latest adventure in owning a house

Last week Jim and I noticed a bad smell in the hallway by our water heater. It seemed to come and go so at first we tried to ignore it and blame it on the dogs. Then it started to get really bad.

Jim was concerned that we might have a gas leak, so he and his dad set to work making sure we didn't. I had no idea that spraying soap bubbles on a gas line can reveal a potential leak. Fortunately, that wasn't the issue. My mom told me you can also spray soap bubble on a tire to find the leak. Who knew?

Our investigation and the increasing odor let us to an anonymous conclusion: dead rodent.  Where was it? In the attic. Somehow. The little bastard must've climbed through our roof vent and then tragically died when he couldn't escape. I feel terrible that a creature met it's death in our home, but he didn't knock when he came in.

The miserable task of exploring the attic for the carcass fell on Jim's shoulders. Mainly because I'm a girl and that's a blue chore, not a pink chore. Poor guy was up in the nasty crawl space for 45 minutes and couldn't locate the source of the smell amid all the insulation. He did, however, find a dog Kong toy. it wasn't ours, and how that got up in our attic is a mystery to me.

Today I googled 'dead rat in attic' and was floored at how many sites came up. No one had surefire solutions but at least I learned we're not alone. Moral of the story? Jim is a good sport and scented candles are a must.