I Should Probably Start Posting On Here Again: Edition 53,498,309

Why have I not been posting here?

Major ennuiiiiiiiii.

After non-stop studying for my Common Exams through winter break, and then the taking of the Common Exams in January, and then the recovery from the Common Exams for the next three months, I just have been BLAH about everything. Not everything. But everything school related. It also doesn't help that I just don't like my classes this semester. And it's for no other reason except that the seminar topics just aren't my thing (sooo much ethnomusicology, fieldwork, soundscapes, nature sounds, blah blah blah omg I can't roll my eyes in the back of my head any further) and my classes last semester were awesome and I loved them and now I am suffering some kind of post-high letdown.

Anyway, we're down to the last four weeks, so I'll be able to tough it out. Next semester, our music seminar is supposed to be Music Criticism (!), taught by an old professor who skateboards through campus and practices zen meditation (!!), and which I think will involve blog writing (!!!!!!!!). I'm already looking forward to that.

What else, what else?

Oh yeah, we have a mouse (or mice? aaagh) hanging out in our kitchen. For f***s sake. Apparently, they like to find shelter inside when the weather turns cold. THANKS FOR NOTHING LONGEST WINTER EVER. I haven't seen him or them, but I noticed little chewed up bits of mustard packets in one of our drawers, as well as some teeny tiny little mouse turds (omg gaaaaah) in the drawer and underneath the sink where we keep used to keep the garbage. Things that have happened since I discovered this:

• I banished all kitchen garbage from inside the house and now keep all trash outside in the garbage bin.
• I took a pair of tongs as a weapon in my right hand.
• I picked up Tre and put him on top of the kitchen counter to act as my sentinel/bodyguard/assassin.
• I slammed all the other kitchen drawers open and shut to warn any occupant mice that Tre and I were set to engage an attack.
• I stepped as far back from the mustard/mouse drawer as I could while still being able to stretch my leg and reach the drawer handle with my foot.
• I opened the drawer with my foot half an inch at a time while making little squealing noises in between.
• I used the tongs to pick up one mustard/soy sauce/duck sauce packet at a time - again, while making little squealing noises in between and periodically running away to stave off a heart attack - and placed them in a grocery bag I was holding in my other hand.
• I used the tongs to pick up every piece of silverware that was in that drawer and placed it in a huge pot of soapy boiling water on the stove to kill any mouse poop germs. 
• I emptied and refilled the soapy water and reboiled those things three more times.
• I vacuumed up all the teeny mouse turds and chewed up mustard packet shavings. 
• I went to Target and spent like a billion dollars on super-sealing thick plastic storage bins of all shapes and sizes.
• I went to our local co-op and bought a bottle of peppermint oil.
• I went crazy and put EVERY BOXED OR BAGGED EDIBLE THING in our pantry into super-sealing thick plastic storage bins.
• I exorcised our kitchen counter surface and the mouse drawer with peppermint oil.
• I now give Tre extra treats and pet his head while softly cooing at him, "Good boy. Good killer. Who's my mouse killer? You are! Good killer." Positive encouragement is key.

Anyway. I am opposed to getting traps or poisons for multiple reasons. Did I ever tell you about my childhood pet rat of two weeks, Buster? I don't think so. His story is sad and tragic. But in his honor, I don't really want to kill the mice. (Now, if Tre were to just tap into his ancestral instinct, who am I to stop him?) But I do want to strongly encourage them to get the hell out of our house and never return ever ever. I am hoping that by making it literally impossible to get any free food from inside our home, they'll move on and shack up somewhere else. The weather is going to start getting warmer soon as well, so that will help. And luckily I have not seen even the slightest evidence that they have been anywhere else in the house besides the couple of spots in the kitchen. We'll probably want to call pest control anyway just to make sure they're gone and fix whatever hole or crack they used to get in in the first place. You know, before they have crazy sex orgies and start popping out little mouse babies. Thing that I read on the Internet about how mice get into your home: they can sometimes come in through pipes. As in, they can crawl up through your sink or shower. OMG. CAN YOU IMAGINE?! I DIE.

Oh look, I wrote a post! Good. Smell ya later!