remember the time... {vol. V}

{lately}

+ we ran a "fast mile" together {fast for pitiful me & slow for husmate the pacer} & then split up for our own paced mile. Husmate ran his best time in a few years {that cause of lengthened time was thanks mainly to moi & the beginning/duration of our relationship} while I huffed it out on my own. Just call us the tortoise & hare team from here on out...

+ Monarch the Mouse made his fifth cameo in this little condo of ours, & husmate was in the room AND STILL DIDN'T SEE HIM. But it's okay. I'm not hallucinating...

+ pretty sure the woman at the post office thinks I'm a bit weird for knowing about a new release of stamps that apparently hadn't made it to her branch yet... & that she had never heard of. I definitely blushed a little as we went through all the flowery stamps that she had to offer, none of which looked anything like the seed packet stamps I've been sorta coveting. #nerdalert

+ we walked to Trader Joe's for cookie dough & milk... & got called out by the cashier on it. "Will that be all for you?" "Yep, just those two..." [chuckles at us] "So y'all walked down here for cookies & milk?" We're just revolutionizing dessert over here at the Berry residence.

{auld lang syne}

+ husmate stuck around after Bulldog Bash our senior year in college & helped his then over-involved girlfriend pick up trash along her route in the Cotton District so that she {& her best friend, Sarah, & their SA committee} could get to bed earlier than 4 am. Proof #48 then that he was a keeper :)

the return of monarch the mouse

-------------------------------------------------SCENE-------------------------------------------------

Setting: a quiet evening in a small apartment. The pair have just returned from taking a friend home after a lovely evening of watching Modern Family and eating pizza. Outside the husband pranks the wife about losing his keys & then revels in his acting skills. The husband is laying on the couch reading the news; the wife is sitting criss cross apple sauce in an armchair reading a blog. The wife is feeling a bit paranoid because she swears she just saw movement out of the corner of her right eye, but when she consults the spot nothing is to be found until she moves her attention two feet further along the wall...

***

WIFE: AHH! Jordan! It's the mouse! Look!

HUSBAND: What?? What's going on?

WIFE [scurries out of her chair following the movement of the mouse towards the kitchen]: The mouse! It's right there! Look!

HUSBAND [gets off of couch slower than his frantic wife & follows her pointing finger. His vision is blocked by the bar]: Where?

WIFE: There! He just darted under the oven!

HUSBAND [grabs flashlight from desk, laughing. Gets down on hands & knees to peer under oven]: Huh, I don't see anything. [Begins laughing heartily now] Man, you got me, sweetie! You have some great acting skills! 

WIFE [simultaneously bemused & frustrated, huffs loudly]: OF COURSE you didn't see Monarch the mouse. Because only I ever do. This is not funny. You believe me, don't you?

HUSBAND: Of course I do [still laughing]. Well I guess I'm going to bed now that I scared off the mouse. 

***

The husband leaves the room chuckling because his wife has now spotted the mouse five times & he has yet to see it. He remarks about how he'll need to call the management again about catching the mouse (the previous mention was ignored/forgotten). Meanwhile, the wife picks up her feet and places them on the couch. She asks for reassurance that her squealing and loud movements scared off the mouse from returning for a night cap. 

meet our third renter

Lo and behold, I look down from my computer late last night and see the mysterious creature (as usual husmate is asleep). And you guys, I had quite the internal battle of wanting to scream and sighing with relief after finally discovering what the creature was. Thankfully for husmate's sake, I chose the quieter of the two & he continued to sleep on through my dilemma. Let me give you a bio to see if you can guess why:


+ Length: 4-5", tail included

+ Number of legs: 4

+ Color: Greyish-brown

+ Reptile, insect or mammal: mammal

+ Other distinguishing features: whiskers, a short pointy nose, two little ears, quick as lightning, extremely shy

+ Cultural references that make him seem more cuddly than bully: Ratatouille, Mouse Trap, Stuart Little, Tom & Jerry, Mickey Mouse, Mighty Mouse, Speedy Gonzalez...


Yep, our third renter isn't a lizard....... it's a mouse.

The funny thing is I've been joking with husmate the last few weeks about getting a kitten. Maybe we can get a kitten to hunt the mouse?!? Yeah, I doubt it. Also, my periphery vision is now hypersensitive and has caused me to have little mini heart attacks when I see the tiniest movements caused by things like my hair & my movements being reflected in a mirrored side table... This mouse is going to test the barriers of my sanity. 




* for those of you who might have possibly thought this was a weird way to announce we're having a baby, we're not. We're being held captive by a mouse. That is overwhelming enough.