Today I shared my weekend mouse adventures with a group of 2nd graders I was teaching. One of the boys told me that it was mean to trap and kill a mouse and I shouldn't do that because he likes mice.
I told him, "The mouse is already dead."
He said to me, "Then why don't you sew his head back on his body?"
I said, "It won't work that way, because #1, I'm not sewing any mouse back together, and #2, his heart no longer works."
He said, "Then why don't you take out your heart and put it into his body so he can live again?"
I said, "Because then I wouldn't be alive anymore and I want to keep living."
He said, "Then take out your husband's heart and put it where yours used to be so you can keep living."
I said, "But then my husband wouldn't have a heart and be alive, and I would be really sad."
He said matter-of-factly, "Then go find a new husband."
:) I'm going to miss these "insightful" conversations...
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Mouse Update
We caught ourselves a mouse!! :)
Monday morning found us creeping around the corner of our kitchen entrance to gaze upon the set traps. At first glance, all of them were set and had not budged - very frustrating. The trap we had set under the oven where we had heard the mouse had seemingly disappeared. We were quite confused by this until we took a closer look; the trap had shifted under a metal piece of the oven...we knew it had been shifted because something had moved it. As Brant was trying to maneuver the stick under the the oven to pull it out he immediately noticed a tail sticking out a few inches away. He blindly reached behind the metal piece and pulled out a dead mouse attached to the mouse trap.
Seriously, this was the happiest moment of our entire weekend! We were SO relieved.
We spent the next several hours getting ready for our day, packing boxes, going to the grocery store, etc. We were eating lunch, when suddenly we heard some furious scurrying coming from upstairs. Tucker started intensely barking at the ceiling, so we opened the upstairs door and sent him up. He didn't catch anything but he (and we) were very distressed.
Since then, we've set the traps upstairs but have not seen or heard any other sign of a mouse. So where does that leave us now? Counting the days until we can move out of here!!
Monday morning found us creeping around the corner of our kitchen entrance to gaze upon the set traps. At first glance, all of them were set and had not budged - very frustrating. The trap we had set under the oven where we had heard the mouse had seemingly disappeared. We were quite confused by this until we took a closer look; the trap had shifted under a metal piece of the oven...we knew it had been shifted because something had moved it. As Brant was trying to maneuver the stick under the the oven to pull it out he immediately noticed a tail sticking out a few inches away. He blindly reached behind the metal piece and pulled out a dead mouse attached to the mouse trap.
Seriously, this was the happiest moment of our entire weekend! We were SO relieved.
We spent the next several hours getting ready for our day, packing boxes, going to the grocery store, etc. We were eating lunch, when suddenly we heard some furious scurrying coming from upstairs. Tucker started intensely barking at the ceiling, so we opened the upstairs door and sent him up. He didn't catch anything but he (and we) were very distressed.
Since then, we've set the traps upstairs but have not seen or heard any other sign of a mouse. So where does that leave us now? Counting the days until we can move out of here!!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Not Exactly Mickey Mouse
If you know me well, you know that I consider Disneyland my home away from home. I can actually say I feel "homesick" for the place when I'm not there. I'm quite proud of my obsession with all things Disney and have always been Mickey Mouse's #1 fan!
Well, the past few days I've had a bit of a reason not to enjoy the origin of this otherwise cute and lovable character.
We have an uninvited house guest staying with us these days...that's right. We've been cursed with the presence of a mouse in our house. It started on Thursday night when I was home alone with Tucker (our dog), and he was feverishly whining and pawing at a corner behind the desk. I was quite irritated by it and trying to ignore him, thinking that perhaps while we had been out earlier in the evening, he had seen a big bug go behind there and was now out of his crate and available to "get it". His fur was raised and he was growling at the corner. Needless to say, being home alone and 8 months pregnant, this was not a calming experience. The next morning, before I left for work, I informed Brant of Tucker's behavior the night before. He proceeded to move the desk out of the way and found several mouse droppings awaiting discovery. After a bit of discussion, we decided that we have 2 weeks left and perhaps the mouse had left us alone. We decided that if indeed the mouse had stayed with us, Tucker would be alert and alarm us of it's whereabouts.
Long story short, on Saturday, we found more mouse droppings on the opposite side of the house, particularly in the kitchen; on the stove, on the counter top and on the floor. They were never in large quantities, just here and there. DISGUSTING!! It really makes you not want to cook or eat anything out of a kitchen that has been trespassed through by a mouse.
Last night, Brant woke up about 3:00 thinking he was hearing some cords by his night stand shifting around. He shined his cell phone light around the area searching for anything. I woke up and saw what was happening, but chose not to let him know I was aware, because I didn't need to know what he saw or heard. In the end, it didn't matter because both of us were pretty restless and uneasy the rest of the night after that!
This morning, we found more droppings in the kitchen and a special dose next to Brant's bedside. Immediately, Brant went to Fred Meyer before church to pick up some mouse traps. He bought some of these super gluey pads, placed cheese on them and proceeded to place 6 of them in several areas throughout the house. Throughout church, I was fervently praying for the traps to work and for us to be able to come home to a mouse-trapped house. My prayers were not strong enough I guess...
We came home to find two of the traps had changed position, with the cheese still intact. The real kicker was that both traps had mouse paw prints all over them! It was absolutely ridiculous! We got back in the car, drove to Fred Meyer again, and purchased 8 of the standard "guillotine" mouse traps. We had a few out during the day while we were packing up the house, but no such luck. I didn't really think a mouse would be stupid enough to come out while people were tromping around the house, but hey! It was worth a shot.
We now come to this evening. We've been out for several hours with friends and have come home to find all 8 traps still completely locked and loaded. As we stood dumbfounded in the kitchen, we suddenly started hearing little scraping sounds. We believe we have narrowed down the area of the mouse's hiding place to under/around the oven. Brant pulled out the bottom drawer that holds all of our pots to find a plethora of mouse droppings (but no mouse). We now have set traps throughout the kitchen and under the oven and blocked (we hope) both entrances to the kitchen. Now we wait. The sweetest sound for me this evening will be when I hear a loud "SNAP" coming from the kitchen. Aww...sweet relief. And then I'll send Brant in to pick up the remains. :) He can't wait. (I think it's more that he can't wait for his wimpy, pregnant, hormonal wife to chill out about the ordeal).
Please stay tuned. I hope I will have a victory post to write for you in the morning.
Well, the past few days I've had a bit of a reason not to enjoy the origin of this otherwise cute and lovable character.
We have an uninvited house guest staying with us these days...that's right. We've been cursed with the presence of a mouse in our house. It started on Thursday night when I was home alone with Tucker (our dog), and he was feverishly whining and pawing at a corner behind the desk. I was quite irritated by it and trying to ignore him, thinking that perhaps while we had been out earlier in the evening, he had seen a big bug go behind there and was now out of his crate and available to "get it". His fur was raised and he was growling at the corner. Needless to say, being home alone and 8 months pregnant, this was not a calming experience. The next morning, before I left for work, I informed Brant of Tucker's behavior the night before. He proceeded to move the desk out of the way and found several mouse droppings awaiting discovery. After a bit of discussion, we decided that we have 2 weeks left and perhaps the mouse had left us alone. We decided that if indeed the mouse had stayed with us, Tucker would be alert and alarm us of it's whereabouts.
Long story short, on Saturday, we found more mouse droppings on the opposite side of the house, particularly in the kitchen; on the stove, on the counter top and on the floor. They were never in large quantities, just here and there. DISGUSTING!! It really makes you not want to cook or eat anything out of a kitchen that has been trespassed through by a mouse.
Last night, Brant woke up about 3:00 thinking he was hearing some cords by his night stand shifting around. He shined his cell phone light around the area searching for anything. I woke up and saw what was happening, but chose not to let him know I was aware, because I didn't need to know what he saw or heard. In the end, it didn't matter because both of us were pretty restless and uneasy the rest of the night after that!
This morning, we found more droppings in the kitchen and a special dose next to Brant's bedside. Immediately, Brant went to Fred Meyer before church to pick up some mouse traps. He bought some of these super gluey pads, placed cheese on them and proceeded to place 6 of them in several areas throughout the house. Throughout church, I was fervently praying for the traps to work and for us to be able to come home to a mouse-trapped house. My prayers were not strong enough I guess...
We came home to find two of the traps had changed position, with the cheese still intact. The real kicker was that both traps had mouse paw prints all over them! It was absolutely ridiculous! We got back in the car, drove to Fred Meyer again, and purchased 8 of the standard "guillotine" mouse traps. We had a few out during the day while we were packing up the house, but no such luck. I didn't really think a mouse would be stupid enough to come out while people were tromping around the house, but hey! It was worth a shot.
We now come to this evening. We've been out for several hours with friends and have come home to find all 8 traps still completely locked and loaded. As we stood dumbfounded in the kitchen, we suddenly started hearing little scraping sounds. We believe we have narrowed down the area of the mouse's hiding place to under/around the oven. Brant pulled out the bottom drawer that holds all of our pots to find a plethora of mouse droppings (but no mouse). We now have set traps throughout the kitchen and under the oven and blocked (we hope) both entrances to the kitchen. Now we wait. The sweetest sound for me this evening will be when I hear a loud "SNAP" coming from the kitchen. Aww...sweet relief. And then I'll send Brant in to pick up the remains. :) He can't wait. (I think it's more that he can't wait for his wimpy, pregnant, hormonal wife to chill out about the ordeal).
Please stay tuned. I hope I will have a victory post to write for you in the morning.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Infant CPR
So we just came back from our Infant CPR class. We both left feeling well prepared in the case of an emergency, but also left with feelings of anxiety over the thought of actually having to put the learned skills into practice. I'm supposed to be feeling at ease that I have this knowledge, but I really can't say those are the feelings I possess right now! Regardless, we've taken the class and are better prepared than we were 3 hours ago, so that's something!
I guess all we need now is a baby... about 4 weeks away! I must admit, I have this feeling that she is going to make her entrance into this world a little earlier than expected. I know that I can't base anything on a feeling, but I think there is something fun about admitting it and seeing what the outcome is! When I say "early", I really don't feel like it will be weeks early, but I do think I will be within a few days to a week early. I mentioned this to Brant tonight and I think I saw a glimmer of "fear" come over him as he grinned at me. He proceeded to inform me that he had been thinking the same thing. We just need to make it another two weeks, at least! There is an entire house to be packed up, a job to be concluded and a big move to Oregon that must take place first! Not to mention, the baby really does need a few more good weeks of development.
In the meantime, I'm just going day by day, feeling like an enormous incubator and trying to give her the best life has to offer at this point (and taking all the brunt of it for her)! I feel everything I'm supposed to; happy, swollen, tired, emotional, anxious, irritable, excited, scared, and uncomfortable.
Its all coming so fast, and I have no doubt we'll be there before we know it! At least we have the infant CPR down.
I guess all we need now is a baby... about 4 weeks away! I must admit, I have this feeling that she is going to make her entrance into this world a little earlier than expected. I know that I can't base anything on a feeling, but I think there is something fun about admitting it and seeing what the outcome is! When I say "early", I really don't feel like it will be weeks early, but I do think I will be within a few days to a week early. I mentioned this to Brant tonight and I think I saw a glimmer of "fear" come over him as he grinned at me. He proceeded to inform me that he had been thinking the same thing. We just need to make it another two weeks, at least! There is an entire house to be packed up, a job to be concluded and a big move to Oregon that must take place first! Not to mention, the baby really does need a few more good weeks of development.
In the meantime, I'm just going day by day, feeling like an enormous incubator and trying to give her the best life has to offer at this point (and taking all the brunt of it for her)! I feel everything I'm supposed to; happy, swollen, tired, emotional, anxious, irritable, excited, scared, and uncomfortable.
Its all coming so fast, and I have no doubt we'll be there before we know it! At least we have the infant CPR down.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Finally Starting a Blog!!
For those of you who know me well, I've been talking about starting a blog for over a year. What better time to take this on than now, when my life is about to be flipped upside down and inside out in all aspects of the phrase. Whew! It makes me sigh just thinking about all that is going on with us. Let me give you a brief update on what has been going on with me these days. I'm closing in on my third year as a special education teacher for K-5 graders in Bellevue, WA. I love my job and cherish the relationships I have built, both with my colleagues and my students. I am very sad to be leaving my job in a few weeks. My last day at work will be on June 5th. The very next day, we will be packing up the moving truck and moving south to Portland for the summer. Somehow, the house will be cleaned out, boxed up and ready to vacate. Ha! It makes me laugh and get a little bit anxious all at the same time. We will be in Portland for the summer, which is going to be awesome, as we welcome our new daughter, Madelyn Mae, into our family. She is due on June 22nd! It will be such a blessing to be surrounded by family who can help us out as we venture into this crazy job called "parenthood". It will also give our family the chance to bond with little Maddie before we move out to Princeton, NJ in September. Good grief, huh? My doctor asked me if I was aware that statistics show you should only go through 2 life changes in a year's worth of time. Yeah. I think we've met our quota and are far surpassing it! God is faithful. God never fails. We've chosen to follow this windy path because we know it is in His perfect plan. It is not easy, by any means. In fact, there are moments where we are terrified. But then God reminds us to trust Him. Life isn't supposed to be a walk in the park. We're excited to step into this unknown and experience all that He has in store for us.So, my hope for this blog? This will be a place for me to share my thoughts and fears about what is going on in life. I value the relationships I have more than anything. I want to ask that you walk with me, with us, on this journey we are about to embark upon. I am leaving my favorite place, the Northwest, and leaving my favorite people, all of you. And if you are ever in Portland (this summer), or Princeton, NJ, look us up! We love visitors!!
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