A Summer to Remember - Unfortunately

This summer has been one of those times that mark subtle, but permanent, changes in my life  And not in a welcome way.

My father was on oral antibiotics for an infection, and was not getting better.  He was admitted to the hospital to be put on IV antibiotics, and to find out why his white blood count had been increasing over the last year.  The doctors found he had a form of leukemia.  It's in the early stages, and they're going to keep an eye on things for a while.  If we're lucky, this is the form that has an average live expectancy of about 25 years.  In 25 years, Dad will be over 100.  Hopefully the leukemia will never be an issue. (Update: Turns out the problem may have been a reaction to his antibiotics and not leukemia.)

What my kids will remember most about this summer is the spiders at Grandma's (the house I grew up in). 

Normally, spiders don't bother me.  Any I find are usually escorted out the door to live the remainder of their lives 'free and in the wild' as the Kratt brothers say.  But not these.  My daughter found the first one in the hall bath while she was getting ready for bed.  She insisted it was a brown recluse.  Not wanting to freak out the kids, and never having (knowingly) seen one, I told her it wasn't.  The next morning (Sunday), after checking a blown up photo she took, and looking on the internet, I had to (as she put it) eat my words.  Plans were made to start cleaning  up and spraying the house.  Those plans were put on fast forward when, that night, she saw another on the family room wall near the TV.  Spraying started that night, and as things were being moved away from the walls, two more were found near the TV.  All four of these spiders were apprehended, had their mug shots taken, and their identities confirmed (well - except for the part about checking the number and location of eyes.  I am not getting my face close enough to theirs to do that!)  A judge and jury of one (me) determined the sentence and the condemned were flushed.  And I am, very quietly inside where few people see it, freaking out.