Here mousey, mousey.

You cant tell a mouse tale without a mouse card- This is my card for my friend Paulette-who had to hear my dramatic stories and terror all week. Sorry Paulette.

PLEASE NOTE: What you are about to read is a true story about a mouse. There is a  photo of the CHASE but my husband said NOT to publish it. Who really wants to see a cat chasing a mouse anyway right. It gives me the heebie geebies.

While all events sound DRAMATIC, they are true. I am a DRAMATIC person when it comes to situations like this. I would make a great hidden video candidate.

A little background first.

 This is Lily-AKA mouse killer

Taking a break after this mornings “festivities”.

We became the proud owner of this STRAY cat, while on our honeymoon in Hawaii.

How does that happen? How do you get a cat while you are away? Well, lets share.

Lily kept coming around to our house while we were gone. Our mother’s took turns caring for our kids AND feeding this STRAY cat! Needless to say, by the time we returned home, we owned her!

She was pregnant, and full of fleas! YEAH! The pregnancy was a loss due to malnourishment. , from being a stray for so long.

So we took her in, cleaner her up, and got her fixed.

We also have to older cats who are 11. Brother and Sister. They have names, but since having kids they are referred to most as girl cat and boy cat! PATHETIC I know.

They are all de-clawed house cats. They NEVER go outside. Although Lily has “escaped” a few times. Being a stray she found her way back, when she was ready.

We knew we had “A” mouse, in the house, for about a week now. Hadn’t seen it, but knew.

When you have 3 cats, and 1 dog sitting in front of your kitchen stove ALL night, for HOURS, you KNOW “something” is under there.

Do I even want to consider there is MORE than ONE-Um, NO! I definitely do not. But since this day-Monday, when this story took place, we have caught—————ready for this———–EW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!——-15 MICE!!! YEAH! Im freaking! But I THINK/HOPE they are gone. I have never had this many EVER! What’s worse is we didn’t even know we had any till this incident.

Yes, I know! You are freaking out too right now, and yes I want to MOVE, and yes I check my shoes before I put them on! LOL! And NO I haven’t slept since Monday. At least not very well.

My house is clean-I dont want this story to sound like we live in the Ghetto and have food everywhere! I mean Im sure we have crumbs somewhere! LOL! You can’t have 3 kids and no hidden crumbs!

I know most people get a mouse, here and there. We get them every year around this time. I think its due to our basement. We have to seal in some cracks in the foundation. We also live near the dam, and near some houses with fields.

ANYWAY-

OK THIS is the scenario I woke up to. MONDAY!!!!

NOAH: Screaming at the top of his lungs, and crying :MOMMY HELP ME !!  THERE IS A MOUSE!!! THE MOUSE JUST TRIED TO EAT ME AND BITE ME! MOMMY HELP! HELP! HELP!

(reality-it just ran across the floor near him)

ME: I fly out if bed to find Noah and Amber sitting on our dining table-Noah is crying hysterically, as he explains, the mouse ran across the floor, towards his feet, and under the video rocker.

I see our cat Lily sitting with her nose under the video rocker, tail flickering, and her swatting.

I JUMP as fast as I can on a chair next to the kids. I push the rocker forward a little-from the chair.

NOW I SEE the mouse! EEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am screaming, the kids are screaming. Noah is balling. I want to ball too-but can’t. Trying to be strong for the kids-but its not really working.

The mouse moves in an attempt to make it out from under the chair. Lily is nose to nose with the mouse.

I am FREAKING out, as bad as Noah.

The mouse is trying to bite the cat! I can see it lunging forward, and opening its mouth!  The cat keeps swatting it with both paws.

She pounces it and pounces it. It moves from the back of the rocker around to the front. Here is where I can see her going after the mouse.

After 10 minutes of swatting and pouncing I take a closer look. I think its actually dead.

 Um, yeah! I think Lily is thinking the same, sine she is now sitting and just swatting like “Hello! Little play toy……..are you going to move so I can chase you?”

 Um, NOPE! Not moving. It was curled up, and breathing shallowly. Poor thing. I felt bad.

Then the unthinkable! We moved the rocker,(carefully) and Lily dived forward, and grabbed the mouse IN HER MOUTH!!! I screamed! She ran. She began shaking her head violently. Then dropped it. Um yeah. Definitely dead.

Now what?

Well Daisy went to get it, so I realized “I” had to dispose of it PRONTO!

THAT in itself was a movie in the making. I grabbed a large dishtowel and quickly put it in the trash.

Later on I heard squeaking-YEAH! The mouse came back to life and was in the trash moving around! OMG!!! I opened all the doors quickly grabbed workers gloves, and ran out of the house as fast as I could-tossing the bag far into the back yard.

I needed a shower-I was SOOOOO grossed out.

Needless to say-not a good day.

After all this mouse commotion, Amber is NOT afraid of mice. She doesn’t understand the big deal, and says she likes them! She wants to be an animal Doctor like Daisy’s doctor.

OK WHERE did this kid come from? Noah cries at the thought of a mouse, as do I and she wants a closer look!

Here is her picture-of a dead mouse. I had to laugh that it was on its back, with a smile. Pretty good for a 3 year old! LOL! 

In case I didnt say-

I am petrified of mice. My fear began when I was little. I had a Hamster name Tinker. One day while cleaning his cage he got out of the “bucket”. My dad went to grab him off the counter, and he BIT my dad. I never picked up that hamster EVER again! I took care of him, but would not hold him, only pet him. He lived FIVE years!!! Anyway-after owning that hamster I have had BAD hamster/rodent dreams my whole life. My kids will NEVER own anything RODENT like-that includes BUNNIES. Sorry to the rodent lovers but I just CANT DEAL!

 I HATE mice so much so that while 9 months pregnant with Amber, I did my best to hop up on a counter when a mouse skittered along the cabinets in our kitchen. What a sight that was my my husband. He always tries to scare me when this stuff happens. He gets a few too many laughs.

LAST year, I went to lay down on the couch with Amber, and “something happened” I think I needed to get a blanket, as I moved the pillow ON THE COUCH a mouse went running along the cushion! Have you ever heard of a mouse on the furniture???? OMG! It was like brand new, and I didn’t think about thae fact mice could CLIMB!!!

 Do you realize I would have LAID NEXT TO A MOUSE!!! ALIVE????? OMG! I cannot tell you how I freaked out. I made my husband come home from work (he works an hour away).

That was just the worst.

Anyway, this is my sad gross story.

BLECH!

Ill be back later with a blog challenge, and tomorrow have a special post that I teamed up with Jen to do!

Im sorry for the lack of posting. Sweet so many of you were worried about me 😀

I got many “Are you OK “emails 😀 So I will fill you in

I had a bit of an issue yesterday. A huge scare actually, and I am still calming down from it all.

I found a lump under my arm, and had to go for a biopsy yesterday.  The lump had been there for  a year , and until I noticed a significant change in size, literally overnight, I had tried NOT to think about it. I know, I should have had it checked sooner, but I really didn’t want to know.

Im talking from smaller than a pea to a nice sized strawberry.

Anyway, thankfully the biopsy was done, and THIS IS GROSS-it was all puss. That was fabulous news!!!

 It was a blocked lymph node, and they think recent stress, and they type of exercise I had been doing, irritated it, to form a large fluid filled cyst.

 Other than the pain of the needle inserted to biopsy it, and now it still hurts I am OK!

Now we have also had snow and ice, and my Internet has been on and off.

I do have things to share with you, but have some things to wrap up here first so I can give YOU my time during my post.

I also want to share a great recipe for YOU!

OK-I swear I will be back tonight-and let me tell you some of the stuff I have to share is going to ROCK your projects 😀

I have some loose ends to tie up to for the PTI release 😀 Im SO excited I can’t stand it.

So thanks for caring and nearing with me

My advice for this post would be DON’T wait! Go to the doctor.

I was fourtunate my incident wasn’t serious.

I really didn’t want to know or deal with it but now a big sigh of relief.

It also showed me that if it were “something” big, I have alot of loose ends to tie up regarding life. Such as a will and all the BLECH-

I am definitely enjoying TODAY.

OK Ill be back

Now I found this, when searching on ,Aimee’sBlog and would love to hear if you think. I thought is was cool. I am going to look up my children and see what I think. Most of this is VERY accurate for me.

Except the CHILL part! LOL! Oh and the irresponsible , get into trouble part. I am definitely NOT irresponsible. Never have been. Otherwise its pretty dead on.

What Lauren Means

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don’t get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.You are usually the best at everything … you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic “Type A” personality.You are a very lucky person. Things just always seem to go your way. And because you’re so lucky, you don’t really have a lot of worries. You just hope for the best in life. You’re sometimes a little guilty of being greedy. Spread your luck around a little to people who need it.You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You’re always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can’t handle you. You’re very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you’re likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What’s Your Name’s Hidden Meaning?

I also want to thank Julie for nominating me for the “You cheer me up award!”

I also want to thank Linda who nominated me for the You Make my Day award! 

How sweet to think anyone would feel that way about me! I appreciate it.

I was also nominated by Dawn to list 7 random things about myself

Boy if I keep listing this stuff I will have NO secrets! LOL!

1) I never break a promise.

2) My house is CLEAN, but my closets look like a bomb went off in them. I always re-organize them, but they end up the same in 2 weeks! I have NO IDEA why!

3) I won’t watch the same movie or TV show twice! Can’t do it.

4) I always end up spilling Ketchup on myself any time I go out! I’m not a messy eatter, it just finds my lap! Strange. Yes I do use a napkin too.

5) I LOATHE cooking. I can cook very well, I just do not enjoy it-at all. I am the take out queen (if I had my way)

6) I HATE feet-It may be because when I was a practicing nurse, I had alot of people with NASTY foot issue’s.

7) I NEVER forget a face! EVER! I am bad with names-really bad! But if I met someone I may not remember their name but do know where I met/seen them.

Speaking of names-Sheryl tagged me this unique tag. I would LOVE for you to try this as well. I am not a tagger-and like to learn from my reader’s!

Here are the rules-

You must list one fact about you that starts with the letters in your middle name! If you dont have a middle name use your Maiden name/last name.

D-Dolores is my middle name and I HATE it. It was my father’s sister’s name and she was murdered by her husband. Mom-what were you thinking??!!!

O-is for OCD! I have just a touch of it when it comes to my house. I always clean daily. Things have to face a certain way, and I will notice immediately if they are moved. Just ask my husband. I think he plays with me sometime’s and moves them on purpose.

L-Liar. That word describes me after I have gone shopping and Jason asks me how much I spent. I always fudge the truth on that stuff! I will say there was a sale or something like that. Especially if its a stamp purchase or a Target trip! Otherwise I am honest-almost to a fault.

O-Over-protective. I am a bit over-protective when it comes to my kids. I will not let them play at other people’s house, if I dont know them REALLY well. I have thier friends come here. I watch too much 20/20! I fear something bad will happen to them. I know, it’s awful But it could be worse. I could NOT care.

R-Real Deal. What you see is what you get with me. I say what I mean, and mean what I say. I am not afraid to speak my mind. In case you haven’t noticed!

E-energy and excited. I am an excited person, with alot of energy. I love to share what I love, with everyone, and I talk like I type-non-stop! I can’t just NOT do anything. Like sitting around on the couch-unless Im dying, and really sick. I have to at least be cleaning or sketching or playing with the kids-anything, but do nothing.

S-SHOPPING! STAMPING!! My 2 favorite things-need I say more! LOL!

Well thanks for reading about me! I want to hear about you. Hope I wasn’t too boring!

I bet you didn’t know I even had anything to share did you?

Well READ THIS!

Thats how good I am at keeping a secret! LOL! Actually in the stamping world EVERYTHING is a BIG secret. One to the next. I have gotten use to it over the past year.

This news almost made me bust at the seams.

Its hard to not be able to alway’s share my excitement immediately. Well this news had me in a frenzy!

I Lauren Meader, get to work WITH Nichole Heady. OMG! (insert school girl high pitched screech)

Everyone in the stamp world probably has an inkling of how much I LOVE Papertrey. I’m sure you can imagine how excited I am to now be a part of the PTI Design Team. I will be working along side many talented and amazing people.

I am OVER THE MOON, someone pinch me. No wait, DON’T! I don’t want to wake up 😀

I feel like one of the most blessed people in the world. I work with the most amazing people/companies. I am just so thankful for the opportunities that “I” have been given. I’m just a regular ole mom, from Massachusetts, who now lives in a tiny town, most people never heard of.

 Nichole first called me back in December-yes she called my house 😀 When I answered, and she introduced herself I believe my first words were “Oh my God! Shut Up! Are you serious? This is THE Nichole Heady!”

Then I apologized, and tried to compose myself. (just like when Lizzie Anne Designs contacted me-I made another excited response)

I swear I can be totally professional, but what would you say if she called you?

Anyway, I have decided cut back on a few of my other responsibilities to make way for my new position,  to be able to offer 200% of myself and continue with top quality work, while maintaining 100% FUN!

So keeping coming back, because you will still see my daily posts, with lots of different ideas.

I need all of it to be done for ME! I got into this business, hoping to make it into a career that I enjoy. To put it mildy I LOVE doing this. All of it. The challenges, the deadlines, every little thing. I put everything I have into it, and LOVE every second. I work hard, and will do what it takes to reach my goals. It may sound silly, but other’s who are just as passionate, I know understand what I mean.

I am thankful to all of you who visit me here and offer friendship, caring, inspiration and support.

So THANK YOU!

I won’t disappoint 😀

Now, I will be back later, to share my Saturday Sketch, but I have to get to the hospital to visit me friend.

Hugs to you all.

Thank you again for listening to me.

Today has been a bit of a crazy day!

I got my Dec. 2007 issue of Paper Crafts and I have a card in there using my FAVORITE set-Jolies Fleurs on page 92!

I am also so happy to finally announce that I was asked to be a part of a NEW! Stamp company called “A Chemistry With Paper“. You may have seen some of their banner ad’s on SCS! I received some images to work with today-so keep checking in here for some samples 😀

View the Design team page—>HERE

They have kicked off the opening of their company with 18 fabulous sets. They are clear acrylic polymer-made by Stewart Superior.

I hope you will check them out. I know I went crazy for their artistry.

I am excited and honored to begin my work with them 😀 Sharon and I have spoke a few times on the phone, and she is just amazing.

What does this mean?

Well it means you are going to see some rockin samples with her images 😀

I am continuing my work with my other companies as well. So no worries there 😀 I’m just adding this to my list of much loved companies.

Promise you will be needing these in your collection too 😀

Thanks to all of you for sharing my excitement. I get so much energy from all of you here, who share my life and love of stamping! I love reading about you all as well! Your sweet words, and comments make my day 😀

Now I must go STAMP!!!

Till later.

WOW are you all the bestest group of people a girl could have!!! I so appreciate the prayers and support. You have NO IDEA how much it helps me get through. This entire 1 1/2 year process thus far, has aged me 10 years-I swear.

I have excellent news-prayers are really workin!

How many people pray for their child to have a bacterial infection? Seriously?

Well when you child cant effectively fight a VIRUS- you do.

Alexa looks AMAZING today!! Like a whole new girl. Antibiotics are workin and her immunity levels have sky rocketed-in a good way, so much so that they are testing to ensure her immunity level is where it says it is. The test called IVIG. So lets pray that God is showing his power.

If her immunity is LOW then they want to attempt to SAFELY administer IVIG to her. Alexa had an anaphylacitc reaction to that last time they attempted it-like serious!

So Im not too sure Im down with that-even attemptig it again is reall scary, so they may have to get through me FIRST cause Im not thinkin thats gonna happen.

BUT lets see what happens first.

She has gone back to being demanding and ordering me around for 3 different flavors of ice cream and all that fun stuff!

Needless to say, if  all stays well, no fevers, she can get through the night without O2 then we can go home tomorrow!!!

YEAH!!! Im still going abit nutty here-not havin any good coffee! You know me and my Dunkin Donuts. I hardly slept at all-the chair by day bed by night does not cut it. No complaints-it could be worse, I know.

Also an update of the CHaD fundraiser-they were hoping to raise $25,000, and they raised $34,000!! Yeah!! And to all of you who may have participated-thank you!

ll let ya know!

Well I was tagged by Kristen  to play this cool name game! If you dont have a blog- try it in the comments section! It was pretty fun! I love reading them all so I hope you put yours in the comments or link us wherever you end up posting it!

Here goes!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) -Kristie Carolla

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) This is a hard one! Banana Chip

Not very GANSTA is it? I think Id be a goner.

I love banana ice cream (aka chunky monkey by Ben & Jerrys, and choc chip cookies)

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) -L-Mea

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) – Purple Butterfly (Ok Im not sure what my favorite animal is! So Im going with my butterflies even though it is an insect!) I can do what I want-its my blog! LOL!

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)-Oh God now everyone will know my middle name! Dolores Lowell.

REAL LIFE SOAP OPERA-HOW I got my middle name-

Dolores was my dad’s sisters name. She was murdered by her husband-who hid in the backseat of her car. She got in and began to drive (my dad was in the car behind them) and he (husband to the sister) popped up from the backseat, and shot her as she was driving, then shot himself. My dad saw the whole thing! Since he was following her. As my dad rushed to her car-even though her husband killed himself,  my dad still began beating him till the police arrived.

It really affected my father as you can imagine as him and his sister were very close. She was a singer for the Hampton Sisters-a while ago. Figure my dad is 15 years older than my mom and is close to his 70’s now.

My mom thought it would be nice to give me his sisters name. It was ALMOST my first name! OH LORD!

Talk about a soap opera eh?

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) – Meala

I could so see some little EWOK saying that! I love this one!

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put “The”) The Pink Frozen Mudslide

HMMMM.

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)- Richard Roberts

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy) Liz Twizzler

(Ok that is weird! LOL! Sounds sorta kinky! YIKES!I love Liz Claiborne most scents no real fave, and twizzlers is the candy I eat the most!)

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Ann Wilfred

That was fun!

Now I must tag 5 people-Hmmmmmm

Stefanie

Colleen

Meridith

Dawn

Jody

Thanks for checkin in! I never know WHO to link-its just so hard!

While blog hopping I found  a fun game here-on Dawn’s Blog 

The object of the game is like Scattegories! You have to think of answers that start with the first letter of your FIRST Name!

I would love for you all to play!

Here I go!

Your Name: Lauren

Famous Artist/Band/Musician: Lee Ann Rhymes

4 letter word: LOVE

Vehicle: Lexus ( I used to drive one)
TV SHOW: LOST (yes Im a Lost fanatic!)

City/Town: Lowell (Im from here originally)

Boy Name: Logan

Girl Name: Lexie ( I was going to call Alexa this but opted she was NOT a Lexie)
Occupation: Lawyer   

Something you wear: Lingeri  

Celebrity: Lindsay Lohan

Food: Licorice (I LOVE Twizzlers)
Something found in a kitchen: Laddel

Reason for Being Late: Locked keys in car

Cartoon Character: Linus (from Charlie Brown)

Something You Shout: LOSER!

Now its your turn. Not as easy as you think!

WOW have I been CRAZY busy. 

Lets just say I’m a BAD wife! I neglected to make my AMAZING husband a Father’s Day card! OMG, can you believe that???!!!!!!!

I PROMISED Jason I would make him one tomorrow when he wasn’t around. But I know thats NOT the same.

I did however buy him his AMAZING Grill! He was quite happy about that. But again it wasn’t something to “open” it was just like here honey here is the money for the grill.

I also havent done a single thing for my kids Teachers! Their last day is Wednesday. What is wrong with me?

I did sacrafice my SU! Pre-order and other goodies to get him the grill money! LOL!

Just kidding. While I didn’t purchase ANY goodies for the last few weeks HE SO DESERVES it! Last thing I NEED is more stamps (OMG! DID I ACTUALLY PUT THAT IN WRITING?)

So PLEASE tell me Im not the only one who has done such a horrible thing? Not neccessarily for Father’s day but any occassion.

I got so overloaded with deadlines, and Wedding Shower stuff (which I didnt even get thanked for BTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!) that time crept up on me

AND I have NO cards to share-cause I havent stamped! What I ahve stamped is not able to be shared right now.

I do have a card in July?August issue of The Rubber Stamper pg82 this month though-

Ill have to “find” it in my photo archive, and share that later.

Hope you all had a good Father’s Day!

Well It looks like I have been tagged by Sherry (aka BadSherry). I guess the challenge is to use ONE WORD for each answer. No explainations!  Lets see if I can do it. I’d LOVE to tag YOU as well, so feel free to reply to this with YOUR answers ok! 

Yourself: outgoing

Your Partner: amazing

Your Hair:   blonde

Your Mother:  sensitive

Your Father: alcholic

Your Favorite Item: stamps

Your Dream Last Night: creepy

Your Favorite Drink:  coffee

Your Dream Car: whatever

Dream Home: beach

The Room You Are In: office

Your Fear: heights

Where You Want to be in Ten Years: family

Who You Hung Out With Last Night: Jason

You’re Not: shy

One of Your Wish List Items: vacation

The Last Thing You Did: shower

you Are Wearing: nothing (just checcking to see if you are paying attention)

Your Favorite Weather: warm

Your Favorite Book: Hmmm?

Last Thing You Ate: twizzlers

Your Life: insane

Your Mood: happy

Your Best Friend: Jason

What Are You Thinking About Right Now: stamping

Your Car: minivan!

What Are You Doing At The Moment: DUH?

Relationship Status:  married

What Is On Your TV: v-smile

What Is The Weather Like: gorgeous

When Is The Last Time You Laughed: last night

WOW! That was hard. I wanted to “explain” everything! I hope you give it a try. Me being the chatty person I am it was NOT an easy task. I even broke the rules.

Now to tag 5 people HMMMM

Hopefully these are newer blogs to you

Robyn, Kendra, Kristen, Kim, Rebecca

If you reply to the tag on a blog link it here so we can all read it!