And we are back. Sort of. I'm still in recovery/cleaning mode, and with Joel's interviews scheduled for pretty much every week/end through February, having varicose veins pop out all over my legs this past Sunday and cooking and baking all week long to get ready to serve church lunch this weekend (not to mention the lovely 50s weather the past couple of days)... well, I may be MIA a bit longer :)
After being in Phoenix for a month in December, we arrived back at our house about an hour before the new year. And we came back to find it...
... trashed.
Not the way you want to return when you've just had an exhausting day of traveling where your 18month old refused to nap for the 4hr flight home. Especially when he is too tired to eat (my main staple of "entertainment" for him), and is not the least bit enthused by movies, books, or other small trinkets.
So, as I ran through the house turning on lights and the heat, I was kind of shocked by what I saw. I didn't think I left the house like that. But I'm pregnant, and we were rushed, so who knows, right?! Until I really started looking and saw all the poop.
Everywhere.
Laundry Room. Living Room. Dining Room. Family Room. Kitchen Counters. Tables. Baker's Rack. Sofas.
Joel said he felt violated. I was just numb. And then my motherly nesting phase kicked into high gear. And well, this past week I have been vacuuming, scrubbing and sanitizing up the whazoo. And I think we are pretty much to where I feel safe letting my children and others play downstairs again (besides my current baking messes).
So what was it?
We thought it was mice. And in the midst of my cleaning spree, my husband would sporadically force his disgusted wife to sit down and open up Christmas cards. Or right down the "positive" points of having a rodent/s in the house.
Positives, you say? Yeah, that's what I said at first too. He helped me start to see the little blessings in disguise. He's so good for me :)
So together we listed them out...
- It raided some baby food I had stored away. But since I had pulled out all the little pouches to take as emergency nutrition for my dairy-allergic son, it couldn't get into any of the glass jars and no mess was created.
- It did not get into my pantry. Or the upstairs. Or the 25lb bag of rice I had recently bought at Costco.
- It didn't bite my boys (or us) during the night.
-The mess could've been worse!!
And I was sooo thankful they hadn't gotten into my pantry. If you saw it, you would know why. But we humored what it did go after... peanut m&m's (left the shell). Joel's vitamins. The boys' applesauce pouches. An emerald car container of almonds. Joel's beloved dark chocolate covered espresso beans (minus much of the chocolate). My shiso seeds. And all my living house plants.
And thus we set up peanut butter mouse traps.
And the next day we came downstairs to find that it didn't go for the traps (despite my prayers), but went for another applesauce pouch and our leftover tea in our mugs. Go figure.
We decided to go out for brunch since we hadn't gone grocery shopping yet. Liam lamented that we had to go to the food bank because the mouse had eaten all our food. So we went out with Len and came back to find a squirrel in our family room. So after Joel chasing it around the house for 5min, I think we are currently rodent-free (we left the traps up, just in case...). And anymore that do venture in will have my pistol-packing child shooting it down in no time. He asked me if he can now shoot bunnies, bears... and squirrels and mice too. How could I say no?! ;)
And for those who may wonder (as we did) how it got in the house?? Well, according to the experts, it went down our chimney, through the water heater exhaust pipe, into our laundry room. According to the evidence left behind (a couple of nests, droppings, food, etc), it had probably been in our house for a week or so. He said too much longer, and they usually die. So there's another couple of positives out of the situation...
(1) It could have been in our house longer, and died (can you imagine that mess/smell??)
(2) It could have happened last year when we were gone for four months!!!
oh, and it could have been mice (note the plural). I decided it's much nicer having a larger singular then small plurals running around the home. And it explains why it didn't get into the pantry, but went after the chocolate covered espresso beans and peanut m&ms :)
So there you have it. And if you survived all that, well I guess you deserve to see some pictures. ;) So I hope to put up some snapshots from our time in Phoenix. But I'm off to make some GF/DF cookies for tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow, when I'm kicking up my feet to get the blood back into other more pertinent parts of my body.
Highlights were:
- getting to see Daddy every once in a while (I went for a week without "seeing him"-except the 5min before he falls asleep after he gets home)... definitely not the "vacation" everyone thought he had
- going to see "Cowboy Jake" and Toni again and giving them his Christmas present
- Liam's dates with Auntie Katie
- Liam's first Sunday School program (we had quite the Greenbank turnout to support him, with uncles, aunts and cousins coming!)
- Amber and Katie's "early" morning excusion to Market on the Move (Detroit has to get one of these!!)
- Christmas and Mochitsuki
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