Same shit, different day. Today the Beast decided to change the fan light in the living room. Does he get a fan that matches the one he just put up in the dining area? NO. It's nice looking but not even CLOSE and they are both in line of sight when you walk in. I tried to tell him but would he listen? NO. All he said to me was that he would put it up for now and, if I still didn't like it AFTER A WHILE (no time specified here), he would put it in our bedroom. Yeah...right! And I have a bridge I want to sell anyone that believes that shit.

THEN....he goes to Lowe's (where else?) and ends up picking out a totally different color of blue for our bathroom that he decided he would paint BEFORE the kids move out. BUT...when he brings it home to put it against the wall, he drops that chip behind our cabinet. So, he goes back to Lowe's to try to get another chip of the same color to show to me. He can't find it. So, he then just picks out SOME color of blue that I STILL haven't seen and BUYS it! He says, "Well, if it's a different color than what we paint the bedroom, it really doesn't matter". And guess what? I don't own a single blue OR even a WHITE towel. I guess somewhere, somehow, all the white ones I used to have got *lost* or something. I did own a lot of them because I used them for the pool so they didn't get mixed up with the house ones or get discolored by the chlorine. I'm going to have to give most of the ones I have to the Princess when she moves and get some new ones. Which is not ALL bad.

You can understand how it all pisses me off. It's like I don't count at all. It's all about HIM and what HE wants or likes. When I really get forceful about what I want, he gets really pissed off. I told him that I am NOT an extension of him. I have my own likes and dislikes and my own opinions on things. Does he care??? NOT!!!! It's become more apparent now that he doesn't have anything else to do but turn his attention on the house. I don't know if I can keep from hitting him over the head with a frying pan.

The kids found another house that doesn't require a lot of work to make habitable today and filled out the forms to see if they are acceptable. I have no clue just where it's at since I forgot to ask () but it's a 3 bedroom, 1 bath and the Princess likes the kitchen. It has a countertop stove and a separate oven in the cabinet area. I haven't seen that design in a while but know they did make a comeback and/or are highly prized in upscale homes. I doubt this one is upscale but it sounds just fine for them.

Poor Johnnycakes mom is having a really tough time with all this. I really DO understand. Lord, I remember the first time with us and our daughter (which is really worse, I think). We went from sad to mad to sad again. We didn't want to cut off ties but could barely NOT be upset when she was around. It took quite a while before we accepted the fact that WE no longer had a say-so and they were going to do what THEY wanted to do. I remember being the same way...... so why would we think it would be different for our kids? We wanted them to be independent. We just envisioned them being independent like WE wanted it to be. *sigh*

So, it's now a waiting game for them. They say another couple filled out an application before them for the same house so they aren't really hopeful. The Princess has quite a bit in savings and there's really no problem there for the rent or deposit. She doesn't really want to use it all because it looks like she will need a new car soon. It's starting to cost her a lot in repairs and she could be using it on a new car. It's a catch-22 for her.

Chewlee is still sick but she is starting to get better about letting us wipe her nose. She even started to blow today. Took her mother by surprise. Me, too, to be truthful. She has watched me blow my nose a few times so she HAD the idea. She had a good day today, though. She cheerfully went back and forth between her mother, Johnnycakes and me just having a good time. She really likes the new floor. She likes to lay down on her belly and push herself backwards on it. She doesn't like going forward for some reason but she laughs gleefully going backwards.

Although she went to bed at her usual time, she's already woken up twice for a bottle. She's going to have a really full diaper in the morning with all the liquid she's drinking. Hopefully, she will now sleep the rest of the night. She got really loving with Johnnycakes this evening and kept stealing his baseball cap. For the first time, Johnnycakes felt comfortable enough here that he actually went into the kitchen and helped himself to something to eat. I know!!! Took him long enough. I told him that normally, after being here twice, he's EXPECTED to help himself.

And that's the end of another exciting day. Well, almost. I was playing Monopoly Slots on Pogo with Bratsis, just having a good time, talking and playing with the people in our room, when I heard a crash that was ominous. I jumped up (after telling my sis I heard something fall) and went to investigate. It seems that the Beast forgot he had just folded up his small stepladder and leaned it against the dog's kennel in our bedroom. He should have put it in the garage but was lazy. He hit it on his way into the bathroom. I was worried it was HIM that fell so it was a relief. I just moved the damn thing over to the OTHER side of the kennel (he's going to put it away...HE used it!) so no one would hurt themselves. Especially ME.

So goodnight all and have a great day. Love you all and sending a lot of hugs your way. Hope your day is sunny and bright and warm if possible. Ours should be. I'm really tired of cold weather, aren't you? Hasta manana!!

I was sick yesterday with my cold and so was the baby. We didn't make a pretty pair. Between ME blowing MY nose and chasing Chewlee around trying to wipe off HERS, I used up a box and a half of tissues. I'm just glad I got the stuff with aloe or our noses would make us look like Rudolph's relatives. We are a bit better today but not 100% yet.

It got cold last night, dropping down to 40 degrees. That's a big drop when it was up to 70 that day. Today the high was 53. Tonight it's supposed to drop down to around 31 degrees so I made sure the baby was dressed in warm pajamas (footies) and the Beast put the room heater in there to keep it warm and toasty. Her room is the coldest one in the house for some reason.

Since I wasn't feeling well, I never posted so you don't know about the Beast's latest projects. He couldn't wait to use his electric roller so he did our bedroom ceiling, along with our bathroom ceiling. He was well prepared (NOT!!!) and had moved nothing and covered almost nothing before he called for my helping in moving a few things and putting some tarps over the dresser, the bed and a few other things in there.

What he had forgotten was that you can't stop once you start until the whole container of paint is emptied. With holding up the extension that has the roller and splatter guard plus painting PLUS avoiding the furniture on the floor (and there was some short ladder moving), it was a bit like an old time comedy movie. Add his age and the state of his health and you have the perfect combination for total exhaustion. It took two gallons of paint so he had to make a run to Lowe's for that once the first can ran out. I checked today and there are some edges that will require some paint before he can ever start on the walls and that, of course, means another quart of paint at the very least.

The problem with the electric rollers is that even when you don't click the paint supply lever, it will continue to feed paint to the roller for a while. That means that the splatter guard gets paint in it and THAT makes a mess unless you are prepared for it with the proper type of receptacle to hold it (and allow it to drain). The Beast was not. After swearing like a trouper (at his own stupidity although he DID really blame the roller), he called me and I just so happened to have just the perfect thing for him to use. I also cleaned off the splatter guard for him, chuckling the whole time because HE had made a real mess of it.

He was truly exhausted by the time he finished and I thought that would be the end of it for a while. I was wrong. He then decided to finally get the shelves he had promised finished so that they could be put up in the guest bathroom. They were done and ready after dinner and he got them installed. He pronounced himself done for a while and said he was NOT going to do anything more in our bedroom until the Princess moved out so we could use the guest bedroom while that was being done. I thought THEN he was done. I was wrong once more.

This morning he woke up with the grand idea of installing a fan light over the dining room table. Now, I thought that was a really good idea but.....I didn't think it was necessary to be done RIGHT NOW. He went over to Lowe's (they should be sending him the keys to the doors any day now) and found what he felt was the perfect light and headed home to get it installed.

Now, this involved his crawling across the attic area, finding the right light receptacle up there and making sure that it had the support necessary to hold the weight of the fan light. Even that he couldn't accomplish without my help. He was yelling (well, to HIM it was yelling...to ME it was a muffled call that I thought sounded like *Bratsis.....HELP!!* Not knowing if he had fallen and couldn't get up, I rose to the occasion and went searching for the source. I finally found a place where he could be heard (in the garage since he had the access to the attic open) and found out he wanted me to tap the ceiling where the light was located so he could find the right one. I did. He did. End of story.

It took another four hours before he was finally all done with that mostly because it required yet another run to Lowe's. I have no idea what for...one electrical gadget looks pretty much the same to me as another. And....get this.....HE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!!! I know!!! It's not the sort of thing men do. Especially the Beast because he considers himself an expert on pretty much everything these days.

It's all done now, thankfully, and it looks pretty darn good. He did a good job in his selection because I like the antique brushed brass look of the main parts and the fan leaves look like feathers. It also puts out a whole lot more light than the old light fixture did.

He sat down at the table after it was all done and the dining area restored and had the NERVE to tell me that he was just totally exhausted by the last two days. When I told him that he had only himself to blame because they were all projects that HE had decided on, he had the nerve....the total nerve....to tell me that he knew they were on MY mind so he did them for ME. I told him that since I now know he thinks he can read my mind, I will have to be very careful what I think about when he is around. *chuckle* If he only knew........

I am NOT going to even suggest that he might be done around here for a while. I know better. All I can do is hope that he turns his attention to making that trip to Ft. Lauderdale that he claims he is going to make. I could use the rest from HIS activities around here. I have a feeling it might even be more restful for him.

He will probably stop in Titusville to spend the night at his cousin's house on the way down. It will give him a chance to rest and relax and visit (and not having to pay for a motel is another bonus). His place in Ft. Lauderdale is already secured and ready for him near the job site. We have a few friends down there that I am going to encourage him to stop by and see. I am hoping we might one day even get some of them to visit with us. I miss a couple of them but I know they are truly busy business people and do a lot of traveling around the state to keep things going.

The Princess decided that the house she and Johnnycakes found required a little too much work for him (and he finally admitted that he thought so too but didn't want to say anything in case she had her heart set on it). Sweet of him to think about taking it on for that reason alone. But they are going out to look at a couple other places tomorrow, together, so that if they find something that agrees with them, they can make arrangements then and there, they hope. I hope so too. For their sake as much as mine. The Beast is not an easy person to live with and can be incredibly unreasonable at times. He really does sweat the petty shit.

I'm going to try to get to bed again at a decent time since Pogo is having big problems with their server because of a new game that started a few days ago. It's become incredibly popular and several rooms crashed. They finally had to shut down their server and restart it and locked everyone out of the game while they try to either set up more rooms or get another server set up just for that game. I'm not sure which. My satellite link sucks anyway because of the bad weather so I might as well sleep. It's better than being frustrated.

Bratfink lost her interwebs so I imagine Naked Sara will be doing some posting about that for her until she is back on track. That should be some time tomorrow, actually. At least, I hope so. I miss it when we can't at least talk on Yahoo Instant Messenger. We play games on Pogo together also. It's fun because we can cut up in chat and get people into good moods. We laugh a lot, anyway.

Have a great day tomorrow (today?)...well, Monday. Hope you have good weather and good health. Love you all and lots of hugs to you, too.

The Princess and Johnnycakes got some bad news today. It seems the landlords at the apartment looked at the basic pay the Princess makes (without taking Johnnycakes into consideration even) and decided that they couldn't accept her commissions as part of her wages and they just weren't comfortable with the results.

Of course, what they don't realize is that there is no way she CAN'T make commissions at Radio Shack. If you keep busy (and are tops at selling new cell phone contracts), there are just too many items that carry commissions along with the sale. It didn't matter that she has enough in savings to pay for a whole YEAR of rent (idiots!) but it may just have worked out in the long run.

It seems the Princess found a house. It's in a decent area AND has a fenced yard. It's also a hundred dollars a month less, which is STILL a deal if she has to pay for her own garbage and water. It's actually LESS expensive. The house is older but has hardwood floors. It only has ONE bathroom but she says why would she really need two? She and Johnnycakes are going to meet with the owner tomorrow and really check the place out. Like I said, it's older and it's tough to really see the *cons* in twilight. We shall see.

I guess Kim is having a tough time dealing with this whole issue. Since this is her first experience, I can understand that entirely. We just have been through these kind of issues before with our kids. We've been through roommates, boyfriends, kids coming back home because roommates didn't work out, kids losing jobs and coming home, and pretty much every scenario you can think of. Kim, like we were and had hoped our kids would be, feels like they shouldn't be moving in together without being married. I'm sure she would have been horrified if her hubby had even suggested it back when...... You just have to accept the fact that it's just not the same thing these days and who knows? Even though it's not good emotionally, it makes things not working out less messy financially as long as kids are not involved. The Princess has her one complication (and is not interested in adding another to the mix, thank goodness). I truly think that the father of Chewlee would be very happy to just let things alone entirely except for his family. The grandparents love her to death, and the grandfather does try to see her on a monthly basis when he can. He's missed a couple months but that was mainly due to his changing jobs and because his home in Florida still has not sold.

Chewlee will be two years old the end of May and we are having a big party for her at the lake, weather permitting. We might even get the beast to put the pontoon boat in the water then. The paternal grandfather will be coming either before or after that weekend so that no one is uncomfortable. I was glad to hear this because the guy may love Chewlee (and she likes him) but he's kind of a jerk. I won't go into why I say that but trust me on this.

Chewlee and I were both sick today. Her nose was running and she was running....away from me when I tried to wipe it. I didn't WANT to run because my IBS was kicking up and giving me one hell of a stomach ache. The drugs didn't kick in until late afternoon either. She slept late and took her nap late but I went in and woke her up so that she would go to bed at her normal time. She can be so sweet at times, even when she isn't feeling good, that it made me feel awful to feel so awful. It was rainy and gloomy this morning and the house felt cold. I put on the room heater in her room to dry it up and warm it up a bit. That room seems to be the coldest for some reason. I set it up to go on when the temp in the room dropped below 67 and for it to click off at 72. It was nice for her when I put her to bed tonight. She DID wake up once though but she just wanted a bottle and to make sure her mother was in the room. The kid can be a stinker that way at times, I swear.

The Beast made a run up to Huntsville today to buy a power roller. He used to have one in Florida but I guess he got rid of it at some point. Our local Lowe's here didn't have it but he had them check and it was available up there. So, off he went and he came right home. He was hardly gone for two and a half hours. It was really a shock. He must have hit traffic just right....either that or he was flying....LOL.

He's planning on starting the painting in our bedroom and he brought home a bunch of paint chips in the colors we talked about. I think I am going to have to go up to Lowe's myself, though, because I only like one of the colors he selected. The others just don't appeal to me at all. He can, however, get started on the ceiling because he already has that paint here from when he did the kitchen and living room areas. I need to take a run to Walmart when the Princess gets off work anyway so I can run over to Lowe's then.

Well, I need to get some decent rest so I will close this and get it posted. Love you all and stay well. Not feeling good sucks! I wish you all good weather and a nice day. Stay healthy all.

The Princess and Johnnycakes got some bad news today. It seems the landlords at the apartment looked at the basic pay the Princess makes (without taking Johnnycakes into consideration even) and decided that they couldn't accept her commissions as part of her wages and they just weren't comfortable with the results.

Of course, what they don't realize is that there is no way she CAN'T make commissions at Radio Shack. If you keep busy (and are tops at selling new cell phone contracts), there are just too many items that carry commissions along with the sale. It didn't matter that she has enough in savings to pay for a whole YEAR of rent (idiots!) but it may just have worked out in the long run.

It seems the Princess found a house. It's in a decent area AND has a fenced yard. It's also a hundred dollars a month less, which is STILL a deal if she has to pay for her own garbage and water. It's actually LESS expensive. The house is older but has hardwood floors. It only has ONE bathroom but she says why would she really need two? She and Johnnycakes are going to meet with the owner tomorrow and really check the place out. Like I said, it's older and it's tough to really see the *cons* in twilight. We shall see.

I guess Kim is having a tough time dealing with this whole issue. Since this is her first experience, I can understand that entirely. We just have been through these kind of issues before with our kids. We've been through roommates, boyfriends, kids coming back home because roommates didn't work out, kids losing jobs and coming home, and pretty much every scenario you can think of. Kim, like we were and had hoped our kids would be, feels like they shouldn't be moving in together without being married. I'm sure she would have been horrified if her hubby had even suggested it back when...... You just have to accept the fact that it's just not the same thing these days and who knows? Even though it's not good emotionally, it makes things not working out less messy financially as long as kids are not involved. The Princess has her one complication (and is not interested in adding another to the mix, thank goodness). I truly think that the father of Chewlee would be very happy to just let things alone entirely except for his family. The grandparents love her to death, and the grandfather does try to see her on a monthly basis when he can. He's missed a couple months but that was mainly due to his changing jobs and because his home in Florida still has not sold.

Chewlee will be two years old the end of May and we are having a big party for her at the lake, weather permitting. We might even get the beast to put the pontoon boat in the water then. The paternal grandfather will be coming either before or after that weekend so that no one is uncomfortable. I was glad to hear this because the guy may love Chewlee (and she likes him) but he's kind of a jerk. I won't go into why I say that but trust me on this.

Chewlee and I were both sick today. Her nose was running and she was running....away from me when I tried to wipe it. I didn't WANT to run because my IBS was kicking up and giving me one hell of a stomach ache. The drugs didn't kick in until late afternoon either. She slept late and took her nap late but I went in and woke her up so that she would go to bed at her normal time. She can be so sweet at times, even when she isn't feeling good, that it made me feel awful to feel so awful. It was rainy and gloomy this morning and the house felt cold. I put on the room heater in her room to dry it up and warm it up a bit. That room seems to be the coldest for some reason. I set it up to go on when the temp in the room dropped below 67 and for it to click off at 72. It was nice for her when I put her to bed tonight. She DID wake up once though but she just wanted a bottle and to make sure her mother was in the room. The kid can be a stinker that way at times, I swear.

The Beast made a run up to Huntsville today to buy a power roller. He used to have one in Florida but I guess he got rid of it at some point. Our local Lowe's here didn't have it but he had them check and it was available up there. So, off he went and he came right home. He was hardly gone for two and a half hours. It was really a shock. He must have hit traffic just right....either that or he was flying....LOL.

He's planning on starting the painting in our bedroom and he brought home a bunch of paint chips in the colors we talked about. I think I am going to have to go up to Lowe's myself, though, because I only like one of the colors he selected. The others just don't appeal to me at all. He can, however, get started on the ceiling because he already has that paint here from when he did the kitchen and living room areas. I need to take a run to Walmart when the Princess gets off work anyway so I can run over to Lowe's then.

Well, I need to get some decent rest so I will close this and get it posted. Love you all and stay well. Not feeling good sucks! I wish you all good weather and a nice day. Stay healthy all.

And now...as the world turns....LOL. Sounds like that soap opera here at times. Johnnycakes was going to break the news today to his mother about his moving out and in with the Princess. I still haven't had time with the Princess to find out how that went but I will have to wait until after her psychology class tomorrow since she starts class at 7:30am and no way am I getting up early to ask her how it went.

I actually expected a call from his mom about it tonight but then figured maybe tomorrow. What can you really do, though. They are both of legal age and don't need our opinion. All we can really do is hope that they keep up the finances and out of trouble that way. Oh, and be supportive to their decision because we don't want a breakdown in communication at this point.

The Beast is happy about the idea of getting our house back. It WAS his idea to bring the Princess up here from Florida, however, so he has no one to blame but himself if it didn't quite go the way he had hoped it would. He thinks she's a slob (and there are things she could do but doesn't) even though her time is so limited between working and school. I will just be happy when the opening for day care comes up (the end of April, I was told). Some poor soul or other is moving, I guess. Must be when the closing of the house takes place. Who knows?

So I will be babysitting for a while longer and the Princess will be doing a bit more traveling to bring her and pick her up. This will be fine as long as she continues to work at the local store. If she transfers to Gadsden, then it will be harder on her. These are all things she and I talked about. I AM going to have to get myself a car seat for the baby soon, though, because even once she is in day care, I will have to pick her up when her mother works after 5:30 or so. And, of course, I will take care of her on weekends.

The Beast told me today that he is thinking about going to Ft. Lauderdale next month. I gather he is going to supervise the installation of a new water tower on top of one of the buildings we used to take care of when we owned our business. The money offered is good plus they pay all his expenses for driving down and driving back. He still can't fly due to his strokes. The doctor says it's just too dangerous for him unless he's put on blood thinners to prevent clots from forming in his legs. THAT is also dangerous since he bleeds like a pig when he just taps his skin. He's gotten so thin skinned as he's aged. His surface cuts bleed badly but not deep ones so go figure!

Anyway, it means another little break for me. The Princess wasn't planning on her grandfather's help to move her into the new place. She's planning on renting a uhaul and hiring one of Johnnycake's friends to help them out. She's hoping to have a few days to get some stuff over there before the BIG move (bedroom stuff and the couch) like her boxes in the barn and all the hanging clothes. I'm planning on giving her all the hangers I can because she still has stuff she hasn't unpacked. You would not believe how many clothes this kid has. Poor Johnnycakes won't have much room, I'm sure.

The Beast has decided that, after an appropriate resting period, he wants to start in our bedroom on the painting of the ceilings and walls. We will have to pick up some of those paint chips to decide which shades we want in there but we've had colors in mind for it all along. THEN, he wants to do the floor. Yep, more mess. And how he's going to figure on our sleeping arrangements makes me wonder unless we sleep in the guest room. Yes, that's probably what he's thinking. I'm sure not looking forward to THAT. One good thing is that he has to build his desk he's *designed* in his mind before we do the floor so he can get it installed as soon as he's done with the area it's to go in. I don't care as long as it's not soon. I would like to get my closets and such straightened out before we make more mess in here. At least the floor in the bedroom should be much easier for him to do since there are no angles in the room. The walk-in closet is the only fly in the ointment but that will only be at first and then he can do it last. I will have to clean out MY file cabinet which has records going back way more years than even a business needs to keep them (and some ARE from the business) so that it's easier to move. Right now, it would take a moving cart with all the bank records and things in it. I'll do that while he is in Ft Lauderdale and get it over with. I had started on it a long time ago but even the shredding takes time (and big contractors bags). At least this time I will have those in the house.

Everyone is asleep here but me so I am going to close for now. Tune in tomorrow for another episode of....As The Stomach Turns!!! (I'll let you know what I find out about how Johnnycake's mother takes/took the information). I just hope he DID break the news to her because she reads my blog on the weekends and his goose will be cooked if he didn't tell her.

Love you all. Keep us in mind while the storms are moving through our area starting around 3am. Lots of thunderstorms involved and they contained tornadoes when they were moving over Mississippi or Missouri, I forget which *M* state it was. Lots of hugs for you and wishes for good weather. Have a great day.

I told you yesterday that we were expecting rain here at the Brat Farm and we got it. When I woke up this morning, it was dark, dreary and drizzling. Just made to brighten MY day........NOT! I am a true sun person. My astrological sign is a crab, thought of as a water (rain?) creature but Cancers LOVE the sun. I accept the fact that rain is necessary for all the fruit trees we have here but I get strangely morose after a couple days. That started me thinking....the ancient Aztecs were sun worshippers. Of course, they felt that if they didn't make sacrifices to the God of the Sun, that he would not rise when he was supposed to and they would be doomed to eternal night.

That led to the thought that the American Indians never worried about the sun. It was Rain Dances they performed to aid in the food for the animals that they hunted and/or what they planted. After all, not all the Indians had agricultural societies. Some were as nomadic as gypsies, following the buffalo herds and making incredible use of the whole animal. There was very little that was wasted by them.

Now the Aztecs practiced human sacrifices to appease their god, Huitzilopochtli, who was the sun AND war god. Don't ask me how to pronounce it either.

Native Americans danced for rain. It is still the only dance performed by native tribes that has both men AND women participating. It is also the only dance where they zig-zag instead of it being performed in a circle. Even the elaborate costumes worn by some are used for no other ceremony and are stored each year until needed.

Right now, I would be repulsed by the idea of a human sacrifice....but give me a couple days in a row of this kind of bad weather and I might change my mind.

On to other things....!

Baron has finally shed his aversion to water. He started by stomping in puddles and has now graduated. The Beast took him to the park at the lake yesterday for a run. Baron was so excited the minute they hit the bridge leading towards the park that he could hardly contain himself. He KNEW where they were going. After getting out of the car, the dog immediately ran down to the water where a small flock of ducks were swimming calmly and jumped into the water. He kept going until he reached his chest and then stopped dead. I guess that's where he has the line drawn. What's strange is that the ducks NEVER so much as ruffled a feather in panic. It was almost like they KNEW he was NOT going to get close. I had to laugh when the Beast told me about it. I could envision the whole scenario.

The Princess told Tara, my niece, about finding the apartment and going out to look for a couch for it. Tara, it seems, was ready to get rid of one of her couches (she has either four or five...three which we gave her for various reasons and all almost brand new) so she told the Princess she could have it. I gather that Tara is getting ready for her annual garage/yard sale so she told the Princess she was welcome to take anything she might need. I guess she will be going over on her next day off to see what Tara has that she might need. I will have to have the Princess check to see if the apartment has curtains or some other kind of window treatments or we will have to see what I have for her to use. I really don't want her to have to spend a lot of money to move in.

The Princess talks about coming over here to eat all the time but I know she doesn't mean it. What she REALLY means is that she will be coming over here occasionally to scrounge what she can of my leftovers and carry it back with her to HER place. I will be going through some of my spices and giving her the extras as well as some salt, pepper, flour and other staples. I also have a couple cases of different soups so she will get some of those (not a case but several cans of each type I have here). I bought some macaroni and cheese at Sam's Club when we went there to stock up that WE don't particularly like but she does so she will get all of those. She will still need to do her own shopping but at least there are things she WON'T have to buy. Do you think I might be looking forward to having my house back?

Since I wasn't there when she packed, I have no idea of what she actually has for her kitchen. I imagine I will find out once she gets her stuff moved in. I will probably help unpack some of the boxes she has but I hope she moves when Troy (Tara's other half) is off work. I have seen him move furniture and the Princess definitely needs someone who is able to be a real help. Lord knows that the Beast won't be much use trying to get the bedroom set moved UP STAIRS. Even the darn crib (it's solid wood and sturdy) is heavy when in sections. I am also praying that the weather is good on the day she moves in or that will be a nightmare of it's own. It should be since we normally have decent weather here and not a lot of rain. The next few days are unusual (although needed) for us. We should be going back to normal here soon. At least, I hope so!

The Beast is laying back now and enjoying the fruits of his labor. I found him relaxing in his chosen recliner and just admiring the floor. It looks fantastic and makes the house seem larger than it was. I guess it's because there's no clear indication of where the living room ends and the dining area begins.

The problem I can see right now with it is that sounds really echo. Even before the Beast re-hooked the surround sound system, just the normal television sound seemed over twice as loud. I told the Beast we really didn't need the surround sound but, with his hearing loss (although he won't admit it), I guess he can't tell and he set it up anyway. He just loves when he's got the sound jacked waaaaaaaay up that it sounds like you are RIGHT THERE at his basketball games (so you get an idea of how damned loud it is). With my door closed in here and my TV on, it still sounds like *I* am in center court!!! I have to go out into the living room and tell him to "turn the damn sound down!" Last night, he was being a smart ass and only turned it down ONE notch at a time, requiring several trips out there before he FINALLY got it down to a decent level.

When the Princess went to bed, I had to ask him to turn it down so she could get to sleep (it was still loud at the time) and he finally had it at a normal level for the first time all day. I was one happy camper when he turned it off and went to bed himself. Took me a half hour before I went to bed. That's how long it took me to write up my blog, straighten up my computer room a bit and turn everything off.

So now I am almost done with the first part of that routine and still have the other two to get through. The weatherman said some really bad storms will be hitting us around 3am and a few scattered thunderstorms but...get this! We WILL see the sun for a while tomorrow afternoon. I know! I didn't even have to offer a human sacrifice...LOL It won't last for long...just long enough to erase some gloom. Then we will be getting another big band of storms hitting us but not moving along very fast so they will be hanging around here until some time late Saturday or early Sunday. *sigh* The trees and the Beast will be ecstatic at least. I'll just be *hanging in there*.

Love you all. Have a wonderful day. Sending hugs your way and hope you have better weather than we will. Oh boy, thunder...looks like the storms are rolling in earlier than expected. Figures.

It was bound to happen. The Princess found her castle today. Well, an apartment she likes. It's in a good neighborhood, has two bedrooms and a bath and three-quarters (shower in one but no tub) and her next door neighbor is a cop that parks his cop car right outside so she doubts there will be any real criminal or drug stuff going on in the area. They have to paint it, fix a couple appliances and replace a sink in the downstairs bathroom (the former tenants were apparently not very nice and tried to fix it with duct tape...LOL) then clean the rugs so it's all nice and fresh for her and Chewlee to move in. I guess Johnnycakes is moving in, too. They came to some kind of agreement on how the expenses were going to be shared and he's going to sign the lease with her on Thursday. She isn't sure if he's actually going to move in right away since Kim isn't quite used to even THINKING of the idea if she's even thought about it at all.

I told the Princess she could go ahead and take my craft table (the former kitchen set) and use it until she got what she wanted. She has her bedroom set and the baby's crib and a 4-drawer chest she can use for the baby. Plus a lot of toys. She has her TV set (but nothing to put it on that I can think of) so she really only needs a couch. She claims that is all she wants in her living room as long as Chewlee is still klutzy and into everything. The apartment has a fridge, washer and dryer, stove and...wonder of wonders, a dishwasher. She didn't notice a microwave so it probably doesn't have one. She can always buy one to use since they can be bought relatively inexpensively and work just fine. She will need one to make some of the stuff I am sure she will want to make (the steamer dinners, reheating food she scrounges from us, etc.). It will probably be used more than the stove unless Johnnycakes makes something.

I'm tired tonight and need to get to bed. We have storms coming in and it will be mostly raining for the next three days or so. That means my internet will be chancey so if I don't blog, don't worry. I will return and take notes. That should be a short list....LOL. It's not like our life is exciting...it's just a life and suits me just fine.

Tomorrow is the Princess's day in Birmingham so she will be leaving early and getting home after a normal dinner time unless they get out of Management Training early. Chewlee has been getting up early so I need my rest. I will talk more about this *move* in my next blog.

In the meantime, love you all and lots of hugs. Enjoy yourself and I wish you a great day and wonderful weather, if possible. If not, make the best day of it that you can.

I have to do a little explaining here that I really had not intended to do because of misinformation and leaping to conclusions by a few people. I mentioned here a couple blogs ago that I was worried that my daughter, Buttmunch, might be having a nervous breakdown and asked for prayers for her. I didn't want to go into WHY I thought that but several people (including my daughter) thought I was being fed a lot of misinformation by my son, who happens to live with her and has for almost six months. I should have added just a short line or two about how I knew WHY this all was happening but I didn't want to force a confrontation.

You see, it's mainly BECAUSE she took her brother in to live with her that she has been put under a LOT of stress. I know this because I know my son and some of his habits. He is a slob, for one and for another, he drinks too damn much and becomes a real asshole. I love my son, make no mistake, but he would drive me nuts in a lot shorter time than he has gotten from his sister.

I knew this was coming on her primarily from talking to HER. Her whole tone of voice was stressed. She would call and complain about a lot of trivial stuff but never really told me that some of the stuff she was complaining about happened EVERY DAY, not just occasionally. It also was not all she talked about. She told me how she hated the fact that she let the Boyfriend talk her into NOT working because he felt that is what a woman should do. She should stay at home, do the housewifey things and the man of the house supported her. For a man raised mostly in foster homes, he had a lot of old-fashioned ideas that even *MY* generation didn't have.

What shocked me to begin with was that my daughter would ever agree to such a thing. She is a true social animal. She loves people and loves going out and having fun. She, too, would sometimes overindulge but she didn't drink and drive any more, having learned that lesson the hard way. She's been a good girl for a number of years now. There is a strong emphasis on *sometimes* because she doesn't/didn't do it every day like my son does. He feels he's okay because he drinks at home and doesn't drive. I'm sorry but that doesn't cut it. It also drove the Beast nuts the few days the Son was here visiting. He wanted me to hide all the liquor (and I hid a lot of it) but not all. That would have made the kid suspicious but he had no idea how much our company had consumed and I sure didn't tell him. My son seems to be a true alcoholic, unfortunately. I think they call what he has *functional alcoholism*. What's truly bad is that he has been through a program and we really thought he had taken it to heart and cleaned up his act. What can I say?

Anyway, first the daughter and I had words over the phone. She raved and ranted (yeah, that convinced me she wasn't losing it but I really DID understand all the crap she had been through) plus it was a really awful winter so she couldn't even throw her brother out (in good conscience). She really and truly thought I was listening to her brother and making that statement. I wasn't but it wasn't until two days AFTER the initial conversation that we finally got to talk normally and got everything all straightened out. I take what my son tells me with a grain of salt because he has no real idea of how difficult it is to live with him and his bad habits.

She finally DID have it out with her brother (the weather is nicer now and she could throw him out and let him sleep in his truck now...LOL). I won't go into how she finally got his full attention and he understood that she was SERIOUS. That's between the two of them but....he has a big check coming from one of his customers and my daughter told him he is moving into the efficiency next door to her. The rent is cheap and includes water and electricity. It's a much better location than the trailer my son had been renting and a much better PLACE than the ramshackle trailer, too. He agreed on that. My daugher says as long as he is living by himself, she loves him to death. But she doesn't like him when he is living with her. She said it will also be nice because she can crank her music up as high as she wants and her next door neighbor won't complain....LOL. Her building only has the two apts. in it because it's actually a converted club house.

She's not concerned about them accepting the Son as a tenant because she found out that out of 26 apts., 14 are now unoccupied. It seems a lot of tenants moved out after the second electric outage that lasted for more than five days. It really wasn't the landlord, it was the City of Louisville and the ice storms. But they are desperate for tenants and the rent and deposit will be easily handled by the Son.

Okay, so now that I straightened THAT out for everyone's benefit, the Beast finished the flooring today. Even the trim is done and it looks wonderful. I am just ecstatic at how nice it looks. We did have to put strips of nonskid material under the feet of the furniture (the love seat and both recliners) because they slide like crazy without them. Heck, the dog rubbed against one of the recliners and it slid all the way to the wall. And to think this all only took 2-1/2 weeks!!!! Amazing!

I found out that Kim calls Johnnycakes *sweetcheeks*. She has started a blog here on Xanga now. She's Bamakat if you want to check it out. She's never blogged before but I am sure she will get the hang of it eventually. She sure got her site all gussied up, that's for sure. Makes me wonder if I should do a little something. I have to think on it and I wouldn't like it as busy as her's is.

Well, have a great day. We are expecting some heavy rains here starting late tomorrow night and lasting through Saturday. Figures because Kim was going to have a yard sale....LOL Love you all. I wish you mild, warmer weather and the sounds of birds singing in the morning. I had a wood pecker outside my window today (and I mean RIGHT outside it), pecking on the windowsill. If he had done it more than twice, I would have figured it was brain-damaged since this house is aluminum siding and there is no wood anywhere except the deck. He flew away but all I could think of was that if the woodpeckers are back, my hummingbirds are next. I'll keep you posted.

I said that the easiest part of the whole floor installation was left to do and that was true. The Beast got happily busy today and made wonderful progress. I could envision the end of all this mess. He did, at one point, have the furniture pushed out of the way and making it impossible to get anywhere. I had to make a path that we could use to get to the bathrooms and to the kitchen. Makes you wonder why HE couldn't see what he was doing or why he wouldn't think about those things. Especially because he's not exactly the swiftest installer (as we all know...going into Week 3).

So I am in my computer room, playing a game on Pogo since the Princess had finished her homework for school and taken Chewlee over to visit for a while with Kim and Johnnycakes. I finished up my Sprite Zero and went to throw away the can (we don't have recycling here and it still bugs me every time I do that) and discovered that the Beast was almost finished. It stopped me cold because he had pushed the furniture back into place (almost) and I was stunned to see him calmly eating spaghetti instead of finishing it. When I turned and asked him why he was stopping when he was so close to finishing, he told me that he ran out of planks. He said he was one...ONE...carton short. I looked at the clock and was disappointed to find that Lowe's was going to close in a half hour. I knew he wouldn't get his butt moving soon enough to make it so it looks like the job won't be done until tomorrow. BUT!......it WILL be done.

Chewlee is feeling much better today. She is not 100% yet but I was just so glad to find that she wasn't running a fever this afternoon. I DID finally get a full dose of the medication in her by putting it in her bottle with some Juicy Juice (grape) and she drank it all without making a face. It helps that the medication was also grape flavored. It helped her a lot and I didn't have to wipe her nose even once.

When Kim and Johnnycakes brought over the medication, Kim also brought some Eucalyptus oil to put in the baby's bath water. It was really sweet of her to think of that and I am sure it will help keep those nasal passages open. Kim also mentioned that she missed seeing the baby since she hadn't seen her for a week so I dropped a heavy hint to the Princess about that when she got home from work last night. It's also why she went over there so early since Johnnycakes had to work from 5:30am until 4pm. She hadn't planned on going over as early as she did but wanted Kim to have her *visit* with Chewlee.

Chewlee was in one of her *adorable* modes today since she was feeling better. She wanted to give kisses and hugs to everyone and poor Baron had to endure a lot of kisses to his nose and snout. She really thinks that he is HER doggy. Once they move out (if ever), I wonder how she will adjust to not having him around all the time. In fact, I wonder how Baron will adjust because he sure missed her when she was gone to Gatlinburg. When she got home, he practically fell all over himself for her attention. He was following her everywhere and kept licking her face every chance he got. It was really funny to watch.

I just chilled out today. Well, except for making spaghetti for dinner. I love to make spaghetti for a couple reasons. First of all, I am not an Italian purist or wannabe. I keep it simple and don't have to simmer my sauce all damn day. I brown the meats (ground beef and some Italian sausage), chop up the onion and green pepper and add it to the pot then add the spices and other ingredients and set it to simmer for about a half hour. That gives me time to make up the pasta I am going to use and dinner is ready. I bought some Italian bread at the bakery in Walmart and put it in the oven to heat and get a firmer crust. No one was really starving so I skipped making a salad although I had all the ingredients to make a good one. I even bought some nice fresh spinach because I had such a taste for it. I love my salads and my Ranch Dressing. Pure heaven to my taste buds....LOL

The Princess and Johnnycakes went to a movie tonight so I got to watch Chewlee for about an hour before she was ready for bed. She was in a chatty mood and then wanted to climb behind me on my chair and brush my hair. She's actually getting good at using a brush. She holds it correctly now and had learned to brush it a little firmer than she used to do. It's cute to watch her brush my hair, then lean over to put the brush on the desk and she pats my hair where she's brushed it so then, of course, she must brush the area she touched all over again.

She woke up around midnight, crying, but the Princess was home and in bed so she got up to get her a bottle and laid her down again. I still think Chewlee only wakes up when she hasn't seen her mother at bedtime. Once the Princess talked to her and laid her down with a fresh bottle, Chewlee went right to sleep. I'll bet she didn't drink more than an ounce or two.

Well, it's the end of another uninteresting day here at Brat Farm. Spring is close now and all the trees except the apples are in bloom. They look wonderful to me but mean a whole lot of work canning later this year. Thankfully, all the fruit will not be ripe at the same time or I would be in deep doo-doo. I am going to have to start buying some canning supplies, little by little, so I am ready when they are. We will have to finally buy that upright freezer this summer so I can cook and freeze my cherries for pies. I am crossing my fingers on that because I have no idea how much of that we will actually get from these trees. They are still young. It's not the only reason we need a freezer but it WILL finally get the Beast thinking along those lines. We gave our old freezer (it was only three years old) to Tara because it was a chest freezer and I hated it. It was just too hard to find things in it. Even the Beast agreed on that point but he DID love having lots of room for his ice cream.

Well, time for this old broad to hit the sack. I laid down on the floor to ease my spasm-ing back earlier (it's the only thing that really helps) and fell asleep for two hours. It's the only reason I am still up at this time of night. TV sucked today so I have been watching a lot of my disaster movies instead. Most of them are really BAD but better than what TV offered so go figure.

Love you all. Hugs and kisses. Have a great day and I wish you sunshine and good weather.

I should have known there was something wrong when I was laying on the floor and Chewlee walked in, saw me and then went to get her blankey and bottle. She laid down next to me and stayed quiet with just the occasional patting of my head. I guess she thought I was sick or tired and she was trying to comfort me. When the Princess came into the room looking for her, she picked her up and put her in her crib for her nap (it was time anyway). She went totally without any protest at all, not even insisting on kissing everyone (including the dog) night-night before she would go quietly.

When she woke up about two and a half hours later, the first thing I noticed was her rosy cheeks. She also was pretty lethargic (for her). She didn't fuss or give me a hard time about changing her diaper. I usually have to wrestle with her because she wants to be up playing, not laying on her back while her *mamaw* has her legs lifted in the air and her butt hanging out in the breeze. She has started calling me *mamaw* since she got back from Gatlinburg. I think it's really because she IS trying to say Grandma but that's the best she can do right now. Some sounds just seem too complex for her tongue to handle.

Anyway, she only wanted to be up and have me holding her for the longest time. She had her bottle and her blankey clutched tightly and kept getting lower and lower in my arms. I think it was about a half hour before she finally felt good enough to actually get up and play. The ominous thing was that she played quietly on the floor so I finally gave her some Children's tylenol. She doesn''t like to take medication and can detect what it is no matter HOW you try to trick her. It's not just me either because Kim told me the same thing about when she tried to give her some while she was teething so bad last week. The Princess admitted that she does it for her, too.

After that, she played for maybe 10 minutes and then would grab her blankey and bottle and lay down on one of the pillows on the floor and watch TV with me. If there are no good SciFi movies on Saturday, we pretty much watch the animal planet channel which she loves. She also likes for me to tell her what the animals are as they appear on the screen. That was pretty much our day. Play for a while, watch TV, play for a while, watch TV....the medication she DID get didn't touch her fever. She finally got into my lap, holding the two items she needed and laid her head on my shoulder. When I asked her if she wanted to go night-night, she nodded yes so I put her into her crib. She was sound asleep in no time. But her sleep was restless and she did a lot of tossing and turning. Mostly because her nose kept plugging up on her.

When I called the Princess to inform her about the baby's condition, she called a friend to go get something for the congestion. I won't say what it was exactly but the dosage was just a half teaspoonful (good thing I wrote it down because I told Bratfink a WHOLE teaspoonful). Just can't trust my memory these days. Of course, because of the way Chewlee is about medications of ANY kind, I doubt we got even half of THAT much down her. However, it did the job because now her fever is gone and her nose seems to be working better. At least I didn't have to wipe it more than once after she took it. Before she finally went down for the rest of tonight (I hope) even the feverish look was gone and no more redness to her cheeks. I'll be staying up for a while longer just to be sure because the Princess gets so miserable and cranky when the baby wakes her up and then KEEPS her up. I'm not sure just who is worse.

But it just breaks my heart when little ones are sick. You can't really comfort them and they don't understand why they feel so awful. All you can do is try to alleviate the symptoms so they feel a bit better at least. It was a bit easier with my kids when they were little because they still had decongestants on the market that you didn't have to sign away your life and swear two oaths to purchase. So many things today are now considered too dangerous for use. Yeah, right. Generations of kids managed to live through them. Little did we know. *This is sarcasm, in case you can't tell*

For a footnote, so-to-speak, the Beast now has about 2/3 of the living room area finished. What he has left to do should go quickly now because he's gotten the alcove/hallway done and all the door jambs and thresholds done. What's left is just straight lines. All-in-all, he's done a nice job. I really love how much it has brightened up the house. We use to feel that the only real thing wrong with this house (other than we would have gotten a slightly bigger one if we had realized we would end up living in it full time) was the fact that it was dark. We attributed this to how few windows there are. Now, even though the flooring is a darker color than the carpet or the linoleum was, it has brightened it up due to how it reflects the light.

If I have a complaint at all about it, it's the fact that the sounds in those rooms now are much louder. Even the Beast isn't turning up the TV the way he normally does since the sound seems to bounce and echo. We'll adjust to it, I'm sure.

I'm going to bed now everyone but I love you all. I had a headache earlier (due to an argument I had involving multiple people which I will NOT go into) but I took a couple ibu's and laid down for a while when Chewlee was still sleeping.

Have a great day and I wish you sunshine and mild weather.