Mom: Hey, Cassie, why are you up so early?

Cassie: I'm not sure if I'm imagining things or not, but I think I just saw a mouse run from behind my desk to under my Michael Box. (That's the beautiful box her boyfriend made for her.) Come look.

(Come look???? How can there be a mouse in the house when we have two cats????)

We creep into her room. She jumps on the bed. I gently move the "Michael Box" which causes a brown streak to flash across the floor finding refuge under Cassie's hope chest. (Which is closer to the bed.) We both scream, and Candace comes running.

In spite of Candace's protests (I think she's becoming an animal rights activist.) We bring in the cats. They have no interest whatsoever in ridding the house of rodents. (I think we feed them too much.) We eventually located the mouse behind Cassie's bed. Since we don't have any mouse traps I googled "live mouse traps" online and promptly made one using a paper towel tube, a trash can, and a piece of cheese. We left it for an hour. It didn't work. The mouse was still behind Cassie's bed. Candace's battle cry was still, "Don't hurt it." So, using a box and a yard stick we managed to maneuver the poor frightened creature into the box. We closed the box, drove down the road, and set it free.

(This is the "Michael Box". Can you guess her boyfriend's name?)

(This is her hope chest, which started out as a toy box. My dad built it and my mom painted it.)

And this is the MOUSE!

(Isn't he/she cute?)

But that isn't all......

While Cassie and I were on our morning walk our yellow lab (Sam) began barking ferociously at someone's trash bin. (A large wooden crate they put trash bags in for collection.) We paid him little attention deciding there must be a mouse in there somewhere. Before long Sam came along as we continued our walk. On the return trip Sam once again began barking ferociously at the trash bin. Our curiosity got the best of us, so Cassie and I raised the heavy lid to peer in. Imagine our surprise when we literally came face to face with a full grown raccoon! (It was clinging to the underside of the lid!) We both screamed and dropped the lid. A discussion ensued as to what our next course of action should be. We decided to free it. This time I was using a large stick. It took some effort, but I opened the lid long enough to see the 'coon (as we say in Mississippi) and drop the lid again. On the next try I noticed the critter was no longer attached to the lid. (Probably was experiencing heart failure.) I lifted the lid carefully with my hand and slowly peered in. (Cassie was keeping her distance.) Inside was not one, not two, but THREE raccoons huddled in the bottom corner! One was growling. Cassie came closer and took some pictures with my camera phone. (Which I will post as soon as I figure out how to get them off the phone and onto the web.)

We just couldn't wait for Candace to ask her customary, "Did you see anything interesting on your walk this morning?"

What will the rest of the day hold????