Oh, rats!!!

The other night, I headed out to the grill to start making dinner when I noticed......

POOP!

It was on the side of the grill where you'd set the plate, grilling utensils, etc. I had a sneaky suspicion that it was mouse poop, but I was REALLY in denial hoping it wasn't. I made a mental note to have Darling Dearest check out the scene. Last night, he went to look at the grill and see what he thought.

All of the sudden, the sliding door is slammed shut, the doggy door is rapidly closed, our dogs are called inside, and the hubby is looking like he just saw a ghost. He's got the heeby geebies. What in the world happened??

A RAT!! That's what happened!

Darling Dearest opened up the bottom portion of the grill expecting to find a little mouse, when he saw a big old rat. IN.OUR. GRILL. Yep, a rat's been hanging out where we cook our food. Did I mention that we grilled hot dogs out there the other night WHILE the rat was in there? As if hot dogs aren't nasty enough (while oh, so tasty) I don't know how he missed it, but Darling Dearest thought he'd just made a mess while cooking (mistaking the poop for a food mess?? I have no idea!). Our dogs have also been sniffing around the grill all week, but we didn't think much of it.

I've gotta say that even if it was a baby mouse...I'd still be creeped the heck out. But, a RAT!!! I couldn't concentrate. I was having a hard time finishing my dinner. IT was out there--in.our.grill. I was standing right next to it in my bare feet the other day when I went to cook the chicken. UGH! Even thinking of it now sends chills up my spine.

Darling Dearest and I sat inside to discuss the plan of attack. It was a war against the rat. Hubby got all geared up to dispose of the rat. His gloves her tucked into his sweatshirt and he was armed with a shovel and rake. Gardening tools to the rescue!! I couldn't stand the thought of anything that was going to go on, so I took Bug and the dogs upstairs for our bedtime routine.

SMASH, CRASH, SMASH!!

How many rats were there?? This full-on war was LOUD! Was he killing a whole rat army?? Turns out....nope! The rat was gone. He turned the whole yard around in search of our furry little friend. NOTHING! So we sent out the dogs....NOTHING! The rat had vanished!!

While I'm happy that we didn't have to kill a rat (by we, I mean Darling Dearest), the thought that it's out there---somewhere---freaks me out. I imagine it crawling in through our doggy door and into our house to feast on our food and sleep in our beds. UGH!!! There won't be sweet dreams for me for a while.

"This is the start of something good, don't you agree?"

So if you don't know already....this post's title is taken from lyrics by Gavin Degraw, but I'm hoping it's fitting. This is my first official blog. I don't really know what I'm doing, but I enjoy reading other people's blogs, so I thought...WHY NOT??? With family and friends so far away, this is one way to keep everyone posted on the sweet happenings in the F.T.M.'s household.

Ok, "sweet happenings" may have been a slight exaggeration, but when you're a first time mom (or maybe a mom in general), your "sweet happenings" change from REAL excitement and drama in the eyes of the normal world to changes in poop (yes, the baby's), first swallows of "solid" food (I'm still confused as to why they call it SOLID--but that's for another post), sitting up, night wakings, and weird changes in your own body. Suddenly the concept of T.M.I. flies right out the window as you think all your dear loved ones want to know EVERYTHING that comes with being a mommy and having a baby.

All to say, this blog is my way to chronicle/vent/share my experiences of being a first time mom and hopefully connect with people who have "been there, done that", ARE there, or are too scared/grossed out after reading my posts to ever want to be there. You can look forward hearing about all my experiences of being a wife, a friend, daughter, sister, an attempting-to-find-an-online-job-so-I-can-comfortably-stay-at-home-with-my-daughter-for-a-long-while kinda gal, and most importantly--a MOM!