Wednesday's "What We Ate June 10-16, 2013"

Are you ready for some more real-talk on this day? I'm sort of freaking out for two reasons.

#1: Bats.
Ever since we have lived in our house, we've had a couple of bats grace us with their presence every summer. One of the most terrifying ways to ever wake up in the middle of the night is to the sound of your husband saying, "honey don't move" because there's a bat chilling on our headboard. There has been much screaming, much hiding under the covers, & much rescuing by John (what would I do without that man??) So we've had a couple of bats here & there... but then last spring we had a local company weatherize our house (insulating the attic was one of the main jobs) & we just sort of figured that would help take care of our bat issues.

Last week, as I was pulling back the curtains in our room, something caught my eye. At first, I literally thought that it was a dead leaf in between the screen & the window, but at a closer look, I saw a foot... & then a wing... & then it breathing. A bat! Noooooooo!! I furiously started taking pictures & texting John, asking him what to do. He encouraged me to grab a towel & open the screen on another window & try to wrap it up & throw it outside. So I mustered up all the courage I could find & started to open the window. But then the thing screetch/hissed at me & that was over. I screamed, scared the daylights out of my daughter & slammed the window shut.

At first glance, it sort of looks like a leaf, right?

 Wishful thinking.

More texting to John, more encouraging texts back...I re-gained what little bit of courage I had left & made another go at it. But then I noticed that the bat wasn't breathing anymore. It looked like I may have killed it when I slammed the window shut. At that point, I was so overwhelmed by the situation/grossed out that I decided to (foolishly) leave the window where it was & leave the bat for John to clean up (he was coming home for lunch in a few hours).

Sor Ruby & I went about our day. We went for a nice long walked & played at a nearby park. When we came back home, we immediately went upstairs to change her diaper. She ran into our room & said the creepiest words she's ever said to me, "mama where bat go?" Yes, the bat was gone. GONE!

Insert hysterical Gillian (picture me opening every cupboard/door/closet, etc. with extreme caution). I think I crouched around the rest of the day, just expecting it to come flying through the house. I tried to calm myself down with logic-" It is more afraid of me that I am of it." Really though? I'm not so sure. "Bats eat nearly their body weight in mosquitos every night." Thank you for that fact, but who cares right now? Mosquitoes seem kind of OK at the moment. "They aren't that creepy." No one even says that. They are terrifying. Logic wasn't much of a comfort to me.

Some might call it torture, others might call it education.

It was amazing how creeped out I felt in our own house. It just felt yucky. Every sound made me jump. Every shadow made me look. That night, we had a surprise visit from some dear friends from Duluth, MN- Michael & Brenda Gatlin. I had the pleasure of working on staff with them at the Duluth Vineyard for nearly 3 years, so when I got a call from Brenda saying they were cruising through La Crosse, we jumped on the opportunity to eat with them. Plus, it would get me out of the bat house.

We had a lovely time catching up at dinner. Ruby absolutely loved both of them. We got home sort of late (about 10:00), so as John carried up a sleepying Ruby from the car, I was trying to get ready for bed myself. We walked into our bedroom & guess who greeted us? The bat! It was flying around like crazy in our bedroom! So I instantly fell to the floor & screamed, which of course woke Ruby up. I snatched her from John's arms & scoot/crawled out into the hall to leave John vs. the bat (John won).

So John got the little critter out of our house that night & we were able to sleep semi-peacefully. The next morning I called the Wisconsin Bat Specialists to see what they could do & they arranged for a guy to come out the very next day to give me a quote. Insert freak-out story #2.

#2: Bat removal.
So we have a small colony of bats living in our attic. Before you vow to never come to my house again, the guy said that by "small colony" he meant like 10-15 bats. Still, why ever use the word "colony?" It's just too much. He said that they can get into holes literally the size of quarters & that our house had many available spots for them to sneak in (he may have used the words "bat highway"). He said that it would be a lot of work, but that the problem could be remedied. But not without a hefty fee of course.

So here I am, the day after getting most of the work done. I cut the guy a check yesterday, but I had such a hard time giving it to him. I absolutely appreciate his work & know that it's something that we need to do, but I've always really struggled during "financial emergency" periods in our life. It's just really hard for me to not find security or satisfaction in knowing we have a little lump some growing in the bank.

The bat removal nearly emptied our small savings, but like John keeps reminding me, God has taken care of us our whole lives & he's not going to stop now. Although I completely agree with him, I'm really struggling with living that out right now. Instantly my mind goes to thoughts like "what can we sell?" or "maybe I should look for a job?" or "what happens if we have another emergency before we can beef up our emergency fund?" They are all yucky feelings & I know that in the end, more money won't bring me more comfort or joy. Heck, we just paid off my student loans a few months ago & I thought that would make us feel rich, but it didn't.

Although I know that we need to be responsible with our money, I am choosing on this day, to not freak out any more. I am choosing to trust that God has our back & that he will take care of us. I am choosing to believe that we made the right decision to remove these little bats from our home. I am choosing to let God be our security. No amount of baking, eating, writing, sleeping, cleaning, walking, or planning can give me as much comfort as he can (those are the things I usually try to find comfort in when I'm stressed out). Ooh, these things are touuuuugh.

So day one of bat removal has been completed. All but two openings have been sealed & they will be back to seal those holes the first week of August (they can't seal all of the holes right now in case there are babies up there who can't fly to get out until August-ish). Then hopefully we will be a little less batty around here.

On to lighter things. Have you liked our fancy, shmancy new facebook page yet? I am trying to grow my readership up a tad & would love it for you to like my new page & share it with others that might enjoy it as well. Also make sure you check out my pinterest page, follow us on twitter & check out blog lovin' so you can stay in touch!

 Sunday's dinner: smoked salmon, boursin cheese spread, red peppers, carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, & a toasted french baguette

What We Ate June 10-16, 2013
Monday: Shredded chicken nachos in mini bell peppers
Tuesday: Chicken brats on the grill with a cherry tomato, avocado, & fresh mozzarella salad
Wednesday: We had a surprise visit from some out of town friends who took us to Manny's
Thursday: Roasted beet garden salads with Italian bread & a balsamic/olive oil dipping sauce
Friday: Dill pesto on fettuccine noodles with a fresh green salad (mixed greens, mushrooms, cucumbers, avocado, soy nuts, & balsamic vinaigrette)
Saturday: Grilled steak with mushrooms & onions & sweet potatoes
Sunday: One of my ultimate favorite summer meals-- smoked salmon, boursin cheese spread, red peppers, carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, & a toasted french baguette

This week I also made a batch of graham crackers, nutty chocolate chip granola bars, & for Father's day, some cinnamon rolls using this pesto roll recipe for the dough.