broccoli anyone??

if this doesn't give you the heebie jeebies, nothing will.  you are unshakable and basically fearless.  congratulations.  you deserve a medal.

 me, on the other hand~ totally weak in the knees and in need of an instant nap after my discovery and capture of this terrifying arachnid... 

yes, this is the very shiny, blackest of black, slinky and ominous Black Widow spider who emerged from the bag of broccoli i ripped open one day as i prepped for supper a couple weeks ago.  this fella was very much alive and unfazed by the three days it had spent trapped in a plastic bag in my fridge.  it emerged from its hiding place deep in the florets to the open air with purpose and total creepiness, right there on my kitchen island.  i wanted to list the house right then and there, just pick up and go, wash my hands of all of it.  instead, i kind of went into robot mode.  instantly aware that ignoring it wasn't an option, and putting up a "for sale" sign and making a beeline for a remote location probably wouldn't work long-term either, i decided to fake calm levelheadedness in front of my two boys.  i kept my eyes peeled on the horrific sight before me and called to Hudson to grab an empty yogurt container.  he did.  i put it near the spider and thankfully it scurried right in.  i secured the lid and quickly took it outside to sit on our back step.  then i breathed deeply...thankful this spider hadn't gone unnoticed and feeling pretty proud of my stellar spider wrangling skills and my protective instincts for my kids.  i really felt this had warranted the "mother of the year" award.  whatever.

and one last look at another angle....see the red hourglass on its belly???

you can click on the photo to enlarge, but then again, why would you want to?

moral of the story...perhaps you might want to soak/wash your broccoli before cutting it?  or have some gloves handy?  or never eat broccoli again, because that wouldn't really be the worst thing, would it?