It first appeared running across the floor near my bathtub and it quickly found a hiding place in the small pile of laundry on the floor. I was getting ready to take a shower and decided against it since I didn't know where that spider would be while I was in the shower. I was home alone so I couldn't even get my husband to rescue me as he nearly always does, and we'd made plans to go to town as soon as he returned from work so I really needed to get that shower done before he got home. After a little while, I mustered all the courage I could find and determined not to let this spider get the better of me, so I grabbed a trusty stick and decided to go spider hunting on my own. The little beast was still in the same spot in the laundry pile so I made a jab at it and of course it moved quite quickly to the side and avoided my attempt at killing it, which only served to make me scream and jump around like an idiot some more. So I called my husband to let him know that I was not going to be getting my shower until after he came home. Since we have two bathrooms he just told me to suck it up and gather my shampoo and stuff from the other bathroom and take my shower in the spare bathroom, which I finally did.

While I was in the shower, a thought came to me that I could take some control of this situation after all, so I sent out my magical intention to the spiders and bugs around our home. I let them know that I would no longer kill them on sight if they would just respect the boundaries of my home. They are free to live OUTSIDE anywhere they like and I would respect that as their home as well as long as they stay out of mine. I also specified that I would allow this one spider safe passage out, and if he couldn't get there on his own, I'd see to it that my husband would not kill him but would safely deposit him outside when he got home.

When my husband finally got home from work, I informed him of my little deal, and asked him to please try his best to get the spider outside without harming him. He's an eternally patient man, so he complied quite naturally without question. He used a decorative knife that we had hanging on the wall as a way to kind of shoo the spider into the cup, but when he tried this, the spider just stepped onto the end of the knife. My husband then just put the knife over the cup where the spider very cooperatively jumped into the cup where he stayed until my husband got him outside to a bush. Gabe said that the spider was more than cooperative and made no attempt to do anything but exactly what we wanted, so I find myself very grateful today that I was able to make a truce with the spiders that live around me. I'm not really any less afraid of the little beasts, but I'm working very hard to keep my word. I will not squish any bugs that are OUTSIDE, as long as they stay out of my home. It's funny, but I already feel safer INSIDE my home.