Sunday

Today was a cleaning day in our household. This meant a long list of things to do. Koko, Kristie, and I each took several tasks. This meant that Koko and I worked in our random abstract fashions, taking way too long to finish one task while also beginning several smaller tasks in the process (and most of those tasks weren't on the original list of things to do). So this meant that Kristie, who is a master of the concrete sequential work ethic, quickly finished her tasks and most of ours too.

But the house is clean and finally ready for spring.

Since we now have four animals in our house, it is always a constant battle to keep the place clean of dirt and hair, both of which drive Kristie nuts. This wasn't helped by the fact that I asked my brother to look after our cats while we were in South Dakota over Easter. Well, he forgot to come over and feed and water them. That wouldn't have been so bad since we left a dog dish piled high with dry catfood and a water dish in the basement. However, one of Casey's friends stopped by shortly after we left to borrow his golf clubs. And he inadvertantly closed the door to the basement. So poor Mischa and Einstein were left for nearly four days with no food or water.

They were able to get into some food upstairs and tip a plant over for water. But the worst part was their litter box was also in the basement. Initially it appeared that they used our downstairs bathtub to urinate in. We were quite thankful for that. Kristie would have killed by brother had we come home to find our furniture soaked with cat piss.

But we didn't get off quite so easily. The other day I noticed a foul smelling liquid in an old silver ware container of ours that had been sitting on the kitchen counter. A closer inspection revealed the foul smelling liquid to be foul smelling cat piss that had been fermenting for several days.

The next day I was a cooking some vegetable sauce that I had never tried before on the back burner of our stove. As the sauce boiled, I couldn't believe how much it smelled like cat urine. It was so strong that Einstein even came over to inspect as if another cat had marked his territory. Needless to say, I chucked the sauce and made something else. And that was the end of the odor.

Or so I thought.

I came home late on Thursday after our curriculum meeting to an angry househould. It seems Kristie was going to make a pizza for the kids quick before Koko's choir concert. However, when the stove preheated, the unmistakable stench of cat urine wafted out of the exhaust on the stove. Sure enough. The cats had peed down there too.

Again, my brother doesn't know how close he came to meeting the Grim Reaper for a second time in the span of a week.

So I ran to the store for OFF kitchen cleaner and we doused the stove with it. And let it sink in. Then yesterday I ran the self clean on the oven. For the msot part it worked.

Now our house is back to normal. Or at least until we find the next spot where they had to pee.