Joy In Mudville

We are in the midst of a heat wave. Yesterday reached 51°F here in Weaselville. The sun shone and the angels sang. We saw the glimmering light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Heading outdoors was not a painful experience for the first time in months. We actually wanted to be outside. Days like this are entirely uplifting for the soul.

With the extra vitamin D coursing through my veins I headed out to clear the last remnants of ice from the sidewalk and driveway while the kids pulled their bikes out of the garage and broke free from the chains of cabin fever. The snow that had been piled up everywhere was melting quickly and we could actually see the ground and the brown death that will transform back to lawn in the spring.

I went for a 1 mile run that almost killed me and just enjoyed being free of below freezing temps. I actually worked up a sweat that didn't form icicles on my eyebrows or leg hair.

Boy Weasel asked if he could take his younger sisters to the park down the street. No problem. That would give me opportunity to get some chores done and a nice hot shower without interruption. I love when I can send them outside to play! And they love not being imprisoned in the house.

With the washing machine going and the dishwasher running I headed upstairs for a glorious, unrushed, relaxing shower to soothe my aching muscles. Mr. Weasel took to the solitude of the bedroom to answer some emails and hack out some code for a potential job.

And then it happened.

While wearing a robe and towel drying my hair, an unrecognizable mud ball came tearing into my bedroom. Voice recognition told me that it was Monkey Weasel. She looked as if she had gone swimming in elephant dung and was speaking in a rushed and panicked tone something about needing help. Following quickly behind her was a slightly larger pile of mud that we identified as Middle Weasel from the tell tale tag line of "don't worry, I'm okay" (that usually follows behind a loud crashing sound). "Smallest Weasel and Boy Weasel are in the garage and need help cleaning themselves up before they can come in". The thought crosses my mind that if these two Weasels thought is prudent to traipse through the house in this condition, what must the others look like.

I followed the thickly laid trail of mud from the bedroom, down the hall and the stairs, through the living room and the kitchen and into the garage, height was the the only identifying feature left to tell these two Weasels apart.

One by one, we started stripping the Weasels in the kitchen and wrapping them in towels to send them for showers. We started with Monkey Weasel and Middle Weasel to stop the amount of destruction they were leaving in their wake. There was a lack of hot water remaining due to my shower, the washer and the dish washer all having been run. Great.

Smallest Weasel started to cry "They made me pee my pants!" as we peeled the layers of what used to be clothing from her. What do you mean, 'they made you pee'? Boy Weasel pipes up "She was stuck in the mud and said she had to go. I knew we would never get her out of the mud and home in time, so I told her she would have to pee in her pants". The Mr. and I couldn't hold back our laughter. In Boy Weasel's defense, a little extra pee didn't add anything much to her soiled state.

As we continued cleaning up the gang and the trails left behind them, we really just had to laugh. The whole story of how this debacle happened came out slowly in segments from all 4 sources. We could piece this much together. They decided to run across the baseball field, that has damn near turned to quicksand in the thaw. They all managed to fall numerous times and would get stuck if they stayed stationary for more the 5 seconds. Smallest Weasel got stuck while trying to escape to a bathroom. After she wet her pants ~from inside, they were already wet from the outside~ Boy Weasel thought it prudent to try and clean her up using a still pristine snow pile and water from the mud puddles.

I asked them "Was it at least a lot of fun? Please tell me you at least had fun". Three out of four Weasels answered "Yeah! It was great!". Smallest Weasel whimpered "no". I asked her "was it fun before you peed your pants?", "yeah, it was bunches of fun then".

Socks and underwear ~ total loss ~ $15.00
Extra use of laundry detergent and water ~ $7.00
Clean up time ~ 4 hours (rinsing clothes in sink, removing mud from carpeting and flooring, showers and laundry.
Thinking of their smiling faces while relating their tale of adventure to me ~ Priceless.

My only regret is that in name of damage control, I didn't stop to take a picture.