Today was a fun day with Chewlee. She was in a rare mood. She wanted to do things like brush my hair after I did hers. Then it was hugs time and spin the computer chair time. I gave her a treat by spinning it around while she was on my back (on the chair) and rotating in each direction so she wouldn't get too dizzy. She loved it! She also kept asking me to spank her butt...which is a game where she lays over my legs and I bounce them while beating a *tune* on her bottom. She thinks that's funny.

We also did some exercises which to watch a baby doing touch your toes is too cute anyway. She loved the leg lifts but, as you can imagine, she then started the *leg bounce on the floor*. She hasn't quite mastered some of the other floor exercises because she doesn't have a lot of strength in her arms but she sure tries. It then degenerated into a tickle match and she laughed so hard she got hiccups.

The Princess got to put her down for her nap because she was working at the store instead of having to go to Birmingham. It seems one of the regional managers retired and they were having to do some inventories of a few stores so the class was canceled. She has one remaining class at the end of the month and she will have finished up her management training. Hurrah!!!

The Princess was informed today that they need her to work at the Cullman store tomorrow so she has to leave about 7 am just like she does when she goes to Birmingham. The poor girl has to work there until 4 then go to her own store until closing. A looooooooong day for both of us.

The Beast finished up all the trim finally. I only had to help him with three sections. It looks nice but he still has to go around and seal it with caulking and paint it (he says). That should take him a few days because it means he will be doing a lot of ladder climbing and that is what is so hard on him physically. All I can say is...phew! That's another few days reprieve before he can start on the flooring. He IS talking about just doing the kitchen and dining areas and extending it out just another foot but that still means cutting part of the rug and taking it up. It also means he will have to put down some plywood to compensate for the difference in the floor levels. No project he ever undertakes is simple.

I stayed up to watch The Stand on Chiller channel and it started at 7pm central time and won't finish up until 3 am. It's down to the last 40 minutes or so and my eyes are slamming shut. I have the movie on DVD so I have seen it multiple times. It's one of my favorites although I somehow lost the second half. I may just go ahead and get to bed after I finish this and post it.

Love you all. Have a great day today and enjoy yourself. Do something different just for the hell of it. Smile at everyone for no reason at all. It will make YOU feel good and it will also be a spot of cheer for those you pass.

It's not bad enough to leave one room and go into another and forget what you were going to do. No. At least not for me. I BLOG about something that didn't happen and wasn't about to happen. It seems I screwed up on the Princess's schedule in my mind so all my plans went out the window. I hope Kim didn't read the blog and feel disappointed she didn't get to see Chewlee...but I am not going to discuss any plans any more until and unless she posts her damn schedule for work on the fridge like she's supposed to be doing!

Worse, I thought she had school this morning so I couldn't believe it when I woke up and found her at home. She is nothing if not anal about getting to school (although she did skip ONE day this semester...I forget why). She looked at me in horror and said..*Don't make me be going to school any more than I have to !* Duh!!! She doesn't go to school on Mondays??? OMG...I AM losing it! Her school days are Tuesday, Thursday and Friday plus twice a month on Wednesday when she travels to Birmingham. She usually takes her uniform to work with her for Radio Shack and changes into it at school because she has to go right to work after her last class. They accommodate her school schedule and try to make sure she gets at least 35 hours a week plus a day off. That's not easy with her school schedule either. It's also why I am so tired lots of times. While she's in school and working, I am taking care of Chewlee. Next week she tells me, she works 42 hours.

The Beast went to Lowes (his favorite store these days) and picked up some more trim. He cuts his pieces and I helped him put up one long piece. A little later on this evening, as he was looking at it, he suddenly realized that it was a totally different color than the rest of the trim already up on the walls. He asked ME why I didn't notice it. My reply was that it was on a wall that isn't well lit so I thought it was just shadow. It wasn't against the other trim where I helped him so why SHOULD I have noticed it? He ran out to the garage to check on the other pieces he bought and discovered that, out of the 15 or so pieces of trim he bought, only three were this grayish white and HE USED THOSE THREE WITHOUT REALIZING IT...on the same wall. What are the odds on that????

So now he has to paint that 30 foot run (I'm sure I'm exaggerating but you get the idea) and that's just what he didn't want to have to do....LOL. The best laid plans of mice and men.....! But I will admit that I noticed it seemed a bit dark against the ceiling but did put it down to shadow. I never thought to mention it to the Beast. Another *duh* moment. I know I should have mentioned it. I HAVE run into this problem before with the Beast. I swear he's color-blind sometimes. I know, I know...a lot of men are and some are worse than others. But his seems to come and go...or maybe it's just colors we so seldom use, I don't know.

I told you about the fluid on my elbow and how the doctor wanted me to try compression before we considered anything else. I was skeptical but guess what? It's working. When I took off the bandage today to shower, it is so small that it's almost nonexistent. Another day or two and it should be good as new. I know, I know...it surprised me a lot. But if it happens to you, use this method. It doesn't hurt, no needles involved but it really does take about two weeks like my doctor said.

I am shuddering with each piece of trim the Beast puts up because it means we are > < that much closer to his starting on the flooring. I know.....I know as sure as I am sitting here....that this will be a real nightmare. I am going to stock my room with easy to eat goodies and lock Chewlee and me in my computer room with a big *Do Not Disturb Under Penalty Of Constant Bitching*. Do you think he might get the message in THAT?

We had spaghetti for dinner tonight and, believe it or not, Chewlee did NOT require a bath afterward. I left her clothes on her (her top was close to the color of the sauce anyway) and just rolled up her sleeves. I think she KNEW she couldn't be sloppy and she wasn't. I was very pleased and praised her as I washed off her hands and face. I had to kennel Baron because he was being very bad and trying to eat the spaghetti off her plate. Chewlee, unfortunately, doesn't object but it makes my stomach turn. He was not happy but it DID keep him from bothering her and I wasn't constantly yelling at him to go lay down.

Damn...just checked our weather forecast and it's supposed to go down to 17 degrees tonight. Tomorrow our high will be 45 degrees and it's going to get warmer all week. No wonder people get so sick during the winter with all this up and down temperature shit. Sheesh.

Time for me to wind down and get to bed. The Princess's first class starts at 7:45 am so it's an early wake-up for me unless Chewlee decides to sleep in. Somehow, I doubt it. I can't be that lucky all the time. *sigh*

Love you all. Keep warm or cool, depending on where you live. (I'm eliminating the *in heat* joke here you notice). Live well, love deeply and dance like no one is watching. Life is short.

I was roused from sleep this morning by the Princess coming into my room to announce that it was snowing...and coming down hard! Even Chewlee was excited and wanted *Gramma..see!!!!* which is about as close to a sentence as a 20 month old toddler can come up with.

I got my butt out of bed and made it to the front window to behold a hell of a lot more snow than I have seen in three winters here in NE Alabama. And it really WAS coming down hard and was very windy besides. At one point, the snow actually looked like it was coming down horizontally.

I checked the temperature gauge (the Beast's little doodad that gives both inside and outside temperatures) and it was 30 degrees outside. I felt confident that, no matter how much came down, it wouldn't last. Sure enough, our temperature jumped up to 45 degrees by mid afternoon and it was all gone!

In a way, I was a bit disappointed. It would have been fun to take Chewlee outside and let her play in the snow. It's something she has never done. In fact, this was her first real exposure to the sight. The other two times we had snow flurries here, they were over and the snow had melted before she even woke up. Oh well, there will be other times at other places I am sure.

But.....the Beast was very relieved because it meant less damage to the blossoms on the fruit trees. The peach and plum trees were full of blooms early this year because of the unusual warmth we have had the past few weeks. The frost we had two weeks ago killed off many of the blossoms on them all. I'm just grateful that the cherry trees haven't shown any indication of an early blooming since this summer should be the first crop from them. None of the pear trees were blooming and neither was my blackberry bush so we should be okay on those. I don't think the pear trees will be producing much fruit since they are still quite young and have only been in the ground for two years. It will take another year or two for us to see much in the way of fruit, I am sure.

It was another loving day for Chewlee. She was very generous with her hugs and kisses and wanted to spend more time in my lap than usual. She even wanted to give me hugs before I could lift her out of her crib after her nap. I kept her up later than normal so she could have her time with her mother. She seems to sleep more soundly when it is her mother that puts her to bed. She sees so little of her between college and working. I can always tell when she is feeling lonely for her mother because of the books she chooses for me to read. As I am reading, she starts pointing to the *mommy* on the pages and the *baby* with much enthusiasm and repetition. She then points to herself and says *mommy's baby* and I tell her *yes, you are mommy's baby. And you are grandma's baby, too* and she will laugh with the glee only babies seem to possess.

My sister, Bratfink (who has her own blog on this site) was in a very thoughtful frame of mind towards the end of her daily blog. She gets that way from time-to-time and I enjoy that. She spends a great deal of time reading other blogs and will pass along the links to interesting ones she feels her readers might enjoy. Her blog is full of humor once you get to know the characters involved (I do so I get a real kick out of it). I look forward to reading her blog each day. She is the one that really got me involved in blogging. I think she felt it might be a way for me to occupy my time once we moved here to the Brat Farm.

Originally, it was just me and the Beast. Then he added Baron, our doberman to the mix. Our recent additions have been the Princess (our granddaughter whom we adopted after raising her from a toddler) and HER daughter, Chewlee. The Princess goes to college plus works full-time for Radio Shack as an assistant manager. She's also in management training for them and makes the trip to Birmingham for her classes twice a month.

I take care of Chewlee and have for some time now. I should be getting some help within the next two weeks. We just have to get her shots caught up so the Princess can get her Green Paper for daycare. That should take place next week because the Princess has tests in all her classes this week and needs her free time to study for them all. I'm looking forward to the free time and I think Chewlee needs to be around children her own age. She loves kids as it is so I know it will be a treat as well as good for her.

Tomorrow (today) the Princess has the day off work so she will be home early in the day and will be taking Chewlee over to Kim's (that's the mother of Johnnycakes, the Princess's boyfriend). They spoil her rotten over there and I think that's just wonderful. It's a nice rest for me, too.

Love you all and have a great day. Don't forget to tell those you love and care about that you do every time you talk to them or see them. Hugs are free and great to give as well as receive. Life is short and you never want to regret NOT having told them.....just in case it's the last time you see them. I've lost too many people in my life (and some of them quite young) to take life for granted. So....live well, love deeply and dance like no one is watching.

Ever notice how painting a room (or two) turns your house into a real disaster area? You can't really clean up if you don't finish the painting and, of course, I've told you how *swiftly* the Beast accomplishes his self-imposed tasks. So, you straighten up as much as you can but nothing can be put where it belongs. You end up (in this case) with a table full of things such as salt and pepper shakers, sugar and (dry) creamer containers, can opener, toaster and other assorted goodies. Oh yes, let me not forget my bread box (another item the Beast made and that needs some repairing he hasn't gotten to yet). Figures, doesn't it?

The majority of the painting is completed in the kitchen now. There's just some minor stuff to be completed like a narrow strip between the garage door jamb and the untility room trim, a few places under the cabinets and things like that. The covers over the electric outlets and the telephone jack need to be replaced so I still can't return everything to their designated areas. He bought some of the trim he plans on putting up so there will be THAT to contend with as of tomorrow I think. I could be wrong but he seems to be in a hurry so he probably will do that just to annoy me. It means he will be tracking sawdust in because, of course, he couldn't get the plastic trim. *sigh*

He started scoping out the guest bathroom as his next area to attack and had a fit because he says the Princess is a pig and doesn't keep it cleaned up. I went to take a look and it was so minor, I couldn't believe he was falling back into his overreacting to stuff. It took me all of two minutes to clean up what she hadn't had time to do this morning before work. We were all up incredibly late last night and she had to open the store so she was up in just a few hours. She was probably lucky to be ready at all. Sheesh. I really hate when he starts that shit. He yells when he doesn't have to and reminds me so much of HIS father that it's incredible. I point this out to him but he doesn't believe it although he hates the idea that he IS like his father in many ways. Including his spending habits. The big difference is....we have the resources to pay for it and his father didn't. But spend they do and did. It's like an addiction with him, I swear.

He said a while back that he was going to make two shelves for the guest bathroom to put some of the things that we didn't have room for in the tub area (it's a fiberglas enclosure so the ledges on it are not really good ones for shampoo and creme rinse bottles). See, that's another project he *claimed* he was going to do but he only got it done for OUR bathroom. Even there, we are still lacking one of the shelves needed for the shampoo and creme rinses. He's got scads of projects planned and not completed. I wish he would do what he has up in the air before starting all these others. My patience is wearing rather thin.

I was worried about Chewlee getting up early since we didn't get to bed until 3am. But, wonder of wonders, she chose to sleep in today and didn't wake up until 11 am. I know...I was surprised, too. She was soaked and I had to sponge her down and change her completely. I don't know how she can fit the bladder she must have to get that diaper THAT soaked. It's a real wonder. What is more amazing is that her sheet and blankets weren't wet at all. I think she must have finished off the diaper after she stood up to let me know she was awake. I was just barely awake myself...LOL. I thought I was going to have to wash everything in the crib so it was a surprise to me when I checked. But God is good sometimes and helps out with the little things, too. I was grateful.

She was also full of piss and vinegar today. She spent the majority of the day running back and forth, spinning around to make herself dizzy and then falling down and laughing that cute laugh of hers. She has a very hearty laugh for a little one but she gives herself the hiccups when she laughs like that. She kept hugging the dog until he started running away from her whenever she went towards him. All he wanted to do was lay down and relax and she seemed determined not to let him do it. He finally barked to go outside as cold as it was and stayed out longer than normal. I felt kind of sorry for him.

I have no clue what sent Chewlee into what seemed to be a hyperactive streak but it did help slow her down to be able to run around without the ladder and painting out. The Beast had finished up what he needed to do before she ever got up and none of it was at a level that she could touch without climbing up on something. And, of course, there was nothing she could climb up on. Even my chairs were full of things like the curtains for the windows (which are now up) and all the rugs for the kitchen. I had washed and dried them then folded them and stacked them on the chairs. I won't put them down until everything is back in place and I get to wash the floor.

I almost hate to think of doing it because it almost seems pointless. I know that the Beast will be starting on that before he even gets all the trim up (watch this spot and see because I WILL report it). Which means MORE mess. And I have no clue how the Beast is going to get the rug cut and up unless he does it in sections. Thank goodness the town dump is not a far drive from us and it's free to residents. But that's fodder for another blog when it starts.

My sister, Cinderella, called me yesterday and today again. I found out my brother-in-law's doctor looked at the new MRI he ordered on his back and told him he would NOT do the surgery again. Some of the reasons are the scar tissue, the age of my BIL and the medications he is on. He's just too high a risk. He knew that Frankenstein really didn't want to hear that so he gave him the names of a couple other doctors he can consult that might feel differently. But Cinderella was glad to hear it. She really doesn't want him to go through that again. He was in such pain and he's really NOT in pain now. What little pain he has, he has pain pills to relieve. He doesn't use them often so that tells you a lot.

What is really bothering Frankenstein is that he can no longer do the things he loved to do. Mainly, to play golf. He also taught golf. It was his passion and the only thing he really enjoyed. He had to have two spinal discs replaced with titanium discs. That surgery was absolutely incredible since they had to remove the discs surrounding the spinal cord without damaging it and replace them with these titanium ones. I read all about it and was scared stiff for him at the time. But his discs were deteriorating and the only other alternative for him was a wheelchair. He didn't want to live like that so he chose surgery.

He really had an amazing recovery. I saw him and spent time with him two weeks after his surgery and was shock and surprised that he was doing so fantastic. He was up, walking around and even bending. The doctor did a fantastic job and Frankenstein was a good patient because he was motivated. It didn't last long when he found out that he still couldn't *swing* and the bone spurs in his neck (not the area involved but another problem he had) returned. The fact that Frankenstein wanted MORE surgery was shocking enough to me when I heard it. He keeps telling my sister that he would rather die than live like he is living. He DOES have some other problems I am not bringing up and I don't think the surgery would resolve THOSE. My poor sister has enough to deal with and this surgery could possibly kill him this time. She doesn't want that, no matter what. Say a little prayer for them both if you don't mind. I am because I would like to see them both happier and more content with their lives. What you can't change, learn to accept I say.

Well, tomorrow we are supposed to be getting snow. Actually any time after midnight and continuing until after noon tomorrow. So far, nothing and I am hoping we really don't get it in our area. It's only supposed to get down to about 32 degrees as our low so nothing SHOULD stick. The Beast is worried about our peaches. We won't have any if we get a bad freeze or the possible two inches of snow that some areas are supposed to get. The last freeze resolved any problems with our plum trees overproducing because it killed off a lot of the blossoms but not all. If we have snow on the ground, we will have to kick Baron's butt out the door to get him to pee because he really, really hates snow. Heck, he hates cold, too. But to have both together????

Love you all and have a wonderful day. Keep warm if it applies and cool if in heat .