Ordering Pizza The Hard Way.

After a lovely Friday afternoon hanging out with our backyard neighbors in their pool, I was reluctantly going to make dinner. I didn't feel like making dinner. I was too relaxed and didn't want to exude any effort. The Weasels wanted to order pizza. I too wanted to order pizza, but already had hamburgers and hot dogs all prepped to go on the grill. Pizza was out, or so I thought.

I pulled out the charcoal to light the grill. It didn't want to light. Some days I have no problem getting it going quickly. Today wasn't one of those days. Every time the flame caught, it went right out again. The charcoal just wouldn't light easily. I kept playing with it and relighting. Finally it lit. I waited a few minutes to let the grill heat before tossing the burgers on.

Cooking over indirect heat, as opposed to directly over the flame to prevent flare ups, I had a few minutes to talk over the fence with with my neighbor. I had Boy Weasel turn the sprinklers on in the front yard and soon we would be eating.

A full 2 minutes later, Boy Weasel called to me, "Mom.........THE PORCH IS ON FIRE!". I turn around to see that for the first time ever, Boy Weasel wasn't getting over excited about a small flare up. The porch was indeed ON FIRE! Flames were shooting about 3 feet out from the porch, where the charcoal bin had caught fire. Oh, the irony.

I went running around to the front of front of the house to grab the hose that was still attached to the sprinkler. My neighbor called for her husband to come help me and he cleared the back fence with a fire extinguisher in hand (very impressive actually). He attacked the back side of the fire, while I hosed down the front. It only took about a minute to put the flames out and I was very grateful for the help.

The damage was fairly minimal, compared to what it could have been (2 more minutes and the house would have caught). There are a few scorched floor boards and part of the railing that will need to be replaced before winter, they lost some strength and integrity. A plastic caster wheel from the grill melted into the porch and the charcoal bin melted down to 1/3 it's original size. The charcoal grill will not be usable. I do not think that replacement parts will attach easily to melted mountings. We'll be cooking with gas this summer (much less flammable - hah!).

I consider us to be very lucky. Not only did Boy Weasel see and alert us to the fire in time to put it out and save out house, we got to order pizza for dinner.

Saying Goodbye To Summer

Today is the saddest day of the year here in Weaselville, for tomorrow is the first day of school for the elementary age Weasels(and the first full day of school for Eldest Weasel). It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our friend, summer vacation, until June 2009.

We have an awful lot to do today. We need to lay out the uniforms and shoes et. al., pack the backpacks, distribute supplies and make sure everyone is bathed. We also have a special mass today with the Bishop. He is coming to do the official dedication of this brand new school, that will be officially open for business tomorrow. After the dedication there will be slight joy for the Weasels in the form of the parish picnic. Games, snacks and desserts should help them enjoy their last hours of freedom before the shackles of school are once again thrust around their ankles.

We do cherish our lazy days of summer around here, that are anything but lazy. There are a lot of things we never got around to doing, but we also managed to squeeze in loads of fun. It's hard to believe how fast the time goes. We will continue to take advantage of the summer weather and activities in the few hours of sunlight left after homework is complete.

The Weasels are in a complete state of depression over their impending imprisonment. They are all good students, who genetically inherited the "I hate school" gene from their mother. They believe that school is just another way for "the Man to keep them down", and that homework is designed to completely suck all of the hope and joy out of their lives. Recess is the only part of school that allows them to maintain their sanity and refrain from complete despair.

The first few weeks will be fresh and new, so somewhat tolerable and interesting for them. After that it becomes a downhill slope of darkness until the light at the end of the tunnel, Christmas break, is in sight. With the entrance of January, smiles once again fade away until they feel like they are circling the bowl by March. April brings a glimmer of hope, offering longer days and slightly better temperatures, which can only mean one thing. Summer will soon be here. But at the same time feeling like a marathon runner at around mile 20, forcing one foot in front of the other with sheer willpower of reaching the finish line and being able to reclaim their lives for themselves.

About May they will begin to dream about not being pulled by the ankles out of bed and force fed breakfast, and no more marching gulag style to the car before they wipe the sleep from their eyes. AHHHHH, better than sugarplums dancing. They know that soon they will be living the Phineas and Ferb lifestyle once again. It's the only thing that keeps them pushing on.

Youngest Weasel too will join the ranks of school goers this year. She, opposite of siblings, is happy and excited. She wants to be a 'big kid'. She wants a teacher of her own. She wants to learn to read and have homework and a back pack and a lunch box. The rest of the Weasels just shake their heads in pity for her. Little does she know the horrors of the road she is about to embark on. Sweet naive youngest Weasel, they only wish they could save her from this awful fate, like a mother who encourages her daughter not to begin shaving her legs just yet because once you start you have to always continue. Or the Daughter who prays for puberty to start, who's mother silently hopes for her daughter to avoid that cross as long as possible, for she will soon enough have to deal with it for the next 4 decades.

So with the Weasels feeling as helpless as the French people on the day before the occupation, they will wave their white flags and go along with the program. But one day, I fear all too soon, they will form a resistance movement. I can already picture them strategically planning which bridges to take out and how to sabotage the car.

We Should Install A Revolving Door

Our house is always chaos. But it is usually organized chaos. At least to some degree organized. With 5 kids and 2 pseudo-adults living here full time, that's really the best you could hope for. We also have managed to acquire a menagerie of pets. Two hamsters, three fire bellied toads, three cats and a housefly named 'Frankie'. All of the pets have proven themselves to be pretty useless but also fairly harmless.
At current we also have a dog as a house guest. A week and half ago a friend needed dog sitting for 3 days. She is still eating meals here and relieving herself in my yard. But we really don't mind. I will get a lot of of good blog posts out of the deal.
Now it's summertime and school's out. This is a great thing. I not only enjoy spending time with my kids, but summer is a lot easier than the school year. There are no lunches to make (it's survival of the fittest. If you can't find the pantry by now you'll never survive life in the real world), no homework to do and best of all a much more relaxed schedule. Thanks to this schedule I get my best summer perk of all. I can say 'YES'. Yes, your friend can come play, yes you can go play, yes you can have your friend sleep over. This pleases me. During the school year I am the Nazi Mom. No, no, no, do your homework, eat your dinner, no time to play, get in the car we are late for....insert sport here. Eat your breakfast, where's your papers, brush your teeth, don't use your toothbrush on the cat.......IT"S TIME TO GO!!!!!!!!
The downside to this summer free-for- all is that it's a free-for-all. Our home is constantly full of transients and could be confused for a homeless shelter. Complete with soup kitchen style meals. Trying to keep track of who's in, who's out, who's eating where and who is this kid eating out of the cats' dish.
When a neighbor can't find their child, they don't call 911 or the FBI, they call my house. It is now 8:30 am on a Saturday and surprisingly I am only stepping over 1 extra transient in the living room. By this afternoon, this place will look like we are having a frat party Animal House style. Very often Hubby (mister weasel himself) will be helping to serve a meal, tie shoes etc. When he makes eye contact with a child he suddenly realizes is not his own. "Who are you? What are you doing in my home? Did you pay the cover charge?"
I would actually make a fortune if I put a popsicle vending machine in my garage, or save a fortune if I put a padlock on my freezer. Putting in a revolving would also be money saving and how much fun would it be to let the dog out.