Every year in September we have had a large banana spider set up residence in our flower bed in front of our house.

The first year it was a horror story.  Her name was Shelob, and she was as big as my hand.  Not that I held her or anything, but I think you get the picture.

Then in 2008, the spider was a bit smaller, a little easier for us to swallow.  Well, not that we actually swallowed her, but….oh, you know what I mean.  Her name was Spidey.

Last year, the spider was even smaller.  I got some very creepy photos of her shedding her skin, and I would find myself involuntarily shuddering for weeks.  Because it was so much smaller, we erroneously thought it was male, and called it He-lob.

This year, September came and went, and no spider.  While I was never totally in love with our garden spiders, I sort of missed their presence a little (not really).  The kids kept asking where our annual spider was (not really).  We’ve all shed tears (not really).

So, I went to Wal-mart and bought this…

Her name is Matilda, and she’s my favorite spider yet!  Mainly because she doesn’t breathe.