thank god it's tuesday

I'm so glad last week is over. that was hellish. this week seems to be a little better...knock on wood. saturday we had nicole and mark and master noah over (check the site for a crazy conjoined baby head picture), and that was fun. we just kind of lounged around aimlessly and looked at each other's babies. a little later, my most favorite mother in law (what do you mean, I only have one?) came over to watch bella for the first time ever while we went to the sixers game. again, fun (sixers game, that is). but when sean mentioned how cute bella is, I had to shush him, because I can't start thinking about her when I'm away or I get freaked out. june, and our trip to vegas, is rapidly approaching and just thinking about it makes me feel like I'm going to hyperventilate.

so the "workers" are coming over again today to "finish" our "kitchen". "it" "should" "be" "great". workers really mean rhonda, finish really means put on yet another coat of paint, and kitchen really means...well...kitchen. and of course we are totally prepared for our company tonight of joe and sandrine, and for tomorrow's guests kristen, brian, julie and josh. completely prepared! thank you, sarcasm-implying italics!

but here's the real news. hang onto your hats for this one. so our neighbor apparently has some, um, special pets. once when he moved in, he accused our other neighbor of stealing an aquarium he had out in his back yard, and "now the alligator has to be in the tub!" yeah. so apparently he also has something that eats small rodents. how do we know? because they escaped into our house, where, unbeknownst to them, our attack kat was lying in wait.

(sidenote: while I was typing, I totally just choked on my own saliva. like my saliva went down the wrong pipe. I wouldn't have believed that is possible if it didn't just happen to me. seriously. choked. on my own saliva.)

anyways, for about a week, we heard the mice in the radiators and watched as one by one, the cat found them, mutilated them, and played with their half-dead bodies. and how did we know that they were from next door? well, I have seen a few mice in my day, and they are sort of smallish, brown, and have actual instincts that lead them to run away from cats. these were miniscule, white, and had no idea what the hell they were doing.

so we know that the neighbor has mice that get out. we recently heard another mouse in our wall, and the cat was on patrol by one of our radiators again. she didn't pull it out (though she ripped up the carpet something fierce) but after a while, we heard no more scratching. the optimist in me (a small, little part of me) thought it had escaped into the wilderness where mice can run free without fear of being eaten. but a few days later...the stench started. the stench of death. we changed the baby's diapers repeatedly and looked for dog or cat poop but that was just a ruse - it was not shit we smelled. it was the aroma of decay. decay behind the wall.

I called my dad, who is supposed to know everything about everything (and usually does), and he said that there is nothing we can do short of cutting a hole in the wall to remove the carcass. not gonna happen. so we wait - he said about a month or so. in the meantime, we have alot of candles burning. highly scented candles.

I'm desperately trying not to think about the fact that if the mice can get out, it's possible that whatever is supposed to be eating the mice can get out. now THAT would be an interesting thing to have in the walls. as sean said "this isn't the fucking chamber of secrets!"

stay tuned.