If You Give a Mouse a Dishwasher

All right - it doesn't have the right ring to it - probably why they never used that one for a title for the series. But, I have a mouse stuck in my dishwasher as I write. Earlier today I opened the dishwasher to stick something in and there was a mouse scurrying around the bottom of the dishwasher! I shrieked and slammed the door shut. I honestly don't have a problem with mice - I think they are kind of cute, actually. But I was just surprised to find one inside one of my appliances. Generally, they're in the silverware drawer. Well, they used to be. Now that we replaced our cupboards, they can't get in there anymore - thankfully. It was a pain having to wash utensils before using them. And I would always hesitate to let guests open the drawer when they were trying to be helpful, lest they find mouse droppings amongst the knives and spoons. That's pretty disgusting. That's what you get when you live in an old, old house out in the country.

So anyway, I went outside and pulled Will out of his driveway basketball game and said "There's a mouse in my dishwasher!" His response, "There is? What should I do?" What do you mean, 'what should I do'? You're male! Males are supposed to automatically know what to do in any crisis, from non-working refrigerator lights, cars that suddenly die on the highway, and rodents in major appliances. He came in, peered in the dishwasher and declared, "I don't see a mouse!" So we shut the door and I forgot about it. And then we got home from church tonight and Paul opened the dishwasher door and saw our new pet. I suddenly remembered what else there was that I had meant to tell him about my day!

We don't know how to get him out! Paul tried running water through there, hoping to flush him out and he didn't flush. He apparently got in and out through the hole where the water comes into the dishwasher. He has chewed up the plastic cover on that. I have a dreadful feeling that Paul is going to have to completely take out the dishwasher which is going to mean a big mess - kind of like when our upstairs toilet began slowly leaking last December. I still don't have a kitchen ceiling.

In the meantime Paul also discovered that we have no hot water. Ok, mice I can live with, but no bath tonight? I won't be able to sleep! He went downstairs and discovered that our thermocoupler is bad. I have no idea what a thermocoupler is, but it sounds serious. Fortunately, Paul has a truckful of them and can replace it tonight. I'm not so sure I'll get my bath, though. Although, we have a brand new water heater as of last week so maybe it can heat fast.

Poor Paul. He planned to come home from church tonight, eat some dessert, and get to bed at a decent time. Instead, he is dealing with surfboarding mice and errant water heaters. He's had a rough week. He auditioned to sing the national anthem for the Iowa Cubs and found out this week he wasn't chosen. He submitted a bid to re-shingle the garage at our city park and was underbid by someone else (how this guy plans to do the job for only $1046 remains to be seen, but hey, more power to him if he can do it!), so he was kind of bummed about that. Oh, and last night we were both set to go to the Checkerboard after I finally got done with our special council meeting. We got down there and discovered they were closed! So he didn't even get his pork loin and onion rings! Some weeks are like that.

It occurred to me that I have been writing far too much about Ben lately. Reading through my recent posts I sound like a woman obsessed with my child. I can't stand those kind of women. They are children, for goodness' sakes- not your entire life! Or they shouldn't be, anyway. So I'm going to give that subject a break for a little bit unless he does something major like breaks a body part or gets arrested. He is feeling much better, though. The skin under his nose is broken and raw from all the wiping but the nose finally did quit running. He took down all his blankets and last night I gave him one of my eye masks to wear to bed since he likes it totally dark to sleep. I asked him how that worked and he said it was hard to keep the mask on. So today we stopped by Target and found a deluxe sleeping mask - with padding and an adjustable velcro band. Oh, they are nice! I had to get one for me, too! Hopefully, this will eliminate his desire for the blanket cave he has been sleeping in all winter.

Well, I'd like to say I'm off to take a bath, but I'm thinking my chances for that are pretty slim tonight. Guess I'll put on my pjs and eat chocolate instead.