Clean-up Aisle 4

...so I came home from my vaca to an occupied house, I was unaware!

My dad picked up my mom & I from DIA on Wednesday at 2:00pm and I was unpacked and enjoying a pot of coffee by 5:00pm {always TORTURE arriving from sunny Phoenix having worn flip flops & shorts...only to be greeted by 30 degree weather & SNOW!}, to readjust to my chillier home climate.

It was 10ish & I decided to tuck in for the night...I crawled into bed and felt the brush of cat food in my sheets.  What?!?!?...GROSS!  How did that get there...then about 2 seconds later I realized...MICE!!!  All sorts of creeps ran up my spine, did I touch it, was it sleeping there...AAAGGGGHHHHH!

I hopped out of bed, threw back the covers, and discovered the "secret stash" if you will.  The pesky rodent(s) were fattening up for the winter with my cat's food...while my house was vacant and I was vacationing in AZ...the mice had a vacation in my warm, unoccupied house!  I pulled off my bedding, washed it, and began vacuuming.  I noticed the droppings, but swept them up & cleaned Simon's bowl - thinking they were insects and I should have put the bowl of food away (I forgot in my rush to pack: after a day of Apple training, on the heels of getting sick, & having completed a week of parent-teacher conferences).

I have a cat, but Simon was staying at Mom & Dads until we returned from AZ.  The saying is true, 'While the cat's away...'.

Last night I went to Wal-Mart and purchased 8 traps & 2 of those sonar/radar repellent thingies--didn't want to chance my cat not being a mouser.  I placed 1 of the plug-in detectors in the kitchen & another upstairs in the hallway.  Then I went about setting my peanut butter traps.  I kept wandering looking if my traps had sprung, because I kept getting the creeps all last night - but NOTHING!

This morning I checked my upstairs traps, NOTHING.  I decided to take a shower, then check the downstairs ones.  What should I find, but that pesky varmint in my trap - YAY!!!!

Uh, but what to do now?  I AM NOT GOING TO TOUCH THAT TRAP OR THE RODENT IN IT!!  So who ya' gonna call?

Dad!  Thank heavens for dads...clean-up aisle 4 INDEED!  Dad was out shopping and swung by my house to inspect the trap & dispose of the mouse (I swear I saw it wiggle, but he said the mouse was long dead; I trust him, no verification needed!!).  I reset the empty trap & hope to catch his pesky pals soon, if they exist.  I found three "secret stashes" of food: the aforementioned bed, my boots, & my downstairs throw quilt.  So I spent last night searching every nook & cranny, vacuuming, & washing everything those little rodents trolled over.  My house sparkles!

That is all for now, 1 pic because really?!?!?!  those mice GROSS ME OUT {alive & dead, apparently}!!  Maybe I only had 1, cross your fingers...