a whole bunch of random stuff

I wish to confess that one of the most stressful things about this fall has been ordering our girls' school pictures.

They are done by different companies which offer different packages and sizes.  Ella's offers 4x6.  Maya's does not.  In order to give aunts and grandparents 5x7, it means I need to order a bunch more 5x7 to the tune of $80 plus shipping.  That would be on top of the $80 I've already spent.  I pulled them all out this morning trying to see if I could make it work with what I have and just put them back in the folder, deciding pictures were not worth this much stress before 7 am.

Maya told me yesterday morning, "My neck hurts."  She pointed to her throat which was what actually hurt.

I got the results back from my holter monitor test (not halter, I stand corrected.)   It turns out that I have a rather obscurely named syndrome called Wenkebach which is a benign arrhythmia.  I have a friend who is a cardiologist who read the report and went over it with me on the phone, assuring me many times that I would be perfectly fine and that my heart is just pacing itself.  He even told me that the condition is more common in athletes.  So I guess I have the flattering kind of heart arrhythmia, then.

The really crazy part is that while I was on the phone hearing his reassurances that my death was not imminent, my doctor's office was calling to tell me the results of my test were abnormal and to schedule more tests.  And we wonder what is wrong with healthcare?
I asked Maya if she would please come upstairs to get dressed.  She said, "Maybe next year."

I told Ella we weren't going to do something she wanted (it was probably a trip to swim with dolphins in the Caribbean) because it was too expensive. She replied, "But you and Mommy have plenty of money.  You always have money wherever we go."

When I went downstairs to hunt for Christmas lights, I found a mouse/rat jumping in the corner of the basement.  I'm not certain of its rodent classification because we weren't in close proximity and I have no vermin expertise, but it seemed too large in size and the jump appeared too big a feat for a mere cutie mouse.  We don't live far from the river and apparently river rats are not uncommon in basements in our neighborhood.  Yes, apparently we live in THAT kind of neighborhood.

Will you think more or less of me when I tell you that once I got past the initial ICK factor, I thought well, it is getting cold outside.  Perhaps it wouldn't be SO bad to leave it be.  We won't bother it and it won't bother us.

Then I told my friend Sam about it and he basically gave me a slap across my bleeding liberal face (kindly but firmly) and reminded me about all the babies that rat would soon be having.

I went right to the hardware store.  I almost threw up when I bought the trap and again when I set it.  With peanut butter no less. What human or rat can resist peanut butter?  Is this even a fair trap? 

While we were in the hardware store, Maya was looking at the rat poison and saying, "Look! Mouse food!"  Not exactly....