Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire

So, this morning is Christmas Eve. At about 9 am I was greeted in my bed by warm snuggly children who could speak of nothing but Santa and presents. Hubby ushered in my favorite Christmas treat, eggnog baguette french toast swimming in butter and real maple syrup. Fresh orange juice and fruit sat along side the eggnog masterpiece.

Okay, at this point I wake up and realize that those shadows standing beside my bed at 6 am are really my children talking over top of each other about "Sparky" and "gone" and "cat food". Once I realize that they are not going back to bed, I nudge Hubby to help, only to be told that he has a wicked case of pink eye and can't see anything.

The kids drag me upstairs where we find Sparky's cage (our hamster) obliterated all over the floor. Sparky is gone and the cats are licking their chops. I feel as if I am in an episode of Tom & Jerry. It looks as if the kids had a truly terrible birthday party where the finale was whacking the hell out of a pinata full of hamster poop and sand.

Now what I have not told you in previous entries is that we are not excellent housekeepers. In fact, you will more likely find us climbing a mountain, cleaning out a river or roasting marshmallows in our driveway fireplace. Sooo, the kids' rooms (which connect with a long closet) were disaster areas this morning. Although I bet Sparky was delighted to snuggle up in snow drifts of clothes and toys after his 5 foot crash to the ground didn't end in him being flattened like my dream french toast.

So, almost 2 hours later, we have relatively clean bedrooms, or at least junk is crammed into baskets and under beds. You see, we found Sparky a few minutes ago and like the family we are, threw in the towel, put Sparky in his cage and moved on to fun stuff. Life is entirely too short to clean. Besides, God has a way to force your hand when your house gets too bad. I have no other explanation as to how a hamster cage was knocked off of a 5 foot dresser at 6 am on Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas, Gang.