Snow Boots in the Kitchen

You know when you get older you start to see things in yourself that you didn't see before. You realize patterns, quirks, habits, etc that you may not have noticed before.  One of mine is that I HATE to be startled.  Up until recently, I thought I was weirdly afraid of mice.  But this week, I realized its not really the mouse, its the surprise of the mouse. Especially when you are minding your own business in your kitchen.

So we have a mouse.  You might have missed that in the paragraph above. [winky face] He's a tiny little guy that likes to taunt me.  I've done everything from put down traps, plugged up holes, laid down peppermint oil, and even poison.  Its definitely a part of living in the city but I really don't like the idea of a little creature scurrying under my feet.  I've tried rationalizing that its just a harmless mouse but yet, going into the kitchen is now a process. I walk up to the entryway, turn the light on and wait.  Wait for him to scurry past before I enter.  He'll disappear for a few weeks or even months but I always seem to know when he's back.  "How?" you say. Its like those people know when its going to rain because their knees ache.  I know he's back because I suddenly am aware of every sound and movement in the apartment.  Inevitably within a day or two he'll be spotted.

The moment I realized it wasn't the mouse, it was the surprised attack of the mouse that i was scared of was when I started wearing boots in the house. I don't like it when people sneak up on me. I don't like it when I think someone is going to sneak up on me.  So the other night when my "worst fear" happened as this little 2 inch ball of fur ran over my foot, I lost it.  That is when I went and put on my winter boots and proceeded to walk around the kitchen in them.  And even the next day when i needed to get a lot of cooking done, I wore them for the first hour or so until i felt comfortable that he wasn't going to surprise me.

I know its silly!  But that little guy has almost given me a heart attack TOO many times.