Goodbye Mr. Rat, Hello Sleep!

 

For the past two weeks, I have been dealing with a rodent who I will refer to as Mr. Rat.  How do I know that this rat is male? I don't, but if I think for a moment that it was female, I will assume there might be babies, and honestly my poor nerves can't handle it.  Mr. Rat moved into my home and started harassing me from the beginning.  He made loud chewing sounds in the walls, and scratched through the night.  I originally thought it was just a mouse.  The mousetraps went up and soon they were being carried off into the unknown.  I thought wow, strong mouse. It took me quite awhile to admit that it was actually a rat.  

The rat haunted my peaceful writing sessions and would pop its head out at the worst times. I ran screaming from the room once when it ran near my feet. Sleeping was not an option. As soon as I would lay my head down, I would hear it sniffing around and the pitter-patter of its feet across the floor. A live trap and some larger traps later, I thought I had it taken care of. I was wrong!  I stayed up until 4:30 in the morning waiting for it to be trapped. It walked half way into the live trap and then left it as if telling me that I was stupid to think it would fall for that.    

It was time for the poison--I didn't want to have that around my house, but I couldn't let Mr. Rat run my life anymore.  It was placed under the cabinets, and I waited days for it to take its toll.  Mr. Rat continued to walk around the house at night, and wake me from my dreams.  It became so bad that if someone rattled a bag I was up off the couch searching him out.    

Today was Day 2 of my schedule, and I was staying on task! I was just about to sit down to write a blog entry and work on a chapter of my book when I caught a shadow out of the corner of my eye.  It was Mr. Rat.  I chased him into my sons' bedroom, and there I waited ten minutes on my knees with a large pot in my hands.  Eventually, he came out of hiding, and I covered him with it! He was captured.  I'm happy to say that he no longer resides in my home. I dropped him off in the woods near some water.  He didn't look too well, and I'm sure that he probably had tasted a bit of the poison.  I did feel bad for him for a second, but I tried to give him plenty of opportunities to leave my home without harm! I am hoping that this is the end of the story for Mr. Rat and myself.  A second chapter dedicated to possible baby rats is not something I look forward to writing!  Mr. Rat lived in my home for a few months, and I thought it appropriate that he have a place in my writing.  Goodbye Mr. Rat, hello sleep! 

    

Finding Balance

Writing requires a certain amount of balance. Actually, life in general requires a certain amount of balance. Balance is something that I have struggled with my entire life. If I am successful in one area, I am usually falling behind in another. May left me feeling overwhelmed and stressed out about what I have yet to accomplish. Therefore, June is the month where I find balance between my daily responsibilities and my writing.

Last night I sat down and made a simple schedule that I can stick to for the week. I want to emphasize simple because I typically make very elaborate beautiful lists that serve very little functionality. I have a morning and evening routine adapted from www.flylady.com (I love her!) My schedule includes the 2 h’s – homework and housework—after these are completed, I have writing time! This includes writing at least a chapter of my book and working on at least one of my blogs. I scheduled reading time, as this is very important to me. Most importantly I have to fit in mommy time with my kids J we all enjoy that!

So how am I doing?

Day 1 – I have had a successful day. I completed my 2 h’s and spent some mommy time with the kids. I am writing later than I normally would be, but I am doing so with a much clearer mind. I am excited to be moving towards the goals that I have set up for myself. Finding the balance in your life is about realizing what you want to achieve for yourself, and making the time to do it! I had to give up some phone time with friends, and keep my social networking down to a minimum today in order to cross off everything on my list, but the point is I DID IT!