So a couple of weeks ago I was stirring from a Sunday afternoon nap- when out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw movement under the door of our unfinished section of our basement.I lept up and yelled "mouse", which brought Jackie out of her cavern of studies.
For the following 2 weeks, Jackie was a woman crazed. She cleaned everything (including the wallpaper. If we had wallpaper) looking for the villainous varmint. Strangers were told at Walmart and Home Depot (as I searched for traps). Neighbors shared their horror stories with mice. Jackie became an insomniac- she was like a cat on a hot tin roof waiting to pounce on our furry visitor.... which is funny because the longer I thought about it, the less likely I was that I saw it in the first place. There were no signs of food gotten into- no droppings (although the discovery of a raisin under the sofa nearly called for the smelling salts for Jackie)- just the foggy mind of an afternoon Sunday nap.
So the traps remain empty- but Jackie is ever vigilant.
And to help with Jackie's cleaning schedule, on Christmas we welcomed a new pet to the Eaton household:
The Roomba 550. It cleans amazingly well- and all by itself. I even found myself saying "excuse me" to it the other day when I got in its way. Jackie can program it to vacuum it any day she wants. It's only gotten stuck once (under the entertainment center) and Ellis has only asked to ride it one time (although she has requested it "get out of our house" when she thought it was going to climb up the sofa and get her.So all mice watch out. Between Jackie and the Roomba we're ready and waiting.
3 comments:
Thats hilarious Clin, esp if you didn't actually see a mouse but thought you did, and now y'alls in a tizzy to find it! :) Peter would say that is good husbandry - to get the wife cleanin' whatever it takes. Good luck with that... btw, what are your thoughts on Spiderman and all the troubles and hoopla?
Ah! I can totally relate. I freak out with the mere suspicions of mice! I go crazy, buy tons of poison, and throw them in all corners of suspicion. Then I pretend nothing is actually eating them, they just magically evaporate. I'd buy traps but could never empty them and worry Gregor would chase me with them. As for the Rumba! Nice! We almost got one. Perhaps I would never sweep again? Do you still like it? Do update on this new pet, please! Is it worth it? Good luck with the faux mouse problem. So funny.
A robot that vacuums? That is amazing. We'll have to look into that.
And- I did see a mouse on my way into our office 3 weeks ago and was MOST disturbed. We set a trap out (not our first mouse) and he ended up getting his head caught in it an hour or so later. (Peanut butter with cheese is the best bait- Ben knows) Well, the poor thing didn't die right away and was thrashing around every once in a while. I refuse to deal with them when they're in the trap. So, I had to wake Ben up (of course he had gone to bed early to catch up on sleep) and he ended up drowning the poor thing in a bread bag.
It was a delightful evening.
I was so happy that he was caught so quickly. I hate the feeling/thought that a mouse would zip out under the desk when I'm on the computer.
Missed your Christmas poem this year!
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