Two Mysteries: Houdini Squirrel and Every Word

Mystery 1:
Today was car-tire(s)-buying day. Yuck. So, as I'm talking on the phone with the guy at the tire store, I opened the kitchen door that leads to the screened in porch. A gray blur ran by. Ummm, not good.

I walked gingerly out onto the porch and I saw it. And, it saw me. A squirrel. Mr. Squirrel began frantically running around my porch, scaling the screens and in general, FREAKING OUT! I slammed the door, told the tire guy I'd have to call him back and hung up. It was a squirrel emergency!

I opened the screened door to the deck under the pergola while Mr. Crazy Squirrel frantically tried to exit the other screened door that was still latched. I went back into the house, went around to the family room and came out that door. I tossed a votive candle in Mr. Squirrel's general direction (only thing handy at the moment) and he didn't budge from his resting spot on the top of the swing. I slowly started walking toward him...and it worked. He ran to the other side of the porch and out the open door.

This is what he had been doing on the porch.



Every night after the Cardinals finish their late evening visits, I bring in the bird feeders to keep the raccoons from cleaning them out overnight. I always set them over in the corner near the kitchen door, far, far away from the screens. Apparently, wily squirrel was too impatient this morning to wait for me to put them back out, so he just decided to come onto the porch and help himself.

So, here's the mystery: How in the world did Houdini Squirrel get in??? Both doors were latched. I've done a thorough inspection of every single screen and there are zero holes. I thought for sure he had chewed his way in through a screen but, nope. Not a single hole anywhere. And the screened doors latch really snugly. I pushed on them to check and they barely move at all. Weird, huh?

Obviously, I won't be leaving the feeders on the screened-in porch anymore. Have you ever had anything like that happen? Bizarre!


Mystery #2:

Recently, I treated myself to a Kindle . I'll never, ever quit buying "real" books because I adore them. I love holding them while I read, I love turning the pages, I love seeing them on book shelves, tables...you get the picture. I love books. But I've been wanting a Kindle for travel and times when I'm stuck in waiting rooms...buying tires. Yuck.

Do you have a Kindle? Here's how it looked when it arrived. I went with a white one but they also have it in a new graphite color, too.




When you turn it on, it goes through various little screens while it syncs itself to your Amazon account. Once it's charged, it will last about a month with normal use before it has to be charged again. Cool.



I immediately loaded some of the classics onto it because I love those and they are that magic word: Free! Yay, for free. I also loaded a free game called Every Word...more on that in a sec.



Nancy Drew Mystery Stories:
My favorite books from age 8 to age 11 were Nancy Drew Mystery Stories. Every two weeks I took the $2 allowance I earned for keeping the house clean, and walked a few blocks to Joyland Toy Store with my best friend. We would agonize and agonize over all the mysterious and intriguing titles, finally choosing different books so we could swap to read each others when we finished our own.

Back then, a brand new Nancy Drew book was $1.50, exactly one and half week's allowance...not too bad. It's one of the happiest memories from my childhood. Did you get an allowance? What was your favorite thing to buy? Were you a big Nancy Drew fan, too?

Now, if you get a new toy, you just gotta have something to keep it safe and scratch-free in, right? An idea popped into my head, and I googled. Sure enough, someone had created a Nancy Drew case for Kindle. I couldn't resist. :)



I knew this one would be a little too big since mine is a Kindle 3G. But since it snaps, I was pretty sure it would work fine as a carrying case. Besides, it was just too cute to pass up.



Here's where I need your help. I've started playing the game Every Word. There are 10 levels and I've made it all the way to level 8. Now, I'm stuck. I'm pretty sure I'm allowed a to "phone blog a friend" for assistance. ;)

So, here's the deal. You're supposed to unscramble the letters you see along the top to create words. As long as you get the longest word (which uses all 7 letters) you can proceed to the next level. I've normally been able to find the longest word right off the bat...even before finding the much easier shorter words. But not this time. Actually, the rules say that you don't even have to find any of the shorter words, the game will let you proceed to the next level as long as you find the longest word. I always try to find as many words as I can, though, because it increases your score and it's fun figuring them out.

But now I'm really stuck. I just can't seem to create a seven letter word with the letters you see across the top: A M T C S A R. (By the way, the word can't be a name or proper noun.)



Any ideas? I'm sure someone is going to immediately see it...but it's totally alluding me. UPDATE: Ashleigh figured it out, as did Lori! Man, I should have asked you guys sooner! On to level 9! :)

Do you have a Kindle? Have you played this game? What's the "funniest" game you've put on your Kindle? Do you just use your Kindle for reading books?

The game, Code Word is a lot of fun too. You can yell at thank me later when you find yourself spending hours deciphering code words. Think of it as exercise for your brain. :)

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