Our found/lost child finally had to be returned to her father on Monday. We promised this to him when we got permission (and her address) from him. The REAL problem is between the mother (Buttmunch) and the father (let’s call him Clinton…another jerk as far as I am concerned). He just HATED to lose. It is the reason that he *kidnapped* her in the first place. He actually had permission to have her for the few months before she started school but she was supposed to be returned to her mother in the summer. He just decided the best way to hurt her mother was by keeping her.

I will give him this much…he obviously loves her. He has treated her well. He saved up the money to pay for her second operation for a lazy eye (she had surgery as a very young child..about 18 months old, I believe). His work does not offer health insurance so it was the only way he could do that for her. It was NOT cheap but it WAS successful. The surgeon at Shand’s had warned Buttmunch that it was a possibility. As the child grows, the head and muscles grow and stretch. She needed it. Clinton supplied it. Since it made her more attractive (she is already a doll), it had to be love without the *smothering* we thought possible.

The Beast made the 6-1/2 hour drive by himself this time. Buttmunch and our son, Steve, had to return on Monday to their abodes due to work calling their names…LOL. Actually, one of my son’s accounts had been broken into and the owner finally decided he did, indeed, need a security system installed. Since he wants it tied into his existing computer system, my son needed to return. Besides, he needs the work. It’s on the slow side during the Holidays so it was welcome.

I felt bad for the Beast, especially when it took him longer to return than it did to arrive at her home. He ran into very heavy traffic and it was slow also. He returned home too tired to even eat the stuffed peppers I had made. All he wanted was to rest, watch some of his football game and then get to bed. He didn’t even make it to half-time before he hit the sack. He is still very pale and tired tonight and went to bed very early (7:30pm).

We had a hard time getting Teri going in the morning for her return trip. She just wanted to sit and talk with all of us. We finally got her to get dressed and packed up. She and her mother did that in the room they had shared (with the door closed). I DID notice that she started calling Buttmunch *mother* and *mom* by late Saturday night. She even asked her mother if it was all right for her to go to one of the Princess’s friends homes Saturday evening. They were going to have a bonfire and roast some marshmallows. Buttmunch had met the mother of the said friend on Friday so she had no objection to it (the kids kept saying they might go *cow-tipping* but they were kidding).

It was harder saying goodbye to her than it was to welcome her home, so-to-speak. I could hardly keep from crying in front of her but I did when she left. It just felt so *right* for her to be there. She has made friends with the Princess and they have been texting to each other all the time. I imagine I will know what Teri is doing and how she feels since the Princess tells me everything. It is both nice and scary at the same time. I try not to just react to some of the things I am told and to think them through. That way I can kid, joke or give my opinion as required. I have to remember that the Princess is a single mother as well as only 19, whereas Teri is only 15 and still a youngster, learning her way. The Princess can relate a lot better than I can most of the time since the world is so very different these days from when I was young. But I try. I truly do.

Tara brought over her daughter, Tara2, and Chewlee was so excited to see another baby. She ran up to her and hugged her and kissed her a couple times. She grabbed her hand and brought her over to me so I could see the *baby*. It was adorable. The *baby* is actually older than Chewlee, by about six months I think. She is, however, on the shy side and doesn’t talk up a storm like Chewlee does. I hope that Tara brings her back once or twice before she is returned to her father in another week. Don’t ask. It’s waaaaaay to complicated to explain. But, after watching Tara2 and her brother, Terror 1, I think it might actually be a good thing since Tara is expecting the delivery of Child 6 in three weeks.
Terror 1 is a little monster in disguise. He is sweet and bright but gets into his Monster guise whenever he is out of his own home. I guess it’s a type of shyness but it’s not fun.

In the meantime, life is starting to return to what passes for normal around here. The Beast is talking about making a trip up to Chicago in a week or so. It all depends on the weather. He will take Baron when he makes that trip because his brother has two dogs and Baron is welcome there. In fact, Baron is very welcome because the dogs exercise themselves with their play. I’m just hoping that it’s soon. I could use the break. Chewlee and I enjoy our time together even though there are some of her programs that make me want to barf. She gets riveted and stays quiet. Sometimes, she climbs in my lap to watch them and throws her arm around my neck. She reminds me of our Teri (when she was young) because Teri did that to me, also.

I’ve gotten one email from Teri since she got home. She told me she really loved seeing everyone and getting to know cousins that were just a bit older than babies the last time she saw them. She loved going through my photo albums and seeing other family members that she hadn’t seen in years. She even enjoyed knowing that there were people in the family that loved and missed her even though she hadn’t met them or hadn’t seen them in years.

Most she didn’t recognize. Some she had memories of but not mental pictures of WHO they were. It was a strange time for her having so many memories surface for her. I think she feels *whole* for the first time in many years. I found her going through the albums again and again and it always made me smile. I knew the feeling. Just how I knew it I may explain here one day. Right now, it’s not important. Our little girl has returned to us. We hope to have her again during spring break for a few days, if not the whole time. Our daughter is happy once again because her baby has been found. Her baby has her mother’s phone number and address. She is settled now but the future holds many promises now that were not there a few days ago. No matter what, both her future and ours has been altered. We rejoice in what has been found.

Love you all and wish you a Happy New Year with many blessings. I wish you joy, love, good health and many happy days. Talk to you next year….LOL

It’s been a fun time having Teri Lynn here with us. Right now, The Princess, Teri, Buttmunch, and the Beast are at the State Park here taking some more pictures. The Princess and Teri had to go through the whole teenage girl process of hair fixing and make-up before they declared themselves ready. Even choosing the clothes was a trial for them. It was *What top are you wearing?* *Does this look all right?* Even *Do these pants make my butt look too big?*

It has been a real treat to have Teri around. She is so normal and shows much of the same personality that she had as a youngster. She still has her own opinions about much that do not necessarily reflect the opinions of those around her. She is very sweet and patient with Chewlee, who also seems to love her. She got along well with cousins that she barely remembered, but remember them she did. She even chewed out her cousin, Doc, via cell phone for preferring to *jam* with his buddies to meeting his cousin. He’s a guy. Go figure. Teri then pronounced him *weird*. That is, however, what she seems to label anyone that she isn’t sure how else to describe them.

She is very definitely a normal teenager, with all that includes. She likes certain clothes but isn’t over-concerned about them. She doesn’t seem to be obsessed that way. She doesn’t like people who judge others by their *outsides* without learning how they are *inside*. She also doesn’t like people who make fun of others for any reason. She has dumped friends and even boyfriends for doing those things. She has two cousins that are very *Goth* and love anime. She had fun kidding them about it but she loved them just the same. They all discussed makeup and boyfriends and life in general. That in itself was a treat for us to see.

How she feels about us grownups? Well, we shall see. She doesn’t seem the least bit uncomfortable here, though.

Buttmunch has been sharing a bed with her daughter and she told me the first night, she turned over in bed and found Teri just laying there, staring at her. I can only imagine how Teri was feeling and what she was thinking. I would like to imagine that she was thinking how much she couldn’t believe she was actually laying there next to her mother. Buttmunch caught her doing it a few more times although Teri tried to, very quickly, close her eyes when her mother’s opened.

My daughter, as you might surmise, was also thinking those things about having her daughter there with her FINALLY. And she intended to enjoy every single moment of it. So far, she has. I am not with them for the pictures because I am babysitting Chewlee. Besides, I think this is Buttmunch’s time AND Teri Lynn’s. I want them to have every opportunity to be together doing some of the very things they missed out on. I want them to have the memories to help heal the holes in their lives that were long there.

As for me, I am happy that THEY are happy and together, albeit for a short time. But I am confident that there will be others in the future. I am happy for my daughter, happy for me that our lost child is found and happy for everyone else in our family that loved and missed her all these years. We all still cry on occasion with happiness. Until you have experienced something similar, you may not understand entirely how massive that small hole can be. But I am happy that some of you have shared in our joy and been happy with us. Some of you might even remember my post from late in the summer. My heart was hurting so badly. I can now have sweet dreams and no more nightmares about our lost one. She has been well taken care of by her father (and, trust me, it is the only thing I can truly credit the guy for…he apparantly DOES love our Teri) and she has not been mistreated. She said that he can be a jerk at times (by being a jerk, she means that he will punish her for something dumb). But, after a little bit, he will relent and restore whatever privileges he revoked.

We DID almost NOT get to see her. He was afraid Buttmunch would try to take her back to KY with her. We assured him that she had no intention of taking her from a life she was happy in and had friends. We all just wanted to see her and he knew that Teri wanted to see her mother. He admitted it was true and that when he said she couldn’t go, she was just miserable. After The Beast gave him assurances that HE would bring her back to her father, he relented and we went to go get her. The jerk DOES respect the Beast and believed him.

So we will enjoy our last day together because she returns to her home on Monday. Buttmunch and Steve will return to THEIR lives in KY. But, all our lives will never again be the same. Teri knows where we are and that we DO love her and want her as a part of our lives. She has all our phone numbers and cell phone numbers. She can put faces on us once again. She will never again be totally lost to us no matter WHAT her father does in the future. She is old enough now to make choices she couldn’t when she was younger. Our lives are better for this Christmas Miracle and we rejoice in it.

Oh, a note…one of the first things she said to me was, *Grandma…you lost a LOT of weight!* She remembers me when I was over 200 lbs. That was the grandma of her memory and now she will have a more recent memory of me. She also loves my cooking and remembers some of the things I have made this weekend because she hadn’t had them since she was taken from us.

So, lots of love to you all. Rejoice with us and I pray you all had memorable Holidays with your loved ones and friends.

At approximately 6:30pm, our long-lost child, Teri Lynn, walked in the door and into our arms. There were long hugs and lots of kisses but we managed not to cry. The Beast and our son, Stephen, made the long drive down to pick her up. She is absolutely a beautiful child (okay, she’s a teenager now) and seems to be just as beautiful inside as she is outside.

Her mother bought her a beautiful bracelet (I was really tempted to keep it and so was her mother..it’s THAT nice). I gave her one of my rings which she immediately put on and seems to like. She also opened up her other gifts (and they fit!!!)…LOL I DID find out that she hates ham and eggs so it’s definitely waffles for breakfast in the morning.

I also realized that I hadn’t thought about dinner for this bunch (and my other son and his kids that will be here in the morning to meet and greet Teri) so it’s an early trip to the store for me. I will have to pick up a nice pork roast or some ribs for us. It all depends on what they have available.

It’s been a regular gabfest since she got here. The Princess had a friend stop over and Teri was afraid it was another cousin that we hadn’t introduced to her (worse, that she had no memory of!) but we assured her that we would tell her who was related immediately. She has the strangest memories from back when she last saw us. She remembered a pelican lamp that we had at the time. We still have it and she still likes it as she did then. She remembered the candy canes on the Xmas tree and being able to take one when she came over. She also has other memories of her cousin, Doc and her aunts and uncles. She talked about learning to swim and the trick her mother played on her. She wouldn’t go into the water without her rubber swim ring so her mother put a pin hole in it and every day the ring got flatter and flatter. Teri still insisted on putting it around her waist even though it was flat as a pancake. She did, however, learn to swim within those five days it took for the ring to go flat.

This is a short blog since I want to get back to visiting with our not-so-little girl. I am so happy that I can’t even find the words to describe it.

Love you all. And remember, there really ARE miracles still happening all around us. Never give up hope. It could happen to you.

Let me tell you what he did to me. First of all, my son and Buttmunch arrived here bright and early..before 8am even. Baron alerted us to their arrival with his ear-piercing barking so the Beast and I jumped up, jumped into our jeans and met them coming in the front door. Hugs, kisses and other greetings followed. The commotion woke up Chewlee and then her mother, the Princess. The Princess needed to get up anyway but she dragged her feet getting ready for work since she wanted to visit for a bit…it had been a few years since she last saw either of them.

After that, we all ended up laying down (including Chewlee) to catch a few more winks. My two kids were so excited to be coming for this family Christmas, they literally couldn’t sleep the night before so they left early. A few hours later, Buttmunch, who was sleeping on the Princess’s bed in with the baby, was awoken to the sound of the baby dragging her bottle back-and-forth along the bars on her crib like some prisoner in a jail. As soon as Buttmunch opened her eyes, Chewlee jumped up with a smile yelling, *Hi! Hi!* She was obviously ready to get out of her crib and join the living. Buttmunch got up, took her out of the crib and changed a nasty diaper (The Princess announced to her when she heard that it was *her Christmas present*). Everyone let me sleep for a bit longer since I was up late the night before.

The two kids went to the store (yes, they braved the crowds..and it WAS crowded). They picked up some milk, bread and a few other items and returned home shortly after Chewlee came in to wake me up since *Papa…aka the Beast* was REALLY watching her….NOT!!! I was upset because I had to go to Walmart anyway to get some things the Beast wasn’t aware of so I got ready and figured Buttmunch and I could run up there once Chewlee took her nap. She was really funny because it was the second time she grabbed her bottle and opened the bedroom door, saying *Night, night*. I grabbed her blankey and obliged her where she settled down peacefully and went to sleep.

The Beast and our son decided they were going to go ahead and swap the old modem with the new and get it activated while we were gone. They were actually on the phone with Hughesnet when we left.

I did my shopping at Walmart, stopped at ABC Liquors to pick up some pina colada for my daughter-in-law’s enjoyment, then ran down to Big Lots to pick up some gift bags. That done, we came home. Now, mind you, we did NOT rush. It would have been impossible anyway with all the last minute shoppers at Walmart AND at Big Lots. By the time we returned home, approximately two hours had passed. The Beast and my son were STILL on the phone with Hughesnet trying to get our modem activated. I kid you not.

The original tech (obviously following step-by-step instructions given to him there in India) finally gave in and kicked the call back to his *superior* (which was obviously back here in the States) and within two minutes of that, we were up and ready. The second tech knew what the hell he was doing. My son is a tech and not ignorant but he does NOT set up satellite systems. He was, however, deeper into the workings of my computer than I would ever have been since they were actually into my BIOS system. Oh well, at least we were up and ready to go.

After all this activity even before we DID anything to get ready for Christmas Day, the hubby decides he is going to make his computer Crossfire capable. Gamers will know what that is. He had all he needed for that, it was just a matter of setting up the jumpers. So, Buttmunch and I are doing some last minute light stringing on the rear deck and then on the front porch. We also hung some more of that tinsel-y garland around the interior of the house.

The baby was here, adding fun and *flavor* to our day while all this was going on. I kept having to find ways to keep her entertained and some of this came down to feeding her some *junk foods, baby style*. Well, they aren’t supposedly junk food being Graduate snacks but not what I feel is good for her to eat a lot of before eating a regular meal. It’s one of those, don’t fill up on…whatever…things we mothers feel.

So, the Beast is working on his Crossfire with my son helping out so they can test a game I bought for him, Buttmunch and I are finally able to rest a bit and keep trading the baby back-and-forth waiting for her mother to get off work. I check my email and am talking on an IM when the Beast shows up at my door asking about food. It then occurs to me that I hadn’t even given food TODAY a thought. He suggests a pizza but this is the South, folks. It’s Christmas Eve. Most restaurants closed at 3 today. Walmart is closing at 6 and he thinks we are going to find a pizza place open? Laughing my ass off at this point. So I tell my IM’s that I will be back in a bit and head out to the kitchen. My son is checking out the fridge and when I ask him what he’s looking for, he says, I don’t know…just thinking about what I could make for us to eat. He then spies some bacon in my meat drawer and the couple dozen eggs I have and says *Ah hah! Let’s makes some bacon and eggs.* It actually sounded like a good idea to me so we started getting ready to make bacon, scrambled eggs and some english muffins.

We’re trying to shoo the baby out of the kitchen, as well as the dog, when suddenly the Beast comes into the kitchen, starts to say something and hits the floor. It scared the shit out of me…my daughter is saying out loud..*Are you kidding?*. The Princess said something (I can’t remember exactly which but she wasn’t sure if it was a joke or not) and I am ready to have a heart attack but I run up to him and he looks at me and says…….*Cookie! I need a cookie!*

You can imagine what I was ready to do to him. No one that has had two strokes should pull that kind of a trick on his family. It was an event similar to what he did that was the start of two years of sheer hell. I kid you not he was —-> ][ <---- that close to being kicked to death by my bare feet. I could have cheerfully strangled him because it was a very convincing fall. It was even skillful, worthy of a stuntman. But, when it was finally over, we all did laugh over it.

The rest of the evening was rather uneventful. I finished bagging up the last of my gifts for our company tomorrow, finished clearing off the floor where my son will be sleeping for the next few days (and vacuumed it), decided to write up the event with the Beast. Some of you that have been with me from the start will appreciate my feelings.

So now I am heading for the kitchen to help my daughter touch up her gray and then she is going to help me totally cover MINE up…LOL.

Love you all. Have a Merry and Happy Christmas. Give a toast to your loved ones both there with you, in other parts of the country or missing like our little one WAS. And toast OUR happiness at our Christmas Miracle.

The details have all been worked out and Teri Lynn, our lost one that is now found, is coming to visit us the day after Christmas. Actually, the Beast and Baron are going to take the drive to get her and bring her here. We will have her until Monday morning when the Beast will be returning her to her home. And it IS her home now after so long.

We are glad to know that she has not been abused and is not unhappy with her life. She is glad that she will get to visit with so many of us that she has not seen in so long. She and her mother chatted on the phone for almost an hour. Buttmunch is on her way to my house as I type and will be here bright and early in the morning.

Reality is settling in, however, and Buttmunch is worrying about what she will say and how she should greet her daughter when they come face-to-face for the first time after almost 10 years. To my way of thinking, a big hug so you hold her close should suffice. Buttmunch then said (she was talking to Bratfink, btw) *But what if I cry?* Hey…so cry. It’s a wonderful thing happening and when we women are happy, we cry. All these things I will tell her when she gets here because I know we will talk about it. Heck, it’s all we have been talking about since we found her and discovered it truly WAS our lost little girl.

We’ve traded pictures, talked on the phone, talked to Buttmunch’s ex- and the father of our Teri Lynn. The family has talked to each other endlessly and shared our joy. The hole in our hearts has been mended. We are full of joy and gratitude that we have been allowed this Christmas miracle. We are all eagerly awaiting the arrival of the lost one and the sharing of memories we will do. We will be showing her the pictures of her that we have had all over our house that are now so out-of-date but we will be able to add pictures of her NOW. The face is our Teri Lynn, even though she is now older. We can look at those old pictures and the new and there she is! It IS our baby, now grown but still the face we have treasured in our hearts all these years.

It will be a long trip for the Beast and I wish I could make it with him but I have the baby here to take care of and it is too long a trip for her to make without it being a form of torture for an active toddler. The Beast is going to take Baron, who is like a son to him . He is making the trip out of love and because he is just as eager to see and hug this child of our hearts. Too long away from us but returned now.

I did some Christmas shopping for our Teri Lynn. It has been many Christmases since we last shared one so I had to make sure that she would have something to open this special day for us all. I have one surprise gift for her that I hope she will treasure and keep as a momento of the day she is reunited with one and all. The family will be gathering again on Saturday to spend time with her. I hope she is not overwhelmed by it all. It is just that we have mourned her loss for so long.

She sounds like she still has much the same sweet personality that she did as a youngster. She was always cheerful and loving. She always had her own opinion about things and said what was on her mind. She was very bright and observant. Now she is a teenager. It is a strange land all in itself and we are rocking her world. We hope we will be adding much love and that it strengthens her to know us.

I will leave you now and let you know how everything goes for this visit, this time. I hope there will be more visits in the future. Who knows, I might even learn to post a picture or two…LOL. Love you all. Our hearts are full. May your Christmas be as bright as ours has become.

Some of you have read about my missing granddaughter, Teri Lynn. I had an awful dream about her a few months ago and woke up crying because we had been searching for her for so long and fruitlessly. A lot of people prayed for us. For those of you that asked God to help us out, thank you so much because we got an early Christmas Miracle and found her.

My granddaughter, the Princess, got involved shortly after we moved her up here and searched a couple of the websites that teenagers like to post because they are free and (to them) fun. She found one that seemed promising and left a message which she never got an answer from so I got on and left a message and had my son and daughter-in-law leave messages also.

Today I got a message from her that made me cry. She said she was laying in bed, crying, because some crazy guy with her last name that she thought was her uncle had messaged her and then she discovered her grandma was looking for her, too. She asked about her mother. I’m sure she wanted to know why she hadn’t gotten a message from her but her mother doesn’t have access to the internet. When I called my daughter, she started crying and kept saying, *OMG! OMG! Are you sure?* She had given me her cell phone number and told me to call her. I passed it along to my daughter and then started letting the whole family know the lost had been found.

We’ve talked to her a couple times today. The end result is that we are going down to pick her up and she will spend a couple days with us. The surprise is that she will get to see her mother for the first time in almost 10 years. We are all so excited, I can’t begin to tell you. I will have all my grandkids here for the first time in almost 10 years. It really IS a Christmas Miracle.

To see our long-lost little angel, copy and past the link below and just scroll down a bit. You don’t have to join it. It happens to be my son’s website and it’s the headline there. The song is *We Believe In Miracles*

http://www.rkbnews.com/

Love you all. Have a wonderful Christmas if I don’t get back here before then but I will be reporting more on this in a few days. Thank you all, again, for your prayers. Our prayers have been answered in the most wonderful way!

I almost lost the Intertubes again, as Bratfink calls them. We had some really scary power outages. You know the kind, your lights flicker, you may even lose your internet briefly and then POW!!! You are in the dark. We had three of them. Two of them were just close enough to make me think that it truly blew the internet modem for us. It took unplugging it for an hour before I dared to plug it back in and then took another 15 minutes for it to *reboot* itself. And, just as we dared to forget about the earlier power outages, BAM! We got hit by another one. I had put my flashlight on my desk to find easily since it takes a while for your eyes to adjust to the sudden dark. It lasted about 10 minutes and required another unplugging, wait and then replug. The rebooting took much longer, however. Suffice it to say, we are going to keep the new modem when it comes, probably tomorrow. It just hasn’t convinced us that it is dependable. When it suddenly started working after three days, there was no reason for it. Now that it has taken these hits today, it worries us even more. Better safe than sorry.

We had a couple really nice days. I mean the weather hit 70 degrees. Then, just as suddenly as the warm weather hit us, an Arctic front has started in. We woke up to 28 degrees and the temperature actually dropped as the sun came up. LOL. Tomorrow morning, we are told that the wind chill factor will be around zero. That’s bitter cold in these here parts this early in winter.

I did some Christmas shopping while I was waiting for my hair dresser to be ready for me. It was fun because I had an idea of things I wanted to get for those on my list. I bought a journal for one of the budding writers of my grandchildren as well as a cute top that caught my attention. My grandson is getting a long sleeved pullover in Marine blue since he is so military minded. I still have one other gift to get for him but I didn’t have time to look for it. I bought Chewlee the cutest little fake fur jacket with a hood. I couldn’t resist it and I know she will love the feel of it. I bought my daughter that will be coming a nice velour pant and jacket outfit. The Princess is getting a long sleeve white pullover and a down vest jacket with hood since she will be returning to college next month and it should actually do her well most of our winter. She already has jackets she bought at Burlington Coat Factory that are adorable. She is getting some footie socks too so that she will leave MINE alone. This girl has a drawer full of them but almost none of them MATCH. She had to have had some really mean gremlins inhabiting her washer and dryer, I swear. They ate a LOT of socks…lol.

I bought a couple nice shirts that are definitely made for winter for the Beast. I shopped for those online and got them at LLBean.com. The one that has already made it here is exactly what I wanted and he will love it. But I am hoping the other two make it before Xmas. I had to return them since the Large size was too large for him. I hadn’t realized how much muscle mass he has lost the last couple years but…there you go. Old age just creeps and creeps until it catches you by surprise. He has a nice winter jacket that he bought for himself (yes, he still buys himself just about anything he could possibly want making it tough to buy him something for any event).

Tomorrow I have to hit the bank to get some money out of my IRA account. I’m losing so much money the past few months, I have been sorely tempted to withdraw it ALL but…common sense has prevailed and I am just going to take enough money out to cover gifts and some extraordinary expenses. I also want to give all the kids some cash to finish off their Xmas. Tara’s kids are getting cash since I know it’s scarce for them these days. Plus, she will be going on maternity leave shortly so it will be even harder.

I have almost everything I need for Xmas dinner. I just need to get some nice, large, sturdy paper plates. My daughter-in-law is a vegetarian so I have to locate some Boca Burgers for her. Figures that Walmart isn’t carrying them right now although I have bought them there. If you have never had them, you should try them one day. They are amazingly tasty, especially when cooked on a barbeque. They grill nicely, too. She won’t get to eat the ham, but everything else on the menu she will be able to eat. I just had to start a list for a couple small, odds-and-ends items like cranberry sauce. I have some but only one can and that is NOT enough. I love it with my ham and can eat a half can by myself…lol. I also forgot olives and pickles (both sweet and dill). We will have plenty of food for all with some of the dishes my kids requested that I make. I will definitely be busy, that’s for sure. At least my daughter, Buttmunch, should be here to help out. The Princess will be working except for Xmas day. Chewlee makes it difficult for me to do much of anything while she is awake so I have to really be organized. I just hope I have enough pots and pans.

The Princess went to Huntsville and the malls there to do her shopping. She got quite a bit but then got tired and decided she is giving out some gift cards instead of normal gifts. She just flat out ran out of both energy and ideas. I have to pick up some gift boxes so we can start all the wrapping and labeling. I’m really excited about having the kids here. It’s been too long since we had a really nice family gathering.

Well, gotta go. Love you all and want to share this sentiment with you at this time. I don’t know who wrote it or if it’s one of those things from a Hallmark card but here it is:

*May you always have love to share, health to spare and friends who care* Almost sounds like an Irish drinking toast, doesn’t it? How appropriate if so. Merry Christmas all.

I have not had access to our Internet Service, which is Hughesnet or Hughes Satellite Services. I’m not sure but I think you’ve seen the ads on TV. We have cable run to all the houses but cable service is not connected out at the main road. So, temporarily, we are stuck.

Why do I hate them? Let me count the ways…err, reasons. ONE: if the weather is bad, which means rainy, cloudy or even too windy, our service sucks. Either it keeps getting interrupted or you don’t have any at all.

TWO: We paid a fortune for our installation which also included the modem. In less than two years, this modem crapped out. To replace it? $149. I was really pissed since it’s more expensive to use their service than both dial-up and cable. They should, at least, cover the modem that makes our receiving the service possible. But NO…of course not. When you are stuck, you are screwed.

THREE: we actually are limited in the amount of downloading we can do in any 24 hour period. I kid you not. We are limited to 185 mbs. Have you gotten updates on your virus program? Your Windows program? Any of the many programs we all seem to use? Have you gotten a new computer or hard drive that you need to install an operating system on and it needs to update? We actually rented a motel room so that we could download all the updates needed on the Beast’s laptop AND his new hard drive. What is funny is that even the motel limited him. He couldn’t fully install all the updates needed but he got the majority of them.

FOUR: Most of the *techs* they use are obviously located in India. You can hardly understand them when you call for technical support for any reason. Worse, they are obviously reading from some technical manual and don’t know how to deviate from it at all. It’s mind boggling when you are trying to find a solution and don’t need to go through all the BS that they try to put you through. I am not an idiot and dislike being made to feel like it. I am more *tech* than most women my age that are using a computer. I raised two techs and they taught me a lot. Thank you, my sons.

FIVE: The Beast checked the information about HughesNet online and it said you were allowed 200 mb of downloads. BS!!! I was told 185 by their *techs*. I think it’s actually less than that before you go into the *red* zone. For an additional $20. I think it was, you can go to 300 mb. I shudder to think of how much it would cost to go all the way up to 500.

SIX: We have checked out the speed of our downloads and, believe it or not, it is SLOWER than dial-up service. I kid you not. We have been lucky to get 10kbs most of the time. It will start out faster and then slow WAAAAAAAAAAY down.

All-in-all, I hate HughesNet. The sooner I can get rid of it, the better. Don’t waste your money unless you are in a situation like us. And don’t believe all the hype. It is NOT hi-speed.

The Beast is constantly upgrading our computers. We have wonderful equipment and hi-speed processing. Hell, we have 64-bit even. So it isn’t OLD equipment causing the problem. It’s HughesNet itself and what they are actually producing. We build our own computers. We have sons that are techs to give us advice if we should happen to run across a new problem. The Beast also has a stubborn streak that won’t allow him to be defeated by a glitch. He WILL find the answer. He swears a lot but he finds the answers. This end we can control. HughesNet we can’t.

We are online now. How long it will last I don’t know. The Beast wants to accept the new modem because he doesn’t trust this one. I am starting to believe him on that part. So it costs us an arm….and it only has a 3 month warranty. How’s that for sucky? If it’s a good piece of equipment, it should have a much longer warranty, don’t you think?

Oh well, enough of my ranting. Just BEWARE of promises that I am sure other people can attest to about HughesNet.

Love you all. More on my days off the internet tomorrow.

Most people in charge of a baby that is not theirs get the weekend off. MOST people. At least I had the morning free and got to sleep in, which was just as well since I didn’t sleep soundly until I heard the Princess come in at 3 am. Once I knew she was home (she was at a combination Christmas/birthday party for her best buddy, Johnnycakes. After the party, they stopped at his house so she could pick up her car and got to spend a little time with HIS mother (whom, I gather, suffers from the same problem I do when one of her kids isn’t home). Damn those kids and damn genetics or whatever it is that plague us mothers our whole lives. Just when you think it’s over, you find out it ISN’T.

Anyway, Chewlee was down for her nap when the Princess had to head off to work and tonight (and every night until Christmas except Sundays) the store is open until 10 pm. As assistant manager, she has to stay until everything is set up for morning and the store thoroughly cleaned. Then she sets the alarm and locks up. That means she won’t get home until around 10:30 or so. The baby will go all day without seeing her mother and will (hopefully) be sound asleep when she gets home. Not good for a baby that adores her mother and sees her in just about every attractive woman with long hair she sees in a magazine or a television commercial.

When she got up, I did the usual changing of the diaper and fed her before letting her run around and play with Baron. The two of them went running back and forth, through the house, taking turns playing tag. Then Baron spied his ball and decided it was time to play *catch*. Of course, HIS idea of catch is you throw it to him the first time and then it becomes a game of *tug* with YOU trying to tug it out of his teeth. He hasn’t gotten the idea yet that we can’t throw it unless he lets go of it. But, we were ready for that today.

I had my short robe on and he dropped it in my lap with his nose right ON the ball waiting for me to *go for it*. I, being smarter I think, pushed my robe OVER the ball and was able to get it in hand before he could fight me for it. First I threw it and he jumped up in the air and caught it. The baby started clapping her hands excitedly and yelling *Yay! Yay!* for his prowess. Baron, thinking I wasn’t playing HIS game right then trotted over to the Beast and attempted his little deception with a new subject. The Beast, however, pretended he was too busy watching TV and ignored him, at which point Baron looked up and away from the ball at the Beast’s face and the Beast quickly grabbed up the ball and went to throw it for the dog to catch. He did it with ease and came back to ME. Well, let’s just say that Baron never wised up so we were able to get the ball away from him easily. Chewlee decided SHE wanted to have her turn throwing the ball (she also has a problem with giving up the ball) so we had to *help* her to make sure she didn’t forget to let go.

One of the things we are noticing is Chewlee is starting to favor her left hand more than her right. We don’t want to force her to use either one but let her change hands as she pleases. We continued this routine for another 10 minutes and Baron rarely missed the ball except for when the baby *threw* it, which mostly was her trying NOT to let go and it bouncing off the coffee table. He would still manage to catch it before it bounced a second time.

The adults tired of all this before the two *kids* did so we finally let Chewlee run around with the ball while Baron chased her. He wouldn’t grab it out of her hands but he did chase after her, hoping, I think, that she would drop it. She ran with it tucked against her like a little football player and doing a half-assed happy dance run that was too funny for words.

When she finally threw it one last time, she headed for her bottle and blankey and headed for *my* room. I followed her and saw her grab the pillow I keep on my computer chair for my back and throw it down on the floor (the little stinker) and then she dropped down, rolled over so her head was on it and snuggled her blanket next to her face while she drank her bottle and watched TV. She was pooped out. For about a half hour, she was very content and I could read my email and comics and chat for a bit with one of my sisters and then two friends.

After her rest, it was time for her snack so she announced *eat* and headed out the door to her high chair. It’s MY job to lift her up and then have food ready for her IMMEDIATELY. She gets very upset when she doesn’t have SOMETHING to eat within a few seconds. I, being smarter I think, have some ready to eat stuff I keep here just for her. One I think is AWFUL but she loves. It’s a Gerber’s Graduate Snack called Peach Yogurt Puffs or some such thing. Pure air. No real flavor that *I* can discern because I DID try one ONCE. Once was more than enough for me but I do trust Gerber’s so I will give her a few while I prepare something more nutritious for her.

Today she had some warm ham pieces, some green beans and some apple slices. I bought some green bean *cups* that are the perfect size for her snacks. Not too big, not too small…just right. If left up to her, she could eat a whole can because she just loves them. She even likes them cold.

Today she wanted to read books and look at pictures. She loves to pull out one of my photo albums and have me tell her who all the people are while she looks intently for pictures of her mommy. She now recognizes pictures of her mother when SHE was a little girl but only because *I* told her those were her mommy. I don’t think she really believes that is HER mommy but who knows the mind of a child. To HER, it might just be that the baby I am showing her is named Mommy.

I know I mentioned I would tell you about how I got her to settle down while I was preparing dinner but this blog is become a bit long so it will have to wait until tomorrow. I will tell you that today she helped me make dinner AND some peanut butter cookies with only a few bouts of running around with Baron. After we ate dinner (boneless beef ribs, buttered noodles and steamed broccoli), she started acting like she was tired again, to my surprise, so I laid her down for a little nap. She not only really WAS tired but insisted on a night-night kiss and went right to sleep. I knew she wouldn’t be down long and planned on bathing her when she woke up. Sure enough, after about an hour, she was up and ready to rock-and-roll.

Bath time tonight was a real treat. I washed my hair and let her help me so she didn’t give me a lot of trouble when I went to wash HERS. She even grabbed her bucket and wanted me to pour water over her head which was a real first. Before this, if you even looked like you were going to do such a thing, she would jump up, run to a corner and hide her head. Of course, that wouldn’t stop anyone who was determined but today she didn’t do it. Because she was so good, I let her have more play time in the tub. She still has to work on leaning her head back a bit more than she did but it’s baby steps in more ways than one when dealing with a baby. She’ll eventually get it. I have learned to keep a wash rag handy AND a hand towel so she can wipe off her face when she sputters from water dripping down over it.

She loves her pajamas. She even has her own favorites. She loves the new footed pajamas I bought her but doesn’t really like not having socks on her feet when she wears them. No clue why she would feel like that but she’s gotten used to having them on her feet at night, I guess. The footed pajamas just don’t feel the same, I guess. She also has some very soft flannel pajamas with Disney characters on them that she loves. I will often let her pick out which ones she will put on and it is fun to watch her thinking and looking at them all before she finally picks out one. Such BIG decisions.

Time to go. I want to get some Christmas shopping done tomorrow since the Princess has a short day, so-to-speak. She works from 3pm until 9pm so I will have plenty of time to wake up and let the day warm up before I have to leave. I’ll just hit Wal-Mart and Belks with a short stop at Dollar General for some plastic bins for packing away summer clothes now that we are all sure that summer is over. *Note: that is a joke just in case you weren’t sure*.

Love you all. Have a wonderful day. Just 13 days until Christmas. Is YOUR shopping done? Is it even started?

I thought I would use this time to bring you up to speed on things happening with Chewlee. I try to make our time together during the day a learning opportunity since she has a mind like a sponge. Right now she is plagued by her speech limitations but that is improving all the time.

If the Princess has to work the early part of the day, it means she is usually gone before Chewlee wakes up. My morning then becomes changing her diaper first of all and then it’s some time for hugs and kisses if she’s well rested. If not, then I spend some time trying to change that by playing with her and chasing her around. She’s easily entertained that way. After about a half hour, she’s ready for breakfast but you can’t feed her. Oh no! She will only allow you to feed her yogurt (don’t ask me why…I still haven’t figured it out). I tried to feed her some oatmeal one morning and she clamped her mouth shut. She wants to feed herself but she hasn’t mastered using a spoon quite yet. She DOES try. By trying, I mean that she will hold the spoon (sometimes it’s even vertical) and put whatever it is she’s been given on it and try to put it in her mouth. She actually looks more like she’s going to lap it up out of the spoon rather than put the spoon with the food into her mouth. It usually ends up on her tray where she will then pick it up with her other hand and put it in her mouth.

Personally, I think she limits her choices by being so insistent on feeding herself. It means scrambled eggs, waffles cut into small pieces, dry cereal like cheerios, cut up pieces of warm ham, bacon (which she loves but I make sure it’s small pieces since she doesn’t really chew bacon well), pancakes or french toast. The Princess will often feed her things like spaghetti or chicken but I am kind of traditional. Although I remember my kids eating odd things for breakfast, they WERE a bit older. I, myself, loved cold pizza or second day White Castle hamburgers (I still love those sliders….LOL) for breakfast when I was a kid. Truth be told, I still do to this day. My hubby and the Princess shudder when I grab pizza that’s cold and eat it. THEY will heat it up in the microwave but I find it does something to the taste. C’est la vie!

After I clean up Chewlee and her tray (the dog has dibs on any leftovers, whatever it is), I will let her run around and play with Baron. She will start off like a shot and they will chase each other around for a while then Baron will plop down by the front door (which we open in the morning) and enjoy his *sunbeam* shining in on sunny days. On dismal days, he will plop down on the loveseat (I keep a special blanket on it for this reason). I know then that he’s had about enough of the baby for the morning. At that point, Chewlee herself seems to be calming down because she will grab her blankey and her bottle and try to lay on Baron comfortably. It means she ends up laying down next to him most of the time. It’s a quiet time for all of maybe 10 minutes or so and then she will head for what we call *my room*. That is where her toys and books are and my TV.

Have I mentioned that Chewlee LOVES commercials? She does and some commercial will make her stop dead or come running. She will stand in front of the TV and do what I call her little butt wiggle to the music they all seem to have. If one of the Progressive Insurance commercials comes on (you know the one…it’s made to look like a game show), she will clap her hands when the woman gets her custom insurance coverage and she has to kiss me when the woman in the commercial kisses the host. It’s hysterical how she INSISTS that I have to kiss her.

I try to put on at least ONE of her dvd’s each day. She has some Dora ones, Curious George and Baby Einstein ones. If they don’t hold her attention, I switch to some of MY dvd’s. I have several Disney ones and some that are animals that she just loves. We also read her books. She just loves books and I have a difficult time keeping her from removing all my books from the bookcase in the living room. She really just wants to see pictures and she will point to ones she doesn’t know and expects me to tell her what they are. ALL children’s pictures are *babies* to her. She can’t make the leap yet to the difference between a doll and a baby. I can understand why since all her books are kids books and I am sure you know how they pictures are all drawn and not photos.

She will sit in my lap, the books open in front of us. She takes one of my fingers and points at different pictures. Then she looks at me while I say the name of whatever it is she has my finger on. If it is an animal, I will say the name and try to make the sound that animal makes. At first, any animal that walked on four legs was a *doggy*. She now knows the difference between a *doggy*, *kitty*, *lion*, *elephant* and *mouse*. After she points my finger at each thing, she will point my finger again, I say the name of it and she will try to say it after me. She also is learning things like numbers. We are up to the number two…LOL. BUT, she DOES know now that she has two feet and two hands. She made the leap to the fact that she (and I) have two eyes and two ears.

Some things she has learned to say very clearly. Like *get down*, *no*, *yes*, *stop that*…(and you can probably imagine why…LOL). She is trying to say clearly words like papa, shoes, banana, apple and a few others. Words that have an *L* in it are really funny to watch her say. She will watch your mouth intently to see how you use your lips and tongue but she tends to say the word without the L and then sticks the end of her tongue out after the word.

Since she is only 17 months old, words that have more than one syllable in them tend to confuse her a bit. She will usually make them into a single syllable in her baby way. Banana becomes *nana*, which is pretty much what all babies say at that age. But she also calls ME *nana* because Gramma is two syllables. That confuses ME because I am not sure if she is trying to get my attention or she wants a banana. She will take my hand and lead me to the counter where we usually keep bananas and then she points to it and says *nana* so I know.

I feed her a lot of different fruits after her meals like dessert. She loves peaches, bananas and apples. She isn’t sure if she likes pears or not yet but she will eat a few pieces. She can’t get enough mandarin oranges but I limit that because of the acid. After lunch is her nap time. She takes a nap for an hour and a half to two hours. Then it’s diaper change time (I have changed her a couple times before this, just so you know) and then toy time for a bit. If the weather is nice, I try to let her run around outside for a while, weather permitting. Baron usually joins us for that and it helps her drain off some of her energy.

I will usually have something on the TV for her while I rest and play a game on Pogo….IF SHE LETS ME (she sometimes decides she wants my FULL attention and will grab my hand from the mouse so I can’t play). And she will be insistent about it and has quite a strong grip. What I do now is play a game of solitaire so I can leave the game without any penalty being made (it’s not timed). Some days, she wants to watch me play and will clap when I clear the board. She throws her hands up in the air and says *all gone* and claps again. If I don’t clap for myself, she takes both my hands and shows me that I should clap. It then becomes a session of both of us clapping because I made the cards *all gone*.

By then, the Princess gets home and I can go and make dinner for us while she spends some quality time with Chewlee.

I will talk about when the Princess works the second half of the store day and I have to prepare dinner with Chewlee wanting to see and touch everything in the next blog. THAT was a real problem since she doesn’t really understand what is and is not hot yet. She also has not learned that knives can cut fingers and other things either. I DID find a way to keep her interested and occupied, however.

Well, it’s late and I need to get to bed. Tomorrow the Princess works later in the day so I will have my morning free. I need to run to Walmart to get my prescriptions filled and pick up some things for making cookies. The Princess still remembers having fun doing that for Christmas and she wants to introduce Chewlee to it while she can. I also have some decorating for Christmas I need to get done so that is another thing on my agenda.

Love you all and I shall return. Have a great weekend and I hope it’s good weather for all.