So, it's been quite a while since I've posted an entry. Brilliant observation. I suppose I haven't been inspired to wax poetic, until today.
I spent the past few days out of town, returning home last night. I must admit that everytime I enter my house, whether it's through the garage or front door, I am always a little anxious as to what I might find. My friends know from having to deal with me at the end of last year that I hate mice. Granted, few people like them when they are unwelcome guests into the home, but for me, having a mouse is perhaps related to my disturbing fear of dogs. They are dirty and unpredictable. Granted, those descriptors also apply to children, but for some reason I love kids and hate dogs and rodents. Go figure.
Upon arriving home last night, I grabbed all of my bags and headed upstairs, even thinking that I hoped I wouldn't find anything out of the ordinary and also rushing to catch the beginning of Alias. Such is the life of an unemployed TV watcher. Everything seemed normal, and Alias was entertaining.
At 3AM, I thought I heard something. I am both an incredibly light and exceptionally heavy sleeper. I will hear the slightest noise, but I will usually dismiss it. That said, when visiting Hawaii, sometimes I am so exhausted from the flight and time change that Tyler's loud cries in the middle of the night don't stir me. Nonetheless, last night, I heard something. Could it be a mouse? Surely not, for I had taken care of that problem. That bastard was dead. No food was left lying around. What would a mouse be doing in my house? The noise was odd enough to evoke that weird adrenaline rush of worry. I brushed it off and decided I was awake because I was quite hot in my fleece PJs and down comforter.
This morning at 7:30AM as the sun shined into my room to greet me, I noticed right next to my bed two mouse poops. I got to be an expert in recognizing them. I inspected and verified. What the hell is a mouse doing hanging out in my room? There's nothing of interest in there...wish there was.
So, I spent my morning calling random friends and hiding in my bed. I wondered where all of my courage had gone. Last time, I was able to deal with the problem, with enough time. I think the last mouse wore me down so much that when I finally caught him, it was victorious, and the sense of accomplishment overshadowed my feelings of disgust and fear.
Finally, I tapped into my inner strength and gloved up. I set out some traps, and now I'm bravely hiding at "work" (in quotes because it doesn't seem justified to label a loosely structured essentially volunteer experience as work), writing about the day's events, and dealing with the mixed emotions of having to return home to check the traps. I would love to claim to have learned something from my previous mouse trapping experience such that it won't take me 6 weeks to catch this one. I didn't touch the traps with my bare hands, so no human oils should taint them. I used peanut butter, which I read is a great bait, though last time cookie dough did the trick. Forgive me, but I just wasn't in the mood to bake cookies this morning. I dispersed the traps throughout the house, including 2 in my, gulp, bedroom. I threw out other food temptations.
If I find that my knowledge and experience has paid off, I will need to deal with disposing of the rodent and monitoring for more sounds to determine whether I simply had another rogue intruder or whether I have a rampant problem.
I think I'll stop at the shoe store on my way home. A new pair of shoes does wonders for making any situation better.
Note: This (and most entries) are typed in a stream of consciousness fashion without spell check and on a keyboard that tends to stick as well as add extra m's. Mom, please don't call to tell me my writing is an embarassment. Yes, yes, I can be quite anal retentive but not when it comes to this blog. Consider the subtle errors akin to those found in natural silks and leather products. I'm sure you've seen the little disclaimer hang tags that read something like, "Subtle shade and texture variations are part of the natural beauty of this product and should not be considered flaws." Slap a designer label on my blog and pretend that hang tag is attached and pretty soon I'll be able to charge people to read my blathering. See ya - I have to go purchase some perfectly imperfect boots.