Quitting my diet cola drink is hard enough.  The headaches, mood swings and general feelings of “unwell” are evidence that those little cocktails of carbonated water, caffeine and chemicals are not exactly healthy for the human body.  When I’m going through diet soda withdrawals, normal life is difficult enough, and then today I discovered mice in the pantry.

Life’s been full of big changes for me lately.  I just graduated from a masters program in business administration, I just got laid off from my job, my boyfriend and I just got engaged, and I’m putting my townhome on the market while looking for a house with my fiancé.  So, of course, I think it’s a great idea to quit drinking diet soda and start an exercise routine so I can look and feel my very best on my wedding day.  I’m stressed, on edge, even though most of my life changes are mostly for the good.  Well, except for the job loss, of course.  That’s a special kind of stress.

After a frustrating wedding planning session with my mother, I decided to clean out my kitchen in preparation for the upcoming move.  I’ll admit, I haven’t been in that pantry for a good, long while, subsisting through the last few months of the masters program on take-out and vending machine food.  I had no idea there were mice in the pantry until today.

I pulled items out, wondering what those little black things were on the shelves and the tops of the cans.  I finally realized those little black things were mice poop around and on top of my food when I saw little holes chewed into pasta and cereal boxes.  That’s really put me over the top today.    Mice in the pantry!  Right when I’m trying to sell the place.  Crap.

I easily got the pantry emptied out by throwing everything away.  I called Allstate Animal Control to get rid of the mice from the pantry.  And, I am now enjoying a heavily caffeinated diet soda.  Fine.  I can quit some other day.