Phones and Mice.

My friend Herbie is a big shot (ok, he would never say that, I did), with these speaking engagements all around the States about adoption. He is director of LifeLine Childrens' Services, check them out! Also, while I am at it, check out their new (un)adopted program, its awesome! Anyway, back to Herbie. I was talking to him the other day, and was pleasantly informed that, one of my calls left an impact upon him. He was in front of 250 people speaking, when I gave him a call. Of course, I did not know this, which is why this is awesome. The only reason this is worth sharing is because during his speaking my call rang his phone, which was - YES, you guessed it - NOT on silent mode! So, in the middle of his presentation, he stops and says something to this effect to his audience, "I forgot to tell you at the beginning to silence your phones, and apparently forgot to silence my own." Then he proceeded to finish his speech, I am sure, with none the difference than if his phone had not rung. I enjoyed hearing this story from him. Probably funnier coming from him, but still.

The other day I was cleaning out my parents' garage, b/c this is my job since I don't have a real one ... YET. So, as I was cleaning it out, I came upon one of our common garage dwellers, a mouse. He was in this plastic tub and could not get out, I guess, since he was still in it. As I was sorting the garbage out of this box I saw and thought to myself, "Man, that looks like a mou... It is a mouse!" It was a little, harmless mouse. I do';t know if he was originally an albino mouse, or was just stark white because he had been in this box for so long, but either way he was white with red beady little eyes. I went on cleaning trying to think what I was going to do with it. Killing it was not on my list. He was too innocent looking and terrified! During my contemplation's of what I would do, my net door neighbors got home and I told them about it and the 3 girls came over wanting to see The Mouse! These girls are all in elementary school so you can imagine the high pitched noises coming out of the garage! Then one of the other girls, from two houses down comes along. She and her family are rodent experts with some assortment of them living as pets at their house. Amelia, is her name, and as I was told she is a spitfire. During all of this I decided I would glove up and take him, the little mouse, down the street to a wooded area and release him, thus feeling I had done the right thing by freeing him and not taking his little innocent life. Amelia walked with me. We walked and chuckled at the mouse in my hand as he squirmed and wiggled trying to escape from my grip. As we went, this little mouse was persistent and squirmed enough to get its head out from under my finger. Once he did this, with one of his little paws resting on my finger, he then started to bite at the air in front on my finger. I thought to myself, "This little mouse is ferocious, not going down without a fight." Then we got to the wooded area. As I opened my hands and let him gently to the ground I said, "Go on!" ... and he just laid there.

He was dead.

He was not biting at me, but gasping for air! I was suffocating him in my grip that he was trying to squirm from! I even said to Amelia as we were walking down the street, "I don't want to hold him any tighter or I might kill him." Too late! All those efforts...wasted! Poor little fella', he never stood a chance in my death grip, and I watched him suffocate. So much for trying to do the right thing. So much for being an animal rescuer!

On the walk back, after tossing him into the woods, Amelia continued to tell me how she was going to pronounce to the world that I was a mouse killer! She gave me no credit for trying to save him. When I told this story to others, they laughed.