Yes, but will that gun kill rodents?

**WARNING** this post contains graphic content with implied violence.

Why the barbaric question you ask? Maybe one day I'll need my husband to protect our family and food storage from would-be thieves, but today I need him to protect me from mice. You may think the bazooka featured in the previous post is a little over the top for this purpose, but I don't think so.

See how they stare at you with those sad eyes and fluffy cheeks. They can't fool me. No, I know what filthy beasts they are and they've been crawling around in my silverware drawer. That is sooo over the line. I had seen a couple of other slight traces in the past couple of weeks, but dismissed it thinking I just hadn't cleaned out the drawers good enough when we moved in and there were still remnants of birdseed pellets (which there were previously.) But this morning was another story. When I found multiple mouse droppings in our silverware drawer (pardon me while I vomit and then rewash all the silverware) I knew we were sharing our space with something not paying rent! So a little peanut butter in the $3.00 mouse trap from Lowe's...wait 30 minutes...and

SNAP!

After hearing the very loud snap so quickly after setting the trap, I thought, oh I must not have set it right...they are sort of tricky and it snapped twice before before I even got it in the drawer. Oh no! This time was the real deal, and in fact, the tail was still twitching when I pulled open the drawer. I screamed and jumped around hysterically for a moment and then called Joshua at work to tell him he had a chore to do when he gets home at 11pm tonight (sorry love, but that's a man's job) Even now...I'm shuddering with the heebie-jeebies. Yucky Yucky Ew Gross!

MY WIFE IS AWESOME!!

It was a cold, cloudy day as he left the correctional facility where he'd worked for the past two years. The stars and stripes flapped fitfully from the flagpole in the parking lot. Was it the icy January wind or a deep sense of patriotism that brought a solitary tear to his eye? He didn't know. He had one thing on his mind...a shopping list. He had two stops to make on his way home; two items of monumental and competing importance. He had to buy an assault rifle and he had to buy a toilet...



What a great start for my first post to our blog, right? Actually that was my drive home today.

We have a new house with plenty of room for food storage. We've started on that and I think it put Heather in survival mode...or she just wants to keep our food protected from marauding bands of miscreants and malcontents. She told me the other day that we should probably stock up on bullets. After I scraped my jaw off the floor I explained that I only had a small lever action hunting rifle and a handgun in so-so shape. She suggested I consider something a little more intimidating (Wow! Gush! etc) I shopped around and found this:





I ordered the gun and made a down payment today. It'll take about 6 months for it to arrive so it will make a perfect birthday present. I hope it's not illegal to own one by then. Heather also mentioned that I should get a gunsafe to keep my fledgling arsenal from falling into the wrong hands. It's just another reason to love her. Lucky me!

Tagged! Again.

I'm being lazy today and catching up on all my tags.

Lisa tagged me on her blog. Here's the game:
Go to your picture folder, or wherever you store your photos.
Go to the 6th folder, and select the 6th picture.
Post the picture and tell the story that goes along with it.
Tag your friends, then post a comment on their blog letting them know they've been tagged!

Here's 6th of 6 on my laptop. This is me standing over Joshua at Ice Box Canyon near Las Vegas. We went hiking there Thanksgiving 2006, when we were dating.

And I'm not forgetting to tag anyone else, but since I only know a handful of other bloggers, most if not all have already been tagged. So I love you all, don't take it personally.

Tagged (again) QUIRKS!

I know I'm not the only Heather that Katherine knows, but since I'm pretty self absorbed, I'll assume she meant me. She "Quirk" tagged me. It seems pretty simple, you list your top 5 quirks, so here we go:

1) STORIES: I can be very impatient with people's stories. The more details, the harder it is for me to keep focus. I generally love the short-short version, but it's a quirk I'm working on for the sake of other people's self worth. I'll listen...go ahead and tell me your story. I promise, I AM interested.
2) MATHEMATICAL OCD: Nearly every night I do some sort of mathmatic analysis on my cell phone calculator while I'm laying in bed. I don't know what it is, but it helps my mind unwind when I can crunch some random numbers. (I'm seriously a geek). It's usually a review of our household budget.
3) NOSE BLOWING: If there is anything that makes me cringe, it's the sound of someone else blowing their nose, especially around food or dining areas.
4) POTTY TALK: Not potty mouth, potty talk (though potty mouth bugs me too.) I can't have conversations with my friends when one or both of us are in a bathroom stall. I need some "pee"ce and quiet please.
5) SOCIAL INEPTITUDE: I'm often puzzled by behavior that makes me think, "If my mother saw me act that way." I have very little patience than when I see adults acting like children or simply lacking awareness of anything outside their own bubble. Driving in traffic, shopping in Costco, etc. Seriously, your own agenda is not more important than everyone else's.

And I TAG...Michelle, April, Lindsy, Kristin, Carly

Day 27--Sanctuary

This week I'm on vacation from my "job" job, and working instead on the job of getting the house more livable. My friend Joni gave me some great advice. She recommended at least getting our bedroom finished so we could feel put together somewhere, at some point in this whole process.

Behold...our sanctuary. I finished the Bedroom (with boring white paint).

Well...almost. I have yet to hang pictures and the curtains are taped up for now since privacy is a necessity and we were both too tired tonight to deal with the mini-blinds. I know...ghetto!

And if you came to visit, you would have a place to lay your head too:

Look Mom! I found a spot for the coveted "cricket" chair!

I've also been searching for contractor/repair companies to get our stinky water damaged wall fixed. While we are in the process of getting estimates and waiting to get the work done, my washer and dryer still aren't hooked up. Thus, I've been reacquainted with the world of coin operated laundry.

I should go into business and open up one of these bad boys myself!

$3.50 for each washer and $0.25 for 6 minutes in the dryer. Cha-ching!

I've lost track...Day 21?

It snowed again, the day after Christmas, and Joshua had to go to work. So what he couldn't finish shoveling, I finished later. I'm seriously over the winter already.



I spent the next couple of days patching nail holes and gouges in the wall, so it's ready to paint next week.

In general, it's been sort of slow going as far as the house goes, but we've still been busy. Joshua found someone at work that does general contractor type stuff who was going to come fix our leaky plumbing in the garage and tear out/rebuild the damaged wall (years of water damage from previous owner.) But, with the holidays he's been a little tough to get a hold of, so...no new wall yet.

We finally went and cleared out the rest of our stuff in the apartment, cleaned it, patched nail holes in the wall, etc. and trailered Joshua's motorcycle over. It was a busy few days, made all the more interesting by discovering all the stuff in closets we forgot to pack and a car key that broke just as we were ready to load up the motorcycle. But we figured it all out and turned in all the keys to the apartment yesterday. Hallelujah!

So since then, we've torn out the icky garage wall, and painted, grouted, and scrubbed the main, upstairs bathroom so we have one in working order. Previously we had been using the toilet upstairs and the shower downstairs.

Joshua's demolition handy work in the garage...the lack of insulation should make for an

interesting gas bill this month.

My painting expertise...or lack thereof. Yeah, really exciting photos, I know. Before After (will strip and paint the vanity another day.)

A minor casualty...paint on my new carpet:

Next week I'm on vacation and the priority is painting out bedroom. We're currently sleeping in one of the smaller spare bedrooms and as you can see, there's only room for the bed.