When did I become the man in this relationship?

I just about laughed until I cried tonight. As I was sitting in my room grading papers...okay, maybe I was just surfing the 'net...but anyway, as I was minding my own business my roommate, Christiana, started yelling my name from downstairs.

"Patty! Patty come here! Patty get down here right now! PATTY!"

My response? "What!?!" In my head I said: "What's the big deal. Sheesh!"

She kept on yelling and was soon screeching (yes, like a banshee) and I was getting more and more annoyed.

"I'm coming!" I responded as I walked (not ran) downstairs and saw Christiana perched on top of the side board/buffet in our dining room.

My first response? A big smile followed with, "What are you doing up there?"

Christiana just pointed into the kitchen and said "Mouse."

Okay, we have a mouse. So. She's a thirty year-old woman, what does she want me to do about it? I'll tell you what. As she continued to perch on the side board and crane her neck around the doorjam she directed me to where she last saw the mouse. Honestly? When did I become the man in this obviously disfunctional relationship? I already seem to be the go-to person that gets elected to tell the landlord when there's a problem with the house, so now I'm elected to be the mouse killer? Sheesh. Fine. (That may be part of my problem, giving in too easily, but really, I'd rather deal with something head-on instead of tip-toeing around it.)

So I'm barefoot, in my pajamas, and starting to dismantle the counter where Christiana last saw the mouse. I have a hotpad in one hand (I honestly don't know what I was going to do with that) and a plastic pitcher held upside down by the handle (I figured I could trap the mouse when it scurried across the counter before it hid again). As I moved stuff from the corner my roommate pointed to I kept on expecting the mouse to spring on my neck and attack, like the rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail movie. Good times!

So I got to the last item (a big bag of rice) and with baited breath I lifted the bag and...

...nothing.

Yep. Absolutely nothing. Christiana swears her eyes never left the place where she saw the mouse go and there aren't any holes in that corner. Looks like Mighty Mouse has taken up abode in our house. On the shopping list now: mouse traps.

I put the kitchen back to rights and went to leave the kitchen and Christiana was still on top of the side board. I couldn't take it any longer and started laughing. I offered to put on the tea kettle or get her a glass of water from the kitchen, if that's what she was initially wanting, but she assurred me that she was fine...and then made Sage (my dog) go into the kitchen with her as a guard dog. Um, yeah.