Or maybe that was a W, as in wasp.

I don't think it was a bee that decided to sting my face the other day.... it was probably a wasp. We've seen at least two dozen wasps flying over near the garage door, near the space where their nest used to be. My husband sprayed the nest and the floral arrangement that was hanging up in front of it..... then I took the can of wasp spray and sprayed it till it was empty. By the time I was done, that floral arrangement was dripping with Agent Orange (or whatever it is that's in those cans). My husband took down the floral piece, knocked down the nest, and tossed them both into the trash can. (My hero.)

The wasps, however, are still flying back to that same spot. We've sprayed and sprayed, but they're still determined to reclaim their prime location over the garage door. No more fooling around: I called the bug-spray company. They will be here on Monday with their truck, filled with super-duper wasp-killing stuff. Unfortunately, all of the good bugs (lady bugs, butterflys, grasshoppers) will be eliminated along with the bad bugs (wasps, bees, wood roaches, fire-ants).

The left side of my face, along the cheek-bone, is still a little bit swollen. There's a bright red dot right in the spot where the stinger got me-- looks like a pea-sized circle from a red marking pen. If I put a bandage on my face, I look like a pirate. If I don't, that bright red spot looks like a Bingo marker. I now have Benedryl and Epinephrine in my purse.... don't leave home without them.

My husband and I drove to a nearby park along the Kemah waterfront this afternoon. A friend of ours had told us about the hidden waterfront park and we wanted to go there and see if it was dog-friendly enough for Gracie. Beautiful park, with a half-mile-long fishing pier along Clear Lake, and walking trails that looked as if they wound deep into the woods. We walked nearly to the edge of the fishing pier-- I was walking slower, staying about four feet behind my husband (I figured if the boards gave way underneath him, I would still have a chance to run backwards).

Then my husband wanted to try one of the walking trails. I looked at the beginning of the trail, which was very pretty... but of course I couldn't see the end of it....... couldn't see more than eight or ten feet into it because while the path was wide and clear enough, the overgrowth of trees was very thick.

"You want me to walk in there? What about bugs? Bees? Snakes? Poison ivy?" My husband looked at me and said I guess that's a No? No indeed. We walked a bit along the water instead, then turned around because it was at least 113 degrees in the sun. (Cooler along that walking trail, I'm sure, but I wasn't going to try it, no matter that my husband was carrying the Epinephrine spray in his pocket.)