10

I reminded Mom that we were on vacation, and the maid service would handle that for us. But she said that we weren't gonna live like ANIMALS just because we were on vacation. I told Mom that the best part of being on vacation was having someone else clean up after you, but Mom said that this week we were gonna clean up after OURSELVES. Then she put the "Do Not Disturt" sign on the door so the maid wouldn't even come into the room.

I asked Mom how we were supposed to get clean towels and sheets, and she said we'd wash them in the bathroom sinks, the same way we were washing our clothes. So Momwasn't joking around about us doing our own laundry. In fact, Manny was in the sink scrubbing a pair of Dad's underwear, and I'm pretty sure he was using Rodrick's toothbrush to do it. Personally, I think the best thing about staying in a hotel is getting clean towels and sheets every day. But Mom said hotels go through a ton of laundry detergent, and if we reused our towels and sheets, we'd be saving the environment.

That's when I noticed there were cards all over the bathroom that made you feel guilty about asking for clean stuff. Please consider your impact on the environment before asking for fresh towels. Do you REALLY need your sheets washed? THINK OF ME! Using one fewer sheet of toilet paper could save a life. MINE. Mom said we should all head down to the beach, but I wanted to hang back and take a shower. The truth is I wanted to take my TIME in there, and I knew if she was in the suite, she'd hassle me about using too much hot water.

What was crazy about the shower was that it was completely open to the outdoors. It took a minute to get USED to that, because I was worried someone might peek over the wall. I guess there are people who are comfortable being naked right out in the open, but trust me, I'm not one of them. I don't think it's right that you're BORN naked, because right away you're put in an embarrassing situation.

Once I got used to this open-air shower thing, though, I was ADDICTED. The shower had all these different settings, like "pulse" "massage." I tried out every single one, but "rainfall" was probably my favorite. I must've stayed in there for forty five minutes. When I was done, I stepped out of the shower and put on my robe. But when I tried to put on my right slipper, there was something blocking my foot.

I held the slipper up and shook it, and a giant SPIDER dropped out. This was no ORDINARY spider, though. That thing was as big as my HAND. When it fell to the floor, I climbed up on the sink so I wasn't on the same level as it.