The Invasion

I hate ants.  No, I mean I *really* hate ants.  And this weekend, we were invaded by them.  A whole family..or colony..or whatever.  Ughh... 

It started on Satuday, about 15 minutes after our exterminator company closed for the day.  So after I spotted the first 2 or 3 ants, I promptly cleared off all the counters, washed any lingering dishes that were in the sink, and put out every possible home remedy I could think of.  Right now, just about every inch of counter space in our kitchen is covered with Cinnamon sticks, Cloves, Boric Acid, Black Pepper, Red Chili Powder, and Vinegar.  I squished every pesky little ant that had the bad luck of coming within my line of sight.  Needless to say, the kitchen is closed until further notice!

My severe ant phobia can be traced back to my childhood when I was ravaged not once, but twice by fierce, unrelenting Texas Fire Ants.  They are more commonly known as Red Imported Fire Ants, orginating in South America, and introduced into the US in the 1930's from a Cargo Ship that docked in Mobile, Alabama.  They are now most common in the southeastern states so I pretty much grew up knowing to beware fire ants.

Wikipedia accurately describes the most common way in which people are attacked - which, incidentally, is what happened to me *both* times:  a person accidentally steps into a mound, causing the ants to immediately attack by swarming up the person's legs.  It happens so fast that you don't even realize it.  

So it happened to me twice.  The first time, I went out into our front yard where my dad was mowing the lawn.  As I stood on the lawn, I suddenly felt my legs burning, only to look down and launch into an all out panic at the sight of hundreds, maybe even thousands of ants all over my legs.  They were all over - from my feet up to my thighs.  I screamed in pain while my dad ran to the water hose and sprayed them off.  But the damage was done - for nearly a week I had welts all over my legs.  Poor me - I was a mere 5 years old!

The second time these cursed critters attacked me was during a family outing to Galveston, TX (I think it was the same year!).  While we were all enjoying the beach, I had the misfortune of accidentally stepping into another mound of fireants.  Same story, different day.  I had itchy, painful welts for a week.  

So....I *really* hate ants.  And it doesn't help that we get this crazy ant invasion just about every year, right around this time of the season.  Gross.  

Tomorrow's exterminator visit can't come soon enough!

Amit runs the SF 1/2!!

He did it! After months of training and overcoming a couple of injuries, Amit successfully finished the San Francisco 1/2 Marathon!!

We went up to SF Saturday afternoon to pick up his bib and registration docs.  The tent was set up right across the street from my office, so we conveniently avoided the mayhem by parking at work :-)  I love working in SF.

Anyway, after that we went over to the Hilton where we were staying with Chethan/Sri, Appu, and their parents.  After an early dinner where the guys carbed up for their run (chethan was running the 1/2, appu was running the full), we went to bed early in anticipation of our 4:30AM wake up call.

Amit slept like a baby that night, I tossed and turned with all the noise outside our window (it was facing Naan'n'Curry where it seems like there's always an all-night rage going on).  We left the hotel at 5am to get Appu to the start line in time for his 5:45 start.  Leena and Dumma met us there and we cheered as Appu started, then Chethan and Amit started at 6:05.  Once the guys were off, we jumped in the car and drove to a couple of different points in the city to cheer them along their way.  

We made our way to the Golden Gate Bridge where we saw Naveen and Amar waiting to cheer for our guys.  We dropped off Dumma and his bike...he rode with Chethan and Amit from the bridge to the finish line.  Amit really appreciated the support; having Dumma and Chethan with him gave him the extra push to run the farthest he's ever gone before.  After they finished, we hurried over to the full marathon finish line to cheer for Appu who came.  All three of them did amazing - we were thrilled to share this experience with them.  Congratulations, Amit, Chethan, & Appu!!!