The Christmas Mouse

Today was about a game of cat and mouse...and Jana.  Can you guess who won? Well, it all started with the Christmas tree really...

Kris left just after lunch today and just about that time I began catching the head-cold that Seth and Joel already have. By the time we got home from dropping him off at the airport, all three of us were feeling pretty bad. But Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is on it's way. It is time for Christmas decorations. So, in spite of feeling under-the-weather, we decorated the house. Actually, I did most of it. But then it was time for the Christmas tree and Seth and Joel joined in.

I pulled the artificial tree out of the storage room and Joel and I began untying the string that held the long skinny tree box shut. As I began to pull out the tree, out skittered a tiny mouse!  What?! A mouse in our tree box?! Arrgh! It ran to the front door and tried to get out, but the door was locked shut. So it skittered BACK into the tree and box!

I remembered that Eddy the Cat was taking a nap in Aaron's room, so I ran to get him. In my excitement, I woke him up rather abruptly and he couldn't figure out what I was doing. He just looked up at me, sleepily and confused. I plopped the fat mouser in front of the box and proceeded to pull the tree out. Eddy, still perplexed as to what on earth I was trying to do, got freaked out by the sound of the pine needles scraping against the cardboard. He ran under the table to hide and while he was hiding from the pine needles, the mouse made a run for it. Good grief!

Well, we didn't know where that silly critter had gone and none of us knew where to start looking so we just went back to putting up the Christmas tree. We had a great time putting lights, tinsel and ornaments all over the tree. I have to say, though, that we'd jump every time we saw something brown or mousy looking. When we were done, the tree looked great. I spread a pretty Christmas cloth around the base of the tree to serve as the tree skirt.

It wasn't until about an hour later when Eddy was fully awake. He went into Aaron's room and I heard scuffling noises coming from there. I checked and, sure enough, Eddy had found the mouse. "Oh good," I thought to myself.  Well now, Eddy was so proud of himself. And he is no dummy, he's learned from the many lizards he has caught in the past, that he cannot bite too hard on his prey if he still wants them to get a head start when he lets them go. So he held the tiny mouse very gently as he wandered around, trying to figure out where to start the chase. I, in the mean time, was jumping from chair to chair and squeeling here and there whenever Eddy would drop the mouse and watch it run.

He finally decided on Seth and Joel's room to stage his little hunt. I left him alone in there, not wanted to see the yukky remains of the Christmas mouse. But a few minutes later I peeked in to check on the progress. Well, Eddy had let the mouse get away and it was behind a suitcase. I helped him by moving it and he caught the mouse again. But, as you might have guessed, he let it get away AGAIN. Well, by now I am getting frustrated with Eddy, who has no intention whatsoever of eating this mouse. The rodent ran behind Joel's bed, which is a large and heavy platform bed with a chest of drawers and bookshelf attached. There was no way I could move that thing. But that didn't stop me from trying a few times. Finally, after emptying drawers, pulling my back muscles, crawling on and under the bed and grumbling at Eddy the whole time, we found the mouse in a tiny space between the head of the bed and the wall.

For the next half hour Eddy and I worked (but not together, as we had different ideas on how this attack should go down) to catch that stupid mouse. I really would have just left Eddy alone, but this was the boys' room and they wouldn't be able to sleep if they knew there was a mouse in there. When I saw the little thing with a flashlight, I could see he was not injured at all. Eddy was on one side of the bed, waiting for the mouse to come. I had blocked the other side, which Eddy thought was a bad idea and kept moving my blockade. Finally, in disgust, I gave up on Eddy and I found some rat glue. Time to take matters into my own hands. I put the glue on the paper and planned to block one end, put the rat glue on the other, and remove Eddy. Dishonorable discharge. As I spread the glue on the paper, Eddy became distracted by a cat fight outside. Are you for real Eddy? Good grief. So he wasn't really watching, as he was supposed to be doing. Oh well, I crawled under the bed to replace the blockade (that Eddy had moved for the umpteenth time) and was in a very precarious position when I heard Eddy jumping at the mouse who was trying to make a break for it, literally under my nose! I am sure if anyone were there watching, they would have been amazed at my flying abilities. How I was under the bed one moment and across the room on top of Seth's bed the next is still a mystery to me.

OK, Eddy had the mouse again. Now to get him to leave the room and pick a smaller room like the bathroom. Have you noticed that cats don't follow orders like dogs do? He, yet again, disagreed with my idea. He wanted to go back to the boys' room, but he eventually chose the school room. And...can you say it again? He let the mouse go AGAIN. Injure the mouse already! But no, it got away and by then I was sweaty, out of breath and completely disgusted with my cat. Never mind, I don't even care where the mouse is anymore. The school room is right next to my bedroom, but whatever. I'm too tired to chase that silly thing any more. 

 So today was a game of cat and mouse...and Jana. I guess the Christmas Mouse won. If he doesn't die from exhaustion. That little guy got caught about 10 times this afternoon. And I am way mad at my cat. We aren't actually speaking at the moment.