Wednesday, January 5, 2011

A Smorgasbord of Random... or Hoarding

I'm joining Joyce, From This Side of the Pond for a quick Random.  Who doesn't love a good random, right?  Joyce is always full of fun, real-life stories of her family's travels.  Go pay her a visit.  You'll come away feeling quite cultured, aaaaand... she's a sweet lady.  You'll be glad you did.

1. What three words would you use to describe 2010?
Busy, fast, fun

2. If fear were not an issue what is something you'd like to try?
What about if money were not an issue, as well??  I'd have to pick world-travel!  I have a slight fear of flying.  Crazy, you know, since hubs travels quite often.  I try not to think about the what-ifs.   That would be such a wonderful opportunity while our girls are still under our roof.  The ultimate homeschool!  Fun, yes?

3. What do you add to your coffee or tea?
I'll just enjoy smelling my hub's coffee.   It never tastes as good as it smells.  Maybe that's just me.   Tea?  I love a good Starbucks Chi Tea Latte', one pump sugar-free hazelnut, non-fat, extra hot.  ;)  At home, I prepare my tea in the Keurig.  Pomegranate Green Tea, with 3 packets of Stevia.  

4. What historical sporting event would you like to witness?
I'm embarrassed to say... it doesn't really matter to me.  I'm just not a really big sports person.  But the winter Olympics?  I could suffer through that.  With hot tea in hand. ;)

5. What is one piece of advice you would like to give your sixteen year old self?
That young man will only break your heart.  You will go on to marry someone else.  Live life to its fullest.  It will all work out in the end.  Oh... and invest in lots of stretch-mark prevention cream and exercise!  Regardless of what your doctor will say, you will go on to have 2 {very large} pregnancies.

6. Are you a planner or do you prefer to fly by the seat of your pants?
Yes.  :) 

7. What is one thing you are looking forward to in 2011?
A trip to Alaska! :D  Just a little nervous.  See #2.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
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Procrastination is not my friend.  And will be conquered.  
At least in this one area. ;)  
The garage. 
I promise we are not hoarders.  Not in the scary-TLC-show-definition-of-the-word.  You see, when we moved in 4 years ago, that's where we put everything that needed to be stored, including furniture.  Not too bad.  Then hubs moved boxes from his office in when we resigned from church ministry.  Couldn't walk through it.  Books everywhere.  Then hubs moved another office in when he worked from home for a period of time.  Ummm... where's the floor??  

It was just easier to close the door in denial and ignore.  However, I recently noticed that the bag of bird seed that's been in there has been disturbed.  

You see where I'm going with this??!
Gracie and I told hubs that we thought something was living in there.  We heard things.  We thought we saw things.  We thought we were losing our minds.
Would you be horrified to know that this picture is an 'after' picture?  After Phase 1, that is.  Monday, when I realized that it was too coincidental that all the sunflower seeds had been cracked open, we got to work.  

I like to admire wildlife in their environment.  Not in mine.

We found what may have been the culprit.

A dead mouse.

Eeeeeeeeek!!

I'm hoping he didn't have relatives.  The ummm.... 'evidence' left behind would tell me he either took residence there most of his life... or had a family reunion.  Lord. help. me.

It's not shocking.  We do have a field of grass behind our house, and the city doesn't always keep it well manicured.  And there is a small gap under our garage door, adorned with a welcome sign, evidently.  Oi.

I think I would have felt better believing I was just losing my mind.

Bird seed is now sealed.

Phase 2 will commence soon.

Did this qualify as a random?

17 comments:

  1. Have you ever heard the saying, "You never have A mouse?" Yeah ... that is totally true. Get your traps ready! :)

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  2. Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!

    At least there are none in the house?!!

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  3. I would've like to have seen the 1980 winter olympic hockey game with USA and Russia. "Do you believe in miracles?" We have the movie and I freak out everytime I watch it. Like I don't know how it ends. :)

    I hope that mouse didn't have any parties before he died. :)

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  4. oh goody, i have a new blog to follow. i have seen you around blog land and not sure why we have never connected, having mutual friends and all...i am looking forward to getting to know you in 2011, i see that you are going on an Alaskan cruise! how exciting! :) thanks for stopping by my blog.

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  5. I am totally with your answer on #6... :)
    I don't drink coffe either but LOVE the smell of it!
    Here's a little mouse tip. Apparently peppermint oil is a deterrent. You can put it around the base of said residence and reunions should move else where. I don't like mice!!

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  6. Chai tea latte: we could definitely hang out!
    Mice: as long as I don't know they're there, I don't mind them.

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  7. EEEEEKKKK! All your randoms left my mind with the shudder of a mouse!!! I am so sorry! Really and truly--I hope you get it or them quick and fast and gone forever!!!

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  8. I'm pretty sure there is never only one : ( I'd put out some traps just in case. We keep our bird seed in a sealed bin in the garage. We have four acres of woods behind us so there are going to be critters, especially once it gets cold.

    Also~ you have my name as Linda but its Joyce...Linda used to host the random dozen but she resigned : )

    So glad you played along today!

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  9. So sorry, Joyce!! Silly me. Sigh.

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  10. Love your randoms! I also am a non-coffee drinker who still tries it every so often, because how can something that smells so good taste so bad? But it does.

    Yikes about the mouse! My advice - set your cat loose in the garage for a day, just in case... We once had a mouse in our newlywed apartment and tried everything to get rid of it. Finally, we had to cat-sit for some friends and after one night, the mouse was caught. Yuck, I know, but hey, it'd be a good homeschool lesson in the ol' food chain, yes? ;)

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  11. The mouse? Set traps! Tweak them so they are "hair triggers." I detest mice. Ugh. They are nasty little creatures. Sorry. Got carried away. lol. You're going to Alaska? That is so exciting! My grandparents went several times. It's definitely on my list of places I want to visit sometime. Thanks for sharing. Blessings, SusanD

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  12. We have no mice, but you don't want to see my garage. It's... other-worldly, in a bad way ;)

    Alaska! Yay!

    And I love the advice you'd give your younger self. My younger self would need to hear the same things :)

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  13. Baby steps...you can now see the floor!!

    Trip to Alaska, that sounds amazing (even if it involves fear on #2)

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  14. Beware, some days it seems that those small creatures can smell food through any container!

    Don't feel bad, procrastination is not my friend either. And currently we are dealing with ants who like to crawl through our house and go no where.

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  15. eeekkkk! i hate mice. hate them. hate them. HATE them. when we bought this house, after we got the key, we brought some friends over to take a look. well, guess what i found when i opened the cabinet door. mouse poop. i was ready to give the keys back. i was scared to death to go in the kitchen by myself. i called an exterminator and had him check the house out he didn't find anything and said that most houses that are on the market (empty) for a long period of time will get a little field mouse. i made david set traps all the time. after not catching anything for weeks i finally stopped worrying. oh, and i had NO idea they would eat bird seed. seriously need to find out where ours is.

    Alaska? wow. how fun! David wants to go to Alaska one day.

    i add lots of sugar to my tea. the sweeter, the better ha!

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  16. Love your random thoughts. With a 10 yo daughter, I often wonder how hard the heartbreaks are going to be, but you're right, "it all works out in the end".

    Mice are not my friends....several traps in our garage stocked with peanut butter to reign them in. :(

    Good luck!

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  17. Oh, I hate mice! But, every once in a while, we'll get them. Drives me crazy! It's like I declare war in my house when a mouse moves in. He doesn't stand a chance.

    Good luck to you!

    Your trip to Alaska sounds awesome.
    -FringeGirl

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