Tuesday, August 25, 2009

A Mouse in the House

Ever since the south addition was sealed off so that work can continue while students occupy the house, I haven't had much opportunity to explore the new space. So after hours, I snuck into the construction zone to poke around. I was surprised to find a first coat of primer on the third floor and complete drywall on the second & first floors. Wow! Things are really moving along.

Additional cold dorm (third floor).


The extra cold dorm space will allow the house to sleep about 90 students.


New chapter room - drywall is up!


New student room on the second floor.


Another student room on the second floor.


I've steered clear of the personal on this page, but I have to say that tensions were running high today in the house. As anyone who's ever had construction done in their home knows, there is almost no way that construction can happen in an occupied space without disruption. Add to that the size of this house and size of the project, and the disruption is unavoidable. By the end of the day, things had simmered down (and thankfully, the only people who seemed unfazed were the students). But in the midst of the day's stress, the only thing that broke the tension was the arrival of an unexpected visitor.

While standing in the hallway, my eyes puffy from stress and frustration-induced tears (truly unusual for me), I heard "Rose, I hate to tell you this, but there's a mouse in the basement and it's really big!" What could I do but laugh? Of course there's a mouse in the basement today. Normally, a mouse downstairs wouldn't be such a big deal, but since students are temporarily occupying the space, the mouse problem became a little more pressing than usual. A call to the exterminator revealed that he was unable to make it out until tomorrow, so I went hunting myself. What's a house mom to do?! The girls must be saved!

Sure enough, little Banta (I named to make him seem a little less scary... not to the students, but to me) was found frolicking between the old and new laundry rooms. He is big - sort of cute and fluffy, too - but also quick and evasive. My attempts to trap him under a bucket were no good, and before I knew it he had run into a student's room. Now, he's nowhere to be found. I've put out traps laced with peanut butter (not something I've ever had to do before), but secretly I hope he's made his way back into the construction zone before he meets his untimely end in the laundry room. I mean, I certainly don't want to be responsible for the death of George Banta.

Ah, the life of a DG house mom.

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