A Computer Is No Good Without A Mouse...

So, here's how the story begins...

You see, after the horrific, wintry drive to NY I was elated to finally arrive safely. We unpacked my van, which was filled to the brim with our belongings, and we began to get settled in at my in-law's home.

About 2 days after we arrived, I was paying bills on my computer in the finished basement when all of a sudden it just shut down. It was very strange because the computer had been working fine since we had been given it (if you recall, we had a computer issue a few months ago and someone generously stepped in and blessed us with their older desktop).

Needless to say, I was completly stumped. The only thing I could surmise was that maybe the extremely cold temperatures somehow messed the computer up as I was "stranded" for a bit during the horrible storm on the drive to NY.

Over the next few days the computer issues continued. One minute it wouldn't turn on - the next it wouldn't turn off! It was frustrating to say the least.

About this same time, I began to notice a smell. For a few days I kept my mouth shut. Afterall, I was living with my in-laws...don't really want to rock the boat too much when you've got a free roof over your head!

Right around day three I finally lost it. The smell was deadly and I could no longer stand to go in the comptuer room at all. I finally told Donn that I thought something must have died in there.

Being the sweet studly hubbie that he is; he proceeded to take down all the basement ceiling tiles in search for the wretched stench. After quite a little search, he located the dead mouse and the boys anxiously stood around watching as Daddy saved the day by dumping the nasty little creature in the garbage.

Crisis Averted - Or so we thought...

A few more days passed and I finally spoke up again:
"Honey, I know you just dumped a mouse, but the smell is still here! I can't believe such a little mouse could still be smelling up the house after being gone for 2 days!"

At this point, I think I was pushing the envelope a bit. Studly Hubbie responded with something to the degree of "so find it yourself" and I decided that the best option might just be if I kept my mouth shut.

Low and behold, about a week later, we packed up the minivan again and headed to our next destination of my parent's house (when you're livin' for free, sometimes you just gotta keep a movin ya'll!)

Donn packed my van to the gills again, but this time I had to drive directly from my in-laws to work, where my van sat all day before I could get to my parent's house to unload it.

As I opened my car door after work that day, I was immediately struck with the stench.

Now; my van doesn't ever smell peachy clean (after all, I have boys) but this was ridiculous. I actually muttered under my breath, "Oh good...it's following us!"

I stormed through the door that night and declared, "MY VAN STINKS!!! Whatever stunk in your parent's house has now invaded my van! It's following us!! DO SOMETHING!"

Donn looked at me like a deer in headlights and said, "Cyndie, how could the smell be following us...seriously, think about that."

I screamed (without really thinking): "I DON'T KNOW! It's like it's in the computer or something!"

And that's when we realized...it must be the computer!

So, to wrap up this little story, let's just skip the juicy details about how the little mouse somehow thought my computer tower seemed like a cozy little penthouse and he burrowed his little squishy face right through the vent on the back.

Then let's not get into the details about how the furry little friend was clearly the stupidest animal known to man and he couldn't figure out where the exit door of said penthouse was.

And we won't elaborate on how bad the garage smelled when our cutey patootey little fuzz ball was removed from his little abode.

And we certainly won't explore the simple irony that before we moved our cuddly little buddy from his resting place, the computer was at least sporatically working - however, since his departure we can no longer get it to turn on!

And so, this is the moral of my story.

A computer really is no good without its mouse.

The End.