A MOUSE (OR MOUSES) IN THE HOUSE AND A MANI

It's that time of year again; fall. The time when once or twice a friendly neighborhood mouse will find its way into my kitchen. 

I thought I had heard one the beginning of last week in the laundry room before I went to work, but I couldn't find any "evidence" of said mouse. I did, however, remove the two bags of bird seed that were next to Tinlee's crate and bring them into the kitchen.

 

Since I couldn't find anything to prove we had a mouse, I figured I'd just wait it out. Sure enough, the next morning I got up and found a couple little surprises on the countertop by the sink....just a couple.

Now, the weird thing about the mice we get, they never seem to go anywhere or be anywhere that has any food. Never in the food cupboards; never in the dog food...it's weird, right?  Whenever I figure we have one, I immediately go to the lower cupboard next to the stove and start removing dishtowels and my Ove-Gloves, because that is always where I find those little rice-sized remnants they love to leave behind.  And that's exactly what I did that morning. I pulled out all of the towels, etc. and grabbed one of my no-kill traps, put in a cracker with a smidge of peanut butter and set it in that cupboard. Then I did the same with the other trap and set it next to the toaster.

I swear, within 15 minutes I could hear my friend in the cupboard. Wow, this was going to be even easier than it usually is. Or so I thought. At that point I didn't realize I'm a doofus and hadn't set the door to the trap correctly. So much for day one.

On Friday I cleaned the entire house and didn't find anything interesting. Patience is key here, folks. Saturday night Tyler went to bed around 3:30, I think. I was still awake since sleeping still isn't really happening much for me, and I started hearing the familiar "oh, shit...I got the peanut butter and now I'm stuck" sound. Sure enough, adorbs little grey mouse in the trap by the stove. I kind of laughed and thought about waking up Tyler because she thinks they're adorable, too, but I decided against it. 

Then I pondered whether I really felt like getting in the car at 4:00 a.m. to bring him to the spot where I usually release them. I decided I did not want to do that. Instead I figured I'd take a chance at releasing him right off the deck. I actually did know this was not the most brilliant of ideas because he'd probs just find his way back in, but I decided it was worth the risk. I went to the top step of the deck and slid open the trap. He stuck his head out and kind of looked at me for a minute before deciding he should hightail it away from the restaurant.

Laughing out loud, for realz, I went back inside, cleaned the trap and reset it with a new cracker and peanut butter just in case there was more than one lurking around.

Less than 15 minutes later, I heard the familiar sounds once again, this time on the countertop trap.  By then I was really laughing. I went and got the trap; who knows if it was the same mouse or not because they pretty much all look the same. Once again I just released him at the house, but I took him to the edge of the woods this time.  And again, I cleaned and reset the trap.

Things were quiet the rest of the night.  Last night as I lay in the recliner, just kind of dozing off and on, I started hearing some activity on the cupboard. I think it was probs about 5:00 a.m. And oh, he was noisy! He was moving around and scratching in there. I was not going to get up and take care of it at that hour. I figured he could wait, and I'd just take him with me on my way to work and drop him off at his new neighborhood.

Finally at about 5:50 a.m., silence. Thank God. I figured he had finally given up and was just sitting there quietly like the first two. Having given up on sleep, I got up at 6:00 went into the kitchen.

NO MOUSE. What the hell?? I thought I had taken crazy pills or was delusional from no sleep. But nope; peanut butter gone, entire trap still set up the way it should be. I have NO idea how the hell he got out of there. I've never had one escape before. Even weirder, all he left behind was one little piece of poo....highly unusual since they poop non-stop. The first two I caught left a huge mess in the five minutes they were trapped. So no peanut butter, one poo, no mouse. Houdini's got nothing on this guy.

So the little bastard kept me awake for about an hour and then skipped out right when I was ready to get up.  Oh, well....both traps are still set. I'll get him eventually. Hilarious. I know some people are freaked out by them, and I know they are filthy little creatures, but seriously, they are so damn cute!

I was super lazy all weekend. Saturday I did what I did last Sunday; slept off and on the entire day. I never touched my laptop, not even once.  Finally yesterday I managed to paint my nails.

I must just be in a dark mood or something because I used Orly Liquid Vinyl again! Then I sponged on bits of China Glaze No Plain Jane, China Glaze Swanky Silk and Mentality Pastille before stamping on it with my Lealac XL-A stamp. And I love it.

As usual, the pictures aren't doing this one any favors, but it is just super pretty in person. It's for sure one of my faves in awhile.

Over the next day or two I get to have some fun swatching for Too Cute-icle and if you've never tried any of her polishes, you are missing out and should immediately go there and buy some. I have several already, and now I'm going to be showcasing and reviewing some new ones she's going to release.  Watch for that post this week. You're going to love them. I just got them today and already want to make out with them and haven't even tried them yet.

Sorry this was such a long post, but the mouse story is just too fun for me to not share. Well, I think it's fun; some of you probs disagree. At least I didn't take pictures to freak anybody out like I did with the snakes, so give me some credit for that. 

Truth be told, if I could have gotten pictures, I would have. 

You're lucky the traps are green and hard to see through or you'd have pics and possibly video up here of those cute little wiggly noses.