Three things that are not related

...The last of which is disturbing. Reader beware!

1. Doing laundry in Minnesota in December means that the stain spray I store in my car had frozen solid, and that when I removed my fleece from the dryer where it had been tumbling on the "no heat" setting, it had frozen crunchy.

2. We ended up not even opening the carton of orange juice I'd purchased for brunch last weekend, and I generally try not to drink too much citrus juice (though I love it) because it tends to make me break out, but I finally opened it yesterday, and having a glass with breakfast makes me feel extremely luxurious.

3. On Wednesday, there was a vague bad smell in my apartment, seemingly localized in "the other room" between my living room and mini-hallway. It bothered me all day, and that night, having stayed up late grading papers and having just finished brushing my teeth and taking out my contacts, I decided to investigate. It seemed to be worst in the area around my rolling mini-filing cabinet, so I pulled it out a few inches from the wall. I gasped when I saw something dark against the wall, but was relieved to realize that it was just a small purse flashlight that had fallen behind the cabinet. When I leaned over to look on the other side of the cabinet, I didn't gasp--even though what I saw was four little mouse paws sticking out from under the edge. I did choke a little when I tried to move the cabinet and the paws moved with it, but recovered myself (after a thorough shuddering) and methodically removed the drawers of files and was then easily able to roll the cabinet away from the (extremely stationary) and now clearly noxious mouse. I didn't even have to talk myself through it out loud (as I have in the past--something along the brilliant lines of "You're okay, you're okay, you can do this, you're okay") as I put on my gloves, disposed of the body, and disinfected the floor for good measure. Apparently at least one of them found the poison my landlord left. I hope no more of them choose to die in my space--as cold-hearted as I may be.