Ants In My Pants.... And RENT, The Broadway Production

Well, not my pants, really, but my pantrys in the kitchen. First thing Thursday morning I discovered Carpenter Ants crawling all over my kitchen counters. Hmm. Not a good thing, no matter how you look at it. I immediately called the people that normally do our bug spraying but they were too busy to come. Unwilling to share my space with said ants, even for a day, I was forced to seek help elsewhere.

I perused the Yellow Pages of our phone book and found another long time, locally owned business, who came to my house within 2 hours. This man is an entomologist and specializes in getting rid of termites and carpenter ants. They were here for nearly five hours. Apparently, our infestation had been going on for some time. Think more than 20 years. Yes.

The guy said when he went up on the roof to treat where he thought they were nested, something like 5,000 to 6,000 angry, dying ants came pouring out of the little opening. When Mr. Snoots heard this he said to the guy "Don't tell her that! She won't ever be able to go to sleep tonight, or ever again, for that matter". You know how freaked out I can get by ANY kind of creepy crawly. I include the flying variety as well. Ick!

These guys were so thorough that it astounded me. They are my new heroes.

As we were walking down the hall to the kitchen, the younger man (I'd guess about 23 or 24) spotted my Theatre posters from my trip to New York City and asked if I'd seen those shows on Broadway. I told him yes, I had seen them all, and he told me that he's actually a musician/actor who'd had to move back home to pay off his college loans, which is why he was working as an exterminator.

Then, he totally blew me away when he told me that he'd been cast as the character Mark Cohen in the Broadway production of RENT, which is being staged by our local Community Theatre. I said "Get Out! Our conservative, bible thumping, straight-laced community is letting RENT be produced on stage?" I was totally flabbergasted, but thrilled and excited beyond belief. We chatted for like 30 minutes about theatre and swapped audition stories and giggled like two little kids.

It has been many years since I've had someone to talk *theatre speak* with, and I was in Hog Heaven. I told him I was definitely coming to see his performance and I think this savvy kid may possibly become my new best friend... I know. It sounds kind of creepy, doesn't it? A 56 year old woman being best friends with a kid my daughter's age sounds odd, but I'm telling you that we had such a blast talking, I believe a healthy friendship could be forged.

Back to the extermination. So, they not only treated the spots of origin, but also sprayed the entire exterior of the house as well as the attic. Five Hours spent searching & spraying: $327.75.... No more ants in the house and crawling on me: still $327.75.... If they have to come back for further treatment: still $327.75.... Finding a new Theatre-Tony Awards-Watching-Friend: Priceless

This is a picture of our daughter in NYC during RENT'S Intermission, posing for a picture with former RENT cast member (2nd cast) and Queer Eye For The Straight Guy, Jai Rodriguez. Did I mention Snooty Daughter & I adore RENT?