Update O'rama!

Wow, I can't believe its been a week since I last blogged. That is very unlike me! I have been busy, but I don't think that's the whole reason I haven't blogged. I have just been all over the place in my heart and in my mind and I didn't know how to even begin to put it into words. In fact, I still don't. But, what I can do is update you on the happenings in my life, and hopefully the personal/spiritual stuff will form into words that I can share soon.

Clubs started back up this week, so I my "normal" schedule is back. I missed the kids and the teens, but I definitely enjoyed having some free evenings.

A lot of changes have been made on my house this week that I am VERY excited about!

First, I have 2 new additions to my kitchen! My parents bought me a new microwave for Christmas and my friends Frank and Jared installed it this week. Isn't it pretty?!?


The second addition isn't a very happy one.


That, my friends, is a small animal trap. Why do I have one? Well, apparently I have rats. Yes, I said rats. Not mice...rats. I have known I had a house guest for a while, but never saw it, I only heard it. Gizmo has gone after it several times, but it escapes under the cabinets before he can get to it. On Wednesday, while Frank and Jared were here installing the microwave, they got a full look at a rat, and it was big. Too big, in fact, for a regular rat trap so they brought over the animal trap. We set it that night and waited. This is where it gets good...get ready to laugh. :)

About an hour after Frank and Jared left we heard the trap snap, and a rat was caught. Of course, we had no idea what to do from there so I called Jared. He came over and put the trap (with the rat in it) in the trash can while he went outside to see if I had a hose. (Apparently his plan was to drown the rat in the trash can).

So, here is the scene. Jared is in the back yard looking for a hose. My roommate, Jen, is standing at the sink filling a pot with water to help drown the rat. I am in the next room, standing on the steps looking over the banister...I didn't want to be anywhere near the action. Unfortunately, when Jared put the trap in the trash can, it released one of the side doors, allowing the rat to get out. I saw the door open and the rat jump out and immediately started screaming; 'The rat got out! The rat got out!". At that same moment, Jen turned around just in time to see the rat jump toward her, then run underneath the cabinet. This caused Jen to scream and run, with the pan in her hand, into the living room, yelling, "It touched me! The rat touched me!"

Jared calmly walked into the house while Jen and I continue to scream; "The rat got out!" and "It touched me! The rat touched me!". All three of us quickly began laughing a the whole scene and didn't stop for a while.

We set the trap again, hoping this was a very stupid rat, and then went to bed.

We woke up the next morning to a rat in the trap. though Jen insisted that it was a different one. Frank and Jared came over and killed it (they drowned it, but this time made sure the door stayed closed), and we reset the trap in case there was actually another rat.

Turns out, there is. Unfortunately, this rat is much smarter. We have seen in crawling around the kitchen several times, but it doesn't go in the trap, though it will climb on top. We think this may be the one we caught the first time and he now knows our plans for him. I'm not sure what we're going to do next, but in the meantime we continue to set the trap and hope he will slip up. (We haven't caught any other rats in the meantime, which we're hoping means there are only 2. We'll see...). Frank and Jared also worked on my bathroom to try and fix a leak. Once this leak is fixed, I can put my ceiling back up in the kitchen. Unfortunately, although we thought it was fixed, there appears to still be a leak. Not nearly as bad as it was, but still too much for the ceiling. I am really looking forward to my kitchen being finished...some day.

On a much happier note, I also got a new dresser for my bedroom!

(Incidentally, the TV you see was a Christmas present from my grandmother in 1991! Its 17 years old, and still works great! Thanks Moi!!) The dresser was the last piece of furniture I needed to make my bedroom an actual bedroom (I bought a wardrobe for my hanging clothes a few months ago since my room doesn't have a closet).


For the last few months my clothes have just been in a pile on the floor. The really exciting part is that I went to Ikea to buy the dresser and on our way to the checkout I decided to check out the As-Is department (things sold at a discount because they have to be bought "as-is", defects and all). As I walked in I saw my dresser!! Well, I had planned on buying a white one, but they had the black one on sale for $80 off, and already put together!! Plus, inside several of the drawers were these dividers, that usually sell for $4 or $5 a piece.

That's another at least $20 value!! I was so excited! The top of the dresser has a few nicks on it, but nothing major. I love this dresser!! All that's left for my room is paint and curtains...and new bedding because a friend of mine accidentally washed my bedspread, ripping it in several places. It feels so nice to be sleeping in a real grown up's bedroom. :)

Jen and I have big plans for moving furniture around, putting things in storage and hanging things on walls. I literally have NOTHING hanging on any walls in any room in my house. I really want that to change. I have to ask someone how to do that since I have weird walls, but we have several paintings, pictures and mirrors to hang that I think will make the house even better. We also want to repaint most of the rooms, get a rug for the living room and EVENTUALLY get a new couch and some new living room furniture. (Right now I have nice furniture that was given to me, but it is really too big for the small rooms in my house. The house will really open up once we get things that actually fit in the house). It's really nice to have someone else around to help out with this kind of stuff!!

Next week looks to be an extremely busy week for me. Kids Club starts back up, and I still have a lot to do to get ready. I will also be leading an AIM trip, which takes A LOT of time. Thankfully, the AIM group is working with Cornerstone, so I won't have to divide my time too much. The group will be leading a special after-school program at the church, though, that I need to plan. I'm not worried about getting it done, but I am worried about doing it well and getting a decent amount of sleep in the process.