cleaning out the pantry

a lot of bad food has been hiding out in cupboards and pantry. stuff i shouldn't eat, but did. yesterday, i stocked up on good things. made a costco run and hot up the supermarket too for produce. was able to keep my shopping cart full of clean things. came home proud and motivated.

while putting the groceries away I found a packet of oatmeal that looked like it had been nibbled on. yikes! upon closer examination, i found droppings. yes, rodent droppings. small, but still droppings. so gross. first, i am totally embarrassed that i had a mouse in the house. our house is always pretty clean. i like it clean but my husband insists that it is clean. second, it gave me the creeps that this little thing was crawling all over.

i immediately started cleaning the entire pantry, pulling everything out. having to touch every piece of food in the pantry was a perfect start. gave me the opportunity to evaluate what I had, what i should eat and what to toss. i guess this is the sunny side of having a mouse in your house. the pantry is perfectly organized, rid of stuff that shouldn't be around, the food is rotated and everything is sealed up. my husband picked up a bunch of tupperware while he with getting so sticky mice traps. he came home and set out 4.

last night, as i was finishing up my blog header I heard some scurrying and then some squeeking. sure enough, a mouse. i never saw it. too chicken. it must have been living under the dryer. don't really know how it got in. i think it was only one. 3 more traps are waiting for others in case there are more. i really don't think so though.

so here's to you little mouse. thanks for motivating me to rid my pantry of things that should have never been there in the first place. sorry, to you that you had too go but i'm not so good at sharing my food, especially with a mouse.