So there’s this bat…

The story really starts on Monday night…. I think. I was in the office around 10pm, and heard some weird noise in the vent. Since we’ve had some issues with birds and mice I didn’t think too much of it, and I’m still not sure it’s related, but…

On Tuesday night I was driving back to work from downtown Milwaukee and Dana calls to tell me there is a bat in the house. I drop off all the equipment at work and then headed home. Dana tells me a story involving hiding in Emma’s room (with Tinkerbell the cat) and then climbing out the window to open both doors hoping it would fly out. She ended up closing both doors after about 5 minutes because she saw a dodgy squirrel, and was afraid it (or some bird) might try to come in the house.

So by the time I got home, I searched and searched and could not find the bat anywhere. I assumed it had flown out when the doors were open. Case closed. (But not really.)

Wednesday night, the kids were over, we had dinner, Emma was making cupcakes for Gallery Night, and I saw Tinkerbell sitting on a chair staring at the fireplace… Staring at a dark spot on the fireplace. The dark spot turned out to be the bat. I yelled “We have a bat!” and got a little frantic. By now I had read all there was to read about bat removal, so I was ready. I think I was just freaked out that everyone else would freak out, but everyone was pretty calm actually. Except me.

I grabbed my heavy work gloves, and a towel, and gently grabbed the bat from the fireplace, and got it outside. I was actually afraid of hurting it, and tried to be gentle with it. Once outside, I put it at the base of a tree, and it started to climb up.

The response from the kids on the subject of the bat: “it was cute!”

P.S. I’m Batman.

Oh, there was also a ton of great advice on Facebook. Here’s a summary by Dana of what to do next time.

Dana and I had a chance to see The Black Jew Dialogues when they came through Wisconsin, and we both enjoyed the show, and highly recommend it.

If you’re involved with booking things for schools (universities or high-schools) get these guys. They’re a bit irreverent, but they do use humor to drive home a message. That’s the great thing about this show, you could book them as a comedy act, or as part of your school’s diversity program.

We spent some time after the show with Larry and Ron, discussing a number of topics, from racism, tolerance, African-American authors, and comedy writing. It was pretty close to a perfect evening (if you don’t count the 2+ hours we spent driving to Fond Du Lac and back.)

Back in May 2010 we were in Austin, Texas and you can’t go to Austin, Texas without making a stop at Hey Cupcake! So here we are at Hey Cupcake! And I say “we” because I’m in the photo as well… hooray for reflective surfaces!

Actually, we were in Michigan for Dana, as she was a speaker at a Literature conference (and Pete just went along for the ride, and for moral support.) Her talk was well received, and besides a few problems with the GPS in the rental car, it was good trip.

So that was May… and now we’re looking forward to June, which just happens to be Birthday month (for both of us) and anniversary month too!

Here’s some proof:

Atomic Books, a Maryland Landmark!
(Thanks to Jim Romenesko for the suggestion)

Another famous spot in Baltimore…

OK, just some random wall, but I swear it was in Baltimore…

2008 was a rough year at times, but we always hope for a better future, so here’s to 2009, may it be AWESOME!

There was a brief rainstorm to deal with, as well as a DJ who sidelined as an Elvis impersonator, and a photographer who didn’t use a tripod or Photoshop, but hey, we played games, had fun, ate food, and all was good…

The kids have a ball.

Survivor Man Steve is ready for anything!

Maddy enjoys cake (too much!)

Emma is in it to win!

Tinkerbell needs surgery. She has a lump that may or may not be malignant, so we’re getting it removed. No one is looking forward to this…

Here’s an update on Tinkerbell’s condition.

It was also good to see family again, and Emma and Maddy definitely had a blast hanging out with Shelby.

We’re hoping to get out to Maryland this Summer, but we’ll see how things go.

Oh yeah, if you are looking for the Papa John’s Pizza in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania, it’s located inside the Walmart.