Roughing it.

This week is our church's annual camping trip.
I am soooo freaking EXCITED!!!

All I've done this week so far has been in preparation for the camp out (except maybe watching "The Regular Show"... that probably doesn't relate...but I *did* watch the camping episode!)

Yesterday was insane.
We store most of our camping stuff at my grandparents' house, because they have a separate storage area that holds way more than our tiny garage. So yesterday I went over there to pull things out, clean them up a little, and make sure everything's accounted for.

The only problem is that there are tons of spiders in there. They aren't tiny, either. They're the kind of spiders that look like they mean business.

At first everything was going according to plan. It was pretty windy, so I was able to hold up the tent and let the wind catch it so I could shake out all the dirt. I felt like I was flying a giant, six-person tent-sized kite.

But then I happened to glance inside the tent as the air was filling it up, and I witnessed a freaking huge spider.

It was about the size of my head, I kid you not. Its legs were as long as my arms, and its fangs probably put Dracula to shame. It could also smell fear. And I'm pretty sure it was telepathic.

I didn't want to lose him inside the tent, so I kept my eye on his whereabouts and slowly set the tent down. I then proceeded to stomp madly all over the tent like a blind elephant at a mouse parade. When that wasn't enough, I took the bin of life jackets (ironic?) and pounded it mercilessly in the vicinity of the villainous arachnid.
I'm pretty sure I killed it five times.

When I thought the dark deed had been accomplished, I let air fill the tent again and took a look. I saw him laying lifelessly in the same spot he was in, and I let the wind tumble him to the door so I could get him out. I poked him with my shoe...

And he twitched.

After screaming, "OH CRAP IT'S ALIVVVVEEEEE!!!!" I hammered it with my flip flop and threw it in the grass.

Once that was over I felt pretty good. I didn't leave the tent to cowardly wait for someone else to dispose of it (like I usually do...), but I jumped right on in there and took care of it myself! I somehow even got "We Are the Champions" stuck in my head.

Maybe I got a little too confident in my abilities. "After defeating terminator spider, I can pretty much handle all this other stuff I have to do," I said to myself.
At that very moment, God decided to make me a little more humble by sending a bee to buzz my ear.
I screamed bloody murder.

The day didn't end without having a bird pooping on my back (seriously... that's never happened to me before yesterday!), and toiling over folding the tent to fit inside of that tiny bag it comes in, only to discover that we still needed to set it up to make sure we had all the parts. :P Just my luck.

...And we haven't even gone camping yet. Let's just say that I'm not really good at "roughing it," so it's a good thing that our campsite is relatively civilized. (At least we have showers and port-a-potties!)