OMG, I just saw a mouse in the kitchen," my teenage daughter announced.

Hoopla.

I, snuggled into my lounge chair for the evening, wasn't budging.

"Well, OK, that's not so unusual for this time of the year," I said, sleepily, remembering the mouse who used to live in my mother's coal cellar and feasted on the grass seed she stored there. "We'll take care of it."

I hasten to add that, besides working full time and helping to raise three children and a golden retriever with no apparent interest in mousing, my only other activities are cleaning and laundry. Weeknights, I do laundry. Weekends, I clean. My kitchen, if not immaculate, does not harbor critters.

Except for this mouse, who preferred the warmth of my kitchen and the stray piece of whatever to the growing-colder-and-more-barren-by-the-day outdoors.

"It's not uncommon this time of year," agreed the woman at the local hardware, who led me to the mousetraps.

I chose a "glue trap," a tunnel of cardboard with a fly-paper-like bottom. Placed along the baseboards where mice like to scurry, it seemed preferable to snap traps and chemicals.

Two glue traps ought to do the trick, I thought, placing them strategically, one behind the wicker basket that holds newspapers.

The next morning, that trap was a foot away, in the middle of the kitchen floor, surrounded by cardboard shredded in an apparent fury. My husband and I figured the mouse had gotten stuck just enough to pull the trap behind him, then gnaw his way out.

Bionic mouse.

I left the other trap where it was and decided to do a full-kitchen de-clutter and scrub down, just in case.

I started with vacuuming every crevice and baseboard. I pulled the drawer out of the trash compactor and, with the sweeper's crevice tool, began sweeping in the compactor casing.

And there he was, muerto. Not in the compactor, praise be, but behind, on his side, his little face turned away from me. Thankfully.

I have cleaned up many a revolting mess in my time as a parent, but the thought of reaching in there and getting a mouse was nearly too much.

"Time to be an adult," said my husband, when I called him at work.

"I don't want to."

I found a heavy work glove and, armed with the biggest wad of paper towels I could handle, grabbed the dead mousie and tossed him in a garbage bag.

Then I scrubbed and scrubbed, disinfected and disinfected again.

Poor old mouse.

Poor old me.

R.I.P.

Marketers for a device called The Lightkeeper Pro, which diagnoses and fixes those pesky strings of holiday lights (can't vouch for it but from the list of stores in the news release, you'll see it everywhere), sent along a list of other holiday helpers. None deal with mice, but here are a few that may be handy in the coming weeks:

• Butterball Turkey hot line: 1-800-288-8372; techno-advancements this year include texting, live chats, etc. More info: www.butterball.com.

• Reynolds Turkey Tips hot line, 1-800-745-4000; www.reynoldskitchen.com

• USDA Meat and Poultry hot line, 1-888-674-6854; www.usda.gov/fsis

• The Clorox Co., drlaundryblog.com

Meet Steelers offensive lineman Max Starks from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Nov. 25 at Wholey's Fish Market, Penn Avenue, Strip District. Bring a nonperishable food item or buy one to donate to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. A Steelers football also will be raffled, benefiting the food bank.

The Women of Windhaven (WOW) Christian Church will hold their fall soup and bake sale from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 22 at the church, 1040 E. Windhaven Road, Robinson. It's off Route 60.

• D'Imperios, 3412 William Penn Highway, will hold a Champagne for the Holidays event at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 21. Cost: $85 per person plus tax and gratuity. Five kinds of champagne, antipasto buffet, sole, veal, more. 412-823-4800 for details. The restaurant is open from 1 to 7 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

• Penn Avenue Fish Market, 2208 Penn Ave., Strip District, offers a Thanksgiving feast at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 19. Four-course dinner, holiday basket raffle and take-home recipes. $65 per person. Reservations: 412-434-7200.

• Dine at Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel's Opus restaurant on Thanksgiving and $2 per diner will be donated to the nonprofit Pittsburgh Project community development organization. Cost: $49 per adult, $20 for children ages 4 to 12, free for younger children. Details, reservations: 412-992-2005.

An authentic Vietnamese luncheon will be offered from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Chatham Hall Clubhouse, 655 Pennridge Road, Mount Washington. California designer Debbie Corr will sell jewelry. Cost: $10. Takeout available. Proceeds benefit Friends of Danang, a Pittsburgh outreach program. More information: www.friendsofdanang.org.

The Ladies Philoptochos Society of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church is taking orders for the 2008 holiday bake sale until Nov. 21. Goodies range from spanakopita to baklava. Call Kay at 412-231-9575. Orders may be picked up from 9 a.m. to noon Dec. 20 and noon to 1 p.m. Dec. 21.

As Spirits columnist Bill Toland wrote about last week, tomorrow is the Pittsburgh Whiskey and Fine Spirits Festival in the East Club Lounge at Heinz Field. Tickets are $85 in advance and $95 at the door (pittsburghwhiskeyfestival.com).

Also, The Pines Tavern, 5018 Bakerstown Road, Pine, will celebrate this year's release of beaujolais with three kinds of the wine and cheese from 4 to 6 p.m. next Thursday. Cost: $15 plus tax and gratuity.

Cleveland hosts the Fabulous Food Show tomorrow through Sunday at the I-X Center, next to Hopkins Airport. See Paula Deen and son Bobby, Michael Symon, Guy Fieri, Curtis Stone, Jason Roberts and more; visit the Chocolate Bar; see top chefs from New York City at Giant Eagle's Culinary Celebration Theatre; visit 200 exhibitors at The Market Place.

Tickets: $25 online at www.fabulousfood show.com or $27.50 on site (Paula Deen show extra). Or call 216-241-5555.

Golden Corral restaurants will offer a free buffet to military veterans, including National Guard members and reservists, from 5 to 9 p.m. Monday. Details: www.goldencorral.com.

Food Network will feature LoBello's Fifth Avenue Spaghetti House, Coraopolis, at 10 p.m. Monday on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives"... The network's "Iron Chef America" will have a Thanksgiving Showdown on Sunday evening, beginning with "Greatest Moments in Iron Chef History" at 8 and a Thanksgiving chefs' battle at 8:30.

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Correction/Clarification: (Published Nov. 14, 2008) LoBello's Fifth Avenue Spaghetti House, Coraopolis, will be featured on Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" at 10 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17, 2008. An item in this Sauce column as originally published Nov. 13, 2008 had an incorrect date.