This morning....I woke to discover numerous, large "droppings" in our kitchen. I have to tell you, that I am TERRIFIED of mice, let alone the size of mouse that could produce such large fecal matter. So I was calmed momentarily by this fact that it wasn't mice, because the poo was much too large. Seeing this, our very amused male house-guest pointed out that this poo (plural) was much too large to be your average mouse, and then pointedly asked me what I thought was bigger than a mouse. My first thought was "ooh, rabbits!". Our other female house-guest took the bait as well and piped in "ooh, a hedge-hog....no. a kitten!" This is certainly a fun game, guessing what is bigger than a mouse. But our male house-guest shook his head in pity, as he stared in disbelief at the retarded females standing before him. So, our male house-guest asked once again....more directly this time, "what is bigger than a mouse?" This time, my cohort in the guessing game earlier, shot me a look that *she* had it figured out....and wondered if it was a good idea to tell me. That look is what finally jogged my brain...."well that would be ra"....."RATS!!!!" "RATS!!!!" I have been in hysterics all day. I've never quite understood the phrase "beside oneself", but I get it now. I mostly kept it together until I called Adam because our male house-guest could not find our intruders. I actually started crying as I was explaining to Adam the enormity of this situation, let alone the enormity of the poo (plural mind you) on our kitchen floor. I vaguely remember babbling something about "the plague", and Adam said he would come home to assist. One thing I learned from this is people find other people's phobias extremely amusing. I do not. I learned this as our very entertained exterminator just left....he even managed to throw in some blonde jokes for good measure. This was after a box tipped over in the laundry room, and I just about shit myself (in case the tone doesn't let on....I am a bit "edgy" at this point). I don't know why it's so funny when someone has a completely irrational terror of rodents. Adam did his best to maintain order and have me focus on the task at hand. Hysterical girlfriends I can imagine are quite terrifying in their own right. But nothing could protect me from the giggles, and quite honestly, belly laughs that were directed at my behaviour. So now it's up to me to decide if I can stay in the house, until the situation is resolved...which it is NOT resolved at this point. Our slack property manager is supposed to be coordinating getting a carpenter out here to fix the shoddy construction that is allowing these vile creatures into our living space. So I can do nothing but wait, and fret, and consider moving into a hotel. As I sit in our living room, re-counting these events, listening to a tall water glass in the background slowly fill with water, because we also have a leaky window, I am the first to admit, that this was not a good day.

We'll see what elements of danger tomorrow brings.