Eek! A Mouse In The House!

 Last night May sent this picture in the group text. She and Michael finally felt good enough to decorate their tree and in celebration they put on real clothes. Aren't they beautiful? 

She also sent me a picture of one of the Mary nightlights I'd made so many years ago. She said it is broken but wrapped lovingly. So. Here's that picture. 

Oh my. One of those precious artworks survives! 
Ha! 

Today was a Candie day, and she made it here after having been sick for the last few weeks. She's my cleaner, by the way, and one of Lily's very best friends. She calls me "Mama" and Glen either "Papa Moon" or "Dad." She'd asked if she could come a little early today and I said that yes, of course she could, but I'd probably still be asleep and I was. It was nice to wake up to the smell of THINGS GETTING CLEAN along with the coffee. She and I were standing in the kitchen, catching up, when suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something dart from near the refrigerator to under the old Hoosier cabinet.
"What in hell did I just see?" I asked. I thought I might have been hallucinating. 
"Where?" Candie asked. I pointed to where I'd seen the something and just as she turned to look, it scooted back across the floor to near the refrigerator again, hiding between it and the little dorm fridge where I keep my grains and beans. 
"A mouse!" We yelled. Candie said, "Should I get us a chair to stand on?"

We called for Mr. Moon and he came in and could indeed see it with a flashlight until it slipped under the refrigerator at which point we all quit worrying about it for the moment. 

A little while later I almost ran into the little thing over near the stove and Maurice saw it too which set off all her alarm bells. Boy, did she get agitated. 

Her tail went electric as she switched it back and forth and she would not take her eyes off the area where she'd last seen it. 
I have no idea if she got the mouse. I hope so. 
It is no mystery why a mouse is in my house. It's cold outside and the little guys want to be where it's warm and they can nibble cat food at night in the darkened kitchen. I think the chickens used to help keep the population down as they were avid mousers, catching and eating them whenever they could around the yard. 

Anyway, that was exciting. Especially for Maurice. 

I went to Jessie's house and we drove to an Indian restaurant where we ate delicious foods and chatted and then we went CHRISTMAS SHOPPING at World Market which was fun and fine for about twenty minutes at which point my anxiety switch got flipped for no apparent reason but that's how anxiety works. It's like I have a certain tolerance for being in public places and after the tolerance level has been exceeded, things go wacky. But I managed to find a few little giftys for Mr. Moon, none of which he'll probably want. We go through this every year. Neither of us need a damn thing and we get ourselves whatever we want. For example: I just got myself a new lid for my food processor! It came in the mail while I was out and he sent me a picture of the box. I told him what it was and said he could go ahead and open it up and he said, "No. I want you to unwrap it."
Merry Christmas!

Last year I went to Bass Pro Shop and got him some clothes and he never wore any of them but took them all back. They either did not fit him or just weren't comfortable. 
And get this- I did buy him a box of fancy chocolates a few weeks ago and hid it and now I have not the slightest idea where I stashed it. 
This is life in older age. 

But Jessie and I had a good time and then, when we came out of the store, guess who we saw? 
May! She is going to go back to work tomorrow but was out today to do laundry and look for some presents. That girl. It was so good to see her and I could hug her without worry. She was wearing a very professional looking mask. 

I have been asked what's in the shrimp salad that I posted a picture of yesterday. I will give you the ingredients but you will have to decide how much of each of them you want to use. Feel free to change it around as you wish. 

Lettuce- whatever kind you like but NOT ICEBERG. 

Avocado, cut into nice bite-sized pieces. Squeeze some lemon or lime juice on the pieces to prevent browning.

Seashell pasta. Small or medium. Or hell, macaroni. Whatever.

Corn. Our Norwegian Anne used to say, "A box of corn" but I think she meant can of corn. You can also use fresh or frozen.
Havarti cheese, also cut into small pieces. Or whatever kind of cheese you want. 
Tomatoes. Again- cut them into bite-sized pieces. I like to use cherry tomatoes. 
Hard-boiled eggs, sliced however you want to slice them.
Shrimp- boiled gently for just a minute or two until they turn pink. I use some Old Bay seasoning in the water that I cook them in. Peel the shrimp and cut them into bite-sized pieces too. If you want. Leave them whole if you don't. 

Combine all the ingredients. I like to make a little design with the hard-boiled eggs with the shrimp in a little pile in the middle. Do what you want. Add onion if you want. Or olives. Or...whatever.

The dressing I use on the salad is made of a mixture of Heinz Chili sauce and mayonnaise. You can add a little Miracle Whip in there if it suits your fancy. We call this "goop" and I should sue Gwyneth Paltrow because I've been calling it by that name long before she knew she had a vagina, much less had a company by that name which sells candles which are supposedly scented like hers. 
And by the way- I put the dressing in a separate bowl with a spoon so that people can serve themselves with however much goop delights them. It's nice to have some good bread on a side plate to go with.

And that is that. Now I'm going to go air-fry some fish and cook some grits. We eat quite well around here. 

Here's one more picture of Maurice that I took the other day.

That is her chair and I dare you to try and change her mind about that. 

Love...Ms. Moon