Fly Paper and Peanut Butter

So you know how people always ask what your most embarrassing moment is? For me, there are too many and they occur way too often to choose just one. Today, I had another that has to be worthy of at least a few laughs. We've had some pesky flies buzzing around our kitchen for the last week or so--maybe it's the change in weather and they were seeking warmth inside, or maybe it's just because I have an unhealthy amount of crumbs and food particles around the kitchen. Regardless of their reasons for invading, they are here. I have a thing about fly swatters--I think they are disgusting and as such we do not have one in our house. Ryan has a unique talent of catching flies, shaking them in his hand and then releasing them, all dizzy and disoriented outside, but for some reason this bunch is extra speedy and we haven't been able to get a handle on the situation.

So this morning I was at the store and decided to relinquish my stand against fly swatters and I bought one. I also picked up some of the super-sticky fly paper to see if I could get rid of them without using the swatter. I hung it from the light in our kitchen and got the sticky stuff all over my hands in the process--but never fear, they offer the suggestion of using peanut butter or vegetable oil to clean it up, so I got my hands all cleaned up and went on my way cleaning the kitchen. I watched the flies fly around the tape and linger oh so close to it but not land on it so I promptly forgot about it. I went to clear off the table and was horrified to find that my hair caught on the fly tape. Of course I panicked--and thus ripped the tape from the light and got it more stuck in my hair then tried to take it out quickly, but it was stuck. To make matters worse--while trying to assess the situation, I looked down and realized that there was a dead fly on it, in very close proximity to my face. YUCK. I called Ryan (who although was kind, laughed about the whole thing and told me "good luck" and he wished he were here with his camera) and while I was on the phone with him, ripped the tape out--taking many strands of hair, but luckily no clumps. It left a sticky, residue-y mess in my hair.

Enter Skippy Creamy--I can now say (from experience) that washing your hair with peanut butter will in fact remove fly paper sticky glue. Not something I'd recommend for the regular consumer, but helpful to know if needed. The best thing about it all--only I was here to witness it, and there were no cameras or video recorders around. The record should also show that once I used the fly swatter, our fly population decreased rapidly.