My weekend was very good. Friday night, I went to dinner with Ashley and got to meet some of her oldest and dearest friends, Josh and Brian. What sweethearts! And because they’re just as nerdy as us, we took a field trip to the brand new Best Buy (opened that day!!) in the new Pinnacle Shopping Center in Trussville. Thank you for a wonderful dinner and evening, Ashley. Saturday was spent with my father watching football and taking him to Niki’s West for some veggies. That night, Ashley and I went to see Bonnie Raitt and Keb’ Mo’ in concert. I thought it was a great concert, but then again I just went for Keb’ Mo’. Sunday was spent catching and freeing a mouse and a dog.

You read me right.

I saw the cute little critter scurrying around my kitchen on Saturday. Yes, I know that’s utterly disgusting, but he was adorable and I love animals. (you wouldn’t know that by what I eat, but I truly do) and I didn’t have the heart to kill him. Had it been a rat, you know he would have died. But mice are so freakin’ cute! So, I saw him on Saturday and I purchased the only rat traps the store had..it was an entire home control kit that contained 2 snap traps, 1 bait box with bait and 4 glue traps. The glue traps were my answer..they were non-toxic and perfect for the mouse, whom I had already decided I was going to cut free when I caught him in there. So, the adventure began. I laid down two glue traps and put a bit of cheese on them to collect my friend faster. A few minutes later I went back into the kitchen to find one of the glue strips completely gone! He had grabbed the cheese and then somehow slid under my cabinet…glue trap and all. “Your loss,” I thought as I knew he was now going to starve to death under there. Then I heard scratching. He was trying desperately to get out from underneath the cabinet. I felt horrible listening to his little scratches. (no, I have no idea if he was actually a ‘he,’ but I’m going to assume because I had named him Charlie by this point) So, Charlie’s a scratchin’ and I’m a listenin’. I finally started poking a long, plastic stick under the cabinet in hopes of sliding him down and out of the small hole in the corner. I could hear him squeal every time the stick went near him. The stick finally got stuck in the glue trap and I slid him down to the wall. I pulled him forward and his little head poked out, but the rest of his chubby little body couldn’t fit. I was able to pry open the covering under the cabinet a little and pull the entire trap out, mouse attached. The poor thing was scared to death – he kept trying to dart and lunge and break free. I thought for sure he was breaking his little feet since they were securely encased in glue. I put on my gloves, got out the Exact-o knife and cut that little twerp free, but not before he tried to bite my gloves and lost a tooth. I took him outside and he ran like Spider-man up the walls with his new glue feet. He’s going to be all the rage among the women now.

As I said earlier, I put out TWO glue traps. I decided to leave the other one out in case he had brothers or sisters crashing at my place, too. I took a bath and then heard the clanging of the glue trap right outside the door, banging against the floor while I was drying off. Hoping Charlie hadn’t made it back in record time and thinking that was one large mouse, I opened the bathroom door to find my dog’s 2 right feet firmly planted in the glue trap. Silly me forgot that Millie LOVES cheese and didn’t think she would get into a glue trap for it, but she did. She was terrified. She couldn’t walk and her two paws were in glue the size of an inkpad. I got the Exact-o knife back out and cut her free, too. Then she walked around retarded for the rest of the day, shaking her feet with every step….like cats do when you put tape on their feet. Yeah, I’m horrible..I did that as a child. Funniest thing I’ve ever seen.

I’m such a bad mommy for leaving that out. But, I bet Millie won’t do that again.

At an Amish school in PA. I’m gonna scream. And then cry. And then scream some more.

A question for the ages. Well, actually for the moms out there (and other educated people in this matter):

When do you stop referring to your child’s age in months and switch to years? What determines that? Is there a protocol? Is there a Mommy School out there where they teach you the dos and don’ts of motherhood? I mean, even when they get to the year stages (1 year, 2 years) moms still often refer to them babes in months. I asked a friend this question to recently. He offered that maybe it was because that’s how moms shop for clothes at those ages. Is that it? I’ve wondered this my entire life. Someone enlighten me!

that there is another school shooting. It’s sad period, but especially when you have multiple ones. I went to lunch today and saw news briefings from both shootings…Colorado and Wisconsin. It just makes me want to cry.

ADDENDUM:
The principal that was injured in today’s shooting died.

I believe in “an eye for an eye,” but only to a certain extent. I guess that makes me indecisive. I draw the line at killing others to justify death. I believe God is going to judge us all when the time comes and it’s not our place or right to do it for him. They will get what they deserve…even Bin Laden. But still….I’m so angry. Why does it take something like this to get us angry or even make us feel? Let me quit speaking for the masses. Why doesn’t it take this to get ME riled up? To make ME sad? Shouldn’t everything/anything like this? Society has numbed me. Tragedy is an everyday occurance now.

My friend Smokey posted something on her MySpace that really spoke to me. Smokey, I hope you don’t mind if I share your message:

If It Were Up to Me

Headlines from today’s Google news search:

Principal Gunned Down – WI
Gunman Killed One Police Officer, Wounded Another – FL
Gunman Takes Six Hostages, Kills Student At Colorado High School – CO
Police Identify Who Shot Woman – KS
Man Shot Once in Dayton Alley – OH
Sacramento Man Shot; Is 2nd in One Week – CA
Man Shot in Carson During Card Game – CA
Four Shot Overnight in Seminole County – FL
Officer Shot During Traffic Stop – AL
Man Found Shot Dead In North Side Home – VA
Dallas Officer Shot During Drug Bust – TX
Armored Car Guard Shot, Killed In Oakland – CA
Boy, 9, Shot in Long Island Home Invasion – NY
Man Shot In Arm During Robbery – OH
Store Clerk Shot Dead After Giving Robber Cash – TX
Richmond Man Shot In Back During Attempted Robbery – CA
No Prison For Boy Who Shot Playmate – NJ
Man Found Shot To Death In Car – OH
Man Shot, Killed In Front Of Home – CA

There were so many more, but I stopped at that point, only a few pages into the search. These were all unrelated. They all made news today and happened within the past day or two. How much space would it take to list a week’s worth? A month? A year?

To paraphrase Cheryl Wheeler’s song, “If It Were Up to Me”, it might be a lot of things, “…but if I know one thing, If it were up to me, I’d take away the guns.”

I swear Tommy Tuberville is trying to give me a heartattack. You too? I nearly peed my pants (yet again) at the last few seconds of the AU/USC football game tonight. Thank God I wasn’t watching it…I would have hit the TV, I’m sure. I was listening on the internet. But Tommy did the same thing during the Auburn/LSU game a few weeks ago. Anywho, WAR EAGLE! They pulled it off (they should have…it was USC!) and I’m proud of ’em!

Go Tigrrrrrrrrrrrs!