Yes, Squeaks.

I hate that I am sharing this, but decided after Amy's comment on the last post people might start to question & plus, it really is kind of funny. A bit wordy, but stick with me. OK, so we have a mouse living in our house. In the coat/ shoe closet to be exact. No, we don't enjoy it's presence & yes, I really hate that it's there. We're working on it. So here's the story. Last week I heard a mouse scurry across the wood floor in the night & got really freaked out. Not only do I hate the idea of a disease-infested little vermin sharing our domain, but it makes me feel dirty or something. My wise older brother assured me that every house in America has a mouse at one time or another, we just don't normally ever know they're there, so it's no big deal, & it's not a reflection of my housekeeping skills or anything else. It just happens. I guess that makes me feel better, but it doesn't change the fact that it's still in my house.

So I go to the Home Depot the next day & buy a slew of traps. The sticky kind & also some that are supposed to be humane & you never have to touch the mouse. My question is this: Are there really people that care about catching a mouse in a humane manner? If there are, kudos to you, but I am not among you. The truth is the orange devil was out of the regular old-fashioned snap-the-neck style traps. We must not be the only ones fighting the battle. Anyhow, we set the traps out for a couple nights & some during the day where Mr P couldn't get to them & had no luck. Said mouse did however have luck getting the PB out of a trap without getting caught. Bugger.

Then one night I was standing at the changing table getting Mr P ready for bed & it scurried across the floor & into my room. The MIDDLE of the floor, which dispels the rumor that they only travel along the walls. Hah. So then I was just mad. That filthy little rodent had been in my baby's room!! This meant war!! So I screamed for Ty who ran up & let Birdie, the faithful hound in. She caught the scent & went nuts. Unfortunately she also caught many other scents, since she is normally not an indoor dog & couldn't quite stay on it's trail. Soon enough our room was torn apart, the bed (king size, mind you) was tipped up, the dressers & cedar chest were all pulled away from the walls & everything was up off the floor, but that sneaky little devil hid where the mutt could not find her.

Well, there was no way I was going to be able to sleep in our room knowing that thing was in there, so I was perched atop the couch (where I was safe from sneaking vermin) thinking about what to do & Ty got on the computer to see what ideas he could find about catching this little, brown satan. Just moments later it comes creeping along the hall wall & into the living room, where the was a sticky trap hidden under the bookshelf. We watch it going towards it's inevitable fate, however once it reaches it's death trap, it sniffs & turns around. What the?! So as it's claiming victory, hiding under the end table, Ty lets the old hound in again, she goes crazy, again, we move the couch (I was now perched safely on the computer chair), and suddenly that brazen thing makes a mad dash (again across the middle of the floor) into the closet where a good 3/4 of my shoes are stored. So the dog's spastic, digging through the pile of shoes, whining & snorting, I'm making dang sure it doesn't make another mad dash & Ty's singing words of encouragement & praise to the 'hunting' dog that can't catch a stinkin' trapped mouse. Sigh.

Was the mouse caught, you ask? No. As we speak the mouse is trapped in the closet, traps lining the entire doorway & a rug stuffed in the crack under the door so there is no possibility of escape. When we, well Ty, checked on it this morning, he said "I guess we have us a pet mouse." Apparently it's eating the PB & not getting caught. What kind of brainiac mouse is this?! This means 2 things. A)Tyler better remember to bring home some inhumane traps of death today (please, no one alert PETA) & 2)I'll be wearing a limited variety of shoes until said mouse is out of his safe, warm little home because heaven knows I'm not going in after anything different until the coast is clear. I hope no one minds me wearing sneakers, flip flops or slippers to church tomorrow because if this isn't over by 9am those are my choices.

Please, friends, don't think any less of me. Someday this could be you.