Hotel Sampat

We're so disappointed. Orbit and Kariba won't be coming after all.

By the time mom got back to her friend, she had already made alternate arrangements, and a neighbor has been commissioned to watch them for the next nine days. (And we initially thought it was only for the weekend!)

Strange things have been happening in this house. Mom's been on a killing spree the last few days, trying to rid the kitchen of ants. For someone who doesn't believe in killing for food, this female seems to have no qualms about attacking when her cubs are threatened or her family's food supply imperiled.

It all started when a groggy mom reached for her Honey Bunches of Oats one morning and found an ant invasion in progress through the entire pantry. Assessing the situation, she sought expert advice from dad. He mumbled something about mom being a pack rat and proceeded to empty the contents of the pantry onto the kitchen floor.

"Why do you buy all this junk?" he asked, holding a packet of Chex mix, now covered with crawling ants.
"Kuki likes it," said mom quickly, not wanting to admit her own weakness for salty snacks.
"And what the heck is this?" he asked, holding a green packet that clearly said henna in English and Hindi.
"My mom brought it from India," countered mom defensively, stopping dad from flinging the bag into the trash.
"Yeah, but three packets! What are you going to do with them?" asked dad incredulously, as mom scurried to put them away in the bathroom.
"And how old is this?" he queried suspiciously, sniffing a packet of tandoori masala retrieved from the back of the cupboard.
"Well, you bought it," pointed out mom, smugly.
"Oh, OK," snapped dad, "So, if your mom buys it, it's not junk, but if I get it, it is."
And so it went, back and forth, for the next half-hour, with mom vainly defending her provisions against dad, until she remembered they were supposed to focus on the ants instead.

The humans have called a temporary truce and plan to attack with reinforcements on the morrow. A professional exterminator will be called in, money will change hands and the massacre will continue.

We've discovered the hard way that when it comes to ants, there's no such thing as airtight.