Mouse in the House!!

Okay, so I know I live in the country and bugs and mice are inevitable, but I have cats. They should take care of the problem right???

On Monday before work, I noticed Sam staring at some wood boxes I have that holds my glass. I really didn't think much of that. Then a few minutes later, Phil was in the room looking at things. Phil is always getting into things...he is the mischievous one. That night when I got home from work, both cats came out the computer room which was weird. They don't typically hang out in that room unless I am in there. About an hour later, I went into the computer room to reset the wireless connection and realized Phil was staring at the wall. As I turned to see what he was staring at, I thought it would be a bug or spider....NO, it was a small gray mouse.

I started screaming, "It's a mouse, It's a mouse, It's a mouse!!" I probably screamed for 10-20 seconds before I realized now what. It was running on my panes of glass. I couldn't throw something at it. I realized Phil was on the job and so I went to figure out how to trap the mouse. I really think I probably should get some mouse traps. This is mouse three in 6 months. I heard some squeaking so I knew Phil had got it. But Phil really likes to play with his food. He catches bugs and spiders all the time and plays with them before polishing them off. So after a few minutes, I went to see if I could find the mouse. I found Phil staring at where my computer wires are and decided the mouse would have to be in the mess down there. I spotted it and found something to pick it up with to take it to the dump.

I don't like mice. I know I had many hamsters growing up, but when I see a mouse, I think big teeth and ?? diseases.

Now I think that Phil and Sam probably had been having fun with the mouse all day before I got home. That is probably why I was able to catch it and it didn't try to run away. Poor mouse.

So the lesson last week went pretty well. I had a couple of people come up and ask if I was going to be the new Sunday School teacher....NO. Then they said they enjoyed it more than most lessons in the past couple months. That was nice. However, I was nervous the whole time since the Stake President is in our ward, and in the classroom, I am not much of an Old Testament person, and when nervous things slip out like kind of starting to sing primary songs while teaching. I couldn't help myself...we were talking about the Rock and building our foundation on it. The song with the rain came to my mind, and I started making the hand movements while talking about not building upon the sand. :-)

Also, thanks to all those who have sent in the replies to the 20-21 questions. I am starting to pull things together, and I am having so much fun. I get a glimpse of everyones memories and it brings me back a little. It is still not too late to send your responses in. So if you haven't, please do. I don't want anyone to feel left out. However, don't wait too long to send it in. My June/July is really busy and I want to get this project done before too long. :-0

So it has been a long time since I updated the blog. I am alive.

Things here are going pretty well. I feel that I am getting the hang of the job. I have also decided that I don't like computers or troubleshooting why they don't work. Other than that I feel like I am actually able to contribute to the walnut industry. Yeah!!

The weather here has been just great. It has been rainier than usual (or at least that is what I am told), but that is great for the trees. I am hoping, but not really hoping, that it will warm up enough that the pool behind my house won't be too cold when I start to go swimming. I went and bought a bathing cap and goggles so I could swim laps. Since the mornings are still a bit brisk, I have been too scared to jump in.

I am busy with girls camp stuff. I have had the girls over to my house twice already and I think we will have them over again this month. I get to teach first aid on Wednesday. That is actually a bit scary. Me teaching girls what to do in an emergency...people better not get hurt. That is all I have to say. :-)

As you all know I am trying to put together a family photo tree so I have been "stealing" pictures from blogs, facebook, the family website, and digging through some of my old photos. Needless to say I have a picture of almost everyone. There is a handful of people that I still need to get pictures for, or they might just have to be okay with whatever I can pull out. ;-)

Also, does anyone remember the song that Dad used to sing when he was making pancakes?

Dryer is coming

So I went to Lowes on Thursday to get a Dryer. So much for their advertisement that they have free next day delivery. The next delivery they could do was three days later. Of course I wouldn't have them come on Sunday, so they will deliver it here on Monday. In the mean time, I have a bunch of things I want to wash. I have a hard time taking towels out of a cardboard boxe and using them without washing them. So I now have a bunch of kitchen towels and bath towels, plus the regular laundry that needs to get done. Thankfully I just need to hookup my washer and that will work. This way I can just wash and hang dry until the dryer gets here. I can't say that I have ever wished for a Monday, but I wish for one now.

New TV

I need a new TV. I have had a small 13 inch TV since 1996. It has worked well for me until right now. Since it was created before DVD players it doesn't have the correct plug in spots for the DVD cables. I had a VCR until I moved, but since it stopped recording or playing VHS tapes I decided to get rid of it when I moved. I didn't realize it was the only thing that was connecting my DVD player to the TV. So I went to hook up my DVD player so I could watch a movie tonight when I ate dinner. Then I realized it wouldn't work. Rrrrr!

Out in the middle of nowhere...no TV and can't watch movies. I would have to say that really motivated me to find my cables for my computer.

Walnut Orchards

It is really pretty here. Last night I went exploring in my car after work. I didn't know where my trash can was and so started driving around. Then I found a road and wanted to see where that could take me. Then I knew the river was near, but didn't see it, so I saw another road and thought what the heck, why not. The next thing I realized I had gone about a 1/2 hour and wasn't really sure where I was. I was still in Walnuts, and I could see the river. I knew that if I drove north I would eventually hit a main road. However, I wasn't sure if I would recognize the main road when I hit it. I pulled out my GPS and since I already programmed home in, I found it on the map. However, GPS couldn't tell me which farm road to take to get back, so I wound myself around and around trying to get to the elusive home dot on the GPS. I swear I passed the same worker driving the water truck a couple of times. Mom called me as I finally found myself on a familiar road and so I stopped on the side of the road and was talking to her when the water truck saw me again and stopped. Since I knew where I was I smiled and waved him on.

My next project is to find my camera battery charger so I can take pictures. Right now I am a bit stuck on picture taking until I can find the battery charger.

Hello!

I know it's been forever since I have updated. I have now moved to Chico, CA. I live out in the boondocks now. I really mean it, the GPS unit can't even help me get home. There are three ways to get home and all of them involve at least 2 miles of gravel road if not more. I am about a 1/2 mile from the Sacramento River. I have a neighbor across the drive, but other than that, the nearest neighbor is about 1 1/2 miles down a gravel road. I live in the prestigious "gated" community on the Deseret Farms of Chico. I say "gated" because if you leave too early or come home to late the gates aren't open. I have now had to open the gates twice.

I moved out of my house on September 29 and arrived at my new place that night around 11. There are deer where I live and so I kept my eyes out for them and spotted two as I was coming in that night. Luckily since it was a gravel road I couldn't be going fast enough to worry about them. The only way I would hit them is if they decided to commit suicide and run into my car.

The next night I needed to go to town to pick up some groceries. The missionary couple that lives next door made me a map on how to get to town. However, they forgot to write down the names of the streets I need to turn on. So on the way back home, I had my GPS unit on to see if I could at least get close to home and then try to nose my way around. All of a sudden I saw a sign for a street I thought I needed, so I slammed on my brakes and turned quickly....so sorry to the car tailgating me. My GPS unit freaked out and wanted me to make a u-turn. Then Mom called and I was talking to her and it was pitch black and I missed the road I was to turn on. Luckily I made it to work and then could make it home. So in the two miles of gravel road, I saw about 10 deer that night. I spotted three, then about another 1/2 mile, I saw another two, and so on. By my house there were another three.

Apparently we have wild turkeys and boar as well. Allegedly there are also coyotes, but no one has seen them. They only know little pets disappear. Sam and Phil will not be venturing out of the house.

As for Sam and Phil, they made the trip okay. They are a bit traumatized, but that is to be expected. I thought the road trip was going to be torturous with 6 hours of two meowing cats. But as soon as I got up to speed, they settled in and only meowed when I yelled at the stupid drivers around me. Finally when we got in that night I put them in the bathroom and left them there since the movers were coming in the next day. I didn't want to have to try to hunt them down. So when the movers left I opened the bathroom to let them out. However, they wouldn't come out. They stayed in their crate all day Wednesday and when I came home from work on Thursday they were still there. They are still mad at me and Phil wouldn't come out from under the bed until about 8 tonight.

On a sad and disturbing note, I have a rodent in the house. I am a bit scared it may be a rat. I am not sure if it is a mouse or a rat. I found fresh droppings on the carpet in the living room. Yuck. I guess I will just have to get some Decon and put it in places Sam and Phil can't get to it.

I am halfway unpacked and just found out I might be able to move to another (smaller) house in December. Yeah!!! One of the other workers has bought a house and will be able to move in December so I will be able to get that house. It is significantly smaller. I am in the 4000 sq ft home, and it is only 1200 + it has a garage. Boo Hoo. But I think I can handle that. I don't need 4000, and I had been in 1600 so going to 1200 wouldn't be bad. It is right across the street from work and the company pool is only a couple hundred feet away. That will be good in the summer.

As for the weather here, it has been great. It is chilly for me. I know all you northerners will make fun of me, but is only getting up into the 70's and the lows are in the 40's. I can't find my sweaters and I don't even have a jacket. I have had to dig trough my boxes until I found a blanket since I have been cold. However, the people are scaring me a bit with the El Nino stuff. I have heard several times that the floods are coming. Floods are coming??? They also state that I need to be ready to be without power for several days. What? No power!!! No power means the well pump will not work, which means no water for the toilets, showers, or cooking. That would be why my walk in freezer is currently full of bottles of water. That makes sense now.

Oh the joys of living in the middle of nowhere. I am having my moments of thinking "WHAT THE HECK DID YOU JUST DO???"