This little guy is mouse #14. I should start naming them like they do for hurricanes, although that might make it too personal and harder to kill them. I came home and found he had moved the sticky trap clear across the kitchen floor and it came to rest on one of my boots that I'd left out. It scared me at first because I looked and didn't see the trap where it had been and then I realized how close I was standing to this mess.

So after some careful thought, I spent some quality time on my hands and knees with a pack of steel wool and some spray foam insulation going along the undersides of my kitchen cabinets and all behind my stove.

Feeling good about filling the holes, I went to bed that night around 10:30 only to jump out of bed 5 minutes later when mouse #15 ran across my bedroom floor and behind my dresser. I waited to see if he would stay in the room or leave again and a minute later he stuck his sneaky little head out from behind the dresser and ran back to the living room.

I tore apart my couch to see if he went in there as I have found droppings there from time to time. Then I was back on the droppings search. Follow the poop, find the holes. I found two more spots that needed to be filled and was more than generous with the wool and foam. Feeling satisfied, I climbed back into bed for a quiet night's sleep.

At some point I was up to go to the bathroom and in the silence I heard chewing. I figured it was the guinea pig, but as I listened more closely there was no way it was her. I put my ear up to the bathroom wall that is shared with the kitchen to hear #15 gnawing away and trying to get out. No sir! Trapped you will remain!

It's been a full 48 hours and no signs of my furry visitors. I have also added fresh mint to my arsenal as I hear they don't like it. The floor and countertops remain free from droppings, traps haven't moved and I have, thus far, found nothing suspicious.

Heaven help the next mouse to enter my space!

As has become the standard, a lot has happened since I last wrote. We have finished our first quarter at Urban Impact Leadership Academy and it has gone well. Almost all of my students received an A or B in journalism and I think they've started to understand several concepts. We have started with basic structure and functions of journalism and I've made sure to include the First Amendment in a lot of our conversations because I feel it is such an important part of the whole field.

Kentrell and I continue to work on Civics every day and it is also going well. I'm having to relearn a lot of American history but that has been a good thing. I've always loved history and political science was one of my majors in college. It is a blessing to finally be able to use that somewhere!

I have certainly come to appreciate full-time teachers so much more after this quarter. Planning takes time and I really only have to plan for journalism. We have a set curriculum for Civics so I just have to work a little bit ahead to be sure I am ready for each class. To be honest, there have even been things I didn't quite understand and a few words even I couldn't pronounce so we struggle through some of that together. Ideally I'd use different curriculum and I know Ms. Wendy agrees, but for now we work with what we have and I strive to make history interesting and as relevant as possible.

Last week the students dissected a starfish at Tulane University as a part of their biology class and I got to tag along as the photographer. I won't lie, it brought back horrible memories of frog dissection in high school biology class. Oh I'll never forget those sounds and smells! This, however, was a little more tolerable as 1) I didn't have to cut anything, 2) A starfish doesn't seem to come across as "real" as a frog since I've never played with a live starfish and 3) It has no face which makes it a little less creepy.

The kids did a great job and all of them got in there and were willing to explore and get messy. Better them than me!

In addition to school responsibilities, I've purchased a furry little friend. I know, I know, so many of you have heard all my mouse stories and probably wonder why I'd bring in something that could attract them. Well, I figure, how much worse can it get? (Just in case you're keeping track, I've now caught 13 mice.)

We had a rough start as she had ringworm when I brought her home and that meant she had to go back to the store for antibiotic treatment for two weeks. They (praise God) covered those costs and when I got her back she was like a totally different pig. She is very curious and often will respond to the sound of my voice. She knows she'll get fed when I get home and if that isn't the first thing I do she'll flip her food bowl around the cage and squeal at me.

Her name is McGuire (not like Lizzie or Mark McGuire). My mom was reading a book of teddy bear names and that's the one that stuck out. She's good company and once she's eaten she's more than happy to fall asleep under her towel on my lap.

We recently had a very successful 20th Anniversary celebration and it was so good to catch up with ministry supporters, former staff and friends from out of town. It was a lot of planning and preparation but I'm pretty sure that I was an event planner in another life and I thrive on the busy-ness and stress of big projects. I also love to see things that I've worked so hard on come out well and we received plenty of compliments on the whole weekend. It was certainly a team effort and I applaud all our staff for how everyone stepped up to the plate to pull it off.