Disease Infested Visitor

My in-laws are visiting and they took me grocery shopping on Saturday. This is a very positive thing! It means that we now have actual meat in our freezer (I lot of which I have no idea how to cook...but luckily I have people to call in order to resolve such issues), along with other basic necessities to fill our cupboards. Their generosity often overwhelms me, and I am so grateful for all that they do for us...Seriously...you should see our kitchen, I don't think it's ever witnessed so much food! Anyhow, after braving "Satan's Five and Ten" (Wal-Mart) for multiple hours on Saturday I returned home to put away all of our new treasures.

I guess I should preface this next part by letting you all know that last week I heard some strange noises coming from our kitchen. Noises like the rustling of potato chip bags and scratching. It turned out to be nothing and so we figured the noises were actually coming from upstairs or downstairs (we hear a lot of interesting things due to the thin walls between us and our neighbors).

Well, when I started clearing out the cupboards so I could start organizing all of the food I found some evidence that seemed to point to the presence of a rodent amongst our belongings. I of course did what can be expected and FREAKED OUT! I waited until Chad came home from work so that he could move everything out of the back of the cupboard (I was scared it might still be lurking in such dark shadows and was too frightened to do this myself). Sure enough, when Chad came home he pulled out the potato chip bag and there was a perfect vermin size hole gnawed through.

I was in hysterics, over-tired, and crying. Chad explained that the mouse was no longer there, and that we would go buy a trap for it later. I don't really know why this itty-bitty creature seemed such a threat to me, but I was overcome by feelings of immediate danger. I mean, this MOUSE had been by our FOOD! DISGUSTING!!! And not only that, but Chad was severely underestimating the mouse. I mean, it could be ANYWHERE in our apartment. Just because it was no longer inside the cupboard, didn't mean it was stupid! I'm so sure it would return to the bitterly cold outdoors, when it could be comfy and fed in our kitchen! It definitely could have left the cupboard for greener pastures elsewhere, it's not like our cupboard door is impossibly heavy. I'm sure the little mouse could manage to shove its way out. (Ewwwww I feel all icky just thinking about this!) Anyway, I insisted we go to the store immediately in order to solve the mouse problem. We bought the mouse some poison food to eat.

On Monday, the maintenance man came to our apartment to look at the heater. Chad explained to him that we had a mouse and showed him the opening in the wall near a pipe where we are guessing the mouse creeped in. Unfortunately, the maintenance man didn't speak English very well. Judging from his accent, we think he is from some sort of Eastern European country. Maintenance Man: "No...no lik" Chad: "Lik?" Maintenance Man: "Lik" Chad: "Oh, LEAK! No, we don't have a leak...we have a mouse...a rodent...little...furry..."(hand gestures) Maintenance Man: "Oh, a MOUSE! Inside? Heh...well, have a good day!" Chad went to the office and they came by and fixed the hole.

So here is my current predicament: I now have 3 mouse traps set, just in case the mouse happens to still be inside. I have food spread all over the kitchen counters, because I'm scared to put it back in the cupboards. It has been a full day and no mouse snapped yet. Do you think this means it is safe to put things away? Hopefully Mr. Mouse left the way he came and now has no way of re-entering our cozy apartment...but it's better to be safe than sorry. The thing is our kitchen is small and it makes the house look very messy when things are spread all over the counter. Eventually I will have to make peace with the mouse possibility and just restock the shelves. It just makes me feel so uneasy...A mouse...gross!