Grossest. Thing. Ever. And its in my HOUSE.

(Do not read if eating. Seriously.)

We have pantry moths. Harmless little flying things that are so slow you can actually catch them with your hand. And not hundreds or thousands; just 2 or 3 a day.

But.

They're decimated our dry goods cabinet. Anything in an open bag? Completely chewed up. Anything in an UN-opened bag? Completely chewed up (they chew through plastic, apparently.) Cardboard boxes? In theory, they chew through those too, although we've not ripped ours open to see. Hell, they even chewed into an envelope of dry onion soup mix.

So, Husband and I spent the morning emptying out the cabinet and throwing everything away, sadly. I mean, it needed a going throug anyhow, but throwing away all that food doesn't just lean on my waste/guilt button, it HAMMERS on it over and over.

But the worst part? (And this is where it gets absolutely disgusting...)

If you have moths, you have - ta daa! - MAGGOTS. Call them what you want: weevils, worms, whatever - there are still squirmy little rice grains all over the fucking cabinet and in all of that food. Gag! Gag! Gag! Shudder! Barf! I am completly horrified. We even had - and I'm not sure why - maggots in our 'sealed' rolls of paper towels. AAauuuuuughhhh! Retch! Retch! Retch!

Good thing I got some excercise and breakfast before I encountered this; my entire day has been derailed. Mass scrubbing has commenced. Chemicals - as many as I can lay my hands on - have been pulled out. The exterminator will be called. Husband will be enlisted to help me overhaul the entire kitchen later today. Showers will be taken. Many, many showers.

And on top of it all I feel guilty! Like I've done something wrong and this is all my fault! I'm fairly embarrassed to even be writing about it. But I've been doing some research, and they're a somewhat common thing (if the moms on the Berkeley parents list can get them, then so can I.) Hell, you can bring them into your house with the food you buy, especially if you frequent the bulk bins, which we've been known to do.

So I guess the thing to do is be a little smarter with the way we store our food from now on: freezing anything we buy from bulk before consuming it, storing things in airtight containers, and eat out more.

(retches quietly into wastepaper basket)