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Mom has been such a help this week, accompanying me to the commissary and exchange, and a picnic lunch at the tide pools yesterday. It’s been a really busy week for me with work – which is fun and great and stimulating – but also makes me incredibly tense because my business model is predicated on consistent naptimes 🙂 I have to get Sam home, tired, and fed and hope he sleeps for 2 hrs. Mom often fills in the gap if somebody wakes up early or I need a few more minutes. The picture above is Sam enjoying an ice cream sandwich that Gramma bought him from a machine at the commissary. This made him very happy, but also very sleepy on the way home, which made mom (me) really tense because sleeping on the way home would not be good for business.

Sam enjoys “maul Gramma time” – he really tussles with her like she’s a boy! Yesterday, however, on a day I really needed mom because I also had a homeowner’s association board meeting to prepare for, poor mom locked her keys in her car at Wal-Mart. This particular Wal-Mart expedition was ill-fated from the start, though, so we weren’t too surprised. We tried to swing by Wal-Mart on our commissary outing but she forgot her item to return so we had to pass it up. Turns out we were pressed for time that day anyway, and I blanked on how to get back on the H1 from the parking lot. I took a few wrong turns but found my way to the airport, from which point I could get home pretty easily (I know the airport run wherever we live, so just drop me off there and I’m ok! ha ha!). We took a break from the frenzy yesterday to have PB&Js at the tide pools. It was fun to look around in the little pools of water on the lava rock for small fish, tadpoles, and baby hermit crabs. We made a little home (ecosystem!) for them with coral, water, algae and sand. Mom carried them gingerly over to friend Laurie’s last night so her daughter Cate could take them in to preschool for “share day.” We hope they survive a trip over the Pali!

Dave has been busy with homefront defense projects as well. He trapped THREE mice yesterday. I haven’t written about this yet because I feared our list of guests planning trips this year would suddenly vanish – but now that the infestation seems to be under control it’s safe to report. We think that a house being demolished nearby was bombed and the rodents scurried to look for new homes. I guess they liked ours best (?) because our neighbors haven’t reported any problems. Dave had to take the three still-living mice stuck to the trap out to the trash yesterday. Luckily it was trash day, but I couldn’t help imagining their squirmy bodies writhing on the trap. Poor things. Last night as I was winding down for sleep (Dave hates this time of night – I usually wonder strange things or feel a sudden need to tell him stories of no particular importance) why the first mouse to get caught didn’t warn his buddies. Or why the buddies didn’t notice how he (or she?) was strangely still on a little piece of cardboard. I think it would give me pause. Or maybe I’d be so focused on food that I wouldn’t notice. So – note to my friends – if I’m about to scurry across a trap on my way to a nice meal please try to warn me. I promise to listen.

Alden – don’t even begin to think my dishwashing method (discussed previously) has anything to do with rodent infestations! Strangely I’ve not noticed as many cockroaches running around since the mice arrived. Any thoughts on that? Do mice eat cockroaches? Have I tampered with the ecosystem here to my peril? I did in San Diego – I battled a couple rats living in my stove (SUPER BIG UGH!!!) only to bring on a snail infestation. Who knew that rats loved to chomp on snails ? ? ? It’s so gross that I can tell which unwelcome guests are living at my house by the droppings on the counter. Gecko, mouse…and the other day mom left a satchel of dog poop on the counter because she was so rattled by me getting annoyed that Sam had inadvertently touched fossilized dog poop in the run thinking it was a rock. Sam knows not to touch poop (he hovers over it pointing “ooohhh! OOOHHH!” and we know his little warning well), but this time he was fooled by the rock-like look of the hardened, desiccated poop.

But I digress…and I apologize for this horrific post. It has done me much good, though. That’s what this is all about – a catharsis for me 🙂 Sam is up and I’ve already put in 2 hrs of work. I’ve been up since 0530. The life of a stay-at-home mom – all bon bons and fun. 🙂