Monday Morning Blues ...

On the rat front-
I guess we could call it 50% success. But that would mean that we knew we had TWO rats, when in fact we had no idea. Double-flip out tantrum. One rat is dead, an apparent victim of too much d-con for lunch on Friday. The smell tipped us off and we found the poor sap behind the washing machine.

The victory was short lived as rat number two was making noise in a corner before we (and when I say we, I mean Troy) ever finished removing his buddy's body.

I know lots of you Haiti people are thinking, what's the big deal????? Heck, the Zachary's bring rats to the states to go on fundraising trips and speak at churches ... they've absorbed into the family.

We all have fears, yes?

My friend Amie fears sharks. I know a few people who hate snakes. Well, I FEAR (irrational, crazy, cannot sleep at night kind of fear) all rodents. The list includes, but is not limited to: rats, mice, guinea pigs, gerbils, squirrels, chipmunks, hamsters, ferrets ... all those things make my skin crawl. I don't know what sort of childhood trauma caused the phobia, I just know the phobia is real. The fact that I am still sleeping in a house where a rat is known to be sleeping (or doing whatever terrible rat-things he does) is in and of itself - nothing short of a miracle.

Recently I woke up in the night freaking out saying to Troy "there is a rat in our bed there is a rat" Troy said, (in a condescending tone) "Uh, no I don't think so - think about it a minute." I said "yes, it was just wiggling around under my shoulder, maybe it is just a mouse but there IS something in our bed." Troy got up and turned the light on and helped me put myself back together. You'll be shocked to know, he was right. Turns out, no rat in bed.

I don't ever want to so much as lay eyes on these awful creatures. Right now I knock when I MUST enter the laundry room, just to give the rat a chance to hide so I won't see him.

The whole Carl Spackler, Caddy Shack, on a mission to kill rodent thing ... it was mildly amusing to me last week. Now that Carl has still not found a way to catch the laundry room bandit, I am much less amused.

A friend, Wayne, sent an amazing plan that Troy will be trying soon. It requires some fancy construction -- and Wayne guarantees success. This is one smart rodent, the average glue or snap or bucket trap is not going to catch him.

Enough about that terrible topic.

On Saturday-
Troy and Britt had a heck of a bad day. They brought that lady with the broken leg to Port. The hospital they went to turned her away (I think it was Medicine without Borders) because --- well, because she was not in imminent danger of dying. The second place turned them away. On try number three they had success and dropped her off with some people in place to help her. That took two hours longer than they'd planned. PLAN ha ha ha hahaaaaaaa ....

They went on to try and get to GLA Orphanage for Britt to get Math help. The truck overheated. They walked the rest of the way. The truck cooled down. Troy learned that the radiator had a hole in it. They coasted down the mountain when the math lesson was over and miraculously made it to the McHouls where they were able to take Beth's truck.

Both Britt and Troy separately commented to me about how proud they were of the way the other one had handled the stress of the day. I guess we have two mature grown ups on our hands or something.

Twelve hours after leaving home they pulled into the mission and announced that Beth's truck was God's way of telling them He still loves them. Apparently the ride is pretty nice in her vehicle.

Sunday we all worked on various projects and lists of things that needed completing. We were tempted to just drive around in Beth's truck all day, but we stuck to the tasks at hand.

Troy is gone today to try and find someone to look at our truck and to buy supplies for the greatest rat catching device of all time.

Other than rats and broken trucks the weekend was uneventful. The kids had fun playing in the hose, chasing chickens and watching movies. We were wrestling and playing Friday night when the topic of America came up. (Yes, America is the current obsession of the 3 Musketeers - and a recurring topic of conversation.) Isaac recalls huge places where there are many, many stores and lots of places to eat ... he wants to go to one of those --- if indeed they exist and are not just some figment of his imagination.

I said something about a friend of mine and Hope said, "Friend??? MOM, you don't have friends, you only have kids." I cannot decide if she is onto some truth there. :)

We hope you're well ... that you are off to a happy, productive and rat-free week.
tara