I SCREAMED. . .

Today started out so wonderful. I got to finally talk to my sister on the phone after many times of trying. (With little kids it is so hard to chat for more than 30 seconds; add a time zone to that and forget it!) My sister is telling me about something when I stepped outside to my backyard and patio to hang up some laundry. Suddenly, I froze with the phone to my ear and the laundry basket on my hip and screamed, "AHHHH!!! There's a dead mouse on my patio!!!! Lori, do you hear me?? There's a dead mouse!!!" Of course my sister, being the older and wiser one tells me that I have to clean it up and cannot leave it in the boiling hot sun all day. Well, I was NOT about to touch a mouse so I did what any normal person would do. I went inside and tried to forget about it. I even took Makena to the park for an hour. However, when we came home, I had to face reality. That mouse had to be out into the trash cans and it had to be done now. "Why not wait for Ryan to clean it up?", you ask. Well it is Wednesday and that means. . . trash day. If that dead mouse did not make it into the trash cans today, then it would pretty much spend the next two weeks baking in the hot sun. NASTY!!!!!! I took a shovel out of the garage and head to the back. Well, as you know I am a teacher so I did the teacherish thing and told Makena that she could come see a dead mouse. She was all into it and walked back with me. As we got closer, my heart started beating just a tad faster and then slowed down as I thought that the mouse was gone! (hey, maybe it was just napping, woke up, and left.) Well, no! It was still there. I was very grossed out b/c it was a mouse and dead. Anyway, I pointed the mouse out to Makena and allowed her to look at it. (FYI: She did not touch it or even come close enough to see its beady eyes.) Then I took the shovel and spent five minutes trying to get the thing on the shovel. It was quite funny and if I had been watching someone else, I may have even chuckled. I finally got the gray mouse on the shovel and walked to the big trash bins. I heaved it into the trash and was quite relieved when the lid shut. I walked toward Makena and she said, "bye mouse!" and waved. (very cute) All in all I am now an expert in dealing with a dead mouse. :) I really hope that NEVER happens again. UGH!
(***This is a side note: A girl I know, who reads this blog , moved into a house a couple of years ago with her husband and two little girls only to find it infested with rats!!!! I think that would be way worse than 1 dead mouse outside of my house. Happy 30th Birthday to the girl who survived that nightmare!)