Scorpion

Back when I was a sophomore in college my family (Mom, Dad, sister Amy, and me) went to Costa Rica for a vacation. After spending some time in the valley, we went up to the cloud forest to explore for a few days. We stayed in this rather rustic but nice hotel where we had reserved 2 bedrooms -- one for my parents and one for my sister (who was about 12 years old at that time) and me to share.

The first evening after arriving at the hotel we were showering and changing clothes after experiencing a 2 hour VERY rough, bumpy ride up to the hotel. Dad and Amy went up to the hotel restaurant and I went to check up on my Mom who was still dressing. As I walked into the room, I noticed something crawling on the middle of the floor. Upon closer examination, I discovered it was a scorpion! I told my Mom who immediately went into Protective Mom Mode and ordered me away from the scorpion. She grabbed a drinking glass and carefully put it upside down on the scorpion (something I could have done, as I am not squeamish around critters, but I let my Mom protect me :) ). We informed the hotel staff about the scorpion, and they told us that it was not uncommon and there was nothing they could do. We moved the drinking glass across the floor of the room and flung that scorpion off the balcony of the hotel room (we were on the second floor and there was grass below).

My sister is not blessed with the same non-squeamishness about critters that I am and my Mom warned me not to tell Amy about the scorpion. She did, however, tell me to check the beds before climbing in and check our shoes in the morning before putting them on. Later that evening, after a wonderful meal and drinks, Amy and I went back into the room. While she was in the bathroom I turned down the beds and looked under the pillows. Nothing, whew. The next morning Amy saw me checking our shoes. "What are you doing?" she asked. "Checking for beetles" was my reply. Luckily, we never saw any other scorpions in that hotel. I'm not sure Amy even knows about this...

until now. :)

Today's self-nurture challenge is easy -- I have my book club tonight! So nice getting together with 5 of my woman friends, having good food and wine, and chatting!