A Surprise Houseguest

After spending the last 4 weeks marooned in Ft. Wayne for a work project, I was thrilled to be able to come home this past weekend! It was so nice getting to spend some time relaxing at home and catching up with Evan.



Sunday was a lazy day and Evan and I spent most of the day watching football and doing odds and ends around the house, inclusive of laundry, tidying, etc. Both of us agreed that our house was overdue for a good cleaning, but not wanting to ruin a committment-free lazy Sunday, we both decided the cleaning could wait.



On one of my many trips up and down the stairs to get laundry, I walked into the kitchen, and my eye happened to catch something. I froze in my path as I noticed a tiny (but still very obtrusive) mouse sitting on my counter. Yes, I said mouse. Now, for all the other homeowners out there who probably think this isn't that big of a deal, this happens to be the first mouse I have ever had in my house. While the mouse was actually very small, he may as well have been Micky, complete with white gloves and bouncing around on my counter. He caught sight of me and scurried back behind the stove. I calmly walked downstairs to let Evan know that there was a mouse on the counter and did we need to have a family meeting? He kindly reminded me that we did live right near a field, and, uncharacteristically of us, we had numerous open chip bags, cookies, etc sitting on our counter. He said he would talk with his dad that night as to what the best course of action was and it was nothing we should really worry about. For whatever reason, I was very content with this answer and walked back upstairs to resume my laundry-gathering.



I'm sure most of you can see where this story is going....yes, I walked right back upstairs, not 3 minutes later, and the mouse was back and now aggressively going after crumbs on the counter! I could not believe the courage of this little guy. What did I do? Immediately start screaming Evan's name, as I was frozen with my eyes set on watching his every movement. Evan came upstairs to meet my furry little friend. His first remark? "Oh, he is really cute". Not quite the response I was going for. After much debate (in whispers, of course, because we didn't want the mouse to hear our plans) of what to do, we decided we needed to catch the mouse and make sure he did not make 1929 Maples Ct. a permanent home. Now, I believe every couple should have to go through this process - I promise it was better than what I imagine therapy to be like - lots of strategy, discussion, encouragement, positive thinking, etc. Evan was the designated "catcher" and my role was to keep my eye on the mouse, who was absolutely ready to move in. To protect himself, Evan donned my beautiful pink dishwashing glove on one hand and a cardboard box in the other. Once we realized that the box really wouldn't do any good, we knew that Evan just had to catch the mouse with his hand and then put in a bag of some sort and take outside. Or at least that was our best plan. Evan slowly snuck up on the mouse, and tried to grab it, but of course, it scampered away. Evan didn't give up though and he trapped the mouse in the sink and then grabbed it with his gloved-hand! I couldn't believe it! He quickly put the mouse in a plastic bag (provided by me) and rushed outside. I will spare the details of what happened to our temporary resident once outside - feel free to ask Evan for those details.



Once Evan got back inside, we both looked at each other as if we had been through the most traumatic event ever. We smiled and both agreed we were a little shook up about it all, but relieved that it was over. The thought of a mouse being anywhere besides outside where he belonged was too much for us. My only regret is that I couldn't get a picture of this momentous occassion as it was rather priceless. I was instantly reminded of when I was in gradeschool and my parents were trying to catch a bat in my bedroom with a tennis racket and brown paper bag, in the middle of the night.



Oh, and for those of you wondering - kitchen cleaning immediately got bumped to the top of the list and was completed that evening.