Uninvited guest

Click it to biggit if you dare..

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This guy just showed up in my living room. He lumbered right past me, rather like a clumsy teenager who thinks Mom is asleep. Did the cats spot him? Uh . . NO! Ugh-h-h ... I am itchy. I Googled beetles of Illinois because of course Google knows all and I found some pictures that match my hard backed friend. It's some kind of stag beetle but the only ones I saw are from Russia. Okay, I'm late for bed and did not research for long, it was creeping me out. Now I have to make my lunch for tomorrow and go to bed. I'm afraid to look under my covers! I feel like I should curl up in a ball on top of some high Lucite surface and keen all night. Blech!





** Dani - if you notice the bug is under glass. Against my better judgment - I let him go outside. More because he was too big and would make horrifying crunching sounds if I tried to kill him than anything else. But he was alive when he left this house. And now I have the heebie jeebies!

NO - I couldn't sleep yet. I think this is our guy. E-e-e-w-w-w . . !!!!

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COMMON KENTUCKY STAG BEETLES

COMMON STAG BEETLE GENUS: Psuedolucanus Common Stag Beetles, also called "Pinching Bugs," are the 2nd largest of the stag beetles, after the Elephant Stags. There are four species of pinching bugs in the genus Psuedolucanus, and all are similar in size and appearance. Females of both the common and elephant stag beetles look almost identical, but males can be distinguished by the mandibles, which are considerably smaller in the male common stag beetle. Common stag beetles are reddish brown and grow to be 22-40mm in length. Like most other stag beetles, these beetles eat decaying wood as larvae; the adults eat little or nothing.

Maxine Monday

2nd Monday in a row that my scheduled post did not post. Thank goodness Maxine is always relevant!

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Princess and the pea?

WHOOPS!

Have a wonderful 4th!

Spa Day!!

Dani and I went to a spa today. Uh huh, we did! Not something I have ever done before, no manicures or pedicures in my past, must less a "day spa" experience.

It was a bit like the Beverly Hillbillies walking into a nice restaurant and exclaiming "whar are the vittles???!!" Everyone was very nice and no one made me feel out of place or unwelcome, it was just a new and foreign environment for me. Disclaimer: I am speaking for myself. My daughter may have felt perfectly comfortable and in no way do I assume she felt as much like a cave dweller as I did.

Before we left the house I was counting money on the couch because I needed to make sure we had enough cash on hand (and in the right denominations) to tip the various people we would need to. I didn't know! Dani contacted one of her friends who does this kind of thing and knew the ins and outs but I really think some kind of spa ettiquette booklet would have been helpful.

We had manicures - very nice, pedicures - fabulous, and haircuts - wonderful! The gal who did my nails (hands and feet) had to laugh when I lifted my hand out of the little dish my fingers were soaking in and said "hey! There are rocks in here!" Okay, they were smoooooth stones, but I was surprised. Can you say HICK much?

Dani's fingernails were done before mine so when I joined her in the room where we had our pedicures, she was already luxuriating in the comfy chair with 2 remote controls, one for position and one for heat and massage. Her feet were in the hot bubbly water and she looked quite relaxed and happy. I could see why!

It wasn't nearly as weird as I thought it would be having some stranger holding my foot in her hands, rubbing my feet and legs with lotion and some kind of scrub, and sanding my heels down to nothing! I was surprised at how soothing it was to have somebody scraping crud from under my toenails.

The haircuts were good, much different than the $12.00 specials I'm used to. I liked having someone cut my hair who obviously knew what she was doing without me directing her every move. She had ideas of her own! Amazing!

In the end most of the tips were actually given to the receptionist who took each one and put it in a tiny brown envelope marked with To: and From: on it so they would be distributed to the appropriate people like mini gifts. We were given little goody bags with coupons and samples on our way out. It was nice.

It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon with my daughter for sure. Will I go back? I wouldn't mind, but I don't know if I'll be willing to part with the bucks to do it. Or able. We will see. Thank you Dani for sharing your gift certificate with me, and thank you Dan - for giving her such a sweet and thoughtful gift! Oh, I didn't mention that part, did I? Yeah, Dani came up for a visit so her fiance' found a spa up here and gave her a gift certificate. Nice, huh? Very nice indeed!