SNAKE!!!

About an hour after breakfast this morning, I went back to the kitchen to get a drink. On the floor of the kitchen, not 6 feet from where the girls were playing, was a SNAKE! When I took a step forward (still about 4 feet away), it raised its head and started slithering back and forth. In total panic mode, I told the girls to go stand far away, and I grabbed the phone to call Toby at work. He didn't answer, so who did I call? My dad! I don't know what I thought he could do about it, but I needed a calm, rational voice to talk me through this. As soon as he answered, I said something like, "DAD! There's a SNAKE in the KITCHEN! A SNAKE! IN MY KITCHEN!!WHAT DO I DO???" A few seconds later, I explained that I was pretty sure it was a snake, but there was a small chance it was just an earthworm. Did I not mention that part yet? Yeah,it was pretty small. Okay...it was the size of an earthworm. That's pretty much beside the point, though. A snake is a snake...especially when it is in MY KITCHEN! Long story short (or not so short!), I was able to use my Swiffer WetJet to kill it. It took several attempts, but I got him. My dad stayed on the phone the whole time and talked me through it. Sometime around lunch, I stopped shaking. I managed to get the snake into a little baggie, and I'm saving it for Toby to look at. The good news is that it was a little snake. The bad news is that it was a little snake. I've spent the entire day checking corners and looking under cabinets for other baby snakes. I'm praying that Mama Snake is outside...far, far away. I don't handle these things well. I freak out over geckos. I squeal when I see a spider. Worms gross me out. I have to have my dad come to my house to kill wasps. I can't deal with snakes. Toby will be home within the hour, and I'm sending him out to inspect the yard. By tomorrow night, there will be Snake-A-Way around our home. I'm not taking any chances.