The Opossum Story: Part Two

If you haven't already, make sure you read the preamble and part one before continuing.

After our experience with Matilda, a.k.a the Creature of My Nightmares, I spent the following day a paranoid wreck. Using the only knowledge I had, I made Hubby check our oven drawer repeatedly before leaving for work.

I kept peeking under my desk at work, checking for signs of rodents. Hubby sent me links (sans images) on opossums, which declared that they are one of the "cleaner" rodents and are not known to attack people. Uh-huh, sure.

When we returned home, I waited outside while Hubby checked for signs of a re-entry. The coast was clear.

Hubby went downstairs "opossum-proof" basement because we still didn't know how Matilda got in. I tried to act normal and start dinner. I had to get a pot lid out of the oven drawer but didn't want to, given the story burned into my memory.

I wanted to ask Hubs to do it for me, but again, my pride kicked in and I distinctly remember telling myself, "There's nothing in the drawer. It's all in your head. There's nothing in the drawer."

So I bent down, opened the drawer and came face-to-face with MATILDA SITTING ON MY POT LIDS IN MY OVEN DRAWER!

Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.

I totally melted. Screaming my head off, I slammed the drawer shut and ran into our living room to jump up and down on our coffee table. Since he last saw me holding a knife, Hubby ran up the stairs expecting to discover a maimed wife.

The details are fuzzy but I'm fairly certain any pretense of bravery was shattered during my repeated yells of, "In the drawer! On my pot lids! I can't do this! I can't do this!"

That night, I realized I was married to someone with unnatural patience and grace. Hubs was so kind to me in my state of hysterics.

First, he decided to take me on a drive to calm down. But we saw a raccoon. Hysteria ensued again. So we decided to spend the night at my parents. He wanted to go back in the house to get clothes and such but I begged him not to go back in. I was terrified he would get attacked and asked if opossums could bite through his jeans. (Just roll with me, OK? I was very scared.)

I called my mom and here's a snippet of our convo:

K: Mom, we found another opossum in the house.
M: What?! Are you OK?
K: Yeah, but we can't stay there.
M: Of course you can come here but Katie... I know I'm going to sound crazy but someone should check the oven drawer. Do you remember that story on the radio?
K: MOM, IT WAS IN MY OVEN DRAWER!

Once we got to my parents' house, I started crying again just looking at their miniature dachshunds. They looked so much like over-sized rodents so my dad put them away.

Long story long, animal control was called, Matilda was exterminated and nothing else was found in our house. We discovered a crack in the basement and a hole in the cabinet under our kitchen sink. (Remember I thought I heard a cabinet door shut on the first night? Yeah, this totally justifies any noise I hear and I make Hubs investigate every one now.)

Thankfully, no nests were found but we did spend the next three nights with my parents before I was able to go back. Can you blame me?

And now you know why this was such a huge milestone for me.