Squirrel Invasion!

When I walked in the door from work on Wednesday, I heard a noise.  Then I saw a grey furry thing run across my floor.  When I got over the shock of this and noticed the ruined blind on our breakfast room window, I freaked out.  I immediately thought of Lydia's nursery and ran upstairs.  Of course the squirrel had run into her room as well.  As soon as I saw it, I was so mad!  I yelled "Get out of my baby's room!"  The squirrel, not understanding English and thus my motherly fury, ran further into the room.  I then walked to the window and was going to try and open it to shoo him out but he ran past me and out of the room.  I realize now I probably should have followed him and contained him in one room, but at the time my main concern was my baby's room.  I did a check to make sure everything was fine, which it was, and called Cory.  Luckily he was on his way home already and told me where I could find a net in the garage.  I'm walking around the house with this huge fishing net when he calls back and says "Actually, you should probably stop looking for the squirrel.  I've called Mike (my brother in law) and he's on his way and I'll be there in a few minutes."  So then I am again worried that the squirrel is in my baby's room even though I closed the door on my way out. This will become a theme for the night;  I think I have made Cory check it at least 5 times. I barricade myself in her room and call my cousin Nancy.  She is really more like an aunt to me and I lived with her my last year of college and Cory even moved in for a few months after we got married while our house was being finished.  A few years ago, she came home from a trip and her house had been ransacked.  Things were torn up, her blinds we all ruined, it was terrible.  At first she thought someone had broken in.  Then while her sister was there helping her get things back in order, they found the squirrel.  Cue the jokes about the squirrel burglar. After the second squirrel got in her house a few months ago, it became an even bigger joke.  At Christmas Eve this year, my cousin Wesley made a huge show of presenting her with a ring that looks like a squirrel.  We all laughed and laughed about it but I am definitely not laughing now!  (Even though she and I did share a few laughs on the phone tonight at the craziness.) Mike got there shortly before Cory and took over my net, but the squirrel was nowhere to be found.  I must be pretty scary because he definitely chose a good hiding spot from me!  After doing a full sweep of the house and some research, we decide to go to Lowes and get some traps.  We set those, pulled up all the blinds and left for church, where all my young women were in a tizzy over the squirrel (I had earlier called my YW president to let her know what was going on and that I might be late).  One offered to come help us catch it (I already jokingly refer to her as Bindi Irwin, so this was no surprise), and a couple even wanted it as a pet when we do catch it!  They have obviously never had one in their house or I think they would not be saying any such things!  I was hoping he would be in one of the traps when we got home, but alas, no.  He is still on the loose somewhere in my house and I am left feeling both trapped and extremely exposed.  While finding a squirrel in your house at 39 weeks pregnant is definitely not ideal, I guess it beats finding him after coming home from the hospital.  Here's hoping he has a taste for peanut butter...

This is how you have a breakdown.

The past couple days have not been good ones.  I've been exhausted.  Cory has had to work super late.  I haven't slept or felt well. I feel like Lydia Jane's due date gets closer and closer and our to do list keeps getting longer and longer.  I've felt a mixture of discouragement, exhaustion, anxiety and just plain grumpiness.   It's been really lame. 
This morning I got a summons for jury duty, my first ever.  Really, you want me to decide the fate of drug dealers and theives as an 8 month pregnant woman?  "Off with their heads!" is the only response that seems like a good one right now when I even think about it.  If I were drug dealer or other criminal type, I would definitely not want a crazy me on the jury. 
When I get to work, I have a million things to do.  This is because my boss is determined to get every last ounce of work out of me before I go out on maternity leave.  I had planned to have nice, simple projects and take it easy the last few months of my pregnancy but instead I'm having to figure out the design for a huge mapping project and then write instructions to show everyone else how to do it.  There are a million other reasons why this is annoying, but I will spare you.
While at work, I got an email about an activity tomorrow night I'm supposed to bring snacks to.  Of course I completely forgot about this just like everything else and had to stop by the grocery store on my way home where I realized my tire is going flat.
When I get home and Cory looks at it, there is a huge hole in the side wall and I need a new tire.  He is behind the car and tells me to pull forward some so he can get a better look at it.  My exhausted brain must have been on autopilot because I put the car in reverse instead of drive.  I start to freak out when my car starts going backwards and press the gas to help it up the hill.  This of course sends to car into my husband who starts rolling down the driveway. I slam on the breaks and burst into tears because after everything else, I have almost run him over.
At this point the missionaries call to remind him that he is going on splits with them tonight.  So now I am home alone having this breakdown in cyberspace.  It is oddly theraputic. 
Did I mention I have an 8:30 doctors appointment tomorrow morning so Cory is going to have to put the doughnut on my car after he gets home? 
So now that I have gotten that out of my system I will say that I am very grateful that:
I live in a free country that has a decent judicial system.
I have a job I enjoy doing most days and where my abilities are appreciated.
I work with some amazing women in my calling at church and groceries are so easy to find and purchase.
I realized I had a flat tire before it blew out while I was driving.
I did not run over my husband, only bumped him (quite hard, but he is fine).
My husband is so willing to serve the Lord.
I have access to wonderful medical care. 
My prayers are answered and the occasion vent session on my blog is allowed.

The Pot Roast Episode: Parts 1 & 2

Part 1
Last Friday night Cory and I bought a pot roast from BiLo I planned to make for Sunday lunch. Saturday as I was cleaning out the car, I found the spoiled pot roast in the back seat. It had fallen down into the foot and Cory didn't see it when he brought the other groceries inside. I was a little frustrated as I dumped the roast into the trash can but rallied and ended up throwing things together and creating my own recipe for Crock Pot Chicken and Rice that turned out well. That is a sort of miracle itself. The last time I tried to "throw something together" Cory ended up throwing it up on the way to the ER, which wasn't the poor recipes fault however badly it came out, but it still left me a little scarred. This is the first thing I have "thrown together" since and that was at least 3 years ago! Everyone has assured me this one was a sucess though, so I could be cured. Whether or not that is a good thing, time will tell. :)

Part 2
We signed up to feed the missionaries on Tuesday night and since I already had everything to go with Pot Roast, I decided to buy another and make that. On Tuesday morning I woke up early to get everything in the crock pot and turned it on low so it would be ready when I got home from work and the missionaries arrived at 5:30. I didn't think about it again until I was driving home and talking with Cory. I hear him walk in the house and turn off the alarm before he says "What are we having for dinner?" I respond, "Pot roast, it's cooking in the slow cooker" to which he says "You do know that it's not pugged in, right?" I literally gasped and could not believe I had managed to ruin not one, but TWO pot roasts in less than a week. Luckily I was right in front of Publix and managed to get the last roast chicken they had and some vegetables to steam. The missionaries were still happy and my dogs are very grateful for their treat of pot roast and carrots!


The one good thing that came out of all this, my new chicken and rice recipe, I will share.


Emily's Creamy Chicken and Rice


Ingredients
4 Chicken Breast
1 1/4 cups rice
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cans cream of chicken soup
10 3/4 oz. water (I just filled an empty can)
1 packet of Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 tsp. garlic powder


Directions
1. Cut the chicken into cubes and cook in a skillet until the outsides are white. They can still be raw in the center.
2. Place the chicken in the bottom of the crock pot.
3. Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl and pour over the chicken.
4. Cook on high for 3 hours or low for 4 hours.


It was super easy and I just used things I had on hand. It turns out pretty rich so if you want it to be less creamy, you can leave off one can of cream soup.