Hello all.
I've spent hours and hours Googling this creature, but I've had _no_
success. I hope someone with a working knowledge of spiders can help me out.
I've never seen this kind of spider locally, so I'm tempted to think it
arrived in one of the bags of potting soil we purchased / opened today (or
one of the plants we bought!)

This afternoon a perfectly lovely spider crept into the house from the
patio. She was about
the size of a quarter total (including legs), and was a smooth, glossy
black. A number (perhaps six) white dots were on the back of the very round,
plump abdomen (I never saw the underside).

I've no photos to share, as my arachniphobic partner grabbed a newspaper and
thrust (threw, more like) it back outside. Still, if anyone can suggest what
this might have been, I would certainly appreciate it !

(I'm in the U. S. Pacific Northwest, if that helps)
Thanks!
japm