Tamako, If it was a huge roach it was probably what i call a waterbug and not too big a problem. I suggest you get a can of roach spray and spray your baseboards.
If it is a real German roach. Still spray and keep a lookout for more and spray at regular intervels for awhile.
There's no disgrace in finding a roach as they can get into your house by anything you bring into your house or finding their own way in.
but it is a disgrace to let them multiply. You sound like a very clean lady so i know you can handle it. If you keep having trouble let us know and we'll try something else
oakleif

A simple mixture of flour and borax...like you find in the grocery store with the laundry detergent, will kill them.
Mix the flour and the borax about 1/2 and 1/2...no need to be exact and put some on a piece of paper...like a 2 inch square of peper and lay several of these around your room. Leave them for at least 2 weeks...3 is better, and they will be gone!
What happens, is the borax is poisionous to the roaches...but they like the flour and go onto that piece of paper, eat the flour and take some of the borax back to the nest on their feet and that also poisions the other roaches in the nest.
Don't use anything with edges for the powder....just a square of white paper. And you have to leave it out for at least 3 weeks, because if any eggs hatch, you want the babies to die too!

You may have a neighbor who is not as clean as you are....so you may have to repeat this process.
Linda C

I mist borax on a snap on plastic coffee creamer lid. Then put a dab of peanut butter, a dab of jelly, and some chicken grease in the middle.
Give those roaches under sink roaches picnic food.. and they track the borax home.

They seem to like grape jam the best.

In some places, roaches are just a way of life. Large cities and apartment buildings. I lived in a townhouse style apartment and fought them the entire time.

Boric acid was kept behind the stove and fridge and anyplace else that I knew my crawling kiddo couldn't get to. But every time someone in the apartment complex next to us moved in or out, here they came!

It really isn't about being clean or not clean. You can bring them home in a cardboard box. And it only takes one for them to get multiplying.

Gloria

EXactly. Roaches are everywhere in city apartment buildings. When I had my apt,I had roaches every night in my kitchen. I saw evidence of roaches in friends' apts too. They can come in under floors and walls,on cardboard boxes and grocery bags. Spray,spray,spray anywhere they can get in. Thet seem to like damp places,like under the sink. Borax powder works well and is non- toxic to humans. I'm not sure about pets you may have. My cat liked to hunt roaches during the night. I would hear her scurry around and find her eating them. YUCK, but as they say,it's good protein. You think a mouse is better?

Borax is NOT non toxic to humans!...Don't eat the stuff!!! And keep your hands out of it. It's not as toxic as lots of other roach remedies, but is not harmless.
Linda C

Borax washing powder! It will work on those big ones too, we call them wood roaches. We cleaned out a pull along u-haul type trailer one day that had been left sitting under a tree for years by previous home owners and when we opened it there were thousands of roaches, ewww. I slammed the doors back, got a couple boxes of borax and used all of it in there. They were all dead a week later. Most disgusting, we have a townhome and our neighbor was supplying our clean home with roaches, nice I know. They were crawling through the electrical outlets, just creepy. I put out borax and left a box with a note on how to use it on the neighbors doorstep and the problem cleared up.

Boric acid and Borax are two different things.

This has all been discussed here a while back:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/ipm/msg0622204413443.html?57

Thread is mostly about ants but there is good info and lots of links there.

If you live in NYC you have roaches. Even Jackie Kennedy had roaches.