As I guessed would happen, the Beast returned from his brother's early. Even earlier than I thought originally. He talked about the psycho neighbor of his brother at the Centralia house (and the old man IS nuts but you can't do anything much about it.....yet!). I suggested a nice shotgun but his brother failed to see the humor in that. I WASNT entirely kidding.

When the Beast got home, however, I found out it wasn't the perils of being so close to a psycho that got to him but it was that he really felt terrible. He looked awful when he got home. I seldom see him as pale as he looked. It could have been just the rigors of the seven hour drive but I somehow doubt that. But, never fear, I know him. He will complain and rest, do stuff and, in two or three days, be just fine. He DID fix the back screen door for me as soon as he'd dragged in his stuff from the car (and I was grateful) so now the wasps can't just come and go as they please. It was becoming perilous to open the darn inside door because they would lay in wait for you to open it. With the baby here, I wasn't taking any chances. It's not perfect yet but for a quick fix, it'll do. In a couple days, he'll do it right and we won't have to worry about that any more. Or, at least, not until after next winter.

I forgot what a pain in the ass a frame house actually can be. It's been many years since I lived in one in a climate that has such drastic extremes of weather. Our house in San Diego was frame but it's a very temperate climate there. Average temperature is around 70 degrees and dry, dry, dry. It's a desert climate so there's almost no shifting of the framework.

Here in Alabama, we have all the extremes of weather. Heat, cold, ice, some snow, lots of rain, periods of NO rain, winds (even tornadoes) so the houses are always shifting, expanding, contracting...sheesh. It's no wonder you have to caulk every year. Even the doors on my darn closets shift and become either too loose or won't close depending on the season. I've learned already how to make many of the adjustments myself.

Monster baby showed up today. By that I mean....she was her own sweet, adorable self when she was dropped off this morning. Cute as a button and loving. Know what I mean? I had moved the extra recliner into my computer room to get it out of the way and give me something comfortable to sit in if I decided to watch a movie or even take a nap. It's a really comfy recliner with several different positions including one that is ALMOST level. As soon as Chewlee saw it, she just KNEW it was HER chair in here. When she got tired after she had eaten lunch, she grabbed her blankey and bottle, climbed into it, rested her head on one arm and draped her little legs over the other and fell asleep.

I took advantage of this time to get a few things done since I knew the Beast was on his way home. I tiptoed out of the room, folded some things and put them away, got all the hanging clothes to their designated areas and then decided to fix the guest room up. I had done the dusting and vacuuming but hadn't made the bed up yet. So, I took my time, fixed up the curtains since the wind had blown them around the day before when i still had them open and walked back into my computer room. Now, I expected the baby to be asleep. I didn't even look at the chair when I walked in. I sat down at my computer to read some email and had gone through several when I heard a noise behind me. I figured she was waking up so I turned to my left and saw.............CHEWLEE WRITING ON THE WALL WITH A BLACK MARKER!!!!!!

OMG! I almost flipped out entirely. I think just the way I screamed her name scared the crap out of her because she dropped the pen and was cowering in the corner when I got to her. I took one look at the wall, another look at her and couldn't decide if I should let her live or die with all that shit on her. I decided to go ahead and clean HER off first. That was the easy part since baby lotion will take off marker on skin without having to rub it raw. She was crying, I was angry and I didn't even want to look at the wall just yet. I finally got her all cleaned up after stripping her down to her diaper to make sure I didn't miss anything. I put her rather roughly into the recliner with her bottle and blankey and told her DON'T MOVE!!! She cried and cried but she didn't move a muscle. I then attacked the wall. After attempting several different types of cleaning things, I decided I was wasting time and effort so I got out the Kilz from the garage and a paint brush and covered it over with that. We had planned on painting this room but I hadn't really planned on doing it any time soon. That is going to change now. This room will definitely be the next room painted.

Now you have to understand that I told the Beast NOTHING about this when he got here. I figured after one look at his pale face that I was going to spare him that much until he was able to handle it better. In retrospect, I probably should have told him about it right then. It might have spared me some grief if it was more than he could handle...LOL. J/K

After she did it, it occurred to me that this was the first baby of OURS that ever did that....wrote on walls, I mean. I really racked my brain and couldn't think of a single instance where the kids did that. I may be wrong or perhaps it wasn't as permanent as this stuff is. Maybe just crayon? I just don't remember it. I remember my brother's one son thinking he was decorating the walls of his home repeatedly. How he didn't go nuts, I don't know. I'm just glad that I came back into the room when I did. I don't even want to think how much she might have gotten decorated if I hadn't. She might actually have just started on the area because she was half hiding behind the recliner and that's usually the kind of thing she does when she KNOWS she's either got something she shouldn't have or is doing something she shouldn't be doing

I will admit that for the next few hours, she was an angel. I truly think she didn't know what to make of her *mamaw*. I know for a fact she had never, ever seen me as mad as I was. She even called my name a couple times before she would attempt to get out of the recliner after I sat her in it and told her to *stay!* The Kilz will keep the marker from bleeding through the paint when we do cover it over. I learned that much and it's one of the reasons we keep it around. We've had problems with stuff like grease and, in one house, we had a weird painted dining room that we had to use it on so we could get an even color applied over it. The woman that had owned the house fancied herself a *new wave* decorator and had applied three or four different shades of pink to red paint with feathers and sponges. ACK!!! Awful stuff. I was glad when we finally got that eradicated from our lives.

I did decide that I am probably going to do this room in a pretty orchid color. I want a color *I* like to surround me. I spend so much time in here that I don't care what anyone else thinks about it at this point. I hadn't decided on a color until I was applying the Kilz to the wall.

When I showed the Princess Chewlee's *artwork* she almost died. She knows how the Beast will over-react to it. I also got to tell her that I finally think Chewlee might be ready to be potty trained now. Today she always told me (but only AFTER) that she was *wet* and wanted her diaper changed. She would get me a diaper, her powder and then lay down on the floor so I would change her. When I would ask her, *Is this wet or poopie?,* she would tell me. She KNOWS the difference. Even the Beast, when I told him about the cookie jar toy incident said, *Well, she's smart enough* which was a HUGE thing for him to say. But he also saw her telling me when her diaper was wet. We went through a lot of diapers today but, hey, it was educational for us both. Now the trick will be to get her to tell us BEFORE she wets or poops.

The Princess has some of those pull-ups for her and even some *big girl pants*. Now it's just deciding how we will get it started. I shall report the progress if and when it happens.

Well, I have a bit of a headache and I am tired as heck. I didn't sleep well last night and was up and down several times. I could have used a nap but if it wasn't the Princess calling me, it was the Beast. The Princess said she was going to call Kym to see if she had decided when she would like to start taking care of Chewlee a day or two or more each week or if she might have decided NOT to do it. I sure would love to have a day or two a week to call my own. It doesn't look like the Princess is going to get financial assistance on day care any time soon but she is going to try to see what she can manage on her own. It's just tough when you have bills to pay and don't we all know that? A lot depends on how long the extra work time Johnnycakes has been getting lasts, too. That will help take some of the burden off her as well.

Okay, time to get my butt to bed. The Princess doesn't have work tomorrow but school starts at 7:30am so she will be dropping off the baby before 7am. Love you all and wish you all the best of days. Hope you get some nice weather and I'll be hoping for the same here.

I'm including a link for you to vote for our Chewlee in this month's baby contest. It should take you right to her picture or look for the caption that says: *I see you!*

https://www.greatamericanphotocontest.com/voter1/index.aspx?referid=EmailFriends&p=1331195&x=.jpg

Love you all. Thanks for helping out. We think she's adorable and I hope you do, too!

You would think I had been suffering from insomnia or something with the way I have been talking about sleep lately. I haven't but don't you find it irritating to get up from a night's sleep and STILL not feel like you are rested? I slept and slept WELL last night. I got to stretch out, my back didn't pain me or wake me up and, when I got up the first time (around 7:30am or so), I just went to the bathroom then right back to bed. I slept until the Princess woke me up when she got here with Chewlee at 10am. And know what? I felt GREAT!!! I didn't toss and turn because the bed was not a mess at all and took very little straightening to make it up, nice and neat.

When the Beast called me yesterday afternoon, I told him it was really nice, quiet, peaceful and CLEAN with the two beasts gone and *I could get used to this really easy*. He laughed, called me a bitch and said he would call today (Sunday) and let me know when he would be heading home. No surprise there since he HATES when I enjoy him being gone. He's really afraid that I actually might like it. Yeah, so what? I still have to outlive him. It's not like I am going to divorce him at this stage of the game. He does prove to be useful from time-to-time. And what else would he suspect I might do if I did like NOT having him around? *Insert evil laughter here*

My girlfriend from high school (Marilyn) called on Saturday evening to let me know that the expected reunion of those of us that *hung out* together and had remained friends all these years was going apace. Another good friend, Jamie, was apparantly in charge of making sure everyone knows when and where it will take place. She wanted to check with me to make sure MY plans hadn't changed (I go to Chicago every June) so that the invites can go out and everyone can reserve the time and finalize plans. We were laughing about the fact that it had been almost 20 years since many of us have seen each other and lots has changed since then. Mostly US....LOL. My girlfriend, Alice, was married to a rancher and they had horses somewhere <-- over there. Out west. Some place. Some other state. Carol, a girl that I have known since grammer school (we lived in the same neighborhood) has moved ^ up there...I think in Michigan. Not many still live in the Chicago area. We also suffered an unexpected death of our friend, Dolores, recently. She was 62. Came home from work, laid down on the couch and never woke up. That's where her son found her. It was a really sad time for us all. She was a great person, had a wonderful heart and will be greatly missed.

When I told the Beast that the plans were laid and I was really looking forward to it, he laughed and said it sounded like I would have a good time. He knows Marilyn well and vaguely remembers some of the others, although many from just my talking about them over the years. Marilyn was widowed four times before she turned 40. The Beast used to make a joke that he was *willing to give up a year of his life for a weekend with her* since he kept saying they had all been young and healthy before marrying HER. Actually, all of her husbands were much older than she was and most died untimely deaths. Her present husband (yes, she DID remarry) is the only one close to her in age and they are still married over 20 years now. He, however, does suffer from some serious health issues and, although we have tried hard to get him to chance it, he is afraid to travel. He HAS said he would love to come and spend some time with us on the boat, on the lake and just relax. If his diabetes ever gets under control, I still have hope. Marilyn is reluctant to leave him for any length of time (and I don't blame her) so we shall just have to wait and see.

So I have things to do in order to be gone for a week or so then. I should have my granddaughter, Teri Lynn, here to make the trip to pick up her mom in Louisville and then on to Chicago. After that, Buttmunch will have to take charge of her daughter because I have plans. Yes, indeedy, I have plans.

The Princess should be here in about an hour-and-a-half to have lunch with the baby and me. I'm not going to make anything special because I have lots of *stuff* to make sandwiches or other things and it won't take long. The day is dismal and overcast but I DO see the sun trying to peek out. It won't last long even if it does. Thunderstorms that hit Texas (and dumped as much as 6 inches of rain PER HOUR! ) are heading towards us. I doubt we will get that much rain but I DID have a concerned friend from Pogo ask me if we were on high ground.

The baby will be here until around 7:30pm today so I need to get her down for a nap if possible. It probably won't happen until after she sees her mommy at lunchtime. But one never knows. Right now she is trying to get my shoes on her feet and she keeps pulling the velcro tabs to try to make them tighter. It's really too funny. She can't seem to get them exactly right for her and she's getting mad. She will bring them over to me soon so *mamaw* can do it for her.

I got some good news while the Princess was here for lunch. The baby was sleeping so she had tiptoed into the house (the baby hears the click-clack of her heels on the wood floors otherwise). She told me that it looked like Kym was going to watch the baby a couple days a week. She can't afford to pay her much but she will give her something that works for them both, I am sure. I never asked for anything because I had volunteered to do this way back before we moved the Princess up here. But I am glad that Kym will do it for ANY reason. It will give me some time to get a few things done around here that I would like to do but can't really with the baby around. Like get my garden going. If I am going to be canning again this year, I want a lot of variety. Once the garden is in, it's easy to take care of even with the baby here.

Haven't heard from the Beast yet on just when he's going to come home. I figure if he tells me he's leaving tomorrow to head home, that's about right. If he says Tuesday or Wednesday, that's okay too.

We have some bad weather heading this way and my internet connection is becoming hinky so I have to get this posted now or I will lose it all.

Love you all. Have a great day and be sure to tell those you love that you do. I know I try to remember but I do have days......

I actually went to bed fairly early (for me) last night. I popped in a dvd (Tremors, Back to Perfection...which is #3 in the series), fluffed up my pillows and laid back. I really put in that particular movie because I can fall asleep while it is playing without any sudden jolts by loud noises that are amplified like a shot out of a cannon. True to form, I DID fall asleep. What I hadn't counted on was the sudden intense QUIET once the movie ended and the credits had run their course. The computer shut itself down and the quiet was deafening!!! I woke up with a jolt and had a hard time focusing on just where I was and why I suddenly woke up.

I thought (at first) that maybe I woke up due to a dream? NO. Did I have to go to the bathroom? NO. I then noticed that I was alone in bed and the dog's kennel was open and empty and it dawned on me. It was the QUIET that woke me up. The total absence of noise. I should have put the fan on just for that much in the background of my mind. I have slept through thunder and lightning storms but the quiet here is so intense after midnight that even the crickets give it up and go to sleep.

The Beast cannot believe that I can sleep through the sound of the TV. There have been times when he quietly tiptoed into the room where I was, turned off the light (yes, even light doesn't bother me) but the minute he turned OFF the TV, I was awake, aware and UP. I have told him several times that, if he feels he doesn't want to bother me to get into bed because he thinks I am overtired or not feeling good, just LEAVE me entirely alone. Do NOT turn off the TV. Do NOT turn off the light. Just leave me alone. I will wake up at some point and do all those things for myself and crawl into our bed if it's not daylight. If it is, I usually just get up and make coffee and thus will start my day.

Last night, however, when I woke up the first time, I was not feeling as tired as I should in order to go right back to sleep. I ended up taking a fresh shower, blow drying my hair and popping in the first of the modern Mummy movies. I re-fluffed my pillows and settled in. Sleep escaped me. For over an hour. Just as I was about to give up and just get out of bed and find something constructive to do, I guess the sandman came to visit. I don't recall any dreams at all. When I woke up, around 6am, I really didn't feel rested at all. I still don't but I am going to take a little break and lay down with the baby to take her nap with her. More later.

Unfortunately, the baby did NOT rest for very long so I didn't get a nap actually. About the time I was ready to doze off, she was up and about and trying to get into everything she knew she shouldn't. *sigh* Typical kid but I sure could have used her rest....LOL I think once the Princess gets here, I am going to HAVE to take a nap for a bit. NOW I REALLY need it.

I picked up a small bottle of mudslide yesterday and I think I am going to indulge myself and add a scoop of ice cream to it to make it really chocolatey. It works as well as ice cubes to make it slushy but the additional flavor..... I shouldn't really indulge myself like this...too much sugar. But I will compensate. I'm so good about watching my food the majority of the time that I don't feel real guilty anyway.

The Beast finally DID call me to tell me he had forgotten to call me. (Like this was a surprise?) I told him that no news was good news and I really figured Jim would have called if anything had happened or he got worried because he hadn't heard from him OR been unable to reach him on his cell phone. He agreed. It turns out it was warmer there than it was here. I know! What are the odds on THAT??

Since I brought up the subject of dreams.....I used to dream a lot and remember dreaming, even if I didn't remember all the details. It's been a while since I remember dreaming at all. Which is kind of sad in itself. I've read where people believe that we solve problems in our sleep via dreaming. Or that we get premonitions of things in our dreams. That we can live out fantasies (which I can tell you I have a time or two...LOL). Nightmares are the result of the mind trying to sift through things that frighten us or events we are trying to make sense of. Or even showing us the worst possible things that can happen if our behavior (or the behavior of those around us) doesn't change.

I've had truly bizarre dreams that will never make any sense no matter how it might be *interpreted*. I've had dreams that were so silly that you just had to laugh at them. I guess we all would like to think that dreams have some sort of rhyme or reason behind them. It takes some of the power to frighten (and delight, too!) away from them that way. They say you can only dream when you are in REM sleep, which is the best sort of sleep and gives the mind and body true rest. Deprive a person of REM sleep and they can become psychotic. I can believe that.

I know that I have woken up at times with a driving need to sit down and write down the details of a particularly vivid dream. There was such power in that feeling that I actually did that more than once. I ran across some of these writings the other evening while going through my file cabinet in an unmarked folder. It was really funny to read them after many years of gathering dust. During the reading, I actually was thrust right back in the middle of the dreams because that is just how VIVID they were. I realized that I had actually the start of a couple of interesting science fantasy books. One I remembered because I was recovering from a broken foot and spent a few weeks writing almost every day for 8 or more hours. If it hadn't been for my sister, Cinderella, I wouldn't have even eaten. She came over every day and looked after me while I was under the spell and in the middle of a muse.

I think I am going to have to try getting back to it and finishing it up. I have a pile of notes on various things, people, places, animals, etc. that are all involved on this particular world. I may have to wait until after the Princess starts summer school since it looks like Johnnycakes may be doing more babysitting then and it will give me the time to spend working on it. I don't know that it will go anywhere (if you know what I mean and you probably do) but I do feel compelled to complete at least the one that I started.

Time to try to get a few more things accomplished while I can do it at my own pace. I DID finally get the file cabinet completely cleaned out and cleaned up. I had things in there that went back more than 10 years and had no relevance. I mean, why was I not getting rid of instruction manuals for appliances in a home I haven't owned for 14 years? Must be the Polish side of me coming out or something. I had the serial numbers of things on their instruction manuals and even the sales slips stapled to the inside of them for things I barely remembered owning at one time or another, including a few things we bought in California in 1976! I know! It's just too weird. Some might say organized but I don't think so. Lazy might be a better word. I remember at times looking at the folders and thinking, *One day.....* The best laid plans of mice and men....LOL

Love you all. I hope you have a wonderful day full of sunshine and warmth, friends, family and love enough to spare.

The two Beast's left this morning for Centralia. It was really funny to see how excited Baron was because he KNEW, once his bed was loaded into the trunk of the car, that they were going on another ADVENTURE! He's really a great dog to travel with even as big as he is these days. He's patient, waits until we stop to do his stuff because the Beast ALWAYS walks him, he will eat when given food, chew on one of his chew toys or sleep while we are traveling down the road. No problems. No barking. He DOES like the window down in good weather though.

My daughter, Buttmunch, called today to tell me that my son checked himself into rehab yesterday or the day before, she wasn't sure which. He left a message on her phone so she said she was probably in the shower when he called. She tried to call him back but it's obvious the phone is off until he finishes up detox and then he will move into a halfway house. He needs it but I wish he were serious about taking advantage of it and getting to the root of his problems. I think it's more a means to an end for him. It does allow him to get ahold of himself....for a while. I will just keep praying for him. It's all I can do.

The Beast never called to let me know he arrived, safe and sound, at his brother's. But I know that his brother would have called ME if he hadn't. So he will call me in the morning when he thinks about me (if at all). He will want to check to make sure I am not enjoying myself without him though I'm sure.

I ran out to the store after the Princess picked up Chewlee. We were almost out of milk (and juice for Chewlee). I also picked up a couple things for our lunches for the next few days. As I was passing along the front of the store, I realized that I hadn't told the Princess I was almost out of diapers for the baby so I grabbed a box of those. The last thing I want is to run out of THOSE. I couldn't even use dish towels with no safety pins big enough to use with them. Better safe than sorry.

Well, I think for the hell of it, I will go to bed early tonight. I just may pop in a dvd in the Beast's computer to go to sleep to....LOL. I sleep better with background noises. During the summer, when we have the windows open and I can hear the crickets, even that will do. Otherwise, I seem to wait for the AC to kick in and the fan noise will lull me to sleep. But a movie or a tv program works just as well, I have found.

The Princess opens up the store in the morning so she will be dropping off Chewlee around 7:30am. If I wake up early enough, I think I will call her to bring over Chewlee's little motorized bike so she can run up and down the driveway if the weather is nice (it's supposed to be but one never knows these days). It may help to tire her out and get her to nap on time instead of waiting for it to overtake her.

Love you all. Hope you have a great day. I'll leave you with this thought: A child can ask questions that even a wise man cannot answer. The author is unknown but obviously knew a child....LOL. So don't feel bad if you can't answer everything. *wink*

Got up early today because I was expecting the Princess to drop off Chewlee early. Her first class is usually at 7:30am so it's a drop-and-run for her to make it. When it was almost 7:30am and she still wasn't here, I panicked and called her. I get a sleepy voice that tells me, *I told you I didn't have a first class.* Now I knew that she didn't on Tuesday but had no idea it was ALL WEEK. Duh. Well, I woke her up just a little before she would have had to get up anyway so I didn't feel TOO bad. It DID mean that *I* was up a little over an hour before *I* needed to be though.

It was cold when I got up. I checked and it was just 41 degrees outside and overcast. I couldn't believe that they were predicting it would go up to 68 degrees or more. I just knew I had on warm jammies, slippers and a robe and I was STILL cold. When the Princess dropped off Chewlee, I felt her little feet and hands and they were icy even though she had footed pajamas on. I got her under the electric blanket with her bottle until she had warmed up. Although she didn't take a long nap later that morning, she did nap with little fuss. I laid down with her since she was getting a bit cranky and she was so sweet with her touching my face and moving my hair off my forehead. It's things I do to her when she lays down. She then snuggled up on my shoulder and settled down to her nap.

The Princess surprised me when she picked up Chewlee early. I didn't know she didn't have work today because she knew she had a paper due in her Psychology Class on Friday. She had done her research, done her random survey for it and just needed to get it put all together. I had printed out part of it for her after she emailed it to me from the school library. Very impressive. She really is doing well and her composition has become excellent. I'm so proud of her.

The Beast finished mowing the back yard today so he can leave for his brother's in the morning with a clear conscience. His brother called him in an effort to try to get him to leave as soon as he was done with that but the Beast knows himself. He has to leave when he is fresh and awake. Besides, he was a bit distracted today when he found out how cheap the remaining lots are now around us. He started checking them out (to the complete joy of Baron who got to run alongside the scooter with the Beast). He has kind of set his eye on one of the lots that's about 3/4 of an acre, on the curve opposite us. His idea is to buy the lot and build a shell on it. He figures we need about 1600 sq. ft. to make it ideal for us and would also allow us to put a decent size deck on it, too. He also wants a front porch that we could actually sit on or put a nice swing on. Pipe dream, buddy. We can't afford to do anything at all until Tara pays off the loan for her house. She's got another four years before she has to do that and I don't see her doing it any sooner. I sure wouldn't if I didn't have to, would you?

The Beast is packed and he's put his stuff in the car in preparation for leaving. He probably won't leave until around 8am or 9am because he's got the route in his mind and knows how long it will take him. I will put a clean pillowcase on his favorite pillow that he takes with him in the morning. I always try to make it a bright color so he doesn't forget it. He did once and it was six months before we got it back. I wouldn't buy him another one so he was forced to make do with one of the spares. These darn feather pillows we have are NOT cheap.

Time to send this down the tubes. Had a tough time today because I got really dizzy for a bit. Took me a while to realize that I was not taking in fluids like I normally do and I was dehydrating once the house warmed up. It to up to almost 80 in my computer room. I know! It was up to 73 outside. More of the same tomorrow they are saying. Love it!

Hugs to you all and love you! Have a great day.

Today was the big April 15th. The deadline for getting all your tax returns mailed out if you owe the IRS any money. Or if you need an extension for some reason BUT...you have to send any monies owed anyway so what's the point? I swear our CPA used to do that to us when we had our business for HIS convenience (to have extra time to complete the paperwork and make it match his calculations or something). Anyway, I ran over to Tara's, picked up ours, signed it (yes, even the hubby's signature since he wanted me to get it to the post office ASAP) and got that over with. I had forgotten all about it until about two weeks ago . Tara never mentioned it because she thought we had used someone else and her feelings were hurt. She laughed when I told her to make sure to remind me next year. I had all the paperwork together by the beginning of February so there was no excuse for me forgetting....except old age. Out of sight, out of mind. *sigh*

I did my running around I needed to do today and got all that business out of the way, thankfully. The day was cold but the heater in the car kept me nice and toasty. I had everything planned out so there wasn't time for the car to cool down before I was back in it and on my way to the next destination. I stopped at Taco Hell on the way home and picked up some nachos, a nice beef burrito for the Beast and some of the crunchy tacos for me. For some reason, every few months I get a taste for them with their hot sauce. I can make my own but, don't ask me why, I just need a Taco Hell fix at times. The boy behind the window gave me the HELL hot sauce today for some reason. I really don't like it as well as their regular HOT sauce. It may be hot but it's not as tasty. Heat but no flavor, know what I mean? Anyway, I just used what I had since I hadn't checked it before I left the window (my fault since I DO know I should). True to experience, the edges of my hairline started to sweat but that was about all. The nachos, however, were extremely tasty as they were. No extra sauces required. The Beast saw what I had, ran and put his teeth in and just dug right into his treat.

I got my washing done and got the Beast all packed up and ready to go to his brother's if he wants tomorrow. Why he would wait until Friday is beyond me. He won't commit to leaving then but he could leave here as late as 10, our time, and get there by dinnertime. That's with stopping for gas and even food and walks for the dog.

He just went to bed because he's *bored* (his word). I told him, *Well you could be at Jim's tomorrow if you want.* Nothing to hold him here. That's why its great to be retired. I think he's afraid I might have fun without him being here and won't leave just because I would like him to go then.

My sister, Cee, and my baby Sis, Emm, joined me on Pogo tonight and we chatted and played Monopoly Slots for a while. I gather they are still enjoying each others company and having a good time together. I did find out that Frankenstein has not abandoned his quest to see if he can have his back surgery redone. He has an appointment with another surgeon (whom, I am assuming, has had time to study the x-rays and medical records from the original surgeon) to see if HE will redo the surgery. He's not a good risk and even Cee does not feel he would make it through another one. He was lucky to survive the first one, it was that drastic and STILL makes me shudder to think of it. I was hoping he might have accepted the fact that, even if his life is NOT all he would like it to be, it's still a good life for a man his age. He might even enjoy it if he let himself. It makes my sister sad to see him so unhappy.

I found out my Independence Day DVD is cracked and it won't load up even. It's not even near the beginning of the movie but it has obviously disrupted the whole thing. It means I have to buy myself another copy. I just wish I knew WHY it got cracked. It's not like I abuse those at all. It's one of my favorites, too.

Well, time to hit the hay here at Brat Farm. The Beast told me that we seem to have a lot of double peaches or peach twins as he calls them. They are two that either never separated or they have already grown together for some reason. They look like they are going to be huge this year, too. My mouth is already watering.

Love you all. Sending hugs your way and hope you have a wonderful day. May all your dreams be sweet ones.

One of the things I didn't mention last night on my blog was the fact that, shortly after my hanging up on the Princess, my daughter, Buttmunch called. She was just calling to chat but picked up on the fact that I was upset about something. So, after a little bit of coaxing, and her saying, "Mom...who else can you vent to? I call to vent to YOU!", I proceeded to tell her about the problem and even about my idea of the *fix* for it. She, bless her heart, got really upset at the Princess and said she was going to call her and yell at her about how she *takes advantage of me all the time*. I told her not to do that since she was working (the Princess) but Buttmunch felt that the Princess had called ME while she was working so she didn't think it would matter if SHE called.

Bless her heart. She loves me. I love THAT about her, too. It's nice to know that SOMEONE other than my Chewlee does.

I am, however, wondering why my son IM'd me shortly thereafter to try to get the Princess's new cell phone number. I asked him (suspiciously) why he needed it and he, innocently, said *to talk to the Princess, why else?*. My cell phone had died at the end of the conversation with Buttmunch and I wasn't able to access it AT ALL but I finally DID locate the number off her bill that she had left behind here after opening it the other day. I hated feeling suspicious but I still kind of harbor that in my heart because he never DID answer my inquiry as to whether or not Buttmunch had called him.

I just hate the idea that they might have ganged up on her. A mother doesn't like to fight with her kids OR see them fighting. At least THIS mother doesn't.

One good piece of news.....the Beast IS going to make the trip up to his brother's house in Centralia. He's leaving on Friday. He said to me, "I'm only going to stay for a couple days" like I cared how long he stayed. It's his family. If he enjoys himself, he can stay as long as he wants. It gives ME a break and he enjoys some different company for a change. It also keeps him from any new projects for a while.

Well, that's it for now. Love you. Have a great day.

Well, it was a real round robin of pissed off people tonight here at Brat Farm. The Princess had told me on Sunday that Johnnycakes was going to watch Chewlee on Wednesday (tomorrow at the time I am writing this) so, after some good natured kidding, I figured it was good to go. I set up an appointment with my doctor for early in the morning since I need blood work done (fasting). I also have to hit the post office and send off our income tax papers and the check we owe them. It's not all that much but I sure don't want to owe them ANYTHING. I have to send it off certified, like we do every year so it means waiting in line Then I had a couple small errands to do for myself before I could come home and do my laundry, get the guest bedroom cleaned up and the bed remade so it's ready when we have company. And we WILL be having company soon. Either my cousin and his wife will be here within the next month or, late in May, my granddaughter, Teri.

So, at 6pm tonight I get a call from the Princess. She informs me that #1: she has to open AND close the store. That means I get the baby EARLY and she goes home LATE. #2: Johnnycakes has a paper he has to do and will be going over to his mother's house to do it. I THINK it might be so he can do it and send it via the internet because the kids don't have that at their house. I hit the roof. First of all, it was too late to call and reschedule the doctor's appointment so I will probably have to pay $30 for missing THAT (this is my thinking). Second, why does Johnnycakes need 12 hours to accomplish one paper? Couldn't he at least let me have a couple hours? No, she says...he can't take the baby in his Jeep and I am thinking *Why can't he go get the Princess's car, pick up the baby for a few hours and then bring her back when I am done with my stuff?* We never got to this point because the Princess was just going to cram it down my throat that MY stuff wasn't as important as HERS. So, I hung up the phone on her.

I think she was stunned by that. She called me back and said, *You didn't actually hang up on me, did you?* I said, *Yes, I did*. When she started to try to tell me more reasons why *I* was being unreasonable, I hung up on her again. She didn't try to call me back.

I will tell you WHY I was so very pissed. Not only wasn't she willing to think of a way that we could all get what we wanted/needed but she is so ungrateful for what I do for her. I love her. Always have, always will, just as if she actually WERE my own. Because to me, she is! When we adopted her, I almost felt like it shouldn't be necessary. She had ALWAYS been ours and we gave her all the things we couldn't give our kids when they were growing up because we didn't have the money then. Once we started our own business, that was a different matter. And the kids understood that. They were never jealous because, to them, she had always been their little sister. Not a niece. A SISTER. To me, she's been MY child. Her daughter is the light of my life right now. A joy. Do I want to see her go to someone else? No. Not really. But she NEEDS day care when it's available because she needs other children around to play with, interact and learn from. I don't think the spreading of their germs and sicknesses will be fun but it's part of life.

I am an old person. Oh, I don't mean I'm decrepit or anything but I have earned my stripes and raised a lot of kids. I committed to taking care of Chewlee and she's been a joy to be around (most of the time...LOL). She's such a loving baby and has such a cute personality. But there are some things I cannot do when she is around. Getting my laundry done, folded, put away, beds changed...those kind of things she makes twice as hard on me as they need to be. When I was younger, it was different. I had energy to burn back then. Even 10 years ago, before the Beast's strokes and then MY health problems, I had energy to burn. But not now. Now, I am more efficient from experience but I also need to be because I DON'T have excess energy.

I absolutely DETEST discord. I hate having arguments or misunderstandings. I also hate being both taken advantage of AND not appreciated. A little understanding and gratitude sent MY way would be appreciated immensely. Also a little help now and then. It doesn't need to be much but I seem to be constantly bending myself out of shape for everyone but myself and MY needs. A doctor's appointment now and then that doesn't require me to get the Beast (god forbid!) to do something HE doesn't really want to do. I get tired of him bitching and complaining because he MIGHT....just MIGHT...have to put himself out for a while. I pay and pay and pay and just don't feel like doing that.

So, the end result is that the Princess was barely civil when she picked up the baby (which really hurt me because, like I said, things MIGHT have been resolved to everyone's satisfaction if she had bothered to even TRY to see if I had made some plans that couldn't be changed). She announced over her shoulder that she had *called off* working tomorrow (which means NO pay for that because it wasn't a *scheduled* day off and she knows I know that). The whole thing is meant to make ME feel guilty over it and I refuse. Well, I do feel bad but I do NOT feel guilty. The guilt is HERS for thinking that she could just ride roughshod over me anytime and I would sit still for it without rancor. C'est la vie!

Night all. Love you much. Hope you have a better day than I did (or will).

and she had the outfit that my sister, Bee, crocheted for Chewlee. Well, almost. It seems that she ended up leaving the hat behind and that is almost the cutest part of it....LOL. The Beast was disappointed because he's embarrassed that he hasn't taken the promised pictures for my sister but....the day was dismal and overcast. Plus, it was so cool that we weren't sure it would get warm enough. So, we are hoping for a better day tomorrow and the Beast, ever the perfectionist who prefers natural sunlight, will take the pictures and send them to my sister.

Chewlee was in a great mood. She was loving, happy and hyperactive. I saw what she ate yesterday so I couldn't figure out where THAT came from but I could NOT get her to take a nap today. I tried laying down with her, turning off the lights in the puter room and putting on one of her favorite movies (Curious George) but she would be quiet for a bit and then up and playing or wanting to get into my nap. We did exercises together (including her using my legs as a playground while I did leg lifts with her on them) and then I tried getting her to do some simple things like touching her toes and then rolling over. She loves that one but only if I grab her legs and help her roll over. I finally gave it up and just told the Princess that she would probably sleep well for her tonight and late in the morning. The Princess won't be waking me up so early tomorrow since she doesn't have a first class (the one at 7:30am). I forgot to ask WHY but know she still has her 9am one. It just means I will probably be up when she brings the baby over.

The Princess discovered what looks like a nice day care center just down the road from their new house. It's called The Academy and it made me wonder if it's like the one we had HER in for a while when she was young and I was still working. It would be funny. She's going to stop in and check on it later this week she hopes. We shall see.

The Beast is having fun playing with what seems to be an incredible program his brother sent him that is used for fixing pictures up that are not quite right. It's easier to use than his photo shop and doesn't destroy the original picture unless you save the original in a *special folder*...blah, blah, blah...I don't really care to understand it all but I do appreciate that he finds it less frustrating to use. Now he's anxious to find some new places and people to shoot pictures of so he has something new to play with. I'm hoping he decides it might be time to go visit with his brother and take pictures of a different lake or something. I can only hope.

Not much else going on around the Brat Farm. We were under a Tornado Alert for a while today (again) but nothing came out of it *phew*. The Beast had some running around to do and he said he was shocked at the number of trees down and the crews working to get the power poles back up that were hit by the tornadoes on Friday. Our area wasn't hit as badly as others so he was taken aback by it all. Makes me VERY nervous about living in a frame home....even more now than when I first realized this area got a lot more tornadoes than some other areas we MIGHT have settled down in.

Time for me to get to bed. I have my jammies on and the Beast will be hitting the sack soon, too, I think. I really don't care but *I* want to be up at a decent time in the morning. Love you all. Hope you have a great day.

Even if she goes to day care, there is still the fact that they close at 5 or 6 and there are times that Chewlee will need to be picked up by then. If Johnnycakes is working, too, that means I will have to do that. And I will still get weekend duty but it will still be nice. I love her to death anyway and this is such a great time of her life. She has such a curious mind and is so fearless. That's kind of scary in itself but it is incredible to watch her testing her limitations and limits.