Hickory Dickory Dock and Raisin Cookies

This is not what I intended to post about this week but when a funny story comes along I must share! If small, helpless rodents make you faint you may want to scroll along to the cookie recipe at the bottom...if not, get ready for the show...

It was Wednesday night, our two kids were upstairs getting ready for bed and the Mayor and I were catching up on some old episodes of House. We hear both children yelling for us...loudly and urgently. There was a mouse in Lulu's room, right in the middle of her bedroom floor! The mouse was being gently "played" with by our largest cat, Oreo, but it was still very much alive. So, in a moment of quick thinking, The Mayor grabs an empty laundry basket and flips it over the mouse, trapping it. Now, the mouse is running laps under the basket and Oreo is trying to watch through the holes in the sides of the basket...funny! We realize we need a plan, something flat to slide under the basket so we can somehow get the mouse into a box and get it outside. I grab a piece of poster board and we slide it under the basket but, as we try to tip the basket back over the mouse pops out of one of the side holes and runs! I was sitting on the floor for operation poster-board-insertion so I get up to look for Mr. Mouse and as soon as I do, I realize that Mr. Mouse had RUN UP MY PANT LEG AND WAS INSIDE MY PANTS AT THE BACK OF MY KNEE!!!! OH GOLLY, GLORY, HALLELUJAH! THERE IS NOTHING LIKE THE SENSATION OF SOMETHING RUNNING UP THE BACK OF YOUR LEG!!!

Now, let me say that mice do not bother me, I think they are adorable, I would keep one as a pet if we didn't have cats, I drew pictures of them and wrote stories about mice when I was young, basically I have always had a soft spot for them. But, I have never had a stinkin' mouse running up my leg inside my pants! So, I did what any normal girl would do, I started screaming at the top of my lungs!! So, then both kids started screaming too, good thing our next door neighbors are in Hawaii or they probably would have called the police. We were SCREAMING! And I was jumping up and down and trying to get my pants off...but they were dress pants with an inside button and two hooks and then the zipper so it wasn't happening fast enough for my liking. In the end, my jumping up and down like a mad woman dislodged the mouse and he scampered across the room and hid behind Lulu's bedside table. The Mayor got him in the box and took him outside. Both kids were on Lulu's bed hugging each other, sobbing, until they realize that I was crying but also cracking up laughing! Then we all started laughing. The Mayor said later (when my heart beat returned to a normal range) that it was one of the funniest things he has ever seen in his life...his wife jumping around, trying to get her pants off cause there's a mouse up her leg! Never a dull moment around here girls!!

Whew, did anyone pass out? If you made it through the story I have a yummy cookie recipe to share. I love trying a new recipe and having it turn out to be one that is bound to become a favorite. And this one is just that, if you like oatmeal raisin cookies, you will enjoy these. They are kinda crunchy and kinda chewy from the coconut, perfect for breakfast! They were the best thing we ate this week!

Raisin Crunch Cookies

1&1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup old fashioned or quick cooking oats

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup raisin bran cereal

1&1/4 cup coconut

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and oats; set aside. Beat butter and sugars in large bowl, until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating after each addition. Add cereal, coconut and raisins; stir until well blended. Drop by heaping tablespoonful, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake 12-14 minutes or until slightly browned. Makes 3-4 dozen.

 

In case you were wondering...that bite was from me not the mouse!!

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