Murphy Brought Mayhem

Murphy came for a visit the other day, and he brought his law with him. I certainly didn't invite him, but he came and wreaked havoc in my house. Lindsay met him too, but I was the one who had to deal with his obnoxious behaviour for most of a recent afternoon.

It all started when I invited the other lady workers at the home to come down for dinner and dessert. Perhaps he took it personally that he wasn't asked to come too. I was bending over to put something in the garbage when he grabbed the back of my head and whammed my forehead into the corner of the cupboard door. Doubled-over and trying to recuperate, I wondered how he got in and fought the urge to curse loud and long. Not even five minutes later, while I was peeling back a can of tomatoe sauce, he took the lid and sliced my pinky finger over the razor edge. As blood dripped out of the clean, gaping cut, the smell of something burning reminded me that I had cakes in the oven. Forgetting about Murphy, I opened the door and saw that the cake mixture was overflowing the two loaf pans and creating a third cake on the bottom of the oven. At that point I gave up the fight, and let a few profanities fly out.

Lindsay, who was recuperating from some bazaar, swelling bite beneath her eye, entered the kitchen at about this time. I explained that we had an intruder named Murphy in the house and she graciously offered to continue with the dessert portion of the meal.

Completing the last layer of lasagna, I went on a frantic search for tin foil...a fruitless, frantic search. Since the noodles were already doing some idiotic curl upwards, I didn't want to risk drying up the dish by not covering it. There are three small convenience stores in our neighborhood, surely one of them would sell tin foil. As it turns out, convenience stores aren't so convenient in Bolivia.

After a nice stroll around a few blocks, I came back empty handed. Lindsay was throwing together her trifle and I chose to check my email. As my butt hit the chair, there was a yelp and a bang from the kitchen. Murphy was back. He had reached around Lindsay, grabbed the dessert bowl and threw it on the floor! The nerve of that guy!! Thankfully, this time there was an exception to his law and the container landed right side up.

Somehow, despite the intrusion and inconveniences, everything was good to go before 6pm, the hour our guests were to arrive. Unfortunately, Murphy must of thought it would be funny set back their watches, because they didn't show up until 7:40pm. June 27, 2006: the day Murphy brought mayhem to the house of Marcee. Dang that Murphy!!