Here we go again.

Many of you will recall the infestation of mice that we had last year. It seems that living across the street from a park and an open field might have its rodential drawbacks. This weekend, I found evidence of a mouse in the pantry. I freaked out and scrubbed things from top to bottom and then tried my hardest to put it out of my mind. Finding a half eaten biscotti in your pantry and a small pile of poo in the vicinity makes you feel yucky for countless reasons.

So tonight we were eating a pleasant dinner together as a family when Mike jumped up and started beating the floor with the rug. I promptly realized that he had a visual on the mouse. Carter started excitedly saying "Daddy is killing a bug" over and over and over while I tried to determine the safest place for me and Evyn to be. Then Mike went after the fireplace tools. The fun was only beginning. Picture the kitchen with rugs strewn here and there, the fridge pulled out from the wall, all chairs displaced and my sweet husband in dress socks and pajama pants laying spread Eagle on the floor. Suffice it to say that I was done eating. Here is Mike in action.


Carter had to get in on the action too. Here he is yielding the most dangerous of the fireplace tools yelling excitedly about helping daddy kill the "bug."

About 15 minutes later, Mike was victorious. The baseboard, not so much. I spared you the close up of our most recent victim of violence. Carter was completely fascinated with the whole event. After Mike showed him the corpse, he looked Mike in the eye and said "Templeton (the rat from Charlotte's web) is so creepy." True that.

I am now really disturbed on many levels and for many reasons.

1. Look at how filthy my kitchen floor is.

2. How and why did this mouse get in my kitchen? There is not a door anywhere close to the kitchen. Has he been living here? If so, where?

3. What kind of balls must a mouse have to run across the kitchen floor in broad daylight when four humans are in the room?

4. Aren't there normally entire colonies of mice when you find one?

5. Can I ever go barefoot in the kitchen again?

6. How did that mouse open the biscotti without an opposable thumb?

7. Where else has that mouse been?

I could go on. It looks like it might be time to start setting traps again. I will keep you posted. Just keeping it real here, folks!