Crikey!

EJ and I had a good weekend together…well, once we got through our appointment at H&R Block to get our taxes done. I always really dread it, expecting the worst, anxious that we are going to have to end up paying a gazillion dollars. I used to not really expect the worst, but then we went through a few situations–such as JJ’s cancer–when I expected the best and the worst happened instead. So now I know that the worst can sometimes happen, and I find myself bracing for it. And then there was that time a couple years ago when our tax preparer initially told us we had to pay $2,000, and I almost had heart failure, but by the time she got through her calculations, I think we got a refund. Whew. So I hate getting our taxes done. But this time, we learned that we are getting a pretty good refund, which means we can pay off some of our bills. Yay!

The rest of the weekend was enjoyable. After our taxes, we ran a couple other errands. Saturday we relaxed. Sunday we went to the hardware store to buy a kitchen faucet because ours was leaking. While there, the clerk mentioned that we were forecasted to get about 12-18 inches of snow! Yikes! I don’t know what weather website he had gotten the information from but, obviously, those particular meteorologists were exaggerating. According to the National Weather Service, the storm system is staying well south of us with not anything near that much snow. We are only going to get a couple inches of lake effect snow in our area toward the end of the week. I’m really enjoying our milder winter this year.

In addition to fixing the faucet, EJ worked on our mouse problem, including setting a trap under the sink and blocking access to the cupboard next to it. Sunday night we heard the trap spring as it caught a mouse. Last night Hannah and I heard the trap spring again. Hannah ran out to the cupboard and sniffed around it, then barked at me to let her in the cupboard. I wouldn’t do it and she was quite vocal about her displeasure. When EJ checked it this morning, the trap was empty–so the mouse had gotten away.

Late this afternoon I was sitting in my chair crocheting as I watched the deer eating the birdseed outside the window. Suddenly, they all looked off to their right, very focused. Usually, they do that when more deer are approaching so I figured that was probably the case this time as well. But then their tails all went up in alarm and they leaped off into the forest to the left. I’ve never seen them signal an alarm like that when other deer come in, so I got up and looked out the window to try to see what had alarmed them.

I saw an animal walking through the forest. It was difficult to get a good look at it because it was a bit far away and the trees often blocked my view. But it didn’t move like a deer. I suspected it was a coyote, and when I saw it go to the deer carcass and start eating from it, I knew I was correct. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a coyote in the wild. I thought it was interesting. I watched it for at least an hour until it grew too dark to see it. 

I took a video of it so I could show EJ tomorrow. I had to zoom way in so the video is a little grainy. Also, the more I zoom in, the more little movements are exaggerated, but I think that I did relatively well at holding the camera still. Crikey! I felt like Steve Irwin, may he rest in peace.

Hannah Joy and I just heard the mousetrap spring again. Hannah ran to the kitchen to sniff at the cupboard. Once again, she is annoyed that I’m not checking it out too. She is so funny!