Gross Post

I'm not kidding. If you don't like to see dead animals or the circle of life, please leave now. There's nothing bloody or gory, but still, if you're a bleeding heart like I am, this will not please you.

Warning over.

The below three pics are the reason why I had to resort to using the deathly hallows traps on the mice in my house.

I can not have this happening. I've had to throw away so much food because of these fuckers. I'm so over feeling sorry for the mice.

I'm done.



Yeah, that's an apple. That had to be thrown away. And no, they're not nibbling and spitting. They're eating it.

This was a brand new bag of trail mix. They chewed through the plastic and got to the good stuff. This is a $4 bag of trail mix that I had to toss. I could barely afford it the first time.

This is big ass container of nuts. My mom likes these. I don't. So, no loss for me, but still. They ate through the plastic lid. You can see how full the can is. Practically to the top.

Here's where it gets a little macabre.

Because Max is still a puppy (and really, what dog doesn't), I have to find a place to place the carcasses where he won't go and get them and bring them back to me a few days later. All nasty smelling and dripping post mortem ooze.

So, I put 'em up in a tree.

Yep. A tree.

Guess how many I caught in all?

Just guess.

7.

SEVEN fucking mice. Two of them I let go. Y'all read about that.

The other 5? Yeah, deader than doornails.

Count the tails.

Here's the front of them in their tree. Good riddance pestilence.

Speaking of Max and rodents, Sunday night, he caught a mole. He actually dug it up out of the ground and caught it.

He then played with it. All night. Then he hid it where I can't find it. I'm sure I'll smell it soon.

Now, I actually had the opportunity to "save" this mole from Max but chose not to.

Why not you ask?

Cause they dig these tunnels in all over the yard. And when it rains, it softens the dirt to the point that if you're walking in the yard, you start to sink into the ground. I've sprained my ankle a couple of times and nearly fell flat on my ass another.

They're horrible.

You can see the dirt on his nose where he was digging.

Yeah, I declined all doggie kisses Sunday night.

Sorry if you're offended, but I just can't live with these critters any more. I've had to throw away about a dozen shirts and sweaters where they've eaten holes in them or pooped and peed so much, the stains won't come out.

They're a menace.

Later,

Mama Mouse Dawg

Heaven Discussion

I had to tell light of my life yesterday that Teddy died. It broke her heart. There were tears and hugging and some laughing (in memory of Teddy's antics) and more crying.

I had discovered his little body on Sunday night but it was way too dark to bury him but I couldn't leave his little carcass in the cage in the house or outside (cause something bigger would have carted him off).

So, I wrapped him in an old washcloth, double wrapped him in a Ziploc bag and put him in the freezer.

Yes, I had a hamster Popsicle in my freezer.

Anyway, I told light of my life we'd bury him near the fish and the baby mice. My mom made a little cross out of Popsicle sticks and light of my life wrote his name, date of death and "I Love You" on it.

She wanted one last look at him (brave girl). However, when she saw him, it made her break in to tears all over again.

I quickly buried him and put a heavy metal disc on top of the grave (to prevent bigger animals, mostly dogs, from digging him up). I stuck the cross in and went back to her.

I let her sleep with me last night. Before she fell asleep she wanted to talk. We talked about death. I explained how his dying wasn't her fault or mine but that it was just his time to go. Things in nature die all the time and that everyone and everything has to die at some time. That's what makes the world go round. The whole "Circle of Life" thing, you know.

Then she asked me about Heaven.

Now I'm officially lost.

See, I've got conflicted feelings on religion and heaven and hell and all that jazz.

My beliefs are so out of whack and don't make sense and they change all the time.

So, I don't know what to tell her.

I basically break it down and tell her (this is the coward's way out, but this was too deep a discussion to have at 9:15 pm) that Heaven is what you believe it to be. If you want to believe that Heaven is a castle in the clouds with God sitting on a throne, than that's what you can believe. If you believe it is sitting in a diner eating apple pie all day while watch the Yankees, you can believe that.

Then she said something so profound that I literally couldn't say anything for about a minute.

She said, "I think Heaven is like a window and you get to watch the world and everyone in it all day long."

She's 8....going on 88 some days.

So full of wisdom. Sometimes she says things that make me feel so small and insignificant (in a good way, not a bad way) and she really humbles me.

No wonder I'm in love with her. I don't just love her, I like her and worship her and believe in her. She is my light, my heart, my soul.

And I hate that she's hurting right now.

When I go home tonight, I think we'll have a marathon card playing session of Zeus on the Loose and Sleeping Queens.

Later,

Mama Dawg

How? Why?

How do I tell my 8 year old daughter that her hamster died?

Yes, I know, this sounds like something relatively simple. Thousands of kids have to get this news all the time.

But I got it harder than most.

My great aunt died back in October. My daughter was just starting to spend a lot of time with her. She was in her 80's, so the death wasn't unexpected (not really), but this was the first human death my daughter experienced. We were starting to spend a lot of time at her house visiting and what not. They got close (like only the really young and the really old can do) in a very short amount of time.

In the past two weeks, there have been 3 other deaths that are connected to my daughter in some way.

Wait, that sounded bad.

Let me explain.

About two weeks or so ago, a little boy in her school drowned. He was a grade behind my daughter. She didn't know him personally, but they brought in school counselors to help the kids cope. They had a balloon ceremony to honor him where they released hundreds of balloons in the air. To an 8 year old, this is a big deal considering there was a photographer from the local paper there, the mother of the kid was there and they got out of class to do it. At the tender age of 8, this makes a HUGE impact on your life.

The next day, a close personal friend of ours passed away. We called her Aunt, that's how close we were.

The next week, her teacher's mother died. Now, light of my life had never met her, but my daughter adores her teacher and to have the knowledge that her teacher's MOTHER died, that's hard for a little person to handle.

I did a boo-boo when I told her about our friend that passed away. I went on my trip last weekend and I had made the decision not to tell her about S passing away before I went on my trip. It was already bad enough that I was leaving for 4 days but to throw that at her on top of that was too much.

The Monday after I got back, I sat her down to tell her about S passing away. When I told her, she said "Oh, crap, why does everyone keep dying?" and then she proceeded to tell me that that day, they found out about her teacher's mother dying. So she got a double whammy in one day.

Now I have to tell her that her hamster died.

How much can an 8 year old handle?

Powers That Be.......please stop this. I can't handle telling her about another death. It's breaking my heart that she is hurting this much and is having to deal with all of this all at once. Please, please, please make her strong enough to handle this.

Later,

Mama Dawg

R.I.P. Teddy

You were a good hamster. I'll never forget the full body wiggle you did whenever you would smell edamame. You would throw yourself out of my hands to attack it like you were afraid that someone was going to steal it all away.

You will be missed.

Later,

Mama Dawg

On A Sad Note

At church on Sunday, a prayer request went out to a local family who lost their grandson to drowning.

Yesterday at school, they made the announcement and sent home a letter stating that there would be a counselor available if the kids need it.

Light of my life got upset at the whole situation (mostly because others were and she felt she needed to as well) and wanted to talk about it and cry about it yesterday when I got home.

We talked a bit about it and she seemed to settle down.

That news combined with me going away this weekend with my neighbors (without her) is just too much emotionally for her to handle.

Therefore, I haven't had a chance to tell her about S yet. She loves S and it will break her heart to find out that she passed away.

Man, can't she get a break? How much is an 8 year old expected to handle?

Later,

Mama Dawg

P.S. We've had a discussion about what to do if she falls into the creek where we fish. The little boy that died didn't know how to swim (light of my life does) when he fell in a swift moving river. His parents didn't know how to swim either (I do) and no one was wearing a life vest. Such a tragic accident.

Ahhh...shit.

My good friend K called my mom this morning to tell her that her sister, S, passed away.

She was so young.

She had just been diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer and had only had about a weeks worth of treatment (no radiation, just chemo) when she passed away from a heart attack.

Mom called me here at work. I just sit here with tears in my eyes and my heart hurts.

She was one of my favorite people and I loved it when she came to town (when we still lived there). We had discussed us coming up and visiting her but never got around to it.

The worst part is, her son is overseas (not military, just visiting) and no one can get a hold of him. They're not even certain what country he's in (they think Hungary). He's only 28 or 29.

I can't believe she's not gonna be there at New Year's and Memorial Day and Fourth of July.

We always ate a big meal and played games late into the night. She was so funny and sarcastic and wise and loving and smart.

She will be missed.

Later,

Mama Dawg

Heath Ledger

Wow. Wow. Wow.

I’m still stunned.

You expect this of people like Robert Downey, Jr. or Charlie Sheen or Amy Winehouse……but Heath Ledger?!?!?!

I never even heard anything in the gossip mags or online about him being involved in any kind of drugs (prescription or otherwise).

That poor little baby girl (and Michelle Williams for that matter).

Hmmmmmmmm…………I have no clue what to say about this. It’s just shocking.

Later,

Mama Dawg