I heard numerous recitations of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" and silently winced as I heard these lines "...And all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a ..." That's right! You probably are able to finish the line, and I will tell you this Christmas season was also marked with ...mice! Eek! Here's how it all went down.
I came out of the shower late one night and into the hallway to see my roommate sitting on the back of the couch. She said in a stressed whisper, "We have an issue. I saw a mouse. I've been waiting up here thirty minutes for you to get out of the bathroom." I stood there, frozen, for what seemed like an eternity repeating myself, "You are kidding." After taking necessary steps such as taking the trash downstairs and pulling out two brooms from the utility closet, we decided we would both likely panic if we were to try to chase it out of the closet. We retired to our separate rooms, my roommate very brave sleeping with her door open, while I slept with my door closed, a towel shoved in the crack under the door, and many blankets over me.
The Mouse Warrior (the new nickname for my boyfriend) came the next evening to set sticky traps with peanut butter and dove chocolates (that would certainly tempt me). We caught one, who he referred to as Minnie. The Mouse Warrior came the next morning to extract the mouse, and I'm sure to set it free out in the woods where it lived happily ever after.
The coast was clear, and we let our guard down with a busy week of work, a wedding shower at work, a bake sale fund raiser, and multiple Christmas parties. I had returned exhausted from two Christmas parties that Friday night and went to bed with my goody bag from the last party sticking out of my purse which I always keep open right in front of my bedside table on the floor (inches from my head, mind you). I awoke Saturday morning to the sound of a creature stirring--IN MY PURSE!!! I jumped out of bed (something that never happens) and went to my roommate for backup. She was waiting in her boots with a trash bag as I finally worked up the nerve to grab my purse with all its contents and chunked it into the trash bag! I said to my roommate later, "Have a good day! (Don't leave me)," as she left for an appointment.
I called in the Mouse Warrior as my purse sat waiting (along with my wallet, and errands to run, etc.) in a trash bag secured with a hairband inside a paper sack by the door. He took the purse down to the bed of his truck which I feared might alarm some neighbors seeing a man go through a purse in the bed of his truck. After ten minutes, the Mouse Warrior returned and informed me he had bad news: no mouse, and good news: he wasn't dating a crazy person (as he held up a peanut butter cup with a corner bitten off by our Christmas critter).
After many sleepless nights, many Mouse Warrior visits and cleaning sessions, two exterminator visits, maintenance man hot water heater draining and hole patching, and daily mouse trap checks, Mickey has not been heard from again. I had many reminders of our little uninvited guests: a Christmas mouse play field trip with my students, a Minnie sweatshirt worn by a coworker, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" readings, and a new pet for my niece and nephew (Uncle Si the hamster, which may I point out is clearly a rodent).
May your holiday season be filled with adoration for Christ the King and visits from guests who have been invited!
No comments:
Post a Comment