Yesterday, when I (Sister) went in the den to get my karate suit on I saw a mouse run across the room.  I screamed and I ran and told Mom that there was a mouse in the house.  The picture you see is of Serafina, our cat stalking the mouse in the house.  When we came back from karate, we helped Serafina catch the mouse.  To help her catch the mouse we lifted up the couches with stools and she went under the couch and caught the mouse. It was too bad though that she never got to eat it.  We let it go outside.  And since yesterday, she has not caught any more mice.  And I hope that she catches them in the house but brings them outside and eats them not play with them in the house.

Throughout the years we have owned cats off and on.  The “off and on” is important because during every “off” time we gave all our kitty stuff away and purchased anew at the next “on.”  And that is important to explain because I want to you understand that I have tried a LOT of litter boxes. … Well, not me personally … the cats have tried a lot … well, actually each cat only tried one but that’s not the point.  The point is:  I know about litter boxes.  (I put the point in bold in case you got lost in all the rambling at the beginning.) I also know the two most important questions to ask yourself when purchase a new litter box.  Is it easy to clean?  Will the cat be able to kick/track litter everywhere?  One hopes the answers will be “yes” and “no” in that order but only time will tell.  Last week, I discovered for the first time ever a perfect “yes/no” combination.  The Omega Paw Self Cleaning Litter Box is incredibly easy to clean (”self-cleaning” is a bit of a misnomer) and it’s completly enclosed except for the entrance so litter stays in.  For the little bit of litter that gets tracked out, I added a simple, litter mat and voila!  No more mess.  All told I spent about $35 dollars on the solution which is quite a bit more than your standard litter box cost but I figure I’ll make up the difference in headache medicine.

If you haven’t already, click on over to Shannon’s for more Works-For-Me-Wednesday tips.

Q: In the mind of a five year old little girl, what could possibly be better than having a horse you can ride every day?

A:  Having two horses you can ride

Oh, yes.  You read that right.  TWO.  Papa and Grandma have done it again.  Meet Barbie.

She’s an eighteen year old mare that stands just a bit taller than Buck.

Say now, who’s gonna take care of all these horses!?

Meet Stooge. 

She’s a thirty-something mom that just got sucked into the swirling vortex of horse care.

it is now…

Buck the horse joined our menagerie yesterday evening.  He is a four year old gelding that stand 13 hands and loves kids.  He’s part Quarter Horse and part Welsh Pony and seems to have the perfect temperment for our family.  Each of the kids took a ride with Papa leading but Sister is already anxious to be on her own.

“Can I ride him again, Papa?”

“Sure!  When he gets settled in you can ride him everyday.”

“Great!”

Hmm… easy for you to say, Papa.

Well it seems as if Krista may be ours.  We posted a sign near where we found her and contacted the local animal shelter.  No one has responded so far.  She is a sweet one and so intelligent that if anyone does come to claim her I might just make an offer.  We will take her to the vet this coming week if there are still no takers.  She will need a checkup and perhaps shots.  How is it that even the free pets end up costing money?

 Hmm.. about the mouse.  I thought of taking my friend M’s suggestion and naming him Hitler but it seems Houdini would be more apt.  He visited both my traps, took all my cheese and then in spite left a little mouse note that read, “HA! HA! I moved your cheese.”  Clever little bugger.  Laugh now. ~ Your day will come.

*Update - Houdini passed on Dec. 17, 2006.

#10 “Make a Christmas mobile.”  This one Sister & I did while Brother took a nap.  I found a not so hard origami tree which Sister decorated then we cut “ornaments” out of some scrapbook paper and used ribbon to hang them.  Simple.  Fun.  For now we’re using the light in the living room as a display hook.

#11 “Have some hot chocolate with marshmallows.”   Finally, an easy one. :) Sister wanted to do some Christmas shopping so she convinced Will to take her on a Daddy/Daughter date to do so.  Knowing I was not going to be in the mood to make hot chocolate when they got back I subtly suggested (Okay, it wasn’t really subtle.) … I told Will to swing by Starbucks and get the child a beverage.  Brother and I were not invited on the date so we had our own.  At Mardel, Brother made a beeline for the trains and airplanes and happily played while I browsed nearby for Christmas gifts.  I thought for sure there would be some protests when I was ready to go to the other side of the store but not so.  He contentedly tagged along carrying my purchases as best he could - putting them down when we stopped and dutifully picking them back up again as we moved on.  I couldn’t help thinking, “What a wonderful helper.  He is going to make his shopping wife very happy someday.”

As we are leaving, the phone rings with a call from Will.

“Where are you?”

“Just leaving Mardel, why?”

“No reason [pause]… um, just don’t open the garage door when you get home  [pause] because you might let the dog out.” 

Just a note for those of you who haven’t been keeping track…. WE DON’T HAVE A DOG.”  I can’t leave those two alone for a minute. :)  The rest of the conversation was basically an adult version of, “But, Mom! She just followed me home…. can I keep her?”  Of course we will post some ‘Lost Dog’ signs and check with the Animal Shelter but she has no tag and she is a very nice dog… “Hmm, we’ll see.”