Memorial Weekend

This past weekend I spent a couple days at my mother's house. The plan was only to spend Sunday night with her and then go to work from there and then stay Monday night too. However, I found out ELVIS COSTELLO was going to be in Dallas playing with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Now I understand that not everyone in the world is as much of a FREAK for ELVIS COSTELLO as I am but you would think if I offer to pay for the tickets, people would want to go. No one. Seriously people? Free concert (to you anyway!). I finally convinced my mother to go by promising to come Saturday afternoon and staying the weekend. It turned out to be a wonderful plan!

I wish, wish, wish I had at least one picture of the concert but, alas, I do not. My mom was freak out about someone seeing me and us getting kicked out. Then, at the end she said, "You should have taken a picture at the very end like those other people did."
"But, mom, when I said I was going to, you about tackled me in order to make sure I didn't."

I paid $200 for the tickets. That is the price I didn't pay last time he came, because he came with the Police and I swore I was not going to pay those outrageous prices just because some 80s band got back together. Yes, I like their music too, but COME ON people. I guess things are different when I'm thinking about where I'm going to sit and the fact that my entire two hours will be staring at ELVIS COSTELLO! I love him.

I could have paid for a seat in the chorus loft. If you've never been to the Symphony, then you should know that is the place behind the orchestra. If I was going to the listen to a symphony that'd be great. Cheap seats right behind the orchestra are pretty good, even if you can hear too much of the percussion. Besides, I've always liked the drummers (hehehe). But for the guy I love more than all other singers in the world EVER...it's not good enough. I want to be looking in his face. I couldn't get seats on the floor at all but I could get box seats practically over top his head. So I did, and stared at ELVIS COSTELLO all night! It was grand. My mom was a little unnerved by the fact that we could drop to our deaths if we moved wrong, but I figure it's all in the price of seeing ELVIS COSTELLO.

Now before my grand adventure seeing my music idol, I had to bring all the animals to my mom's house. Poor Lucina. I knew she wouldn't be getting much out time there since my mom also has two dogs and they're not used to being around a bird, so I made sure she got to spend the whole morning having momma time without the dogs. They got to be locked up for awhile.

She loves to cuddle up to my chin while I scratch her neck. One of these days I'm going to get video of her bumping my chin with her beak. This is how she asks for me to scratch her neck. BTW, she doesn't have "red eye" from the flash, she really does have red eyes. The flash freaked her out and she flew away before the next shot:

A few years ago I bought her a wonderful cage, which you can partly see in these pictures. All the bird experts say you have to get your bird acclimated to the new cage, that they'll freak out if you just stick them in before the used to it. So I brought it home and placed it beside the old and let her out to explore on her own just as they say. She went right to it and sat on top and never went back to the old one. So much for experts. To be fair, the old one was TINY. When I saw them side by side, I felt so bad for making her stay in there for so long!

Poor Lucina! Her old cage is at my mom's house so I don't have to lug that huge thing around when we go to visit. This is right after we got there on Saturday afternoon.

She looks so sad!

"Won't you let me out?"

Later the dogs got to go out. If you missed the story I told about Loki and the mouse in the house (my old house, thank goodness), then you just won't get how crazy he is for other other creatures. I'm not sure if the breed or simply because he practically lived on his own for the first two years of his life. Aurora's not like that. In any case, my mom's neighbor is the cat lady. Not only does she have an absurd number of cats, but none of them are fixed so of course she gets a new one every day. Loki HATES cats. He spends the entire day staring at the breaks in the fence waiting for a cat to bark at.

At some point on Sunday afternoon, everyone was outside and a squirrel was in the yard. All the other dogs went nuts barking at the squirrel, trying to get it. Loki was doing this:

And he stayed there.

Picture My Day

Before I get into this one, does anyone know how to post MP3 to blogger? Is it possible? 
This is the first post in my story telling through pictures. I'm calling it picture my day. I've been trying to take at least one picture everyday to document even the mundane in my life. I decided to do this when I took my wonderful nephew, Sage, to the Ft Worth Science and History Museum a couple weeks ago. We both had a blast and there were so many things I would have loved to have a picture of, if only I had brought my camera. So, now my camera is in my purse in order to capture even the mundane, so when the extraordinary happens I will have that too! I have seen several other people who do projects like this, so I can't claim it as my own but it will be in my own style. Each picture will have a story.

I started this last Thursday and already I haven't lived up to my promise of at least one picture everyday but I've been pretty good most days.

                               
This picture is through the windshield of my car and I could not fix the colors afterward because of that. It will forever be blue or more blue. This was taken at 5:30 on a Thursday afternoon. On Mondays and Thursday I work at the James L. West Alzheimer's Center in Ft Worth. For those of you that don't know (since I haven't written much on here lately that's probably everyone!) I am a music therapist. My preferred population is children with developmental disabilities (autism, CP, Down's, etc) but I also have experience in other fields. When I first got the call a few months ago from the Program Director at JLW asking if I would be interested in filling the spot that was being vacated by their current MT, I turned it down. The pay was less per hour than I was making seeing private clients and I didn't think it would be worth giving up those private clients to work with old people. I've done that before, no thank you. But then I thought about it a little more. I would be going to one place and staying there all day. Yes, I would have to drive 45 minutes to get there but I was already doing that and then driving around town to see each kid. When I stopped to figure it up, I would actually be saving money in the long run! So I gave up most of my private clients, some of them I was sad to leave and some....not so much. I started working at JLW on my birthday (happy Bday to me...go to work) and had a wonderful time. In fact, I have really enjoyed working there the last couple of months. I will never enjoy it as much as I do working with children but it's been fun! Later that I night I went out for a birthday dinner with my boyfriend, at which we had a huge fight and he asked me to pay for my half (supposedly not related instances). Well, JLW worked out and the boyfriend didn't. That sounds terrible but there were just a lot of little things that didn't feel right. The birthday dinner actually had no effect on my decision. I completely forgot it until telling this story! Amazing what comes back to you.

So are you wondering just yet WTF this story has to do with this picture? Getting there, I promise. When I tell a story, I tell it right!

Every Monday and Thursday I have a TWO HOUR lunch break. I know lots of people would jump for joy over something like this but it's really not that wonderful, especially when you only get paid for the actual hours you work. No breaks, no holidays, no sick leave. Oh, and no insurance. That's another story. It breaks up the day and you just spend two hours in the middle of the day doing nothing. THEN you have to go back to work! It kind of sucks. I'd rather do it all in one large chunk.
This particular day I decided to go have my car cleaned. I will not show you those pictures. Let's just say the car needed it and any one who's been in it will attest to that. I did vacuum the previous Saturday before picking up Sage. It was getting pretty gross and I didn't want anyone else to be subjected to that. So really all they had to do was clean the outside. The guy took one look at my car and said, "This is going to take a little extra work. I might be able to get that stuff off but it's going need a special solvent which will cost extra." Ok, whatever. I came it get it clean so I'll pay the little bit extra. Apparently I had a chip in the windshield too and with one quick call to my insurance (to make sure I really wouldn't be charged for it) they fixed that! About 1:45 I start to get nervous. The outside's been done awhile but the guy cleaning the inside is taking his sweet time. Walking ever so slowly around the car wiping here, scrubbing there, "Oh I guess I vacuum a little now too." COME ON! Just because you're here all day doesn't mean I want to be and I have another group in 15 minutes! Finally at 1:58, he's finished. Yeah, thanks. No way can I be there in 2 minutes grab my guitar and other instruments and be in Bluebonnet (one of the suites) in time to start. So I was late, which means I gave them their full time, making my next group late and I got no break for the next 3 hours. Maybe that doesn't sound so bad after having a two hour lunch break but I can't just sing for 3 hours straight and not be affected by it. I was not a happy camper at the end of the day.

As I'm leaving that day I notice the chip in the windshield is still there! I'm pissed. They made me late and didn't even do everything they were supposed to do??!! So I drive back over there before heading home (this is getting closer to the picture, btw) but the windshield people have already left. So glad they got to have a normal day! The guy that cleaned my car says he thinks the clue just needs to be scrapped a little more, that's what I'm feeling. He swears it's been fixed even though I can see and it will not make a huge crack down the front of my windshield. He better be right or they're paying for it. Promise.

Now, on a normal day I cut through downtown and hit the I-35E about a mile north of I-30. This is a big deal. The I-30 to I-35E interchange is a major cluster fuck. That mile will add at least 20 minutes to your drive, if your lucky. I was not lucky this day. I considered going through downtown from where I was anyway, but when I got to the entrance ramp to I-30 and saw in front of me downtown University was just as packed, I decided to take my chances. They were not good. Just as I'm coming over the bridge to get onto I-35 the truck in front of my slows. See picture above.

I look to my left and I see this:

 

That little arrow is pointing out the clear space just before where I would normally be getting on the interstate. Yeah, not going to be a good evening. Just so you can understand, here's a close up on where I should be.

Do you see the clear space? Should give hope that maybe the traffic's not so bad right? You would be wrong to hope. Because of the wonderful people at the car wash, I will now sit in traffic for over an hour. It will take me 1 hour and 30 minutes to get home: exactly twice as long as normal.

To make up for it, I treated myself by completely ruining my voice! I decided to go out and sing at the open mic at Banter, one of our local coffee shops. I had a wonderful time in spite of the ex showing up. Not so bad actually, I stuck around and sang with him too. It was one of the songs I had added harmony to awhile ago. It's a beautiful song. I also got a chance to try out my new Ukulele song. I'm so excited about this new song! As soon as I have a half-way decent recording of it, I'll post for everyone to hear.

The Endless Search

Ever have one of those authors that you simply never give up on? I have an author that I discovered many years ago and fell in love with. Unfortunately she has given up on my favorite series of hers but I never give up on her. I started reading The Ruins of Ambrai by Melanie Rawn when the second book The Mageborn Traitor was released. I had to look on Wikipedia to remember when exactly that was. March 1, 1997. Almost 13 years ago now. The funny thing is, now that I look that date up it's no wonder I remember the book so well. I seriously don't think I picked up the first book on the very day the second was released because I remember that day all too well. But I know it was close to this time and I know now why I continue to obsess about this series.
March 1, 1997 is the day that Arkadelphia, Arkansas, where I was living in at the time for college, was completely destroyed by an F4 tornado. It also happens to be my birthday; I was turning 20. At the time I was dating someone that I thought I was going to marry. Thank goodness for both of us it never happened, but we were very happy at that time. We had gone to visit my mom and my best friend from high school for the day (they only lived an hour away), to have dinner with them and celebrate my birthday. We stopped at a pawn shop about 15 minutes away from our destination so he could look at amps or guitars or some such. (I didn't play guitar then, though I wanted to learn). While there we learned from the guy working that a tornado was headed right for us. He had the news on and we watched the weather. We decided to stay there for a little while just in case. I stepped just outside the door and was shocked by the change in the weather. Just a few minutes before the sun had been shining. Not brightly but it had been there. Now the sky was a greenish-grey and the wind was blowing something fierce. Just as I called to my boyfriend to come see, I saw insulation flying through the air.
"I think maybe we should go back inside," I said.
"Ummm, yeah, good idea," he muttered.
So we rode the little tornado out, it wasn't much there and we thought we had a cute story to tell friends later.
When we went to dinner, the restaurant had the news on. It was one of those places like Chili's or Applebees or somesuch that always has the tvs on over the bar playing some game or news. On the all the channels was the news of the terrible tornados that whipped across Arkansas, Texas, and Louisanna. So many tornados that day all over the region that I doubt they ever knew exactly how many. I was shocked.

"I guess we weren't the only ones to see a tornado today!" I joked. But my mood quickly turned sour when I realized what they were showing. The pictures of devastation were just way too familiar.

"It's Arkadelphia," I breathlessly said to everyone at the table. "And that's the pharmacy that Kelli works at." It was leveled. There was truly nothing left of the building and I could not remember if Kelli (my roommate) was working that day. I tried immediately to call her, yet she didn't answer. I didn't know it at the time, but there were just not enough phone lines left in Arkadelphia to handle to normal amount of calls it gets, much less the massive amounts of people calling for help or people calling to see if loved ones were all right. I was simply frantic. I listened though when everyone said there was nothing I could do. I stayed, had dinner, and we left right after to go home and assess what we had left to go back to.

I will say right away, we were all very lucky. According to old reports (cause I couldn't remember this part) only 5 people died. It was shocking. You should have seen the devastation. The entire downtown was destroyed. I'm not exaggerating. There was was no building left standing downtown. This is where Kelli's work was. Kelli was not at work that day. She was not one of the few who died. In fact, she just had a baby two months ago. Everyone say congrats to Kelli!

Unfortunately for the town, most of the damage was done in the parts that were solely town. What I mean by this is, there are two universities in Arkadelphia. I highly doubt if they were not there that the town would survive. However, the most destruction was done in places that had nothing to do with either college. That turned out to be lucky for me and my friends though, in more ways than one. Our apartment and all the dorms being used were untouched. The universities had very little damage. As I recall the most damage was actually done to a dorm that was not used anymore. Just as the semester was ending, Kelli and I wanted to find a place off campus to live. Our campus apartment had some serious flaws and we needed a cheaper place to live.
An interesting side note. The pipes in that apartment popped constantly. It was loud so that you couldn't help but notice and be bothered by it. Unless you lived there. I remember going to the apartment with Kelli before I moved in and asking her what that noise was. She said, "What noise?" And cocked her head to listen. "Oh yeah, that's the pipes." She was serious. She had gotten so used to it that she didn't hear it anymore. I had almost the exact same conversation with a friend just a few months later, only I was the one saying "What noise?"

We found a couple new trailers for rent right where some houses had been destroyed and torn down. Another plus for us. I hate to list all the good things we got out of this tragedy, but they are there. My boyfriend and his friends rented the other trailer and we were suddenly party central. I'm sure the neighbor were overjoyed with us for the year we lived there but they had their moments too. We moved in during finals. I was deperately trying to study while listening to the constant pounding of hammers all around me as the town tried to recover. I tried to find some pictures, I figured there would be several but I guess the internet just was not as popular then as it is now so I couldn't find too many. Here's a good one to illustrate what I'm talking about.

It took me some digging but I found this one too:

So now, after all these years, is it any wonder that I still remember Melanie Rawn's books so well? The other day on Walking in the Mountains, JhanaJian brought up the subject of awareness. Mainly the post discussed how the two opposing forces of war and mediation can both bring us to a heightened sense of awareness. I believe this tornado did that for me at the time. I have read several of Melanie Rawn's other books, yet I remain spellbound (pun intended) by this incomplete series. I so aware of myself and my surroundings at this time of my life that I can sometimes remember whole conversations. I have a hard time some days remembering conversations from yesterday.

Many promises have been made that this series will be completed one day, yet Rawn continues to put it off, writing about other places and other characters. It is very possible The Captal's Tower (the third book) will never be written. But I never give up hope. Every so often I go on a search to see if there is any information about it. Everytime I find out about another story she did for a collection or a new book in different series she is writing. I am happy she got passed what ever difficulty she had. I'm not sure what it is but she has alluded to it in the notes of other books. This makes me not so anxious, knowing she has had some writer's block or personal problems or something that keeps her away from this series. But I loved this series and continue to hope that one day she will find her way back to it. And I never give up the search.

Repost: Road trip to Seatle

I am reposting a couple of stories that I wrote for my myspace blog that I don't want to lose. I don't ever use myspace anymore and want to be able to find these easily. This one is from January 31, 2008. I am using the same pictures from the original post along with some I posted a few days later to remain true to the original story.

So, Tammi and I took a trip right after Christmas from Ft Worth, TX to Lacy, Washington (near Seatle). What were two Southern girls doing driving over mountains and through snow and ice in the middle of December, you may ask? The answer is: we were stupid!

Seriously, for those that don't know, Tammi left her Pathfinder (which has REAR-wheel drive, btw) at her parent's house in east Texas while she was in Iraq. She didn't want to drive it all the way back to Washington by herself so she asked me to come along. We decided to make an adventure of it. The plan was to stop the second day in Denver to visit a friend of hers and then drive two more days and go snowboarding. We figured we'd have one more day to shop and then go the Symphony to hear Beethoven's 9th and Mendolssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream on New Year's. As the saying goes, the best laid plans...

Here's what really happened. The first night we got as far as the Texas-New Mexico border and at just about 8:30 or so while going through some rinky-dink town (that the hotel clerk claimed was the "hub" for skiing) we spun out in the middle of the road and ALMOST hit a street sign. We were sufficiently freaked and tired enough to stop for the night. The next day, after driving for only an hour, we discovered that to cross the border from New Mexico into Colorado we had to go through a mountain pass (the Raton Pass) that sometimes is closed in bad weather. We were lucky, kind of, that the pass was open. So we zipped on through at 40 mph (on the interstate now). We were feeling very proud of ourselves for surviving the pass and even felt confident enough to take some pictures.

(She looks so happy)

About an hour from Denver, again doing 40 because the roads were getting bad again, the trip went horribly wrong. We hit an icy patch and spun first to the west, then back to the east and smacked head first into a light pole (totalling Tammi's Pathfinder, damn rear-wheel drive). We then turned back to the west and slid with the pole (yes, it was on the car) about 100 feet or so. This all took place in the span of a few seconds. I saw that pole coming toward us and knew without a doubt it was going to be bad. Thankfully, we were not hurt. Three more cars slid behind us and one stopped, after getting control, to call 911 for us. The fire station is apparently so close to the interstate that they were there before we even had a chance to find out how bad the damage was. Tammi has those pictures, I'll put them up when she sends them to me. After the firemen came and checked the car, a police officer came and let us stay in his car until the tow truck came. Just to pass the time, he gives Tammi a speeding ticket because "Do you see all these other cars out here? None of them are sliding off the road." SERIOUSLY??!!!! Where were you when 3 of them did right behind us? He was nice enough to drive us around until we found a place that would allows us to wait for Tammi's friend, Russ, though. We had her dog Rhapsodi with us so that was a little challenging. A very nice truck stop manager allowed her to come inside.

Once in there I noticed a couple sitting at a booth next to us with all their stuff. Turns out, they were one of the cars that spun out right after us. The girl freaked when she saw us hit the lightpole and slammed on her breaks, then spun into the wall. They got all their stuff out when the tow truck came and took it in to wait for the rental car agency to pick them up. While we were waiting, Tammi called the tow truck people to find out where they were so we could get our stuff out when Russ got there. As she's talking to him, he drives to get gas. We run out, drag ALL our stuff inside, taking over two booths. The nice couple we caused the accident of watched Rhapsodi while we did this and she fell in love with them.

Finally Russ came and we went back to his house. These are from his backdoor.

Russ was so awesome. He told us to stay as long as we wanted until we figured out what we were going to do. The whole next day we tried to figure out if we should drive, fly, take a train. Train was a no go because they don't take dogs. Flying was Tammi's first choice. She wanted to fly home, leave Rhapsodi with Russ and come back to get her a couple weeks later on her three day weekend. That sounded like a really bad idea to me. She wouldn't know what kind of conditions the roads would be in and it could be worse, then she'd be driving by herself. I argued that if we rented a car, she'd have me along and wouldn't have to this all again so very soon. She finally agreed. That night we rented a SAFE car (i.e. front wheel drive) to make the way back to Washington. Tammi was still very upset by the crash so I drove all the way into Portland.

After leaving Colorado and entering Wyoming, I realized why my ancestors did not settle up north. Wyoming is the most deserted, forsaken land on earth. The sky was completely clear but since there so much snow on the fields and the people of Wyoming do not believe in trees, the wind was blowing snow all over the road. So much so, that at some points, I could not see 10 feet in front of me. It was 8 degrees as we traveled this miserable place. When we stopped to use the bathroom at the dirtiest gas station on earth, the clerk mentioned, "Oh, yeah, it was minus 10 yesterday." Great, so today it's down right balmy.

(This shows the desolation of Wyoming but I wish you could see better the blowing snow. It was miserable)

We stopped in Utah for the night and I got the best surprise when I woke up the next morning. There was a mountain right outside our hotel.

I've never seen mountains like this before, and even though the mountains in Colorado were impressive, this was so close I could almost touch it. Beautiful.

The next day, we traveled through the Blue Mountains and stopped just before the Cascades. And yes, I was STILL driving.

On the drive I noticed something in the rental car (a Hyundai sonata) called ESC and asked Tammi to look up what it was in the book. Apparently it's for exactly the kind of thing that caused our accident. It's called electronic stability control and helps get you under control in bad conditions. As we were getting ready the following morning we had the Weather channel on and they did a story about this very thing. I have to say I was sold that this was the best rental car we could have gotten. (There's my advertisement, think I'll get paid?) After making it over the Cascades the following morning, I was very happy to give the driver's seat over to Tammi. I hope never to drive in those conditions again. She brought us in nice and safe. We had just a few hours before the Symphony (because, yes, it is already New Year's Eve by this time).

The Symphony was amazing. We were so close to the stage, the baritone was practically spitting on us. He was a very impressive man, actually. Commanding presence and gorgeous voice. The only hitch was the flute player during the Mendolssohn. We had been so excited and were very disappointed by his sloppy interpretation (we were both flute majors in college).

And the next day......I went snowboarding for the first time. Here's the scene on the way up Crystal Mountain:

I'm pretty much terrible at it and hated it completely the first time down the run. I was so frustrated that I took the damn board off and walked the last half. I almost cried. I forced myself back up with the class and did amazingly better the second time, until I fell wrong on my arm and over extended my elbow. Not fun. Needless to say, that was the end of my snowboarding experience for the day.





So, I made it home safe and already miss Tammi. Everyone needs to write her and tell her to move back to Texas when she gets out of the military. For those that haven't heard, she gets out at the end of March. She decided to buy a Hyundai Santa Fe with the money she got from totaling her car!

Here are some of the pics I posted a few days later. It's Tammi's truck after the accident. Oh yeah, the air bag never deployed. Think about that while you look at them.




Real Time Update: Tammi now lives in Virginia. She lives in a part of the state that sees very little snow but she got dumped on last week when the blizzard went through! Poor girl!

Home Story: Fleas

I haven't written much on here in the last few weeks, in fact I haven't done much of anything the last few weeks that didn't involve cleaning house. I thought I would share exactly why on here, because, let's face it, everyone else is tired of me talking about it and my readers can simply choose to stop reading and I'll never know!

Let this be a lesson to all of you organic-minded people out there: It is possible to get rid of fleas with natural and organic treatments. However, you will also have to live with flea bites on yourself and your animals for at least a month, maybe more. No matter how much I hate using chemicals in my house, this was simply unacceptable to me after desperately trying for 2 weeks to do everything I could and then discovering that Aurora (the collie) had contracted tapeworm. This is something that can only happen if she had ingested a flea (according to my vet).

So what does the person who is anti-chemicals in the house do in this situation? Get all the animals out of the house, close all dry food inside the fridge (luckily I haven't shopped much lately and there was room), bathe the dogs with flea shampoo (AGAIN) and spray them with the natural flea killing spray that seems to work (briefly, not a week like it claims), and flea bomb the sh** out of the house. At my mom's house I discovered a live flea on Loki (the cocker spaniel). So, off they go outside and off we go to PetSMart where we buy a different kind of flea shampoo and it's related spray (recommended by the trainers at the store). I'm going to place a free advertisement right here because it appears to be the ONLY thing that has worked. It says "Natural Chemistry" which seems to me to be an oxymoron but whatever, it worked and for that I am thankful. That awful "Hartz" stuff didn't work worth sh** and it smelled terrible too. They were at my mom's house for 2 days and were completely flea free.

THEN, I left leave the animals at mom's house while I went home and cleaned EVERYTHING. And I do mean everything. I put every dish I own in the dishwasher (or, that is, washed the few things that can't go in there by hand but you know...) and placed every thing that could be washed in the washing machine in the washing machine (obviously not all at once, what a mess that would be). I vacuumed floors and furniture and wiped counters and cleaned bathrooms and sprayed the yard (yep, more chemicals) and cleaned Lucina's cage and Loki's kennel all in between putting away clean clothes and dishes. I was very tired.

The next day I went to work and then over to my mom's to pick my now flea-free dogs and bird (thank goodness they aren't bothered by fleas!), take them all home where I am happily playing on my computer when I feel a terrible itching on my arm, look down and see a DA** flea on me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I promptly check both dogs. Of course, Loki has one happily crawling on him and I freak out. What can I possibly do at this point that I haven't done? Did I mention that they've already had two doses of Frontline in three weeks instead of four as recommended? I can't possibly give them anymore.

Then I notice something sort of interesting. These fleas are not jumping quite as rapidly or as high. I CAN CATCH IT! That's not right. So, a little theory is forming in my head but I can't be sure until I call my vet the next day (the nice receptionist who talked to me for close to 10 minutes on a busy afternoon deserves an award). Apparently once you've given your animal Frontline, you actually want the flea to jump on him and bite him. This will cause neurological damage to the flea and prevent him from laying eggs. This is why if you only give your animal the Frontline and don't do anything else it takes so long. You will break the cycle but have to wait them out as the already laid eggs hatch. In my phone call I discover (or actually am told) about another wonderful drug that you can give your animals that will kill all the fleas that jump on them for a period of 24 hours. Yes, they got that too. I am simply at my wits end with the flea thing and nothing short of skinning the dogs is too much at this point. As of today (I believe) I am truly flea-free. Just in time for my beautiful nephew to visit me this weekend.

Home Story: New House

In case anyone is wondering why I found the time to post about a book when I hardly had time to do the Friday 56 this week, I got all my stuff moved in to my new house yesterday. The house is a still filled with boxes (we can hardly move through the house) but it's all here. YAYYYYY!! The new place is still a rental, I'm still in a duplex but it's much nicer. The other place was simply falling apart. And even though I'm sure I got the rat to go away (or at least stay in the walls where he belongs) the fact that Loki was still way too interested in the kitchen cabinets bothered me constantly. Here's the story I told about that in you missed it. An update to that story: natural ways to repel mice...

I have two dogs, a bird, and a third dog that is over so often he might as well live with me so using rat poison is out of the question. Rats also carry all kinds of diseases so luring it out where it can get trapped is also out of the question. I don't want the dogs finding it when I'm not home and eating it or getting bit. You might have noticed that in the previous story I called him a mouse. Mouse is such a cute name. You think of cute little furry animals with pink noses. You can feel ok living with a cute furry animal with a pink nose living in your walls. Now that I don't live there I feel comfortable calling it by it's proper name: Rat. That's the only thing that could possibly have made droppings that large. I never actually saw the rat, except for one brief image when I caught him scurrying out the hole under the kitchen sink, so I can't say for sure but I feel confident enough to say it was a rat based on those abnormally large mouse droppings. Ok, getting to the repelling. Have you noticed I can be a bit long winded sometimes?

I started researching how to naturally repel mice. I kept finding references to peppermint oil and (oddly enough) Bounce dryer sheets. This seemed so far fetched that I dismissed it at first. But it kept popping up. I thought, ok, Bounce has found this obscure reference to it POSSIBLY repelling mice and has run with it. They have some guy in their IT department just online all day filling the web with notes about Bounce repelling mice on the all the "natural home" websites. But there were a lot of personal accounts of it working. The other big thing I saw was peppermint oil. This one I could buy, so why not Bounce sheets? Ok, I thought, I'll try it. But I'm putting the peppermint oil in there too just in case.

I personally don't use dryer sheets because I hate that smell. Yes, I know, I'm weird. Maybe I'm part mouse. I already had some peppermint oil, so I put it on some cotton balls and threw it in the cabinets and drawers where I know he'd already been plus in all the rest of cabinets in the kitchen and different possible openings throughout the house. I then went out and bought some Bounce sheets to boost my mouse/rat repelling power. I did not notice any signs of that rat in the last month I was there. I like to think this worked but I honestly don't know. He wasn't coming in the kitchen anymore, that's for sure. There were no droppings anywhere in the house but, who knows? Maybe he was just biding his time, waiting to terrorize the next tenant.

So, now I'm in my new place. It's 9:15 in the morning and I'm doing nothing. I've rescheduled my clients for Wednesday so I can work on getting the house in order but that's not happening so fast right now. I'm finding it much more interesting to write about my rat situation. I'm am very much enjoying not worrying and wondering if there is a mouse in my house. For all I know there are mice in these walls too. But this place is not falling apart. I don't have to put plastic sheeting on the windows AND CABINETS to keep my temperature even in the house. Windows I can buy. It's an old house with old windows. But the cabinets should not be ice boxes in the winter and microwaves in the summer. I'm enjoying my central a/c. No more window units! And I know I will love my central heat in the winter. No more cuddling up to the wall heater. I love my tub that DOESN'T fill with bugs coming up the drain pipe throughout the day that I have to wash back down before using it every morning. I love that I DON'T have to keep all-purpose cleaner sitting on the side of the tub because of this. I love my house that DOESN'T tilt to the east. I love that my washer and dryer are INSIDE the house so I don't have to walk out and around the house to get to it. I love that my outdoor water facet is NOT on the other side of the fence where I have to walk all the way around the house to turn it on just water my garden. Some of these things I never told anyone. It's embarrassing to live in a house like that. But now that I don't, I don't mind letting you know. I live in a much better house now! Oh, yes, I'm so glad I moved. Now I just have to get things in order. Now I just have to find my work clothes...

Home Story: Do You have Swine Flu Too?

Ok, maybe I'm the crazy one and maybe not but I think everyone is seriously OVER-REACTING. In case you don't know, I live in North Texas close to Dallas and Ft Worth. Here were have several school districts that have closed until next week and countless schools within districts that didn't close that have shut their doors. I understand that it's a rapidly spreading flu and that it might be pretty nasty if you catch it. However, we have ways to treat it. If the media reported on the number of people who catch and/or died each week due to the regular flu, it would sound just as bad. In fact, it would sound worse. More people catch the flu every year that have gotten this "swine flu." More people die every year due to the regular flu than to this "swine flu." I'm putting it in quotes because the name keeps changing but everyone knows what I mean when I say "swine flu."

Last week, I missed 3 days of work because of the TAKS test. I knew this was coming. I was prepared for that. They don't want me in the schools disrupting anyone during this all important test. I was not prepared for the school districts to start freaking out on me and shut down. Some are closed for 2 weeks! Last week one of the mom's of my private client called to tell me her son was "lethargic" and she didn't think he should be seen. Today another one has a "runny nose" and should be seen. This is what happens when the media over plays things like this. People begin to freak out over being lethargic and having a runny nose.

Now here's what bothers me. What if it really is as bad as they say and guess what....the school district I work for ISN'T CLOSED.

Home Story: Jeff

For those of you that don't know, Jeff is my boyfriend of three years. His dog Skillet is the pit mix in the snow with Aurora on the left side of your screen. Jeff turned 30 on the 30th. Yes, I found myself a younger man! Aren't I naughty? hehehe

I wanted to do something special for Jeff's 30th birthday. He's not big into holidays and celebrations but I think they're important. I especially think birthdays are important because that's the one time every year that each person gets a special day that's all about them. So when I found out one of his bands was going out of town on his birthday, I was a little upset. Just ruin all my plans, why don't you?

Maybe I should mention that Jeff is in 5 different bands. This makes planning ANYTHING virtually impossible. If he isn't working, he's probably got a rehearsal or a show. Luckily we live close to each other, so I do get to see him fairly often. Granted, it's usually on the way to bed or waking up but we always (almost) have Sundays. Neither of us works or has any permanent plans for that day. I call them my lazy Sundays. Best day of the week.

About a month and a half ago I started coordinating a surprise party. You have to do these things far in advance when you're working around 5 bands and the people in them. I noticed that NONE of them were playing ANY shows the weekend before his birthday. Wonderful! I sent messages to all the "band leaders" (for lack of a better word) to not book any shows for the Sunday of that weekend. We were gonna do it up good for Jeffrey. I just had to find a good place for it to be. My place is way too small and his doesn't even have much of a yard. Luckily, one of his bandmates came through. Thank you Wally and Laura, I couldn't have done this without you!!

There wasn't much to do once I got everything in order except tell a million people when and where, any one of whom could have slipped and told Jeff. 5 bands, the spouses and significant others, friends, co-workers; oh, yes I was worried. So I waited. I didn't see the point in letting too many people know too soon. A few important people knew, that was enough to keep it on track. The rest wouldn't have too much to do anyway with these people not scheduling anything.

So one night, while Goodness Gracious (one of his bands) is playing a show at a house party. I overhear someone trying to book Jeff for a show ON THE 26TH!!! This is the date of the party. All of his bandmates KNOW not to book shows that day.
"Who is that?!" I say without thinking.
"Mike," Jeff says.
"He's trying to book a show for the 26th??!!"
"Yes, June 26th"
"Oh, ok, carry on."
Yeah right. Like he's not going to wonder what that was about.

"So, what's happening on the 26?"
"Nothing."
"You're such a bad liar." Me laughing because it's SO VERY true.
Thinking fast, I say, "Nothing really, it's just Sage's birthday party and I wanted you to come but I felt silly about my reaction." Oddly enough, he bought this.

Sage is my nephew. He turned 4 on the 27th. His party was NOT on the 26th. It was on the 25th. Close enough for jazz, as my flute teacher used to say.

So the Friday before his party (so far, so good) I have a pretty open day and begin to prepare some food. I had told everyone that if they wanted meat, Wally would have the grill going and they could bring their own. Otherwise, I'd have some veggies stuff for the vegetarians. I had planned on making some Vegetable Samosas and Chinese Sweet and Sour Balls. I was very excited. I love cooking something that I know will be a hit. It's so much fun! That is, until the recipe you've used a million times lets you down. I still don't know what happened but my Chinese Balls were the consistency of oatmeal. Not supposed to be that way. I thought, "I'll just pop a couple in the oven and see how they turn out. Maybe once it's cooked, it'll be fine." Nope. Gross. Completely and utterly gross. In the trash. On to the samosas.

These were fine except I couldn't cook them yet, they need to be served hot. I figured I'd just put them in a container, separated by wax paper and fry them up on Sunday when we got to Wally's house. Perfect. (not so much, when I pulled them out at the party later, they were all sticking to the wax paper and to each other. I got two to come out and fried those. The rest were one big doughy lump. Very disappointing). Now cut the veggies for the veggie platter. Done. Now what do I replace the Chinese Balls with? FUCK IT! (by this time I'm running short on time because Jeff will be off work soon and feeling very frustrated). Cut some veggies, throw them in a pot with some lentils, add spices, go to the store while that's on low, get some black beans, kidney beans, chick peas, go home, throw them in the pot, let it cook. DONE. Take everything to Wally and Laura's. Call Jeff. Spend the evening with him.

"Hey, Jeff. Are you working tomorrow?"
"Yes, why?"
"Well, Andrea changed the day of Sage's party and I wanted you to come."
"mmmm-hmmm," in a kind of sarcastic way.

mmm-hmmm???? What does that mean? Does he know something? Later I call Laura so we can diagnose this reaction. We decide that we can't tell. We'll keep acting as if he doesn't know.

Saturday. Sage's party. Such a sweet boy. I love him so much and he always acts like I'm the most amazing person he's ever seen when I come over. This is a wonderful ego boost. Sage gets a humungous set of Legos for his birthday. Nothing else in the room matters for the rest of the day. Not such an ego boost.

Sunday. OH MY GOD. COULD 4 O'CLOCK BE ANY FURTHER AWAY?? Why didn't I say lunch? This waiting is going to kill me.

"Sweetie?" Me to Jeff in my best, could you do something for me voice right after my phone call from Laura in which she offers me a tv stand if we come pick it up when she gets home at, oh, maybe, around 4 or so.
"Yes?"
"Could you help me go pick up a tv stand at Wally and Laura's this afternoon. She's got one she's getting rid of."
"When?"
"She said she'd be home about 4 or so. She'll call when she gets there."
Now, for those of you who haven't figured it out. Laura is actually calling me when a bunch of people have shown up so we can get Jeff in there and surprise him.

2:30. SERIOUSLY? Is it not 4 yet??!!
Jeff is at home at this point working in his garden. I go to the store to pick up his favorite beer and take it over to Wally and Laura's. Just as I'm placing the beer in their fridge, my phone rings. IT'S HIM!
"Ok, Boomer (their dog), don't bark."

"Hi, sweetie."
"Hi"
"What are doing?"
"I was just at the store."
"I'm about to take a break and work my beans before finishing up." What?? Beans? He isn't planning on showering before we go? Ok, think quick. "Has Laura called yet?"
Awesome! Perfect!
"Yes, she did."
"She did? She's home."
"Oh, uh, no. Not yet. She just called to, uh, tell me, uh, they're planning on a few people coming over tonight and we're, uh, welcome to stay and hang out for a bit."
"Ok, sounds good."
"So....um, you might want to take a shower."
"Ok, I guess I won't finish out there. Let me just finish the beans." Crap! How do I get the beans out of the picture?
"I think they're gonna have some food."
"Well, I'll bring them with us."
"Great." No!!

4:00 FINALLY! Phone rings. It's Laura. Quite a few people are there already. WOW! Imagine little old me getting a bunch of drunks and hippies to show up on time. (just kidding guys! Love you!)

Call Jeff. "Laura says we can come pick up that tv stand now."
"Ok, let me just check on the beans and get in the shower. I'll call Wally and see if he wants me to bring them over."
"You haven't showered yet?"
"No. Are we in a hurry?"
"No, that's fine. See you in a minute."

Ring to Laura. "Jeff hasn't showered yet. It may be a little longer. And he's gonna call Wally to see if he needs to bring anything. He's planning on bringing beans. I didn't know how to get him not to. I can't tell him I already made beans and they're there!"

At Jeff's. Not in the shower yet. "Ummm, are you gonna shower? I can watch the beans."
"Are you in a hurry?"
"No, I just think they might be expecting us."

Phone rings as Jeff is headed to the shower. Hannah. Wondering exactly where it is and how to get there but Hannah is awesome. She picks up fast that I can't talk.

"Who's that?" I'm really tired of trying to lie at this point. I just can't think of something good and I'm feeling kind of guilty about it.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" I say in a flirty little way.

FINALLY. Walking out the door. "Should we pick up some beer?" he says.
"I don't think so."
"What if I want some Hefeweizen?" What can I say to this? You already have a whole case there that I bought early today? Yeah, sure. Now is the time to ruin it.
"ok, what store?"

In the parking lot of Kroger. Waiting for Jeff. Call Hannah, tell her how to get there. Call Laura, explain why we're STILL not there.

Ok, pulling up in front of Wally's house. OH SHIT! It's Aaron and Shaina. They don't know Wally. Wave them away. Go away before Jeff sees you! No such luck. Here they come.

Jeff looks strangely at Aaron. Then at me. Then Aaron says, "Happy Birthday, man!" Oh, for crying out loud. We're here!! We made it all this way and it gets ruined now??

Jeff is slowly realizing. I can see it on his face. "I thought you were acting weird," he says with a little smile curling one side of his mouth. He walks into the house in a daze and out POPS (literally) Matt and SCREAMS at the top of his lungs and for as long as his breath allows SURPRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISE! Yes, Jeff this party is for you. We walk out back and there are so many people! Jeff is smiling and laughing and he puts his arm around me and kisses me.

This is it. He was surprised still. He keeps seeing people he didn't expect. This look on his face is the whole reason for all this. I love this man.

So the last little bit of the story that I will tell is about pole dancing. Yes, pole dancing. That is not a typo. Jeff, got very, very drunk. His friend Danny took these great pictures of him. Enjoy!!

Home Story: My "hits" counter

At some point I put this little counter on my blog just to see if people were actually reading what I wrote. Every once in a while it's fun to go check it and see just how many people visited my site that day. I noticed a couple days ago I was getting close to 1000 but thought I'd wait to celebrate, thinking it would take another week or so to hit it. It happened when I wasn't looking! I just looked again and it was 1028!!!!! Apparently yesterday I got 25 hits! Now from what I've read at other blogs, this would be a disappointing day but this wonderful to me. If I am ever disappointed in just 25 people reading what I write, I will shut this thing down. Not sure why there are days when no one reads and days when what I say is fascinating because I can't figure it out. The best weeks I;ve had were the week of March 15-21 and November 30 - December 6. I can only guess what brought people those weeks. In that first week of December I wrote about New Moon (bashed it actually), We the Living, and had my second ever Friday 56. It was a big week!! In that week in March I wrote about Aurora and Lucina in separate posts as well as participating in more than one meme and my review of the Secret Life of Bees. I don't think I could keep that kind of output all the time to have weeks like those. I don't think I would be happy trying to keep it up. But I'm happy when I feel like it and people come to read it. Thank you all!!

Home Story: Laziness

Not sure if it comes through in the pictures but my poor little Aurora is slightly overweight. I've always heard (and agreed with) the old adage, if a dog's fat then so is the owner. Yes, that applies here, not that I'm fat! Aurora's slightly overweight, and so am I! We've been working on both. Walking and playing outside much more and long play sessions in the house when the weather's bad. I guess this has taken it's toll my poor baby. The little girl is just simply so tired she didn't want to get out of bed this morning. When I called her for breakfast she came, but oh so very slowly. Then, when I came out of the kitchen with my coffee, (the dogs get fed in the living room when it's cold out because my kitchen is so drafty I keep it closed off) she was lying in front of her food bowl eating ever so slowly. Now this is the height of laziness! She couldn't even be bothered to stand up to eat!

Home Story: Skillet

Skillet is a very beautiful pit mix that Jeff was given by a friend. Skillet was about a year old when he was found wandering the open land north of Denton. No one knows his history or what the other part might be but for being part pit, he is the most laid back dog on earth. In fact, he is probably more laid back than a basset hound (well, almost). I've been told that dogs reflect their humans, and in the case of Jeff and Skillet, nothing could be truer. One of Skillet's favorite things is cuddling under the covers.

He also loves to protect his bones. He not aggressive with the bone but he will protect that bone from any other dog. Usually his way of doing this is by hiding them in my bed. Often at bedtime, I find myself crawling under the covers and laying right on top of one. Not a pleasant experience.

The other day, before we got all the rain, I had my two dogs outside playing with a tennis ball. Loki is kind of a jerk with other dogs when it comes to toys. He doesn't want anyone else to play with it. So when Skillet came out to play too, Loki bullied him into not going after the ball. Skillet simply turned around, went in the house, and came back out again with another ball in his mouth.

Here's a couple more pics of him and my babies:

Home Story: Happy Ostara!

I written about my babies and now I've decided to write a little about me. Don't worry, I'm not going to embarrass myself and everyone else with personal details!

Well today is the Spring Equinox, as most of you probably know. It is one of two days per year when the day and night are equal in length (equal = equinox). In all of the religions (major and "minor") in the world, it is a time of rebirth, renewal, and new beginnings. They don't all celebrate on this day but fairly close (within the month). This is one of my favorite times of year. I get to start my gardens (yes, plural) and I get time off from work (a whole week of Spring Break is coming to a close). Three years ago, I started something new and wonderful (well, wonderful most of time!): Jeff and I began dating during the last week of March. This is year I've started something new that's solely for myself.

As some of you know, I am a music therapist. I work with children with disabilities in the schools. I have been a musician all my life; played piano when I was young, learned flute in junior high and majored on it in college. When I went to grad school for music therapy I got to do something I had always wanted to do but was too shy to, I learned guitar and began writing my own music. I've been playing and singing for several years now, though most of the time I sing for children. Trust me, you could have the most terrible voice but if you sing "ABCs" and "Twinkle Twinkle," children will treat you like a rock star. Obviously, this is no indication of whether or not my voice is good enough to be on stage. But for a long time, that's what I've wanted to do. Yeah, I know it's a cliche: chick folk singer with her guitar. We're a dime a dozen but I don't care about trying to make it. I simply want to get on stage every once in awhile and sing to a crowd that appreciates good music and have someone tell me, "Hey, that was really good!" I've sang a few times during intermission at one of Jeff's bands' shows and I sang a couple times at parties. I've always gotten pretty good reception but I wanted something different. I wanted something that was outside of what Jeff does. Yesterday I finally got up the nerve to do it. I went to open mic night at a little place called the Banter in here in Denton. I was supposed to go with a friend but he had an emergency and couldn't come. This actually made me less nervous. I wanted to sing for strangers. They probably won't ever see you again to look nervous and embarrassed for you if you screwed up real bad. So I got on that stage, did my ten minutes, and for a brief moment I felt like a rock star! It's not much, but it's a new beginning. Happy Spring.

Home Story: Lucina

Lucina is an albino cockatiel. Not that it means anything regarding true albino-ism. It just means that she's an all white cockatiel with red eyes. To get an albino cockatiel, one must cross breed a Whiteface cockatiel with a Lutino cockatiel, making a Whiteface Lutino but referred to as "albino." This may not be very interesting to non-bird people but I find it fascinating!

When Lucina was a baby, she was very loving to everyone. She wanted to be held by everyone and would let anyone scratch her neck (her favorite). Now that she's a little older, 5 years, she's pretty much bonded to me. She'll fly around the house looking for me when I'm not in her sight and whistle for me to come back when I walk out of the room. All cockatiels (and cockatoos too) can hiss (yes, hiss like a cat). Lucina uses her hiss often. When someone comes too close to her cage when she's not wanting them there, she hisses while spreading her feathers in a get-away-from-me manner. I've tried slowly get her to bond to Jeff over the past three years, but it's been difficult since he has a dog that likes to eat birds.

One thing Lucina enjoys is music in a high register. When I play my flute she whistles along, when she hears whistling on a song she sings along, and when Jeff plays the piano she whistles and dances. Genious that he is, he brought her out one day when I wasn't home and began playing Cradle Song by Theodor Kullak on the piano with her on his shoulder. He plays it in the very top octave. Now, whenever he plays it, she yells to come out of the cage, she dances and bangs on bars or if she's out, she flies around the room. Cradle Song is Lucina's new theme song and she and Jeff have finally bonded.

Home Story: Aurora

When my collie, Aurora, was puppy she didn't like to cuddle. She was just so full of energy that all she wanted to do was play and wrestle and chew on bones. I devised a way to get her to cuddle with me (because, come on, that's the best part of having a dog). I would take one of her bones and hold it in my hand beside me on the couch. She would jump up next to me and sit there chewing on the bone while I petted her. To do this day (4 1/2 years later) she still brings her bones to people she wants to sit next to. Poor baby, no one will do this for her except mama! Everyone else thinks it's kind of gross (I think they have some notion that it's a little weird too).

Aurora still doesn't cuddle as much as Loki or Lucina, but when she does, it's a full out, smother you in love, cuddle session. She can't just sit next to you, she has to sit on you or lay length-wise next to you. And if you want to move for any reason, be prepared for a 60 pound sack of potatoes. She's not going anywhere just because you want her to. It's cuddle time.

This morning, she and Loki climbed in bed with me and I got one of her wonderful length-wise cuddles. This is kind of like spooning with your significant other. She lays with her head next to mine and her tail down by my feet with either her feet over top of me or facing away from me (the former is practically impossible to get away from). I turned my head to look at her and she turned her face to me. We were touching nose to nose, with her big, brown eyes staring directly into mine and I was thinking, "What a sweet baby," when she sneezed in my face. This was not a cute, high pitched, baby sneeze. This was a full out, snot in my face, up my nose, elephant sneeze. Oh yeah, what a sweet baby.

Home Story - 3/12/09

I decided I'm going to start including some of my own stories, what I'll call "Home Story." Often my animals do some the funniest things and I would love to share these wonderful things that happen around my house. After all, this blog is called "Storytime With Tonya and Friends." It's about time I include some stories about us. My original idea was to have my sister post some her stories or chapters from her book on here, that's where the "and Friends" part came from, but I think the idea fell flat with her! I'm truly sad too, she's a wonderful writer (and hopefully reading this too)!

My first story is about the mouse in my house. Yes, I'm almost positive that I have my very own Jerry around here somewhere. A little info on my house might help to begin with. Picture a cute little house on the outside that looks like it could be a 3 bedroom, 1 bath, small living room type house on a corner lot. Ok, now take that house and cut it in thirds. Make the front 1/3 of the house a small one bedroom apartment and the back 2/3 thirds another one bedroom apartment. I rent the back of the house. My kitchen faces the north and the back door (my front door) faces the east. I noticed sometime in the fall, when the wind started blowing more, that my kitchen was fairly breezy. I could literally feel the wind rushing through the cabinets. Everything that touched an outside wall to the north and west had air rushing through it. I put plastic sheeting up over the windows, the cabinets under the sink and the cabinet just the left of that (which is just one large cabinet on the inside). This means, of course, that I can't use these cabinets but it's better than the wind rushing in. It doesn't completely kill the wind though. I have a refrigerated utensil drawer. I kid you not. When it's cold outside, I could freeze Popsicles in my utensil drawer.

Now recently I found mouse droppings in one of my drawers in the kitchen. Needless to say this freaked me out and I cleaned everything in the drawer. I was curious though, why I wasn't seeing signs of the little guy anywhere else. When my mom had mice in her house, we saw evidence of them everywhere. Why only this one drawer?

One night I was sitting on my couch reading. The whole house was pretty quiet and heard this scratch, clank, scratch sound coming from the kitchen. It seriously sounded like someone trying to get in the house. I live with two fairly noisy dogs, so I can't imagine anyone believing they can break into my house but I was still a little freaked out. I went into the kitchen and noticed the sound seemed to be coming from the cabinet under the sink. I opened the doors only to see...A MOUSE! The damn thing is scurry down a little hole in the floor of the cabinet to get under the house!

Now remember when I said I put plastic sheeting up there? This means not only can I not use these cabinets, but also that the mouse has no way to get to the rest of my house unless he makes new holes. I've seen a teeny little hole going to the drawer where I found the droppings so I guess that's how he got there but I don't believe he can get to any other part of my kitchen. I even closed the dogs out of the kitchen one day while I was at work and put out some food on the floor. It was still there when I got home. I'm pretty sure if he could have got to it, he would. Mice love people and dog food.

My cocker spaniel, Loki, aparently has noticed our newest resident. Every morning now when I get up and go make my coffee, I have to kick Loki out of my way because he has his nose stuck under the cabinet. I can only figure he either hears or smells something back in there and is just WAITING for it to come out. I dare you, he seems to be telling it. He has to be forced out of the kitchen, because god forbid he not be in there if it does decide to tempt fate and show itself. After coming back in the house from doing his business, he literally RUNS to the kitchen to stick his nose in his spot. It's starting to get a little disturbing. I haven't seen any evidence of the little guy in a couple weeks, but Loki seems obsessed with him. See for yourself: