The best laid plans of mice and men...

go awry on Memorial Day 2009.

This morning dawned earlier than we wanted because of crying cats. Their whining to be fed overruled my own body's insistence to sleep in past 8:00. I made it to 7:46 before relenting to the felines.

Breakfast of pancakes followed without trouble. Chores were dished out, the day's plans put into place, a cookout awaits us for the evening. Aaaaah, all thing were ticking along smoothly. Happy Memorial Day.

Two-thirds of the way into my first cup of coffee, the boat overturned.

I had sent Chess upstairs to clean out his pet mouse's cage while I began to make banana bread. Chess came back downstairs and asked me to come to his room for a minute because something was wrong with Scamper's leg. When I saw Scamper, there was a huge growth protruding from his abdomen, just above his left hind leg. He is obviously unwell, breathing very fast and not moving normally because of the growth.

I deferred to Husband, who thankfully is home today.

Since Scamper stays hidden in his cage most of the time, none of us had really noticed a change. His cage is cleaned about every two weeks, and this growth was not there then. Husband did some internet research and discovered that Scamper is a really, really, really old mouse in mouse years. He's well into his third year with a longevity estimated at only 18 months to 2 years, and the saddest truth being that tumors readily occur as cause of death.

I have a very sad boy at my house. Chess has always been the most tenderhearted of my guys, empathetic almost to a fault, and struggles with transitions of every sort. Today is going to be tough and teary.

Attempting to make some other things right, here is how the rest of the morning has gone. While in Chess' room dealing with the Scamper issue, I noticed mildew and a filthy toilet. I cleaned that. Then I asked him to empty some trash and I noticed some more laundry. So I started a load.

Then the washing machine wouldn't let me add the extra towels, so while standing there, I noticed Pele had not completed his cat litter duties. That led to an impromptu vacuuming of the laundry room and stairs, after one of the cats decided to toilet on the stairs landing, which led to another load of laundry, carpet cleaning, and cleaning another filthy toilet. Which quickly turned into an impromptu reminding of the other two boys regarding the proper usage and aiming into of said toilet along with more sweeping, more trash emptying, and yes, more laundry.

An hour and a half later I came downstairs in search of my half-finished coffee, now cold, and oh yes, the pancakes still waiting to be packaged and frozen. To which the phone rang, Husband had a long conversation, leading to our own long conversation, and then Chess came downstairs, still sad, but willing to be occupied by riding the four-wheeler.

Of course, I sat down to blog. Because what else do you do when the mouse is dying, the laundry is still not done, the pancakes are still now put away, and the best laid plans of mice and men have gone awry?