Hickory, Dickory, Dock

(Still no pictures--I'm sorry! Our camera is dead and we have every conceivable kind of battery except the ones I need. Will be fixed soon.)

Here's this week's excitement:

I was sitting at my computer working on some student papers when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something long, sleek, and dark whiz behind the computer desk. My heart stopped. I didn't know exactly what I'd seen, but I had a strong suspicion, and I didn't like it. It was too big to be an insect, and too fast.

I got down on the ground, moving a few things on the floor to see if I could see whatever "it" was again. Andrew came into the room and asked me what I was looking for. (Evelyn was napping). Just then, it burst from its hiding place, scampered past Andrew to the door of the computer room and high-tailed it around the corner into the TV room. A mouse.

Andrew freaked out and raced upstairs (and refused to come downstairs for the rest of the day). I freaked out too and called Dan three or four times (he wasn't in his office). When Evelyn woke up, we went to ACE, bought a mousetrap, and then waited for Dan to come home so he could help me a) clean up the downstairs so there were fewer hiding places and b) bait the traps. I didn't buy the classic wood traps because I had horrified visions of children with fingers in the traps, so I got traps that the kids couldn't easily stick their fingers in.

For a day or two, nothing happened. Then, finally, yes, we caught the mouse. Part of me feels bad for setting traps that kill mice; but a much larger part of me does NOT want to deal with a mouse in the house. Now, if we could just figure out how it got in . . .

In other pest related news, I opened up my conditioner in the shower the other day and dumped an earwig into my hand. I hate earwigs. Needless to say, this seriously disrupted my enjoyment of the hot water.

I suppose it says a lot for our week that finding a mouse was the biggest event of the week. Dan and I both spent the week playing catch-up from last week's vacation. The kids went to school. I taught a class on personal statements for senior English majors. We have been watching Conference this weekend, which has been lovely.

Next week, I'm hoping for just a little more excitement of the real variety (Evelyn gets to go on her first school field trip and Dan has a conference up north) and less of the animal variety.