  Turns out burglars weren't the only invaders our little house saw last week. The ants and spiders came, too! A few times a year in Houston, something about the weather or seasons clicks and bugs suddenly are everywhere you look inside your home. We've been through this enough times, and have discussed this with enough neighbors, to know time alone--not pesticides--will alleviate this situation.
But bugs and burglars have their good sides, too. The ants encourage us all to put the dishes right into the dishwasher, or else that dish will be swarmed in an hour as the little ants signal their buddies to crawl up to the counter for the big feast. I keep the floors swept of baby crumbs so that Ellie doesn't go probing a black ball, only to have it explode in tiny ants onto her skin.
Btw, we've discovered a circle of duck tape wrapped around your hand, sticky-side-out is the best way to clean a swarm. The burglars urged me into a strange variant of the spring cleaning bug. I found myself spending my forty-five minutes of Ellie's nap-time scouring the fridge yesterday. It's so beautiful! During our drive home from El Paso, I went over things I was worried were stolen. I realized I'd made a list of the objects in my home I should keep, and everything else I should get rid of.
But will I? When we arrived, I was a little disappointed to see certain objects still here: the nordic track, John's scooter, my dishes. Our friend, Neal, told us about his new favorite program, which forces people to get rid of half or three quarters of the stuff cluttering their lives. I guess I'd hoped the burglary would be kind of like that for us. Since it wasn't, and since I've recognized all this, I'm on a mission to reduce crap. I want simplicity! 
