Monday, March 8, 2010

The Mouse and the Stove




So since I recently had a scare where my husband "might" have seen a mouse in our home, it brought back all the traumatic mouse stories of my childhood. This is the best or most traumatic, whatever.




We lived in a home which had mouse troubles from time to time. I could blame this on the fact that my mother worked full time, my father never cleaned and there were six children living in the house at the time but it wasn't just us. Our whole building was infested and we had the joy of living on the first floor directly above the garbage collection room. We (our nine story building)had to throw our garbage down these little chutes where it magically disappeared. In reality it was collected in larger bags in the basement until garbage day. Anyway, on this particular evening my father caught a mouse in a clear vase where it was jumping up and down in an effort to get out while my father held a broom over it to keep it in. (Shudder) Anyway, this is where I have adopted my first fact of mouse life. There is never just one mouse. My parents, at least to me, expressed the thought that perhaps it was just the one and that would be it. Uh huh. Anyhow, two mornings later, I was innocently making french toast when a mouse ran across the kitchen, practically under my feet. (Shudder) Anyway, a chase ensued. The house is in complete uproar as my mother woke my father up to force him to deal with the mouse and at one point it was cornered behind a bookcase in the living room. Now for me, at this point breakfast is over. There is no way I could have eaten breakfast in the same kitchen after seeing a mouse practically run across my foot. I was also very upset with my parents in the vein of this is why we should have a cat. (My family's love/hate relationship with cats will have to be dealt with in a future post. Needless to say I fall on the love side of the line.) Moving on, I went to school. I return home that afternoon to find the super of the building searching the walls for an entry point. I inform them that it came out from under the stove. After a short time, he pulls out the stove. OMG. Behind the stove were, in addition to mouse droppings, a ginormous hole approximately 18-24 inches across. Here is where all the mice were coming in. Believe you me, there is no way only one mouse made that hole. (Small break while calming convulsions) Anyway, the super closed up the hole with steel wool, a great deal of Spackle and our family welcomed Winkie into the home.


















So this story is why when my husband said he "might" have seen a mouse, I made him pull out the fridge and stove from the walls to check for droppings and openings. Nothing. Phew. So now I can sleep at nights.




17 comments:

Travis said...

So. In honor of Oscar night, I feel I should give you an award.

"Best use of the product Spackle in a blog."

Congratulations!

Thanks for playing today, darlin. Look forward to many more submissions!

Liz Mays said...

I seem to fight those mouse battles in this house every fall. I need to get a cat!

Pamela said...

lol i totally remember that, but is that what winkie looked like? i just remember being afraid of him

yanonymous said...

definitely not winkie...the mouse defitinely ran across my foot as well, and that whole was GINORMOUS!!

ps you should still get a cat =)

yanonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
LB said...

LOL! Great story.

Macey said...

I'm shuddering too. EW!!!!!

palomita said...

thatt was an amzing story and i am sooo glad that i was too young to remeber it/i prolly wasnt even born because you guys are so old :)

also...you should still get a cat...or a may be forced to just get one for you

kate sweeten said...

I've never loved my cat more than I did when we moved into an apartment with a family of mice in the kitchen. Spackle, mouse traps and a dozen dead mice pryed out of the cat's mouth and the problem was solved!

Unknown said...

1. yanonymous doesnt know how to spell hole.
2. im pretty sure you made that story up.
3. i remember sitting down to breakfast (after the mouse ran behind the bookshelf) and then hearing a noise and seeing the mouse stuck on a sticky trap
3. didnt we have morris first?

Unknown said...

after making fun of yanonymous i realize i made two 3s in my post. haha

shortmama said...

What is it about those tiny little things that are so gross!?

Ed said...

I feel your pain sister.

Lucy The Valiant said...

I love my cat, but she is completely useless when it comes to mice... one morning (in our old house) I woke up to discover mouse droppings in our kitchen. Which was gross enough, but to add insult to injury? The were right next to a nice scattering of fresh cat hair. I think they had a party!

Elle said...

Ewwwwww! Nothing gives me the shivers like mice, unless it's a rat.

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