbed up to Mom's eye-level (no doubt in the hopes of some romantic and sultry endeavor, or perhaps murder to the face) she decided the spider had more precedence than driving, so she pulled over to the side, though we had to pause our spider-dealings for a moment and figure out how to turn on the hazard lights (which was surprisingly tricky).

In the end we got a bucket and a pack of sandpaper. Slowly and gently my mom slid a baseball photo behind the spider (trying not to alarm it into fleeing into the crevice) and after several deep breaths she flicked it towards herself and I caught it in the bucket and slammed down the sandpaper.

Once the spider was contained we put our seatbelts back on and re-entered traffic, chuckling to ourselves, as though this was a typical event, and a typical way of dealing with it.

But of course, halfway home I wanted to make sure the spider was where he was supposed to be. So I peaked a look and found him right at the edge of the bucket, staring up at me, waiting. So I slammed the sandpaper back on, though by doing so almost dislodged the bucked from my legs. My mom screamed even though I caught it. No worries. Spider remained contained and is now enjoying some light and attraction.

We're pretty sure it's a kind of jumping spider, perhaps a bold jumping spider, kinda like this. The internet authority claims that jumping spiders are "completely harmless", but come on. A face and a look like that is very harmful. And even if they're not poisonous, per se, there is still a very probable psychological harm that comes from an encounter. So there.

My life has been kind of standard, so my blog is kind of boring. Sorry 'bout that (though I'm sure you weren't really paying attention anyway, but I was).

But here are some current highlights:

• "The dead girl's my age!" (my grandma on a funeral she went to).
• Something called a "Narggle Kiss" (hehehe...)
• A weeded garden (whew! [though my brother did most of the work])
• A 20's Movie-Premier-themed Wedding that was absolutely wonderful (way to go Liv! and Skyler!)
• Dancing in the rain (there is tons of it, so we must dance--it's the only sensible thing to be done!)
• A job interview (tomorrow...)
• A quiet house (this one is new... and short-lived)
• Running (I've decided to train for a half-marathon *woowoo!)

Alright, I think that's it. If anything more comes up, you may or may not be informed.

Update of my life

So I know it has been FOREVER since I've communicated on the internet. If you cared at all, I apologize. But here is what I have been doing with my exciting and fun-filled life! (and we'll be going backwards because I uploaded the pictures in the wrong order and am too lazy to fix that).

DISNEYLAND!

This is where the excitement ended, and what a wonderful place to end up! It was so fun and I haven't been in years. ALSO it was the first time I went on a roller-coaster with a loop (applause, please. And then more applause).

I have been a wimp with roller-coasters since I was seven, when my mom told me we were going on the bumper cars, but really it was the legendary White Roller-Coaster. Scarred me for 15 years, thanks madre! But it's ok, because I have evidently recovered. I was absolutely rushed with adrenaline and by the time I got off the California Screamin' my face was wet with tears (I have no idea where they came from, though I suspect I should be embarrassed by that) and my hands were tingly and numb. But it was cool! I survived and it was almost fun. Then to top it all off I went on Tower of Terror (a mild standing ovation, if you please). To quote my mom, "It's lucky you went with boys, otherwise you wouldn't even have considered it," which is so true. It was in no way my own idea, but I fell into peer pressure and am glad of it though I nearly peed my pants in anticipation.

POPPIES!

This was taken on the drive to So Cal (Socal? SoCal? I'm obviously not cool enough to know). The South California. Whatever it's called, it's beautiful and sunny, though very windy (intense push-you-over kind of wind on the beach). We passed this field of orange poppies and stopped the car so we could go frolic. But frolicking was made impossible due to large amounts of barrier bushes that were full of thistles and thorns. So we simply admired it from a distance. And look at how blue the ocean is! Just wonderful.

THE REDWOODS

You can't see the scale on this sucker, but believe me, it's massive. Those trees are just giants! I've never seen them before and it was fantastic. They are so strong and impervious to everything, including fire. We went inside one that was covered in black burns and hollowed out due to flames but it was still alive and growing. Amazing.

RAINBOW CLOUD

This was near the beginning of our trip. We passed this cloud rainbow. I hadn't seen one of these before either, and didn't really know it was possible, but there it is. A cloud that was thin enough to create a rainbow effect without it raining. It was really neat.

GRADUATION

That's right, folks. All this adventurousness started because I graduated, which naturally required some celebration. So I've done it! Finished with school! I've got a college degree, and holy cow! I never thought I'd make it, but I just kind of closed my eyes and kept pushing through and now it's over. Hoorah!

Of course the question everyone is asking is, "Now what?" But, naturally, I have no idea. Life, of course. A career, I guess. But where? When? What? I have no answer to those questions, but I'll figure something out, I'm sure. Right now I'm just happy to be done (now it's your turn to jump up and down in childish excitement, like me).