Unwelcome Housewarming Gifts

We are in our new house. It is larger than our other home in every way it could be. We are on a street that is a little more safe from traffic due to the gate. We got to stay in our beloved ward and neighborhood. We are, even, a little closer to Wade's school. Sounds pretty perfect, right? It was perfect until...I saw a HUGE (4in) live scorpion walking down my hall...aka my worst nightmare!!!
I have always been scared of spiders, who isn't? When Matt and I moved to Arizona, I knew that scorpions lived here. The thought of ever seeing a scorpion made me shudder, but as the years went on, I NEVER had to live that thought. That is right, we have lived here almost 6 years and I had never even seen a scorpion until this house.

How could I be so lucky? My luck has run out and I feel like these disgusting things are making up for lost time. Now I have seen over 100 scorpions--alive and dead. Thankfully, I have only seen that 1 live one inside the house. The rest have been outside.

The reason for the scorpions is that our home sat vacant on the market for over a year before we bought it. There was no pest control and no one walking around inside except for the occasional potential buyer. It made our house seem like a warmer (and better) version of outside.

These repulsive and terrifying creatures have changed part of my life. I refuse to walk around the house at night without shoes on, I have had literal nightmares about them and I am uncomfortable to sit or get into anything that hasn't been thoroughly checked. I have even found myself driving along the street or walking around stores feeling relieved I don't have to worry about a scorpion for a minute because I am not at my house.

Don't get me wrong, I love my new house and it does get better with each passing day that remains (live and inside) scorpion free. We have a good friend taking care of our pest control and it is doing the trick (I have seen lots of dead ones outside.) We have also adapted nightly "black light checks" into our routine.

For whatever reason, scorpions literally glow when a black light (ultraviolet light) is shined on them in the night. It has been my only saving grace and has left me with a little peace when I can shine the light around my kids' rooms and know there isn't a scorpion hiding out somewhere close to them.

Last night ended with some wonderful news--Matt and Wade could not find ONE single scorpion in or outside our entire house with the black light! I couldn't be more ecstatic! They even checked a wall that separates our property from the neighbors (where they have seen up to 30 in one night) and couldn't find them there either.

I hope we are making some serious headway here. I hope the inside scorpion sighting from a couple of weeks ago was my last. Keep your fingers crossed for me. (please!)