Happy Holidays. We already have house guests.

So remember last year when I saw a mouse at our apartment? Yeah. I saw another one today. And now I'm afraid to walk around in my kitchen. To my credit, I did not wake my husband up to tell him about my trauma like I did last time. So instead of being grumpy, he thought the whole thing was pretty funny. I did NOT think the whole thing was funny. At all. I feel violated, and I can't get a pan out of the cupboard without cringing. I bang loudly when I go into the kitchen with a broom so the mouse will know I'm coming and hide. This is not for his safety, but rather for my sanity. We went out and bought mouse traps right away, naturally, but because Madeline is a lot more mobile and curious than she was last time mice ruined my life, I'm worried she's going to find one and get her hand whacked off. So basically, I'll be a basket case until we catch something. Those stupid mice should just live in their little field colonies and get eaten by owls. That's what I think.

So to distract myself from evil rodents, we officially started Christmas shopping today. Well, started again. Because I got on a Christmas gift kick about a month ago and bought some Christmas pajamas and a gift for Madeline, and then didn't do anything else for weeks. But today, I got presents for all of my brothers. Which, unfortunately, cannot be shared here due to the whole pesky public domain thing. But trust me, they're good presents. I decided I'd like to be done with my Christmas shopping by Thanksgiving. Ambitious, I know. And let's just pretend it will actually happen. Because then I will feel successful and accomplished. All I want for Christmas is a mouse free house. In case you were wondering.