There's a Mouse in the House (Again)

Y'all, I'm so tired of dealing with mice, or a mouse. Who knows if there is one or nine? Not me and I don't want to know. 

A few years ago when The Tide was still alive, I suspected there was a mouse in the house because she was get pretty fired up on occasion when she was in the kitchen, going so far as to try and stick her whole body under the cabinet to find what was then referred to as The Rodent. My bug man (God bless him) put some pellets under the house that I guess are delicious to mice and will kill them and then they basically disintegrate or something along those lines and soon enough The Rodent was gone...or so I thought.  Actually, that particular rodent is probably gone along with his buddies. Who know, the underside of my house may be filled with mouse skeletons. 

I'd also like to take this opportunity to point out that I never had a rodent problem until I had to have the floors in the back bedroom replaced and the plumbing redone. The guy that did the work didn't plumb the line to the drainage line as he should have, but instead knocked a hole in the bottom of the foundation and I have no doubt that's when mice found a way to get under my house and have loads of fun at my expense. A good plumber i hard to find, y'all. If it weren't the grossest job ever I might actually consider going into that line of work. Good plumbers are a dying breed. 

Anyway, on with the story. So, last winter, after a year off (or so I'm telling myself) the mouse/mice returned. I found droppings under the stove and in the drawer under the stove and had to promptly remove everything and clean and wash and clean and wash. The bug man once again placed his magic pellets under the house and I  waited with baited breath for the mouse/mice to disappear. I think I heard it/them at night too and am pretty sure they were eating food from Pip's bowl (bless her). I would yell at the mouse for it to go away, but to no avail. I think eventually it/they either died from the pellets (fingers crossed) or moved on to another house which brings us to this summer. 

Seriously, this summer has been the worst. I have found droppings in the drawer that holds my kitchen towels and occasionally on the counter tops in the kitchen which has led me to do some vigorous cleaning on more than one occasion. Then, a couple of weekends ago, I noticed that there were droppings in the linen closet where my jeans and sweatshirts are also kept. So, I had to empty that closet, scrub out the closet and wash about 10 loads of laundry that had been sitting on the shelves in that closet. 

This past Thursday the bug man came and I asked him to once again put out his magic pellets (for the second month in a row). The mouse/mice are either becoming immune to the pellets or different mice are coming in after others pass on to the great mouse heaven in the sky because it seems like a never ending battle. The bug man said that the mice have been bad already this year at other homes that he services. So, perhaps they are taking over the neighborhoods of Madison County, I don't know; but I am ready for them to move on over to Marshall County or elsewhere.

On Monday night, well, really Tuesday morning about 1:45 a.m. I awoke to a loud crash that sounded like dishes falling onto the tile floor in my laundry/bonus room. It startled me at first, but I figured that no one was in the house because if someone had opened the door surely Pip would have woken up. Of course, being awake meant I then needed a bathroom break before continuing the last few hours of slumber. I figured whatever had broken (if anything) could wait until I was awake. 

A few hours later when I woke up, I discovered that some dishes had been knocked over. I was first concerned that something had fallen out of the top of the laundry closet, but never heard anything hit the washer or dryer so wasn't really sure. I have some mixing bowls and deviled egg trays stacked up under my little table in the bonus room. These are extras for when someone gets married and I need a gift to give. These had toppled over so there's no doubt in my mind that the big ole mouse ran beside those dishes and toppled them over causing quite a fright in the middle of the night. 

I think it probably goes without saying that I'm really hoping this latest round of magic pellets does the trick on this latest round of mice/mouse/rodent because being woken in the middle of the night and finding mouse droppings in the linen closet are not my idea of fun. 

The Busy Season Continues

Y'all, for whatever reason I just cannot seem to pull it together this week. I have been late to work every day - I usually come in at 7:00, but have gotten in around 7:15 the first three days of the week. Monday I was just dragging; Tuesday there was unexpected frost on my car with a defrosting system that basically doesn't work, and I have no idea what happened on Wednesday. I think I just couldn't decide on what top I wanted to wear. You'd think that during a week when I'm told I can wear jeans each day that picking out what to wear wouldn't be so difficult, but apparently it is.

Tuesday night I wanted to do some baking so that I could take some goodies in for my co-workers as my "Christmas gift" to them. Tuesday was the only night that I really had free since Monday I had Christmas with Jackie and the Gang and Wednesday is church. Thursday night I may go caroling and there are probably a lot of people taking off on Friday so Tuesday night was going to be the big baking night if it was the last thing I ever did.

On the way home from work, I made a detour by Erika's house because it was her birthday and I had a gift to drop off for her. She also got a copy of the Joy the Baker cookbook and I think she was pleased with her gift. Her mom and boyfriend were also there and Erika was opening all of her birthday presents so I stuck around to see what all she got, and she took in a good haul if I do say so myself. That boyfriend of hers does a good job of picking out gifts - kudos to him!

After breezing through Erika's like a tornado passing through town, I made it home a couple of minutes after 6:00 and got to work in the kitchen. I made about 100 molasses cookies and probably as many peanut butter balls. I was going to do buckeyes, but let's face it, trying to coat all but one side of that peanut butter concoction rolled into a ball is a bit difficult. So, I gave up and just coated the whole thing. I managed to squeeze in a little television as well; but, I was rather pooped by the time 10:00 rolled around.

The Tide had been sniffing around the house quite a bit throughout the evening and so I had a feeling we might have a problem with "the rodent" and therefore left the Christmas tree lights on. I was sound asleep around 12:30 when The Tide leapt up from the bed and started with that growling and barking and running about the house. At one point she sounded like she was chasing something so I'm pretty sure that little critter hasn't kicked the bucket yet. So, this party went on for about an hour or so and finally The Tide settled down. I got some sleep, but not a lot because she was up and down and I was afraid that little rodent might attack us when we least expected it. So, it probably goes without saying that I was pretty tired on Wednesday.

Thankfully while I stopped by Erika's she invited me over for dinner on Wednesday. She and Kendra are getting together to finish up season two of Downton Abbey and she invited me to eat with them at 5:00. So, I will swing by there and then head over to church and then, finally, back home. Jackie, once again, has saved the day by letting The Tide out so I won't have to make a stop by the house.

So, the busy season continues and I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm ready for a few days of rest.