A couple of weeks back we had a little mouse problem. I’m over the trauma now and able to talk about it.

One evening I was nestled on the couch with my laptop and saw something move across the floor out of my peripheral vision. I instantly drew every body part up to my chin for fear of what it could be.

After 15 minutes or so I grabbed one of Peter’s toys, holding it in front of me as a weapon. I walked to the site of the disturbance and gingerly poked around to see if anything would move again.

To my relief, nothing moved though I wasn’t convinced that it was a figment of my imagination.

I went upstairs and woke Casey to tell him the horrible news. “I think we have a mouse. Can you please come and catch it?”

My question was met with “hrmph…uh…tomorrow.”

That was a night of terror, my friends.

You see, the only thing I’m afraid of are mice. It’s unnatural how they can squish their bodies into any sized crevice. It’s violating how they run around your house, poking into your food and running along your counters. It’s terrifying that they could be inside my couch when I sit down.

And now I had one in my house.

The next morning I asked Casey if he remembered me telling him about the mouse. He did and said he would set up some traps later that day.

That evening we were talking in the kitchen and the little vagrant ran right by him into the dining room.

“Get the gun! Could you shoot it?”

Apparently that’s not a practical solution.

Casey set up three traps and later that night found the little bugger in one of them. Knowing that mice usually travel in yucky little packs, he kept the traps up.

The next night I was working in the living room and heard the SNAP! of another trap. I ran upstairs to get my mouse hunter so he could remove number two. Number three came the next night and we’ve gladly been mouse free for a few weeks.

I can rest - and walk – easily.

But somebody in my house thinks that a mouse would be a nice addition…as a pet.

My mom dropped off a wrought iron outdoor candle holder and Peter told Casey on his way into the house the other day that it would be the perfect home for a mouse.

“It would be a nice mouse and it wouldn’t get out of its cage and Mommy wouldn’t have to be scared, she would like it,” he said convincingly to his dad.

“Uh, I don’t think Mom will go for that,” said Casey.

“Well I’ll tell her and she won’t be scared.”

My little salesman walked into the house and told me of his idea.

“Absolutely not” was my reply, thinking that Casey put him up to it.

He burst into tears.

Casey then told me what Peter had told him and I felt bad.

But not bad enough to actually purchase my greatest fear and bring it willingly into my home.

Sorry kiddo, not going to happen.

Every morning when Peter walks by the cage he remarks at what a great home it would be for a mouse.

He’s going to have to keep dreaming and I’m going to have to get a candle.

I’m awake at this late (for me) hour waiting to turn my biscotti.

My son’s preschool is having a bake sale tomorrow, with the proceeds going towards gifts for kids through the Christmas Giving Tree program. Isn’t that a great idea? They’re hoping to sponsor seven or eight kids this year. I’m so proud of them and so glad that my children are going to such a wonderful place during the day.

I chose to make cranberry and pistachio biscotti for a couple of reasons.

  1. I figured there would be lots of really sweet things and that maybe people want to change it up a bit (or maybe that’s just me).
  2. I haven’t made biscotti in a long time and (selfishly) want some for myself. That’s okay, right?

This recipe is super easy and I used to make it on a more regular basis…until the incident.

I’m not sure if you’re a biscotti-making individual so let me explain just a bit.

Biscotti is very easy to pull together, but it’s a bit more labor intensive than other baked goods when it comes to said baking. You first bake it as a log for 25 minutes. You then take it out of the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes. Then you slice it, tip to one side, and return the lovelies to the oven for another 10 minutes. After that 10 minutes, you rotate the little buggers so the other sliced side gets its chance to firm up for another 10 minutes. Then you let the puppies cool before putting them in a container.

See what I mean? A little more crazy than good old chocolate chip cookies and their 12 minute bake time.

Now that you know the logistics of the situation, I present to you…the incident.

I was on the second biscotti bake of the routine after slicing the logs and tipping them up. I returned to the couch to await the next buzzer (I could clean or something during this time but I prefer to couch it up with some good old NBC late night shows).

Only I didn’t hear the buzzer after 10 minutes.

Or 20 minutes.

Or 30 minutes.

Or 40 minutes.

50 minutes later I stirred from the couch to a most peculiar smell. I thought and thought…ACK!!!

I ran to the kitchen where I could see smoke billowing inside the oven. Oh man.

I turned on the microwave fan, grabbed a potholder for each hand, and braced myself before opening the oven.

Finally I threw open the door, stuck in my arms, plucked up my beloved stoneware, and ran to the door.

My darling biscottis (biscotties? biscotti? biscottae?) where absolutely black. Just charred to their posthumous sweet innards.

There was no saving them.

I let them cool before depositing them in the garbage can (I always fear that placing hot things in a garbage can will cause them to combust internally and start a fire. I drown used matches in water for minutes upon minutes before throwing them away. I prefer cautious to weird.) and then tried to salvage my stoneware.

Years later and I can still see biscotti markings on it. (Kind of like those chalk lines on CSI or Law & Order. Okay, nothing like them.)

So…tonight I’ve been hyper vigilant, keeping myself busy with Facebook, Twitter, and this post.

If only Facebook, Twitter, and this blog existed back in the day…

If you’d like to live on the edge as well, check out the cranberry and pistachio biscotti receipe here. Be vigilant, friends, and success in the form of delicious biscotti will be yours!

This week I’m loving medium-sized shrimp.

Not the taste or because I have a hankering for cocktail sauce, but because that’s the size of baby #3 this week (according to www.babycenter.com)!

That’s right – baby #3 is on the way! (I could use my standard narcolepsy as an excuse to why I haven’t been posting as often as I used to, but excuses drive me nuts so I won’t. But – for the record – being pregnant with two kids in the house and working full-time is a bit on the exhausting side.)

13 weeks down. 27-ish to go. But probably more like 26 if this little babe is like the other two darlings who each came almost a week early (which is just fine with me because they were both already over nine pounds at birth! Can I get an “uf-da?”)

My second favorite thing this week is that I can still fit into my pants – Hallelujah!!! I had visions (nightmares?) of growing out of them at about the fifth week.

When the time comes I’ll embrace my stretchy waistbands. Until then I’m rocking the everyday wear.

Our family had a great Halloween night, with lots of trick or treating which resulted in LOADS of candy! I’m doing my part to whittle it down so that the kids don’t get too sick. I’m such a good Mommy.

Here’s my little dragon, Peter (I made his costume this year – bought the fabric weeks ago but, for some reason, waited until literally the last hours before he needed it for school to sew it. Some day I’ll learn.)

Peter

And my little lady bug, Charlotte (costume courtesy of Carter’s)

Charlotte carrying her own loot

Casey and I took the kids and my sister Sydney out for three blocks worth of trick or treating (our longest Halloween trek yet!)

smiling for the camera

The kids had a great time ringing the doorbell and waiting for homeowners to come with their treasures. Peter complimented almost all of the homeowners on their nice decorations or cool candy bowls. What a sweetie.

at the alley neighbor's house

waiting

and seeing a HUGE pumpkin was a family favorite!

neighbor's huge pumpkin!

When we returned home, Peter ditched his costume and spread out all of his candy

Peter and his stash

Charlotte preferred to sit on her loot. I think it was more functional than protective.

sitting on her pumpkin

I think the highlight of the night, though, was watching my two little kidlets playing together.

playing together with Peter's candy

What a great night…makes me want to stop time.

I’m stepping outside of my brain’s comfort zone and attending a pretty heavy conference today.

A “manference” really, as the core audience is made up of scientists and engineers.

I kinda feel like wearing a sign that says I’m just here to fill a chair.

While I’m clearly out of my league, so far I’ve heard a tidbit from the woman who inspired the Jodi Foster role in the movie Contact and am currently listening to the CEO from Honeywell.

The world is fortunate to have brain power from the people in this room.

Makes my day job seem pretty fluffy. Still important, but super fluffy.

You heard it right. I’m loving my VCR right now.

You remember what a VCR is, right?

Are you bewildered why I would love one let alone still have one?

Six years ago, when Casey and I moved into our house we decided to go without cable. It was mainly to save some cash until we knew what our budgets would be like with the addition of a mortgage and all the additional costs a home brings into your life.

Six years later, we’re still without cable or a DVR or TiVo or anything really. In fact, when we got the digital box this past winter we “got cable” in the form of the addition of the CW to our line up of CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox and PBS.

So…why am I loving our VCR? I love Desperate Housewives. I know, I know. I can’t help it. I never watched it until my maternity leave with Charlotte, when I decided to start with the first season and plow my way through.

DH just happens to be on the same time as I’m in a classroom (hopefully) teaching a group of 9th graders about Jesus and their Catholic faith.

Before I leave for class I pop in the tape (only one I have for recording), rewind it to the beginning, and ask my dear husband to start recording at 7:55. When I get home I put Charlotte to bed and then head down to the couch to catch up with the ladies.

Tonight I had a picnic for work so I set it to record The Office wedding. Actually…I don’t have the remote for the VCR anymore so I can’t really set it. I just turned it on and let it record everything until we returned home.

Now I’m sitting back to enjoy the grainy quality in all its glory, commercials and all as I’m too tired right now to get up and fumble with the fastforward button.

An oldie but a definite goodie.

The two monkeys I have at my house crack me up.

They love taking baths – together, separate, whatever. As long as they have an endless supply of bubble bath and tub toys, they’re set for hours. (Daddy can hold out over an hour. I’m ready for them to get out after 20 minutes. Therefore, Daddy is the preferred bather.)

According to Daddy, their favorite toy is my Mary Kay facial cleanser. If I happen to leave it down, they descend on it almost immediately.

Last night Casey left them for a nano second to grab a clean towel.

When he popped his head back in the door he noticed the kids had my cleanser and were about to squeeze the remaining contents into the water.

“Peter. That’s Mommy’s special soap. Why are you doing that?” asked Casey.

“A cause (because) you weren’t watching us!” answered Peter.

Huh. Makes sense, I guess.

I just wish it didn’t cost $18 a bottle…

(Much like two weeks ago…pretend it’s Thursday. Just for a few minutes.)

Without a doubt, my favorite thing of the week was the super long nap I just took. Alone. On the couch. In the middle of the afternoon. By myself. With a movie on in the background. Did I mention I was alone?

I had a pretty busy week with driving to Minneapolis with the family on Friday night, Liz Logelin Foundation events on Saturday, driving home alone from Minneapolis, then up early and to bed late Sunday through Tuesday for a conference I organized for work.

Wednesday and Thursday were wrap-up days and today I whisked my two bundles of joy (can they still be called bundles at ages 16 months and 4 years?) off to daycare then came home to crash on the couch.

Pretty much the only time I got up today was to do a couple loads of laundry and pick up Casey to go to lunch at Xtreme Pizza Kitchen (yum!).

I think the work week should naptime.

It works for my kids, I’m sure it would do wonders for me.

This week my favorite thing came from Peter.

Casey was reading to him last night when Peter asked, “Dad. Why did Jesus die for us?”

Casey gave him an answer that’s somewhat consumable for a four year old.

Then Peter said, “So Jesus is waiting for us in heaven?”

“Yes,” said Casey.

“Well when I get there I’m going to give him a big high five.”

Does it get any better than that?

Wow – who knew that goldfish are so unhearty?

We had three last Thursday and lost one about every day and a half, with Sharkie (who was re-dubbed Nemo) kicking it on Monday at some point.

Now we have an empty fishbowl to once again clean out and store, in anticipation of the next fish.

I’m thinking betta next time.

My sister had one that lasted forever (which equals a couple of years in human time).

Or maybe you have a better recommendation? One that doesn’t require a fancy system, please.