So today is my birthday. My 61st birthday. I had a birthday celebration with friends last night and will have another one tonight. However, today started out a little inauspiciously.
This morning I got up and took my shower. Then I went upstairs to the kitchen to make coffee. On the kitchen floor, right by the trashcan, was a dead mouse. Now I can handle many things. I am not afraid of spiders or snakes or things that go bump in the night. But I absolutely, positively cannot handle mice! I have a pest service that comes regularly, but I live in an old neighborhood and people are constantly renovating and rebuilding. A couple of months ago, they tore down the old house behind me, and all of the mice that lived under that house have now moved across the alley to my house. So, so, so, so gross! Ewwww!
Well, of course I did the only logical thing.
I grabbed my coffee and ran back downstairs and stayed there for an hour.
But then it occurred to me that the mouse, because it was dead, would probably still be there. My sons don't do mice, so I knew it was up to me.
I bravely put on my boots and marched back up the stairs. My plan was to throw a bag over the mouse so I wouldn't have to look at it, then slide a piece of cardboard underneath it, dump it into the trashcan, and then carry the garbage bag quickly outside.
Except after I threw the bag over it, I couldn't really find a piece of cardboard that was sturdy enough to support the mouse. And I didn't want it to fall on the floor and touch me, or anything like that.
And so I went to Plan B. I got a big disposable cup. I put it over the bag which was over the mouse. I tipped the cup so nothing could fall out. I slid an old Blomberg election ad over the top. I dumped the whole thing into the trash and carried it, as fast as I could, outside.
Happy Mouseday to me!
6 comments:
Feliz Cumpleanos!!! I live in the country where mice live. On occasion our 4 rescue cats bring in mice, mostly dead. I have reached a level of being where I simply grab the tail, take the corpse outside, and toss it in a field.
City mouse, country mouse.
Happy birthday!! Sorry that you had to share it with a dead mouse! I hope the rest of it goes better :-) ~JudyK
Such a great story. Happy Birthday. My father has a great story from his childhood about a bat in the house. Mother made him hit it with a broom and take it outside to the burning barrel. Only problem was, he'd just stunned it, which he didn't find out until the next morning when he peeked under the lid and it screeched at him. Never ran so fast in his life.
What a fun story! That is exactly how I would have handled the mouse (including the going into another room and avoiding it). Maybe it was a sign to show how aging brings out the courage and resourcefulness in you. :-)
Happy birthday, dear Carol. I admire your resourcefulness. Wishing you a joyous, mouse-free year. 🎂
Yikes! I don't do dead mice either, but you did it! Our favorite mouse stories come from the year we went to Snow Mountain Ranch in the fall (no kids in school yet!) when most of the tourists were gone, but the mice were coming in from the cold! I used to watch them skitter around the floor while I read with both feet up in my chair. Happy Birthday, Carol! Hope your birthday celebration was delightful!
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