The Tale of Two Mothers

Once upon a time there was a mother mouse and she lived somewhere unknown in the big house. Either on Family 1& 2’s side or on Family 3, 4 &5’s side. Needless to say, she did live there in that great old house full of holes and cracks and crevices. She did her best at raising (at least) 5 children. Time will tell if her family was larger.
One day, her young family had grown to the point that she gathered her 5 children close, looked at them with her little, dark, beady eyes and said with a tremor in her squeak: “I have done my best with you. I have taught you all I know. It is now time for you to go forth and conquer your world.” So, bravely these small, young creatures scampered forth, pausing only a moment to wave fondly at their furry mother.
It was a dark, cold November evening (Monday 24th to be precise). Mouse #1 had made it into a warm, well lit apartment. The smell of food was in the air. Oh happy days. Oops, he had been spotted, as he rounded the refrigerator in search of the food, he realized that the food smell was coming from the table and there were two people sitting at the table eating his food; how dare they. (This should sound a little familiar from the previous post). Mouse #1 quickly went back into hiding determining to be more careful. Later that same evening, as the 1st floor mother was typing a blog post about her woes, mouse #1 carefully scurried behind the piano, just feet away from the computer. He then commenced to eat, not caring at all that his chomping sounds were really noisy. As the dear mother sat stunned in her chair, frozen in silence, wondering what damage was being done to her piano old mousy boy ate on. He had arrived, he was in control. He was underestimating.
The husband’s presence was quickly requested at home. The dear husband, upon arriving accused the 1st floor mother of making things up; then he heard and saw for himself. Reinforcement was called and Mr. Brennen soon came to the rescue. And so, the two brave men armed with broom and yardstick moved in close to the piano. Slowly and carefully this large musical instrument was slid out from the wall. This caused the young mouse to panic, run and disappear farther under the piano; this caused the 1st floor mother to screech out a warning. The mother was carefully perched on the arm of the couch, holding large objects as a barricade to hopefully keep the little guy somewhat contained.
As brave husband used the yardstick to slide out mouse #1, brave Mr. Brennen held the broom poised over head for the strike. Mousy discovered a hole leading up into the body of the piano. So the front had to be removed from the piano, and the mouse could be seen running back and forth inside the piano. Finally bravery and brains prevailed and mouse #1 made the fatal mistake of allowing the yardstick to push him out onto the floor to far and with a very loud “whap” “whap” of the broom on the hard wood floor, Mr. B made his move. (This noise brought the young son straight up in his crib, yelling out his own warnings. But mother was right there, still carefully perched on the arm of the couch.) Now mousy was captured in the bristles of the broom and brave husband stood on the broom to finish the job. Family #1 went to bed rejoicing and hoping that life would soon return to normal. Mother Mouse, on the other hand, was filled with great sorrow. She had lost two children on this cold dark night. (Remember the one on the basement floor from previous post)
November 25, dawned cold and sunshiny. Mother Mouse cautiously sent out her remaining children. (We know that there were at least 3….time will tell….)
Family #1 had other serious things on their minds, (which don’t have anything to do with this post, so to conserve space will be left out.) So in the afternoon, when things had calmed down a bit, Nana, who had been visiting her young grandson made a startling yet comical discovery. A mouse (imagine that, in this house) came running out onto the kitchen floor, skittering on the linoleum, not able to get traction (yes, just like in the movies). This creature, we shall call him Mouse #2, found a safe hiding place behind the stove. Once again, brave husband was called who again called in his trusted mouse killing, broom wielding friend. The weapons of choice were the broom and yardstick. The stove was slid out, tension was high, hair was standing on end, another moment of truth was had hand. The 1st floor mother was standing at the edge of the kitchen, clutching her young son. Nana stood guard close by. The yardstick was slid across the floor, no mouse. Again the yardstick was called upon to do its job, again no mouse. The stove was unplugged and tilted at an angle for better viewing purposes. This did the trick, “Whap” Whap” went the broom, stomp, stomp went the foot and squash, squash went Mouse #2.
Yipee said the first floor family.
By now the first floor family had once again started to work, searching diligently and frantically for the hole that had been missed on a previous patching session. Employing the help of Nana, who is vary wise in the ways of mice. More sticky traps were set up. “Great Stuff” was again brought to the scene. Action, Cleaning, Searching, Patching.
As the 1st floor mother walked purposefully into the kitchen to throw away a large bag, what should run right past her trash can. No you say, it can’t be, oh but it was. Enter Mouse #3. Of course the 1st floor mother had to get everyone’s attention quickly, she loudly screeched and ran quickly into the other room to make sure brave husband and Nana had heard her warning. This earned her a scolding for not keeping her eye on the critter, and what good did it do to yell, besides to scare her young son. Mouse #3 was quickly dispatched to another world. Using pretty much the same method as before. Brave husband used the broom to “whap” “whap” and Nana did the stomp, stomp. Exit Mouse #3.
The family narrowed the search; the mouse activity seemed to be in the kitchen. As the tired family stood there in the kitchen out of the northwest corner came Mouse #4. The broom had to be quickly retrieved from the porch where it had been tossed after unmentionable liquid had gotten on it after the last killing frenzy. “Whap” “Whap”, Stomp, Stomp Squash, Squash. We were getting faster, and the 1st floor mother was no longer yelling out warnings.
Nana, wise in the ways of mice, discovered a small crack between the wall and cupboard in the northwest corner of the kitchen. “Great Stuff” again to the rescue. The hole was sealed.

So now the 1st floor mother again sits before her computer, whirling around occasionally, straining her ears for crunching sounds, jumping at things that aren’t there. Is the job done? Did the other mother only have 5 children? (Review: 3 in the kitchen, 1 under the piano, 1 on the basement floor) Is the other mother sad at the fate of her children, does she feel responsible? Has she called a meeting of all the mice in the area and are even now, as I type planning a revolt? Maybe her children were jihads or kamikazes and she is rejoicing that they are receiving their just rewards.
The 1st floor mother will conquer, she will prevail, and she will regain control.

Disclaimer: Several animals were injured and killed in the making of this story.

Special Thanks: Mr. Brennen, thanks for your courage and bravery.
Nana, thank you for your wisdom on mice
Brave Husband, thank you for all your hard work.

The Brave Team: First Kill

Ready... Set....

Action! This is not for the faint of heart

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A Tale of Two Families

Once upon a time there were two families that lived in half a house. Family #1 lived on the first floor, and family #2 lived on the second and third floor. They thought they would continue to live happily every after forever. But…..
One day the mother of family #1 was making cookies. As she pulled open the pot holder drawer, because it was time to remove her wonderful, smelling cookies, she spotted a horrible mess. The potholder drawer had been turned into a “potty”, yes, my dear faithful readers, a mouse potty. She yelled for her husband to confirm her suspicion and promptly burst into tears. The husband, being brave and strong took the drawer and contents outside to the porch and dumped them out. The wife quickly began tearing apart the kitchen. The stove was slid out and a huge hole was discovered in the wall. All cabinet drawers were pulled out, and behold large holes in the wall behind the cabinets. The husband was quickly dispatched to the store for supplies; Nana was called in for reinforcement(grandson watching). This mother of family # 1 would not rest until all was right with her beautiful home. The husband returned with his supplies: Packets of poison, “great stuff” and mountain dew. Somehow this would make their small world better.
The extermination began. Stuff holes with poison packets, seal holes with “great stuff”, drink the mountain dew. Break the bad news to the mother of family #2.
The mother of family #1 went to bed that night, tired but convinced that her kitchen was once again under her control. All cupboards were clean and free of any evidence of the nasty, foul critters. All utensils had been washed all holes had been blocked. Life was better and would soon return to normal, or so she hoped.
…A couple of days went by, then terror struck again. The sweet, innocent, young daughter in family #2 was working peacefully in her bedroom on the third floor when, a foul critter scampered across her floor. Then again, as across their kitchen floor one dared to show himself.
Off to the store for more supplies, this time the items purchased were sticky traps and lots of them! As the mother of family #2 braved the third floor bedroom to set a sticky trap; what to her vigilant eyes should appear, but a dead mouse lying out in the middle of the floor. Revenge! Sweet Victory! We had won, or had we, was it possible that the same mouse had been on all three floors of this half of the house?
…Weeks went by, life went on. Family #1’s mother hoped that all was well in her fine house. Some days she would yank open a cupboard drawer and paw quickly through its contents. Other days she would crawl around on the floor looking under and behind things. Not a sign of the nasty foul creatures. All was quiet upstairs also. Life went on........Until that fateful night (tonight) when peace was again shattered. As family #1 sat peacefully at the kitchen table, the mother spotted a mouse coming from behind the refrigerator, she immediately sounded forth a warning to all in the neighborhood, jumped to her feet and whirled around putting her back to the foul creature (like this would solve anything) Her brave husband looked around in confusion, trying to figure out what had caused his normally sane wife to react in such a fashion. When the mother was finally able to speak, she stated firmly that she had spotted a mouse coming from behind the refrigerator and that he must start putting sticky traps down on the floor surrounding the refrigerator. The family again got out the packets of poison and the “great stuff” and went to work. They did discover another hole in the floor and the husband nailed a board over it. The husband then went to the basement to look for something, where upon he spotted another very young mouse lying on the basement floor not long for this world (it had been into poison or had the flu or something). He called the mother who came running with her young son and a sticky trap. Family #1 then called in Family #2 to again give them bad news. As they were standing there in the basement of their beautiful half of a house discussing their plan of attack, there across the floor runs yet another rodent. 3 of the critters in less than an hour.
So now, the first floor mother is wondering what the world is coming to. What can she do to reclaim her home? All the holes have been blocked. “Great stuff” is her new best friend. Sticky traps have been set. She wanders from room to room, looking in every corner, checking every trap, hearing little scratching sounds. She will win, she will conquer, and she will one day soon be in control of her own house.

For your information: Family #1 & Family #2 are being very careful with the packets of poison since there are young children that play in this house. The only poison that has been used in this extermination process has been carefully sealed into the walls.

Disclaimer: The wonderful cookies that were being made on the day this drama started were from a break-apart-and-cook package bought at the store.






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It's About Time

Hello everybody, it is obvious that my dear mommy is not going to post anytime soon, and I am tired of waiting for her to put up something new. So I guess this responsibility falls upon my young shoulders. By the way, this is “Bean” posting, in case you were wondering.
I have been very busy recently. I love to read books, sing, play the piano and conduct. I also like to play outside and sticks are some of my favorite toys. Mommy likes to say “It’s all fun and games until someone gets an eye poked out.” I do try to be careful.
I usually go to the office and hang out with “Aunt Yanya, she is fun. Sometimes I get to go to class with Mommy. My favorite class is band. Band is very loud. I get to eat lunch with Daddy everyday. I have a good life!
Just recently, I went to the doctor, I am fine, just needed checked-up on. Mommy got me out of two shots that I don’t need right now. I will get them later. I am up-to-date on all my other shots, (for you readers that just panicked). I weighed in at 26 pounds and 10 ½ ounces. I am 33 ¼ inches tall.
Ok, now I will post some pictures so you can see what I look like. Maybe I will even find a video. See ya.

Yes, I have muscles!

My mommy gets the blame for this flower picture.

"Standin' on the corner of Winsolow Arizona..."

These are the trees my mommy really likes. She has lots more pictures of scenic stuff.

Lucky for you that she isn't choosing the pictures for this post. :)