Home Again! Home Again...eew

Here we are, back in Philadelphia. We happily escaped Fay before she pummeled the airport (I'm not even sure if she's made it that far yet) and we returned shortly after noon. Michael went directly to work and I brought the boys back to the house for a nap. They were pretty amazing on the plane and I was, as usual, very proud of them.

Michael warned me near the end of our car ride that he had done very little in the house in my absence. No cleaning, no shopping, etc. (He did cook some, and try to use up stuff in our garden, so that's a plus.) I guess he wanted me to be prepared. He also mentioned that he'd caught a mouse but he didn't think that was the only one, so I should not be surprised if I find mouse turds.

So in we walk. I haul the kids upstairs with initially minimal fuss and put them into their respective beds. As I'm coming back downstairs, I notice the odor of the house itself. You know how when you come home after being gone for a while, you notice your house has a distinct smell? Sometimes that smell is nostalgic, full of memory and peace. And sometimes not. For me, the upstairs smelled like poopy diaper. Hm. Lovely. Then I went back downstairs, and it smelled decidedly like mouse. Mouse, and, ummm, what's that other smell? Oh right. Dead thing. Well why not combine both of them: BAM! Dead mouse-- in the middle of the kitchen floor. Eew eeeeeeewwwww eeeewwww. Okay, not a big deal, right? Just get a few plastic bags and scoop that sucker right up then toss it out.

I couldn't do it alone. So I called a few friends for company while I did this gross and necessary deed.

No one answered their phone. I was on my own.

I got the bags, started singing loudly for moral support and went for the mouse. Picked it up, no problem. Then I saw these fat gray wiggly things all over the floor where the mouse had been lying. I made a sound that I think sounded something like "Yaahhhhaaeeeeewwww" and went screaming into the living room. At that moment I was thankful none of my phone friends had been available to witness such an outburst.

I am now completely grossed out and cannot wait to disinfect the entire house. Of course, I still have to get rid of that menagerie that is still hanging out on the kitchen floor, now covered by the plastic bag I left when I fled the scene. Eew eew eeeeeewwww. At least I will have help with the cleaning:

Doesn't he just look like cinderella?