The Mystery of the Rat

Twas the night before Wednesday and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a rat....A RAT????

"There's a mouse in the house!"

"A mouse! A mouse!"

"There's a mouse in my room!"

"A mouse! A mouse!"

I sat in front of my computer typing away, trying to ignore the histrionics happening on the other side of the house. The shrieking was getting louder and my son was jumping around like a wild banshee. I continued typing away, trying to ignore the chaos.

I was sure that the mouse, if it had any survival instinct at all, would flee for its life and vacate the premises. It was surrounded by a teen girl shrieking and an eight year old boy hopping through the room yelling "A mouse! A mouse!" I started feeling sorry for the poor little mouse and it was becoming harder and harder to ignore the bedlam.

My husband finally got out of bed to investigate. I settled back down to my computer. I was sure he could effectively deal with this crisis on his own. After all, he is the man who successfully captured the last mouse a few months ago at 2am, in his underwear, while his daughter and wife were huddled on the furniture pointing him in the right direction. He is a professional, in my estimation.

Unfortunately the chaos did not die down, it increased in intensity. It was becoming obvious that I was going to have to intervene. As I walked down the hall I quickly ascertained that the situation was much worse than I had anticipated. My son was in his underwear jumping around with a wild gleam in his eyes yelling "A mouse! A mouse!" my daughter was on the verge of hysteria, at least she was clothed. My husband, also clothed thankfully, was assessing the situation.

Apparently one of our cats brought a live mouse, a very large mouse, into my daughter's room. Unfortunately all the excitement that was given to this wondrous event spooked the cat and he dropped it and ran for his life. Now we had a live mouse, a very large live mouse, loose in my daughter's room and both cats were nowhere to be found.

Plan #1: Find cat. Put cat in room. Close door. Cat captures Very Large Mouse.

Sounds like the perfect plan, but there was one glitch. One of our cats is an excellent hunter, our other cat is missing a few very important brain cells. The hunter is easily spooked. All the excitement had sent him running for the hills. Our mentally challenged cat was still in the house trying to figure out what was going on. He was lovingly captured and set loose in the room with the door closed. We waited for him to catch the Very Large Mouse. Shockingly, he did so rather quickly. Sadly, he lost it just as quickly and couldn't find it again. When he curled up on my daughter's bed (the cat, not the Very Large Mouse) and started grooming himself (did I mention he is a gorgeous cat?), we gave up on Plan #1.

Plan #2: Systematically move all furniture and detritus on the floor. Search for Very Large Mouse. Kick cat out of room.

We were planning our attack, trying to decide where to begin (remember, this is a 13 year old girl's room, scary in its own right) when we had the distinct feeling that we were being watched. We slowly turned around and saw two beady little eyes watching us with his nose twitching. It was not a Very Large Mouse, it was a RAT!! I hate to admit this, but I shrieked. The rat scampered away. I left the room and closed the door and wished my husband and daughter luck. I became the Disaster Relief Coordinator (DRC) safely behind the closed door.

As I briefly mentioned earlier, a 13 year old girl's room is a very scary place without a rat running free in it....with a rat running free in it, it becomes a place you don't want to enter in bare feet, in the dark, by yourself. I was on the other side of the door performing my DRC functions, very competently I might add. I was beginning to become distraught by the sounds emanating from the room. I heard banging and crashing and loud voices and a few expletives. I increased my DRC duties as I increased the volume of my voice, just to be heard above the racket, of course. All this to no avail....the maelstrom continued. I again increased my DRC tactics only to be told to be quiet.

Suddenly the door opened and a chair was thrust into my arms. The door closed. Just as suddenly it opened again and I was given the beanbag chair. The door closed. Confused, I again tried my DRC maneuvers only to be told again to be quiet or do the job myself. Stunned I stood in the hall and watched my husband walk away and leave me with a beanbag chair in my hands, my daughter, her scary room, and the rat.

I dropped the chair, stepped into the room and noticed that my feet were bare. I almost ran, but I could not leave my daughter alone with the rat. I put my bare feet out of my mind and closed the door. I was now in the scary room with my daughter and the rat.

We started our own Rat Recovery Process. One by one we moved the furniture. Inch by inch we worked our way around the room. We found socks, pencils, necklaces, coins, books, barrettes, pens....piles and piles of treasures. No rat. We moved more furniture. We found dust bunnies...whole colonies of dust bunnies. No rat.

Finally we were at the last part of the room. The darkest, scariest place of all.....the closet. We slowly and gingerly emptied the closet item by item....shoe by shoe. No rat.

Eventually her room was clean...every inch inspected. Every pencil put away, every dust bunny eradicated. No rat.

It disappeared.

To this day...we have not found the rat. Did he wait for the perfect opportunity and escape? We don't know....it is a mystery.

No Words

The thoughts are swirling around in my mind, colliding and exploding. So many ideas, so many words that need to get out. I can't find the process right now. Somehow the funnel from my brain to my fingers is clogged and the words aren't coming.

I want to talk about the woman I saw in the mirror this morning, but I can't.

I want to talk about the injustices in the world, the haves and the haves not, but the words are stuck.

I want to talk about the idea formulating in my mind for a short story, but thoughts are jumbled.

I want to talk about my 1st blog-aversary that came and went last week unnoticed, but I won't.

I need to write off line right and get my thoughts together so the funnel will unclog and the words will flow....

Be back later....

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you have a wonderful holiday...enjoy your family and friends....remember all the things you are grateful for....
I am busy baking and cooking up a storm. Last night we (Cassie and myself) made 2 pies, 2 loaves of bread, and prepared the stuffing. Yumm....I can't wait to eat dinner.

Enjoy your day, don't eat too much!!

Minutes from Our Meeting

We had our family meeting today to decide the fate of this sweet monster currently residing in our house. It was a wonderfully productive meeting with full participation on everyone's part!


The general consensus was our love for Baron and wanting to keep him in our family. Great...I agreed with everyone and then asked the question..."What are you willing to do to help with his training and upkeep?"


That is when the silence became deafening.


We talked about the daily training he needs, the consistency he needs, we need to increase his exercise (one walk a day is not enough!!), etc, etc.....I made my point clear that we need to work as a team in order to have success. If we weren't able to do that, then it was not fair or healthy for Baron to remain in our house. We would be doing him and us a great disservice.


More silence but you could hear the brain cells clicking.


The ideas started flowing....Cassie agreed to walk him on occasion, Michael agreed to play ball in the backyard with him, Dave agreed to walk him and not play roughly with him, I have already started taking him to the dog park on my lunch break during days that I work.....this is all great. We also agreed that Michael could feed him in the afternoons. All of us agreed to spend 5-10 minutes a day doing basic obedience commands with him (sit, down, stay, come). These are all steps in the right direction!!


When Michael feeds him, he first puts him on a down/stay. He then puts the food in his bowl and releases him from his stay to eat. I am standing right there and I continue to pet him while he is eating. Michael is able to pet his hind end while he is eating now which is great progress. Baron has been wonderful and I can see the food aggression diminishing.


Baron is a very smart dog and has been easy to train, he learns the commands quickly. He is also very stubborn and strong willed. I firmly believe that he is testing his boundaries right now and we need to teach him that even the children are above him in the pecking order. I think we can get through this with lots of patience, love, consistency, and firmness. He is a great dog and has so many wonderful attributes.


At the end of our meeting we had a group hug and Baron wormed his way in the middle and looked up at us with a huge smile on his face. I think he knew he was just given a reprieve. It was a beautiful moment.


Thank you everyone for all your kind words and advice....I greatly appreciate it. I will definitely keep you posted on our progress. It is also reassuring to know that if we find out that we are not the right family for Baron, he has a safe, nurturing home to go to....but we are hoping he can stay in our family!!

Ramblings

This post may or may not make sense tonight. I feel the need to write about my week, so much has happened....it may be very disjointed. Please bear with me here.


My mother in law has an infection in her knee. She had her knee replaced over 2 weeks ago and it is still infected. This is limiting the amount of physical therapy she is capable of doing and I am very worried about her and how this will affect the success of her knee. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.


Report cards came home on Monday. Cassie did very well, she has mostly A's, a couple of B's, a C in math (no surprise) and a D in Literature!! A 'D'!!! She had an A in that class the previous month. We were very shocked, to say the least. We told her to talk to the teacher and find out why she received that grade. The teacher told her that she was missing assignments, Cassie said that she turned them in....hmm...something seems a bit fishy here. I need to make an appointment with the teacher to find out exactly what the problem is. We also got the results of the standardized test she took in Sept. Her scores were very good. She is above average in everything but math...again no surprise. Her highest scores were in language and writing....no surprise again. Fortunately her math teacher, who we had a meeting with 2 weeks ago, has agreed to tutor Cassie every Monday after school for an hour. This is very kind and generous of her...any ideas on what we can do for her to show our appreciation??


Now on to Michael's report card......he does not get grades (A's, B's, etc), but he is doing well and has good marks in all his subjects. His test scores though....incredible....he scored in the 99th percentile in reading....98th percentile in science...his overall composite score was 95. That means that only 5 percent of 3rd graders in the nation that took this test did better than him. We were shocked. We had a meeting with his teacher today...and she said she was shocked when she saw his scores. He obviously is one smart little boy. Now we have a decision to make...do we leave him in the Catholic school, or do we put him in the public school and he can go into the GATE (gifted) program?? If he stays in the Catholic school, he can try for a scholarship for high school. If he goes to the public school he will have more opportunities and challenges. We asked his teacher today and she is leaning towards public but wants more information on the GATE program at the school he would go to. We need to gather information and schedule another meeting with his teacher. Maybe he is so difficult to parent because he is so smart?? I don't know but he sure is cute!!


You would think that would be enough for one week?? Nope, there is more....


Our sweet dog Baron is turning into a monster. All of a sudden his personality is changing and he is showing aggression towards the kids. He is now 18 months old and has always been a challenge to train, he is the hardest dog I have ever trained. This week he has snapped at both kids and is now showing food aggression. We have hired trainers this past year to help us with other issues, but my money tree is running out and right now I just can't afford it. Baron is not the first dog I have trained, but is definitely the hardest. I spoke with his breeder last night...who also happens to be a good friend, and she gave me some advice and helpful hints. She also said she would take him back if needed. We have to make a decision now whether to keep him or not....I hate this!! I wish I could really talk to Baron and tell him to stop this craziness. We are having a family meeting this weekend to talk about this. I think we can work together as a family in training him through these issues....I hope we can. Right now I am afraid to have my children's friends come over...Baron is too unpredictable. We have never had this problem....it is very hard.


What a week!! I can't believe next week is Thanksgiving and I am cooking for both sides of the family!!!



Thanks for listening.....

Meet Froggy and Fred

Isn't this little guy adorable??

You can barely see this one, but he is equally cute.

These are our newest additions to our menagerie....Fred and Froggy. I am not sure who is who but I am sure my kids can tell you. They are Red Eyed Tree Frogs and they joined our family today. Michael has had a fascination with these creatures for awhile now. He has written two reports on them in school, one last year and one this year.

Last Friday Dave and I went to the East Bay Vivarium, one of our favorites places to visit, to get mice for our snake, and we saw these adorable babies in one of their tanks. Both of us became very excited and decided to come back with the kids to purchase a couple of them. Today we readied an empty tank and drove to the store. We were all very excited.

They are now home and getting acclimated to their new environment. They definitely are cute little buggers.

BTW...the Vivarium is a great place to people watch....you see all kinds in there...some are as frightening as the creatures behind the glass!!

Laughter, it is Good for Your Soul

Laughter is definitely a soothing balm for your soul. It cleanses your heart and your mind. It begins deep in your abdomen and builds upon itself as it rises. It attaches itself to the darkness inside and draws it up as it rises. It erupts from you and spews forth all the impurities in your soul as you exhale and guffaw. Laughter, it is so underrated.

I spent hours tonight laughing. It was Girls Night Out. Five of us piled in my suburban MiniVan for an evening in San Francisco. Girlfriends and Laughter...what a winning combination.

We had dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant in North Beach, my absolute favorite part of the City. Authentic Italian food where the pasta is made daily from scratch.....delicious...it melted in your mouth.

After dinner we saw Beach Blanket Babylon. If you have never seen this show, do yourself a favor and make plans to go. Fly out to San Francisco and see this show. You will not be disappointed...and we can meet for coffee....bonus!!! The show is HILARIOUS. I have not laughed that hard in months. The actors are incredibly talented, the costumes are gorgeous and funny and imaginative. I loved this show. If you live here, buy your tickets now...and why have we not met up for coffee yet?? No excuses.....you will not be disappointed, in the show or our coffee date.

I had a wonderful evenings...I have some pretty awesome girlfriends....I am very blessed...and my soul has been cleansed through laughter....it is the best medicine.