The Jerry Report

On Friday Jim put a mouse trap (the electric shock kind) with peanut butter bait in the space above the garage (adjacent to our bedroom). We said we'd hold out until Sunday to check if the light was blinking. I was so anxious to see the results because that night and the next there was no mouse sounds at all.

And so, on Sunday, Jim crawled back up into the attic.

He crept carefully to the box on the edge of the wall.

And saw nothing.


Strangely, there have been absolutely no signs of a mouse at all - no droppings, no scratching noises, no sightings. Maybe it died in my walls. Maybe it was smart and saw the trap and said "I've got to get the heck out of here." Maybe we're just not good mouse hosts.

In the back of my mind though I'm wondering if it's just made its way to a less inhabited room and we no longer notice it....

Recession Rant

On the radio I’ve been hearing lots of news and general commentary about the “recession” we’re in (according to Tom S. this is not the case officially). Some things I’ve heard recently:

1) Bob (of the Bob and Tom Morning Show) asked: “How is it that if we’re in a recession a movie [Dark Knight] can make more money than any in history?”

2) Spam and other “low cost meats” are making a comeback. There will never be a time that I stoop so low as to eat Spam on purpose.

3) People are apparently going out to eat less frequently to save money. I agree with the experts who suggest that while this is a good idea, cutting portion size on all meals to save money will not only reduce overall cost but would be good for your waistline as well as wallet.


So what is my family doing to save money? Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.

We are already avid coupon and sale shoppers- this weekend we spent $102 on groceries/general items at Meijer and between coupons and sales we saved $58.60; I also bought Nicole several $.97 clothing items in sizes 2-4T for the next several years of growth. We watch gas prices and try to buy when prices are more reasonable (this weekend I filled up $56 worth of $3.68/gallon). We do not go to first run movies hardly ever (~2/year) but opt for Tuesdays at the dollar theatre ($2 special).

Sure, I’ll admit that we earn more than most of the people in the country but that’s because we BOTH work full-time at good jobs and we are smart with how we spend. It’s not hard to have money when you [have it in the first place and] make an effort to keep it. I have little sympathy for people who could but don't intentionally have full-time jobs but complain that they can't afford things.

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As a side note, during the conversation on #3 it was stated that the average American eats 3800 calories a day (highest in the world). Why don’t they change the labels on food sold in America to accommodate this average? Everything I eat has a label that gives percentages based on a 2000 calorie diet which is apparently FAR from the norm.

Nicole had some spaghetti and peaches for lunch- this is the first time it's been captured on camera!


After lunch there was more than Nicole that needed cleaning up; we were hosting Geoff and Roswitha for some afternoon Euchre. Like her friend Ella, Nicole likes to help when vacuuming is involved. Her dad prefers messing with her though...

Mickey's Moved In

The other night I was upstairs reading when I heard this munching sound and then a scamper over my head. Now in 28 years I’ve never seen a mouse in any house I've lived in but there was little doubt in my mind what this was. We have mouse in our bedroom wall.

This morning I was thoroughly enjoying a very pleasant sex dream when the damn thing got so loud it woke me up. Now I'm not only irritated that it exists at all, I'm po’ed that it disrupted what could have been a very good ending to a very good dream.

So where the hell did this thing come from? Jim’s suspicion is that it somehow snuck through the garage and into the wall. From my research, mice can enter through a hole the size of a US dime. Since he’s finishing the garage AND it’s often open AND we are surrounded on two sides by woods this theory seems plausible.

How’s it surviving in our bedroom wall? Jim said that from his past experience they (mice) eat the paper off insulation and chew on wires. That’s not enough to physically sustain a mouse though, is it? Doesn’t it need real food?

Plan of Attack: As I mentioned, I don’t know the first thing about mice. I figured I’d ask the Erdahls what they did but I'm unsure if they ever actually solved the problem or not… So, I started Yahoo!’ing and the first article I came across was a cute blog-esque synopsis of a guy who found a baby mouse, became friends but then became infested when that mouse (who became hand-fed) brought all his family to join him. NOT what I want to happen here.

The second article I found freaked me out because it started like this:
Mouse identification
Baits for wild mice are slightly different than those used for common house mice so you should make an effort to figure out which you have. Use the following two lists to determine the origin of your visitors. Wild mice prefer seeds, oats and unprocessed foods while house mice will eat nearly anything. If your rodents are larger than 5-6 inches in length (tail included) it’s likely that they are rats, not mice. If this is the case, read How to get rid of rats.

Uh, I can’t even see this mouse. I don’t even want to think of the concept that it could be a RAT.

Advice?? So far, the thing is only in one wall in our bedroom. And I think there’s only one…

Everyday things to be thankful for

Wanting a white opera cream filling and picking the exact right Esther Price chocolate to get it.

Outfits, Deer, & Lyrics

1. I’ve dressed up for work every day this week. Doesn’t sound important (and it’s not really) except that I'm doing so when I don’t have to. If no clients are coming in or I'm not out to see them, jeans, sneakers and a polo are perfectly acceptable attire for the office. Know what though? It takes no more effort to put on a pair of dress pants than it does jeans. I’d argue that my dress pants are more comfortable than jeans. Heels versus gym shoes, no comparison, but stilettos look so much better! Further, I feel more confident in a skirt and I might just be more productive wearing one.

2. I mentioned that the developer mowed down our “meadow” and I lost well-over half of my butterfly population. Well, what the trim has done is bring back the deer. We watched a doe this morning have breakfast in “our” back “yard”.

3. I don’t like the song “Waiting for the World to Change” by John Mayer. Here are some of the lyrics:
Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it

So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change

IRRATATING. How the heck can you validate that it’s okay to sit around and do nothing but WAIT? Why isn’t the concept of “get off your ass and do something about it” being encouraged? This reminds me of the idiots who’ll blindly vote for Obama because of his campaign slogans of “It’s Time For a Change!”, even if they don’t know what he stands for. (That isn’t a slam against Obama, just the general public.)

Movie Reviews

We got the chance to watch a few movies lately (for the first time in what feels like FOREVER):

Beowulf (C-): In the age of heroes comes the mightiest warrior of them all, Beowulf. After destroying the overpowering demon Grendel, he incurs the undying wrath of the beast's ruthlessly seductive mother, who will use any means possible to ensure revenge. The ensuing epic battle resonates throughout the ages, immortalizing the name of Beowulf. What I liked about it was the really great animation. What I didn’t like was feeling of wanting to shut the movie off in the first 10 minutes it was on. It picked up in the middle, then got boring and predictable again at the end.

21 (A-): The true story of the very brightest young minds in the country - and how they took Vegas for millions. Ben Campbell is a shy, brilliant M.I.T. student who -- needing to pay school tuition -- finds the answers in the cards. He is recruited to join a group of the school's most gifted students that heads to Vegas every weekend armed with fake identities and the know-how to turn the odds at blackjack... This was a very fun story to watch – both the general plot and the character development throughout. The – comes from the somewhat poor script writing (scenes that were a bit awkward at times). Reminded me of a Ocean’s 11 or Gone in 60 Seconds.

National Treasure 2, Book of Secrets (A-): Treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates looks to discover the truth behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, by uncovering the mystery within the 18 pages missing from assassin John Wilkes Booth's diary. Good continuation of such likable characters. The plot wasn’t as engaging or thrilling as the first movie, but as far as sequels go, this one was a keeper.

Freaky Friday 3 - Politics

This post is prompted by Jim and I watching National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets last night (B+). One of the concepts in the movie is that there is a book that each President passes down to the next that is for-President-eyes-only. In this book are the true answers behind things like the JFK assassination, Area 51, etc. With this information, the President is truly all-knowing.

In contrast, I once had a conversation with someone (I’d love to give credit to this person’s great thinking but I don’t remember who it was!) who was of the opinion that even the President doesn’t know a lot of the answers to the national conspiracies we have. Their thought was that the President has too many current issues to contend with that adding to the mix whether or not we're doing tests on aliens is too much for them to handle from both a managerial and security standpoint.

I can see both sides. Personally, I have the firm assumption that I don’t know a tenth of what’s really going on with the majority of our government. There are strategic things going on in Iraq way above my head. There are government funded studies my tax dollars are funding that I couldn't dream of. Even the stuff I do conceptually get I don’t feel educated enough to have a firm opinion. For example, the economy is “bad” according to a lot of people, including our chairman of the federal reserve. How do we fix it? Hell if I know. I’ve taken macro- and micro-economics but that is a bat of the eye compared to the amazing breath and understanding of global markets and commerce that would be needed to answer a question of “how do we fix it”. So if I blindly follow what Ben Bernanke says I feel pretty justified in doing so.

That’s why the President has advisors – because s/he can’t fully understand everything either. So, if people smarter than the President in said areas deem that certain information is beyond his/her expertise, safety or capacity for decision-making, I don’t have a problem with the President being kept in the dark to an extent.

So, if we assume just for a moment that the reigning President of the United States doesn’t know everything, it’s pretty arrogant to think that any Presidential candidate NOT IN OFFICE with MUCH more limited scope of everything can presume to make too many promises. They have their own advisors too, of course, but I doubt that McCain/Obama’s military advisor knows everything the Joint Chiefs of Staff know. So to say that the best course of action is ____ is really making a best guess. I suppose we can’t expect anything more than this at this stage. And we’d all feel less confident in the candidate if they put in caveats of “based on what I know” before every political statement, even if it would be more accurate…

Spending

The numbers below represent the most I'm willing to pay without feeling irritated or remorseful at the end of the transaction:

Haircut: $40
Highlight: $75
Candy Bar: $.65
Oil Change: $22
Lunch: $10
Cocktail: $7
Pizza: $13
Speeding Ticket: $80
Shoes: $50
Boots: $75
Sheet of Professional Photograph(s): $10
Glass of Coke at a restaurant: $2
Gallon of Paint: $35

Random thoughts

1. I’ve commented that Nicole knows more than she can say but I don’t think Jim fully believed me. Last night before we put Nicole to bed, I quizzed her. “Where’s your Sleepy Bear?” I asked. She went to her crib and tried to pull it through the bars. “Where’s your bunny pillow?” She toddled right to it and pointed. “What about your elephant? Where’s your elephant?” Scanning the room, she found it near her bed and went to it for a hug. Jim’s eyes were huge and impressed, “One thing would be a fluke, but she looked for that elephant specifically. She does know what they are!” Told ya.

2. My face is broken out and that really annoys me. It’s always in the same spot on my chin. Shouldn’t I be too old for this?!

3. I'm a HUGE Nora Roberts fan (she writes romantic mysteries) and the new novel I picked up at the airport, High Noon, is different than her others, in a good way. She normally writes in a modern tone but doesn’t call out world events or popular news so the story could have been written in the 80’s or in the 00’s and you wouldn’t know. This one mentions things by name like Sex & The City, Project Runway, etc. It also has more “dialog” on the characters thoughts; and the thoughts they have are very true to life. For example, the main character is headed for a date she’s pretty sure will lead to sex. She’ll be talking to her mother and suddenly think “Should I buy new underwear?”. HA! I'm really enjoying this new style.

4. Trey said it, but it bears repeating – I'm bored of this election. I blame the fact that they started the primaries so frickin’ early this year.

Nicole's Birthday Party

Nicole had a great birthday party on Saturday afternoon. There were about 22 people, all family, in attendance, and she was in great spirits.

I had a book for everyone to sign when they came in, a tradition I think I’ll keep for each of her birthday parties. Vickie (Jim’s mom) and I decorated the house with a dozen balloons and 300 feet of streamers. It looked very festive! I served Italian bar-style for everyone - two types of pasta, marinara and alfredo, chicken and shrimp, lasagna, pizza, plain and garlic bread, and fruit. It's hard to plan food for that many people, I'm hoping everyone got enough. No one complained, but I doubt they would anyway...

She had her first cake after dinner – a marble creation made by Aunt Diane which was brought all the way from Spencerville. There was a specific Nicole cake and then a larger one for the adults. She was a bit tentative at first but then dug in somewhat politely. I eventually cut her a piece out and let her tackle it.

During dessert we had our guests watch a 20 minute “Nicole’s First Year” compilation of pictures and videos from the past 12 months. Everyone really liked it which is good as I was worried that maybe it'd be an overkill. Nicole got bored about 1/3 of the way through though and started opening her presents.

One of her favorite gifts was the homemade rocking horse that Uncle Rusty brought for her. It came complete with a hat and cowgirl outfit!

At the end of the night we played one game: I set out a Bible, a bottle of liquor and a $5 bill and let her walk towards the one that she preferred. This was supposed to represent the course we can expect the rest of her life to follow. See below for what she picked!

Happy happy birthday!

Nicole can walk!

I had an even better video but her outfit is cuter in this one and I let her crawl up the stairs in the other one, something I shouldn't admit to letting her do... ; )

In general...

1. A few folks asked how Nicole was when we saw her for the first time after our trip. My parents brought her to the airport to greet us which was a surprise. I saw her as we walked down the terminal but she caught my uncle's eye first and was all about him for the first minute. I got a glance but she went right back to looking at him. I'll admit it - after a week of our "old life" it was WEIRD to hold a baby again. She looked different - taller, more hair, longer face. One week and she looked different! My parents, well at least mom, was sad to see her go (or so she said).

2. The bathing suit was very suitable and I was in the mid-range of looking good in it compared to others in our party (several size <4's...). I was confident enough to walk around without a cover-up though! I don't think there was a single picture taken with me in my bikini...

3. Tom introduced me to Pandora Radio which is now my most favorite website to listen to at work. It's based off of the music genome project which I think, in general, is super cool.

4. I agreed to teach my first MBA class this fall - intro to marketing. Greg is waived out of it though so there's no chance of having my little brother in my class.

5. As Nicole nears her first birthday several people have asked about weaning her. This was already accomplished the week I returned from Akron (about a month ago) and was painless (physically and emotionally) for both of us. After seeing so many fake boobs on the cruise Jim is eager to get the next kid's possession of my breasts out of the way so he can have them touched up and back in his control. I look forward to this too! :)

Our Cruise in Pictures

Our Ship, the Carnival Valor. I went to the galley tour so I can spit off all kinds of random facts about it should you care.

Our porthole room on deck 2

Typical street sellers in Nassau, our first port (Monday)

Jim and I in Nassau

Karen in the Bahamas

Jim & Tom won the cornhole tournament and got a medal!

Jim at Blackbeard's Castle overlooking St. Thomas (second port). This was taken shortly after Jim bought a new Movado watch (on his right wrist) in town.

Magen's Bay - rated one of the top 10 beaches in the world. Jim stayed in the room so I went alone - LONG story of me getting dumped by a cab, walking a mile to catch another one, and then, once I was enjoying the beach I witnessed the ship-local topless sunbather (no picture).

Performers from one of our shows! This is 1 of 6 videos I took of them.

Elephant!

Towel Monkey (for Trey) -it's hanging from our curtains!

Downtown St. Maarten

Karen & Jim at our second formal night

Midnight Buffet Desserts (Note that this spread in general paled in comparison to the RC cruise to Alaska)

Midnight Buffet Ice Sculptures