fishie the mousie

so how cute is that?

i really want a mouse. two, actually, because i've been doing my research and apparently they love company and i don't want my one little mouse to be sad. i will name them fishie and duckie. and i will love them forever. and they will love me. i would have them by now, but my dad has this "no creatures in the house" rule that is making things difficult.

"but," you say, "you don't live with your parents anymore. why is that a problem?"

and i say, that's a problem because i drive to las cruces every weekend to play hockey, and my extremely reliable mouse website says that i need to check on my mice every day and clean up after them. and how could i leave them alone? what if they were sad without me? what if they went into little mousie depression from not hearing me say cutesy things to them in a sugary voice?

what if i go into big person depression without little mice to say cutesy things to while i'm away?

no, leaving them behind will not do. so i have been trying to reason with my dad.

"that's not a good rule! jack lives in this house and he's a creature."

"yeah, and look how stupid he is!" (this is where my dad starts playing one of his favorite games, the "pretend to not like jack" game. he likes the dog a lot, and he would be very sad if anything happened to him. on the other hand, i am convinced that my mother really does hate poor jack. he's scared of her. but anyway, my dad never drops character, not even for a second, so i just have to play along.)

"but jack's a dog! a mouse would have it's own little box and you would never have to pet it or feed it or let it outside in the middle of the night! you don't even have to see it, if you don't want to."

"yeah right! i always end up having to take care of the animals! always!"

"come on dad, it's not like i'm seven. you won't ever have to even look at the mice. i could probably sneak them in and you wouldn't know."

"mice? you're getting two?!?"

"so they can be friends! besides, i bet two mice is a lot more fun and no more trouble."

and we went on like that. my sister wasn't helping at all, because she kept coming in and saying, "if she gets a mouse, then i want a snake!" and then my little brother would chime in with "and i want a porcupine!" or something outrageous, at which point my dad would throw up his hands and yell, "NO PETS!"

but i kept at it.

finally, he asked me how i was going to take care of them over spring break. hmm. he had a point there. i can't very well take them on a road trip to orlando and then to disneyworld, can i?

so i saw that i was beaten and took advantage. i struck a deal with my dad. if i wait until after spring break to buy the mice, can i bring them home?

he didn't quite say yes, but i'm hopeful. i can't wait! what cute little mousies!