Mornings Mournings

My first weekend possibly ever, at least I can't remember when because it's been so long, without husband & little guys around. Could I sleep? No! I heard a clock ticking! I didn't know we had a clock that ticked! I then heard crunching coming from the abandoned boys' room. Yes, crunching, so bizarre. Bravely I entered their room expecting to find our rabbit had escaped & was subsidising his diet with Pokemon cards, didn't see a thing. Settling for scaring "it" into being quiet I jarred things around a bit then closed the bedroom door. Finally at 3am I ended up taking medicine to sleep. Made it a tad hard to be up & about Saturday, luckily I have a quite impressively empty social calendar.

Saturday was uneventful which was a wonderful change of pace. However I suffered Internet withdawl which nearly had me calling a crisis intervention hot line. My Internet was down & I, nor my very capable, engineering-minded son could get it going. Life without Internet?! This was like Little House on the Prairie! So back ages, so nearly pre-historic! However would I survive?! Luckily a Hersheys Special Dark Chocolate bar helped soothe my nerves & I tried desperately to make it through, talking myself down & further calming my soul with my good ol' friends, "pen & paper". It was of great help. Then the night came, as it always does after day. This time it wasn't a ticking clock keeping me up, nor crunching...something more sinister, more creepy. If only I had Internet I could somehow post a high alert to Stephen King, surely he would know what to do or not do! But alas, I had to muddle through this on my own! My teens were enjoying socializing with friends away from home & sadly the furry babies (aka: dogs) just aren't well enough trained for these sorts of situations. The situation you ask? Yes, well I shudder to even retell it. A loud snap sound, followed by a dragging & banging sound for several long minutes then - nothing. Yes, it was a mouse trap gone off & no, I was in no mind or heart to deal with it. Finally I sank into wonderful sleep somehow. I enjoyed having the whole bed to just myself & little dog & a wide assortment of pillows.

In the morning I awoke with a bit of energy & actually felt good for the first time in a long time. I went completely empty-headedly into my boys' room to start tearing it apart to sweep, mop, organize, not even remembering last night's "Noise". It was in this empty-headedness that I pulled bunk beds away from the walls to find various bizarre things which had fallen by the wayside along with crumbs from the boys munching in bed which they know not to do. Sweeping toward myself & walking backwards out of the room I nearly stepped on "IT". I would have jumped higher but I suffer from a few conditions that prevent me from actually latching onto the ceiling fan. I did however, knock myself into one of the dressers in my alarm & nearly fall over. This was no mouse, no rabbit but something in between. After stopping my awe at it's size I finally noticed it had no tale. It also was a very familiar color. Oh NO! I made a bee-line for mama-hamster's cage, I had thought she was unusually restful as of late. There is so much stuff she has accumulated in the tube where she likes to sleep that between the accumulations & the color of the tube it is hard to tell if she is in there or not. I tapped the tube, I gently jarred the cage, no movement. Then I noticed the latch was not ...well, latched! I'd been so pleased that the boys were being more "hands'-on" with her, feeding her & holding her etc. But, they hadn't latched the door shut properly it seemed. Yes, that's the kind of luck we have here, don't catch the stupid mouse playing hide-n-seek between boys' room & bathroom, but catch a family pet given as a Xmas pet to have it die a slow & agonizing death. The joy & fun never ends here folks! Ugh. Being the wonderful mother that I am (did you catch the sarcasm? if not, go back & read it again with lots of sarcastic reflection!) I went about other chores of the day. When my 17 yr old son was up & I had cooked him a nice breakfast I then used this circumstance as a chance to delegate command of the situation to him. After all, he'd be heading off to college soon, possibly living in squalor or having to dissect dead stuff, this would be a good foot-in-the-door type experience for what lay ahead - right? Even if not, I don't care, I wasn't going to touch it. He took care of it without complaint. Later I went to either take Stewie out or bring him in (rabbit/go-green weed eater / Rottweiler snack) & saw my son's handiwork. While he had disposed of it, mama hamster's dead little face was poking out of the garbage bag which was poking out the top of the over-full can. Can you say "charming" ? -huh, NOT! I'm sure I'll hear from the garbage man if a way isn't found to further camouflage the death bag.

So, my child-free, husband-free weekend was quiet but not so fun. A dead hamster & reconnected Internet connection now under my belt I'm coming out of mourning the loss of such a golden opportunity. Caffeine helps tremendously! Homecoming of boys & husband was busy. The guys had gone expecting to catch another little blue-bellied lizard to befriend their previous catch at gramma's. I had thought it a fluke to have caught one at all but I indulged their imaginations & excitement. Just out of sheer spite to prove me wrong I'm sure (spite & that great sense of humor God has) they came home with 6, yes SIX lizards & 1 baby skink with a neon blue tale. I'm a veteran at this mom of boys thing by now right? I survived GST for goodness sakes right? I can sleep & live without creepy-crawlies or constantly looking at slithery things right? Where's my red-cape?! If you've lost count it is now Hamsters 0, Lizards 6 + 1 skink. I restrained a shiver as I typed that count out for you. Be proud of me.

Be Blessed, who-ever your higher power be - be blessed. Thank you for reading & I'm sorry I was out of circulation over the weekend.