Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Midnight Mouscapades

First let me correct my rudeness from last night. THANK YOU to everyone for their condolenses to Tom. He truly appreciates them. My heart goes out to anyone who's also suffered a loss, especially recently.

Secondly....I forgot to congratulate my best online friend MA! Last Wednesday she had 12th baby. She's absolutely beautiful!!! Congratulations ma and family!!

Now onto the story. As I mentioned we got pretty aggressive with the mousetraps last night. Having the mice in the house hasn't really bothered so much. I know we can easily get overrun with them if we don't do anything. So in my eyes it was a...they're here, we have to deal with it, so we will...type of thing. That was, until last night!!!

I climbed into bed after finishing my post here. Within a few minutes of my head hitting the pillow I heard the mousetrap snap. Not a big deal, it's a good thing. Then I heard movement like the thing was trying to get away. I thought...oh no! What if it didn't get caught in the trap all the way, what if it's going to go crazy and try to escape all night!? I woke up Tom (who wasn't very happy, he doesn't wake well) and he said there wasn't too much he could do. I asked if I could turn on the light and check that it was dead. That's all I needed...to know it was dead and not be trying to seek revenge on us. lol He agreed, I did and the mouse was dead as a doornail. Back to bed I go.

UNTIL....in my ear (and it did seem to be right next to my head) I hear loud massive paper shredding. Now I sleep with my back up against the wood sides of the frame. My goal is to sleep with Danielle as far from Tom as possible. It really bothers him if Danielle touches him during the night. (she sleeps in the middle, between us so she doesn't fall off the bed). I know that if that mouse, who seems to be right next to my head, decides to climb onto my bed. It HAS to go over me to achieve it. Ontop of being upset over the first mouse I started freaking out. I sat up crying to Tom about it. He really didn't know what to do. I calmed down a bit, said I was ok and laid back down. I laid there for a while trying to decide if I should just get back up and come back online. I didn't feel right leaving Danielle to fend for herself against the big bad mouse...so I stayed. Eventually I started to fall asleep.

THEN it happened...the mouse who seemed right next to my bed made this REALLY loud and manic scratching sound across something plastic. It was so loud that it woke Tom up on the other side of the bed. I jumped up, landing in the middle of the bed crying hysterically. He jumped up and decided he'd set a few more traps. He turned on the light and I tried to see if I could figure where the stupid things was. No luck. He set 2 more traps and climbed back into bed. I apologized to him if Danielle bugged him tonight but there was NO way I was sleeping along the edge of the bed tonight. And I climbed into the middle of the bed hugging Danielle to me closely and finally fell soundly asleep.

The morning found the extra traps undisturbed but the trap in the big girls closet caught one. So our count hit 10 overnight. While the kids were getting ready for school this morning (they had a 2hr delay) it seems a kitchen trap caught a dumb one in the hindquarters, allowing it to try to drag itself back home. I eventually figured out a way to scoop it up, trap and all and throw it out the door. I really do NOT care whether it was ok or not, or if one of the cats found it. I just want them all gone...NOW! 11 down (unless the traps in the basement caught some...didn't check them...Tom will when he gets home) only half a gazillion (or so it seems) to go!

I am such a dunce!

Or more like...I forget I'm not 20 anymore. We were hit hard with lake effect snow today. Between leaving the house a bit after 11am and getting home about 3:30pm about a foot of snow fell. At the college...21miles away...it was blue skies and sunny. Actually it was like that FIVE miles away...fickle lake effect!

Drew and Luke had started shoveling enough for me to pull the van in. THEN the plow came by for the first time and we had a huge mess at the end of the driveway. Drew went in the house for a break so Michelle and I started shoveling.

OMG!!! I am SO sore! My sciatica is killing me so much that I can barely walk and walking while carrying Danielle at the same time is totally out of the question! It's been acting up here and there but not this bad. I am SO hoping that tomorrow morning is a snow day. The county has a travel advisory out until 7:30am so I'm thinking they'll have at least an hour delay. This put me in a quandry as to how to get Michelle to classes by 9:30 when the hr delayed bus will be here at the same time. 10:30 if they're delayed 2hrs. Luckily Pat came to the rescue. He has to be at work by 10 so he'll leave a bit early and drop her off. The mall is only 5miles from the college.

On the mousefront we've gotten a few more. The count now is at 8 and I KNOW there are more around...including in my bedroom near the head of MY side of the bed. Last night Tom set 4 traps in the cellar and 2 of them had mice in them today. We caught one under the christmas tree. I'm afraid if I take the tree down (it's fake) we'll stop getting the mice...it's our best catch spot. I got even a bit more aggressive tonight with the traps. I've layed at least one in each bedroom on the lower floor. It's funny that Danielle has figured out they are owie just by seeing the mice in them. The first mouse we caught had her running around the house yelling Mou DEAD! DEAD! Mou! My SIL D suggested we might want to hire someone to come in and take care of things. I know we've made a huge dent in their activity. We just need to keep on being aggressive about it. Guess that's what I get for being complacent about ONE little mouse living in the wall of the girl's room. LOL

I wanted to brag on Drew's band a bit. (he's the bass player) They've been really busy playing every weekend this month all over Central NY. On the 2nd they are playing at a local tex mex place and then it looks like they'll have a bit of a break until St Patty's Day. Don't get me wrong...I don't think they'll be doing huge venues soon. It's just that they're a great group of guys that work hard and put on a good show...doing what they love, having fun and getting a few bucks to boot. They finally put one of their songs (it's an original) onto their myspace page. It just happens to be the one I like the best. So go...visit...listen. :o) (I tried to put the song on here but myspace is picky about taking music off their site for use on another one...go figure)

Val is still sick. She seems to be doing better although sometimes I wonder. She's really weak. Whenever she sits up she gets dizzy and it sometimes makes her throw up. I said I wonder because tonight she was complaining of a headache again and her neck hurting. I tend to get nervous when those two are mentioned together. Flashbacks of Carrie's meningitis came flooding in. It's really bothering her that she's missing so much school. It's another reason why I hope tomorrow is a snow day. To take some pressure off of her. She has been working on her research project and homework that Liz has brought home...so that's good. She wants me to call tomorrow and get some Math homework sent home. Her volleyball coach called today to see how she was. Val was bummed because tonight's game was Senior night (even though she's not a senior, it's still a special night) and she was going to miss it. It was cancelled due to the snow.

It amazes me that no one else has come down with it! You'd think we'd all be in bed with the flu by now. I thought I was on the verge of getting it (aches and pains, minor headache, tired) on Saturday and Sunday but I seem to have fought it off. (slept a good bit) I feel fine today!

Well I think I'll take my sore hips and buttocks into bed. Try to update tomorrow. Oh BTW...I didn't accomplish ANYTHING this weekend like I knew would happen. I did jobs here or there but it was just normal everyday stuff that gets lost as soon as you finish it. My goal this week is to get this livingroom in shape so I can start doing my Walk Away the Pounds DVD on Feb 1st (if my hips cooperate). A snow day would REALLY help me get closer to that goal. Let the slaves...I mean kids stay home!

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Back in the saddle again

Thank you for all the notes of concern about my absence. Things are as well as could be expected here. I'm doing fine pgwise. Had a dr appt today and we heard the heartbeat for the first time YEAH!!!!! Little bugger was a bit elusive at first but my OB managed to hunt it down. We didn't take the time to count beats (it was moving around a lot and was on the verge of losing it almost as soon as we found it) but it was LOUD and clear! I've lost a few pounds and my sugar and blood pressure are doing ok. The dr has been nice enough to allow me to wait 2wks between visits this pg which is nice.

Michelle started classes again on Monday and I've put on my chauffeur hat again. In some aspects this semester's schedule is easier since I have time to go home between pickup and dropoff on Tues/Thurs and only a few hour stay on Mon/Wed (no classes on Fri...woohoo!) BUT (there's always a but isn't there) on Tues/Thurs she has to be to classes by 9:30 which is really hard to do. Especially if the weather delays the buses for the school kids. So far we seem to be managing though.

While we haven't been REALLY sick. We have had some viruses go through the house since Christmas (which was VERY nice BTW!) Right now we're finishing up (I hope!) sharing a Strep A bug. Up on deck is the flu. Val has been sick since Monday with a fever of 104degrees, aches, exhaustion and a cough. So I'm expecting at least some of the others to have a turn at it also. Guess we'll see if Danielle's flu shot (the only one in the house to get it) makes a difference. I HOPE SO!

As I said, Christmas was nice. Everyone got what they wanted and wanted what they got. I managed to stay within the boundaries I set for myself moneywise. There were times when missing my MIL or grandmother came to the forefront. Overall I think everyone pulled through relatively easy.

Unfortunately Tom and his siblings had to go through another loss a week after the new year started. His dad had a major stroke which the dr's couldn't do anything about (even though he got immediate treatment). He passed away on the 7th. :o( No one expected him to pass like that. It was always assumed the cancer would eventually win. Everyone is not pulling through this relatively easy or well. Tom is really having a rough time. On Friday he'll be having a sleepover at his brother's house. :o) I hope it helps them both.

Between FIL's death and the illnesses it feels like there has been a LOT of school missed. I can't remember the last time EVERYONE went to school. I know Eileen has fallen behind but she'll have no problem catching up (whoda thunk that'd be said about her! :o)) Liz went in today to make up work even though she had half the day off.

We have visitors and they aren't the welcome kind. We seem to be the mice motel around here. I hear them in my room, behind the fiberglass tub and refrigerator, under the furniture and sinks. One night they were having a field day in the livingroom and kitchen. They were using my shoe shelves as a playground. They'd climb it, run across a certain shelf, jump off and do a flip, landing on the floor so that they could scurry back to the shoe shelf and start all over again. I bought a LOT of traps and set them up one or two nights ago. We've caught 3 so far. About 5mins ago I heard a snap from under the kitchen sink so I'm going to assume our 4th one has been taken care of. Only a zillion more to go!

Oh, I stepped down from the Largerfamilies blog this week. I've had "writer's block" across the board and didn't feel I was or could continue to hold up my end of the deal there. The guilt even kept me from here at times. Writing on topic and on schedule was kind of hard for me but it was good to do. I learned a lot doing it. Wishing the ladies over there all the best in the future.

It looks like I'll be moving to the new blogger. I've been avoiding it like the plague but they've put me on notice that I HAVE to! So it looks like I'll be attempting that move this weekend. I'm still considering getting my own personal corner of the web, but not at the moment. Need to get back into the swing of things here first.

I have some pics that the girls have taken that I'd like to share. (the 3 oldest got dig cams for Christmas) I'll try to get those up this weekend too. Hmmm I think I might be overplanning for the weekend since I also plan to get this place back in shape! Guess we'll see what I have to report on Monday. How many of you are putting your money in the NAST (not a stinking thing!) category? There's where mine is going! ;o)

It's good to be back. Now that I've been sitting here doing it, I've missed it. It feels good. Hopefully now I can stop the noise in my head as I was constantly composing my next blog post mentally. Although I still have stuff running through my head...it'll just have to wait for another time. Wonder if it'll ever stop!