The flooring finally actually got going today. The Beast cut and installed the plywood for half the room (so he didn’t have to dismantle the bed or his desk). He got the baseboard undercut and started actually laying down the Pergo. He has about 1/4 of the floor done (or half of the half) before he finally called it a day and relaxed for a while before calling it a night. He and Baron are sound asleep as I am writing this.

I helped the Beast while he was cutting some of the plywood and then got started making the potato salad and the fresh fruit salad. I had already cooked up the eggs for the potato salad and they were nice and chilled. After the potatoes were cooked (I used Bee’s clever idea and precut the potatoes before cooking them. Thank you, Bee), I put them in the fridge to begin cooling down while I cut up the celery and onion. I then started on the fruit salad.

I was so grateful for the Beast’s gift of an apple corer because it made that part of the job so much easier than it might have been. The dog sat right next to me for the *leavings* because I cut the ends off the wedges and gave them to him. He loves apples and they are supposed to be good for him….in moderation, of course. Since the Princess had ordered lots of fruits, I cut up the bananas, peaches, nectarines, pineapple, two kinds of seedless grapes, strawberries (hey, she ordered them!), pears and added drained mandarine oranges. She wanted cherries in it, too, but I told her if she wanted them, she had to be here and cut them and remove the seeds. She came over with Johnnycakes and they both cut up cherries and I added them to the salad. Of course, I had already made the dressing for it and it had been chilling in the fridge. The Princess had to taste both the potato salad and the fresh fruit salad (of course!) and declared them both great. Although I had done the shopping for all the ingredients (and I gave her all the fruit that hadn’t been used), she paid for it. She expected to come home from camping and do more of the helping but I had the time so I didn’t mind doing it at my own pace.

I guess we are going with grilled hot dogs and maybe some burgers, not sure about that since I wasn’t paying all that much attention. I LOVE grilled hot dogs so I know what *I* am going to be eating. She asked me if the Beast was going to come but I seriously doubt it since he wants to get the bedroom done by Monday evening. Hurrah! It means he won’t be dragging this on and on and on. It’s all because the baby, Chewlee, will be sleeping here on Monday night (and every night until Friday) and will have to sleep with us on the double bed if he doesn’t get it done. I would personally prefer she has her own bed but that’s just me. Especially since Baron is waiting until we are asleep and sneaking up on the bed with us. Can you imagine all four of us on a double bed?????

I talked to Cinderella this afternoon and she is doing well. She says she can almost walk normally now and she is feeling so much better than she has in a long time. She did say she has to take a lot of pills each day for another nine days due to that infection and to make sure the stomach heals well. Then she has to have her stomach scoped in the doctor’s office (that will not be fun) so he can check on the healing. Once that is done, she will be back down to her regular schedule of pills each day and she won’t complain about THAT, I am sure. It’s a lot less to swallow.

I’m tired now and my poor hand is still so sore from using my palm to pound on the end of the chisel. In fact, it almost looks like I have a callous on my palm. I was really stupid doing that but I will know for the other two rooms when we do them. Sometimes a lesson is a hard one. If I don’t remember, shame on me.

Love you all. Hugs sent your way. I hope you have a great day. It looks like we are going to have great weather for the party, thankfully. We are having it at the Princess’s instead of at the lake since the Beast doesn’t want to be taking the time away from installing the floor. Not a big deal and we will have a party when we put the boat in the water, regardless.

Remember not to take life too seriously. No one gets out alive, anyway. Hasta manana!!!

The Beast spent today doing stuff that I know wasn’t needed (like painting the baseboards) and he finally moved the desk (with my help). He has NOT, however, taken the bed apart and I am beginning to think he has decided he is going to try to get the floor done without that. He had me help move the bed into the far corner of the room and he finally got started on installing the actual flooring.

The stuff he bought was more expensive (of course, he’s a sucker for that shit if it’s on sale) and even at it’s reduced price cost about $200 more than the Pergo would have. I heard all his *reasons*…..this stuff has the cushioning already on it….I don’t have to put down plywood….there were a couple others. I told him to just cut the crap. He just wanted it and so that is what he was gonna have….PERIOD.

But the best laid plans and all…..after undercutting the baseboard trim and cleaning up good AND after he had painted it (it didn’t need it except in his mind and I really looked it over), he started installing it. All I heard was a whole lot of banging, cussing and swearing. I finally had to go into the room to find out what was going on. It seems they must have had a bad run of this stuff because it was really crappy. I kid you not. The stuff was breaking when you tried to get the edge slots together. AND it was actually twisting as you got several lengths long attached. By the time he had opened and started using the second box, I looked at him and said, *Beast, you better just bite the bullet and admit this stuff is crap and take it back. The Pergo was WAY better than this *good* stuff is turning out.*

He got up, looked at it and finally admitted I was right on that score. He asked me to help him load the unopened boxes on the truck (which I did) and I got him to take the two opened boxes back, too. I told him, *If they won’t take it back, at least leave the stuff there so THEY have to throw it away.* He decided I was right on that, too (don’t faint) so he did. Lo-and-behold, they took it ALL back. He went and got the Pergo flooring, the underlay for it AND the necessary plywood and it turned out to be just a bit cheaper than the other stuff was without the plywood or the underlay.

By the time he got home, after unloading the truck by himself and then loading it back up by himself, he wasn’t fit for shit. He filled up the bathtub and just soaked for about a half hour and spent the rest of the evening watching TV. He went to bed even before his basketball game was over. It was a long and difficult day for the Beast. But, like I said before, he is his own worst enemy at times. I told him he could have had them help him load up the truck with the stuff if he just asked for the help. He could have driven the truck up and they would have put it all in for him. But I guess it’s a MAN THING. He just hates to admit he can’t do all the stuff he thinks he should be able to do. Oh well, HE is paying the price now.

The Princess and Johnnycakes dropped over to borrow a blanket…actually an old bedspread of mine….because they were going camping with friends. Chewlee was spending the night with her fraternal grandfather who came in for her second birthday and he’s taking her out to pick out her present. He wants to buy her a playset for the yard. He tries to be good to her since he can’t see her that often but he wants her to remember (and love) him. She does so he really shouldn’t worry about that. She has a loving heart and, if you are not cruel to her, she will remember you. The Princess starts her training next week so, starting Monday, she will be sleeping her at night and I will be taking her home during the day. Johnnycakes will bring her here before he leaves for work and so our week will go until the Princess gets home on Friday night. She should be home before Johnnycakes leaves for work so I won’t have Chewlee then.

I went to Walmart to pick up the stuff for my fruit salad (which the Princess and Tara both want) and for my potato salad (which Johnnycakes wants because I don’t use mustard in it and he HATES mustard in potato salad, I guess). I boiled up the eggs for the potato salad tonight and a few extra because I might just make some deviled eggs too. It can’t hurt, right? Tomorrow I will make the salads and the Princess claims she should be home in time to help me a bit with the fruit salad. It’s a LOT of cutting up of fresh fruit so I hope she is. My hand still hurts from removing all those damn staples after the rug and padding were torn up. Its actually the palm of my right hand that hurts from the chisel thingy I used. At times, I had to tap the end of it to get it underneath the staple before I could pry it up.

Well, time to get this sent down the tubes before it gets too long. Love you all. Hope you have a great weekend. Chewlee is two years old tomorrow but we are having her party on Sunday. Pray we have a great day for it. I can’t wait for her to check out her new outfits. She just loves clothes. She takes after her mother that way.

I knew the painting was FINALLY done when the Beast started cutting up and tearing up the carpeting in the bedroom. I shuddered because I forgot one thing about that project. I would have to get all the staples up that had held down the padding.

What’s really bad about it is that it seems they used leftover padding so there are many more staples holding it in place than there was on the living room area. I almost couldn’t believe it when I saw it. I started removing them with a tool I found that I KNOW wasn’t made for removing staples but it fits under them just perfect. It looks like it’s a small chisel and it probably is but, like I said, it’s perfect. I have about 1/3 of the room done and that’s only because he cut around the bed and around his desk so he didn’t have to take them apart just yet. Unfortunately, he will have to do that tomorrow.

At one point, Baron started being antsy so the Beast took him down by the river so he could run around a little and get rid of the excess energy he’s got. Some fisherman left a fish on the bank….and it was a rather large one in a sad state of decomposition. Baron acted like he had a treasure and started gnawing on it. The Beast tried to get it away from him and Baron treated it like a game, running this way and that to make the Beast run after him. When the Beast finallly got mad, Baron trotted over and dropped the fish. The Beast disposed of it and put Baron into the car. On the way home, Baron rested his chin on the Beast’s shoulder and the Beast almost threw up from his breath. Doggie breath is bad enough normally but a dead fish smell is horrible.

Worse than that, Baron ate rather late after showing no appetite for his food and then, shortly after the Beast went to bed, he vomited in the middle of the hallway. The Beast heard him and got up. I went to my door and saw the mess and I just KNEW that it was the fish that probably caused the upset. He let Baron out into the back yard and helped me clean up the mess. It took Baron a few minutes after coming in before he was ready to settle down and rest but the two of them are dead to the world, finally.

I had to tie up my cucumber plants to ensure they would trail up the trellis. It’s am easy fix because it doesn’t require a lot of work. It’s just a lightweight string/rope that you gently tie at the top of the plant and then tie the other end to the trellis. It will grab the string and then follow it to the trellis. No more worry after that.

I also had to settle the cantaloupe plants in the direction I want them to go or they would wander everywhere. They got huge on me one year and almost took over the garden because the Beast had put them right alongside the watermelon plants he had gotten without telling me. This year I watched him like a hawk to make sure I got no surprises. So far, so good. My early girl tomato is starting to form little tomatoes and they look so cute. It will be another month or so before they are ready, I think. The other tomato plants haven’t blossomed yet but I didn’t expect them to do that just yet. My parsley has started sprouting in it’s hanging basket and the Beast has no clue why I would even have it. If I could, meaning if I had the right pot for it, I would plant a lot of fresh seasoning plants like basil, chives and a few others. I had them in California when we lived there but that planter went the way of a lot of other things that were suddenly not in use any more. I either gave it away or it got trashed. I really don’t remember.

My minature roses are ready to bloom. I started counting all the buds and can’t wait until they are finally ready and open up. I had a couple early blooms and should have taken a picture of them because they were perfect and so beautiful. It made me wish I had a little tiny vase. I will send a picture to my girlfriend, Diane, when these open up since she is the one that gave them to me. She will be happy to know they are thriving. She almost killed them which is how *I* ended up with them. I managed to revive them and now they are happy in their new home.

The Beast went and bought fans for three of our windows. There are actually two small fans together and he set mine up in my computer room to surprise me before I got up. I also got a nice ionizing air purifier that sits on the shelf of the bookcase next to my desk. Since I smoke in here, it was a smart move. We used all three today and, even though it said it was 82 in the house, it felt comfortable with the air movement from the fans. I prefer fans to the air conditioning anyway. Now maybe the Beast will keep it off more and stop complaining about the electric bill.

Okay…enough for today. Love you all and hope you have a great day. Remember to expose your teeth to the sun often….it’s good for them. It also makes YOU feel better.

Need I say that the bedroom is not finished yet? Even if the painting were done, it means that we then have to rip up the carpeting so he can do the floor. That is when the project will only get worse. Then the bed, mattress, box springs, his new desk, the desk chair, file cabinet and all will end up all over the damn place while he works on THAT. If you remember how long the kitchen, dining area and living room took, you know why I am just dreading it.

He got the ceiling trim up today and even got it caulked. I’ve actually started to like the way he’s done the bedroom. I said I did not want a brown feature wall. Well, it’s not the feature wall. The cocoa color is on three walls and a light beige is the feature wall color. He took the cocoa color from one of the colors in the bedspread I bought for the bed. It also has the matching curtains. I think it’s going to end up looking very rich because the natural light pine bedroom suite will look wonderful against that color. It’s got an oil finish on it, which I prefer to any varnish and is making the refinishing of the top of the dresser so much easier than it might have been. I don’t have to strip anything off it….just sand it and re-oil it.

I am going to include a picture of my Chewlee baby in the outfit that my sister, Bee, crocheted for her. She loves to dress up anyway. Put her in a new outfit and she has to run to the full length mirror to see how she looks. It’s so cute.
Isn’t she adorable? I’m not a proud *mamaw*, am I?

Here’s another one of her on Papa’s tractor last fall.

Okay, I think that’s enough for now. I really need to get to bed. We bathed Baron today (he’s getting better and I think is even starting to enjoy it). We did it mostly because of some tiny sores the Beast discovered on Baron’s back. We don’t know if it’s the aftermath of ticks or what but he’s not going to take him to places where Baron can run into the brush any more. We’ve discovered that brush = ticks and we sure don’t want them in the house, let alone on the dog. They DO carry diseases and we don’t want those either.

Love you all. Have a great day. Remember to expose your teeth to the sun often, it’s good for them! It also makes people expose theirs so you are contributing to their health and well-being by being a good example.

Today the Beast put his second coat on the walls he claimed needed it. It wasn’t really a good day for painting since it was raining off and on all day but you know the Beast. He has no patience for waiting when he has a project going. He ran up to Lowes (his second home) to get the trim for the ceiling. He bought the wrong color (of course) because it was not *bright white*, which is the color of the ceiling. Most men would go back to the store and return it and get the right stuff, correct? Not the Beast. He claimed (after checking the color against the ceiling) that Lowes did not HAVE the correct color so he had to paint each and every piece and, of course, that means a delay. Nothing is ever simple with the Beast. *sigh*

I have always laughed about the fact that Baron thinks he is still a puppy and wants to climb into the Beast’s lap. The Beast found that if he reclines slightly in the recliner, it makes for a comfortable spot for Baron to lay in his lap and relax with him while he is watching TV. I’m going to attempt to add a picture here of it. I just HAD to take one today when he did itone today when he did it.

I spent the day doing wash and then all the folding and hanging up that requires.  I had already spent yesterday doing up the bedspread, curtains and linens from the bedroom but I thought having clean clothes might be a good idea….LOL

Now that I have finally ventured into attempting to post a picture, you will probably see more of this feature in my blog.  It’s one way to share things so you can understand some of what I am talking about.  I will have to go outside and take pics of the Beast’s budding orchard.  The trees are still young but productive.  I’ll take a picture of the Alberta peaches that seem to be growing larger each day.

The Beast always makes things harder for himself, of course.  When he was painting the trim, he sat on top of a couple of the boxes of the flooring that will be going down after the paint, trim and whatever the hell else he is planning (he keeps telling me stuff that doesn’t make sense to me and then says he will *surprise* me).  I am full of dread at that because he thinks he is so creative.  But many of his ideas are so old fashioned that it surprises me.  I keep telling him that I am NOT living in his aunt’s house.  This, of course, pisses him off but I could care less.  Many of his *creative* ideas are really just things he remembers from different houses his aunt owned. 

Anyway, I watched him and then when he started complaining about his back, I asked him why he didn’t sit in one of the folding chairs we had out in the garage.  His reply?  *I didn’t even think about that*.  Duh.  Trust a man not to see the obvious.

I had to run up to Walmart to pick up some milk and Nestle’s Quik so I made a side trip through the *little girl’s* area of clothing.  I just love their Garanimals collection of clothes.  They are inexpensive but made well.  With kids growing and outgrowing clothes so quickly, it’s a wonderful collection that doesn’t end up costing you a fortune.  Plus, you can easily dress them well.  So, there I was and I found several cute little outfits for my Chewlee.  I picked up a couple because it’s her birthday this weekend.  I also bought her a big ball……and I mean the size you use to play volleyball in a pool.  It will be easy for her to catch and it’s durable enough for her to roll on like kids do.  I almost bought one for myself to use for exercise for my back.  I DO, on occasion, watch some of those various exercise shows on TV when I am bored out of my mind or want something to listen to while I take my nap. 

Time to get this posted.  I have been watching the X-men movies (I have all three that are on dvd already) and the last one is more than halfway done.  I will watch that and go to bed when it’s over while I play some mahjong on Pogo.  I’m still trying to rank that one out (I’m at 23 out of 50 so far).  I like mahjong and have a collection of those games that the Beast has bought me over the years, including one last year for my birthday since I didn’t go to Chicago due to his bladder tumor surgery.

I hope you have a wonderful day.  We have rain and thunderstorms in our forecast with a temperature of around 83 they say.  I hope they are wrong on that score.  But, I hope you have clear skies, warm weather and just a great day all around.  Love you all.  Hugs and kisses are being sent your way.  Sunshine is good for your teeth.  Be sure to expose them often.  Smile at perfect strangers and remember to tell those you love that you do every chance you get.  Life is short but….it is better to be over the hill than under it !!!

Day two of the painting project is just about what you would expect. It is NOT done. He swore he wasn’t even going to paint at all because it was so damp out with all the rain we had all night and the drizzles we had off-and-on all day. But, of course, he lied. He DID paint. He then said that he was going to have to put a second coat on all the walls plus do the trim, too. That’s why I said it would take til the end of the week. I know my Beast.

I spent the day cleaning the linens from the bed (and OMG…was there ever hairs from the dog on THAT!) and trying to find someplace to put the sandals I had under my bed that the dog won’t be tempted to chew on. They are really nice ones. Earth shoes, to be exact.

I talked to Kay today about our coming up for the family reunion and she was so excited. She’s been working so hard the past few months that she said she needs to take the time off. She was really worried about Bratfink and all the stairs she has in her house but I know that she doesn’t realize that we won’t be running up and down the stairs like SHE does. As you get older, you tend to learn to conserve your energy and only go up and down for important stuff…..like a shower or to go to bed. I told her not to worry. We can always just stay downstairs and take our baths in the *cement pond* as she calls it.

I have to get busy and try to jump start this family reunion thing since it’s kind of faded away as our kids have gotten older and gotten more into their own lives. But, as a family, it’s still important for us to keep in contact. Kay says she has no problem with us having it at her house as long as people bring their own folding chairs to sit on around the pool. She *only* has 12 chairs, she says…..LOL.

The plans go apace for the trip and I am almost as excited as Buttmunch. She keeps calling either me or Bratfink and we both know it’s only because of her needing to get away from her current situation as we all do from time-to-time. Plus, she loves Chicago and will probably take time to jump on one of the trains and visit some of the Blues clubs downtown in Old Town.

Bratfink is planning on bringing some stuff to make chili cheese dip (it’s great!) and Buttmunch is stocking up on vodka while she can. I just bring cash and do some major shopping with Kay so we are not a burden on her and have plenty to eat and drink. It WILL be nice not to have to buy anything except maybe Kay’s favorite liquor (Malibu Rum) because we love her and she loves it. More on this as time goes on.

Now, as to stupid stuff you worry over at times. I have been really concerned over something that is sooooo stupid. I finally googled it and discovered this: if you have vertical lines on your nails, stop worrying. It’s normal as you get older. All this time I was thinking it was a sign of some medical problem and couldn’t remember what the hell it was. The advice of Mayo Clinic on it? Use a nice clear coat or a nail hardener AFTER you smooth the ridges out with an ultra fine nail file. Sheesh. All that concern for nothing!

Other stupid stuff…..do you sniff yourself to find out if you *offend*? I have found out that a lot of people do that. My overseas friends tell me that *we Americans* are more concerned about odors than they are. I keep a *tongue in cheek* over THAT but I notice that a lot of our commercials deal with odors of one sort or another. If not *personal* its our garbage, our toilets, our homes in general. If you own a pet, then you worry about the doggie odors OR the smell of your cats litter box. I have found myself sniffing my own bed to make sure it doesn’t smell like *old people*….you know what I mean….and changing my linens if I am the least bit unsure.

I LIKE my home to smell nice. When I was in real estate, one of the things I told my clients was to put either an onion in the oven (with the heat on) or an apple. It let off smells of either dinner or dessert and it made for a very *homey* smell that was enticing. If I cook something that doesn’t appeal to some, I will open doors and windows and spray the air with something to *clear* the smell out. Have you done this?? Then you know what I mean. I find myself sniffing various shampoos and creme rinses and even the soaps and rinses for my clothes. I guess at least *I* am obsessed with smells.

I am one of those people that can tell more by smell about whether or not I will even like a food than tasting it will tell me. I even had a woman say to me one day, *Did you just smell that?* When I said yes, she looked at me like I was crazy. But I can smell different spices and things and know the ones I DON’T like. I will pass up things without tasting them just because of the smell. Weird, I know, but that’s ME. You can do what you like.

The Princess came over and brought back my comforter I loaned her while I washed hers. The baby was so cute. She went over and spent five minutes just *talking* to the Beast and then she came into my computer room to hug and kiss me and beg her mother for some of the Girl Scout cookies the Princess retrieved from our freezer. It was thin mints so you know why she wanted them. We talked about this and that before she finally left to go home. Johnnycakes was asleep after working all night and then spending some time with them before he collapsed into bed. We still haven’t heard from everyone about whether or not they are going to come to the baby’s second birthday party. We do know that Tara, Keith and Chance will be there. Kevin is a maybe. He IS a teenager, after all, and it will be the first weekend of summer vacation.

The baby’s paternal grandfather is coming up and is buying her a swing set for the yard. He really does love her and it just might be the only grandchild he ever has. No telling for sure but no one in their right mind is gonna want to hook up with his son for any length of time. Not if they are half-way intelligent. I think the Princess would have left much sooner except that she got pregnant. But she sure didn’t waste much time once the baby was born and the jerk STILL was a jerk.

We still haven’t decided on a place to have the birthday party but I am pulling for the state park beach so we can put the pontoon boat into the water. I think it will be fun. We shall see what happens.

Okay, time to get into bed. We are sleeping in the guest room tonight and I notice the dorg is NOT in bed with the Beast. I think he is sleeping on our regular bed mattress without the sheets….LOL. I don’t care because the guest bed is only a full size, not a queen.

Love you all. Hugs. Hope you have a wonderful day. Remember that the sun is good for your teeth so expose them often.

Today was the first day of the *Bedroom Project*. So far he’s gotten the ceiling done and one wall. The color is ….ta da! Beige. I got so sick of arguing with him over it that I finally said to him, *FINE!!! You do it the way YOU want but I won’t guarantee that I will ever sleep in it with you when it is done.*

I told him originally that I was so sick of beige in this house that I wanted color in the bedrooms. He will have no choices in the matter on THIS room since I spend so much of my time in it. I have my own idea of the color I want it and that is the color it WILL be come hell or high water. The Guest Room also will be in MY choice of color and he already knows that. I think he will not fight me on this because he knows I am NOT happy about the bedroom AT ALL. If the feature wall ends up being a brown like he put in the kitchen, I am definitely NOT sleeping in there. Trust me on this. That is the one thing I DID tell him it COULD NOT BE.

I can see now that the painting alone will probably take him to the end of the week. Then there will be the dreaded TAKING UP OF THE CARPET. I will have to check with Tara again about when her garbage is picked up because that is the only way we can actually get rid of it. Her garbage people will pick up anything that is thrown out so we take advantage of that (and thank her profusely for letting us do it). Once we get to that time, it means the bed will have to be taken apart and stored wherever we can put it and we will then sleep in the guest room. I figured out that this may pose a problem because that will also be the week we have Chewlee overnight while her mother is at training school in Birmingham. It’s not going to be fun. We may have to rethink a few things or get used to Chewlee sleeping with us in a full size bed instead of our normal Queen. Fun, fun, fun…. I can almost see it….me, the Beast and Chewlee at the top of that bed and Baron attempting to sleep at/on our feet.

The Beast was busy slowly painting so I had to run up to Walmart for cigarettes since we both were down to one pack each. Good lord but it cost us (with tax) $144. for four cartons. I almost crapped. Maybe it IS time to think about quitting. That’s just too damn much money per month for us to be spending. I mean $300 a month? Plus the Beast actually smokes probably two more cartons than that since he is smoking like a chimney again.

After I did that, I ran down to KFC since the Beast had a taste for a KFC pot pie. Now, if you have never had one, they are incredible. I kid you not. The problem is that they are not available all year long so now is the time to take advantage of it if you have never tried it. He also wanted a 2pc meal (dark meat, crispy) with mashed potatoes and cole slaw. I got two orders of hot wings and a side of mashed potatoes. I had the strawberries that the Princess bought us cut up and sugared. I had bought the cups for making strawberry shortcake and whipped cream and had them waiting at home so we even had dessert.

It was all wonderful and really hit the spot. I’m still burping from it and I paced myself. I even kind of indulged myself and made a sprite zero with some vodka in it. I haven’t had one in quite a while and I am enjoying it. I’ve kind of been on a mudslide kick the past few weeks and made myself one almost every day. I feel very naughty doing it but, since I use the premix, it’s not that heavy in alcohol but it’s still good!!

Oh, gotta tell you this. The Princess brought over her down comforter and asked me to go ahead and wash it for her. She couldn’t find a dry cleaners anywhere and, unfortunately, she thinks their new kitten had an accident on it. I didn’t sniff it to find out figuring she had to have a reason to think that. I told her we were taking a chance but I would go ahead and do it. In the meantime, I lent her one of my *spare* comforters to use overnight. Well, it washed up really well and it dried like a dream. It looks and feels wonderful. I’m not sure if it would take a whole lot of it but it did well this time. Oh, and no odd smells, either. I think I am going to give it a try now on MY down comforter. I know it sure needs it and I had the same problem. I DID attempt the *dryel* but could NOT get it into the bag they give you….it was just way to big to fit into it. I worry about mites in the feathers anyway, especially with the damn dog constantly on my bed all winter. He has had a problem with mites in his ears. I know that they die off when packed into a plastic bag that I have that would vacuum down to make storage easier. You know the kind I mean….they advertise on TV often enough.

Time to hit the happy trail and try to slip off to dreamland. I was wakened several times during the night with a type of Charley Horse. I don’t know what you call them when they are down the front of your leg and your ankle is involved but I couldn’t even flatten my foot enough to walk for a while. Then I walked around the house until it relaxed, sat down with the heating blanket around it until I was sure I could get back to sleep. Later on, when I woke up normally, I got up only to have the same thing happen to the OTHER leg. Scared the heck out of me because I really couldn’t figure out WHY I was having them. Then I remembered…..I was moving furniture, drawers and doing laundry. It was the furniture moving (because I was pushing and using those muscles). They just rebelled and took their vengeance out on me when I was the most relaxed. If they weren’t so useful, I would stop using them just to get even. I don’t think there’s much chance of that happening though. LOL.

Love you all. Hope you had a great (and safe) Holiday weekend. If you are driving tomorrow, please be careful. If you are staying home, I hope you have wonderful weather. Remember, the sun is good for your teeth so expose them often.

I had tried NOT to think about it but yesterday, upon finishing the caulking of the trim, the Beast announced there was nothing now to stop him from starting the painting on our bedroom. I tried not to show my panic at the thought. Then, this morning, he drops the big bomb on me and says, *I’m going to Lowe’s to get the rest of the paint I need AND I’m going to go ahead and buy the flooring for it, too.*

I asked him why he would want to buy it all NOW and he said, *It’s on sale! We will save $1.30-something (I can’t remember the exact cents) a square foot. Since that means a savings of about $260, he felt it was worth it even though I know he really hadn’t wanted to think about ripping up the carpeting just yet.

So today was spent with him moving his dresser into the guest bedroom, then the nightstands and I had to clear off the top of MY dresser, take all the drawers out and move them into my computer room since that is where my dresser was going to be moved. I helped the Beast take the mirror off and move it and then we moved the empty dresser into my room here. Since I know that this is going to be a disaster in the making, I figure I will be living out of this room for probably the next two months minimum. That’s because of the installation of the flooring. You KNOW that his installation in the kitchen and living room will NOT make this new floor any easier even WITH all the proper tools. You know what I mean, right? Something will not go right for him. You can count on it.

Right now, we will still be able to use our bed to sleep in but once he starts on the floor, the bed will be taken apart and moved out of there, along with the new desk and we will be sleeping in the guest bedroom. It’s the flooring that makes me think that I will probably be leaving for Chicago before my bedroom is put together again. That’s apx. six weeks away…or is it just five now? Hmmmm. OMG, it’s just five!

I got to see my Chewlee for a few hours today while her mother, the Princess, did some birthday present shopping. We will be having her party next weekend when she turns 2. She was so cute and so happy to see her mamaw. She kept running over to give me kisses. She also kept climbing in my lap to hug me (and be hugged) and she wanted me to rock her (which I did). She didn’t take a real nap but she did lay quietly in the recliner with the light off for about an hour. I kept checking to see if she was awake and she would be laying there watching TV.

On her way back from Huntsville, the Princess stopped at Publix and bought herself a few things and got us a treat. Well, two treats. She bought us some of the Chicago Italian bread that we love and a HUGE container of strawberries that look like they came from some gigantic plant or some giant’s garden….LOL. I ate one and they are delicious. I will be cutting them up for us tomorrow and have them chilling in the fridge right now. I also made a key lime pie as a treat for the Beast. The Princess, whom I told I was going to make it, will probably stop over tomorrow to grab a piece for herself since she loves it.

Oh, one word of advice. I bought one of the Keebler graham cracker ready-made crusts to use for the pie since I was feeling a bit lazy. Don’t do it. They are awful. As soon as I opened up the package (and I did it carefully since they are normally fragile anyway), it started to crumble like crazy. It was literally falling apart before my eyes. You can tell it is not made with enough butter/margarine/whatever to hold it together properly. Cheap is cheap and let me tell you, they are damn near just plain graham cracker thrown into a pan with a plastic mold to hold the crumbs in place until you open it. Don’t waste your money.

Love you all. I am tired and heading to bed now with this ready to post after midnight. I hope you all have great weather and a nice weekend. Smile a lot for no reason. It even helps prevent wrinkles or so I have read. It’s on the internet so it must be true, right? Right.

I didn’t get to sleep until early morning for some reason so I slept in. The Beast, who hates to disturb me because he’s never quite sure if I was just up late playing a game or had a bad episode of IBS, decided to take the dog to the groomer’s for a good flea bath and a flea and tick treatment. He’s gotten a bit paranoid about the tick situation here in Alabama since we discovered the ones a few weeks ago.

Anyhow, he takes the dog down to the pet shop (that’s where the groomer is) and they were having some sort of kids event in the parking lot. They had pony rides, camel rides, an elephant and other smaller pets they could handle inside a tent. They also had the usual face painting, clowns making funny balloon animals and god knows what else. After the dog was bathed, groomed, ears checked for mites (and some more were found so the Beast has gotten slack about treating those ears ) and all dried off, the Beast decided to walk over to the tent area just to see the camels up close.

Now this is always a smell feast for a dog. Baron had his nose to the ground just living it up, doggy-style. The Beast had his training collar on him and a short leash. The Beast stopped next to the camel and Baron’s nose was still down on the ground. When the Beast stopped moving, Baron sat as he has been trained to do and his head came up so he started to look around him finally. Well, when he moved his head to the side and saw the camel, he was so startled that he jumped up in the air about four feet (the Beast swears) and OVER about two feet or more (all the leash would allow). He looked so shocked and startled that the Beast couldn’t even yell at him for almost yanking him over but just started laughing like an idiot. A few people around him that saw the dog do it were laughing, too, and had to come over to commisserate with him on his being *scared* by that big, bad camel.

I’ve seen Baron when he’s startled by something new and bigger than he is so I could envision this when the Beast was relating it to me. Even I laughed and was kind of sorry I missed out on seeing it this time with something as exotic as a camel. The time I saw it, it was just a horse. That was the very first animal the dog saw that was bigger than he was and the meeting was just as funny.

I love how the dog smells for the first few days after being at the groomer’s. I have no idea what it is they use on him but it sure makes him smell great! If I knew, I would definitely keep it around the house and use it on him when he starts to get that damn *doggie* smell. It only takes a couple days and it’s back. *Color me green thinking about it*

The Beast DID finally finish up the caulking today. Now he says he will paint it all tomorrow but I think Sunday will be more like it. He did it kind of late today and it says it needs 24 hours to dry. I’m still amazed at the difference it makes in how the trim looks.

It looks like Bratfink IS going to the Family Reunion with me this year. I had a feeling she would change her mind and I guess the Boy had something to do with it. It’s just a *jot* out of my way but she knows the back ways so I don’t have to get on the Interstate. It will be well worth it to me except that we will have to depend on my GPS to get us to Kay’s new house. That won’t be much of a problem, though, since it’s a well-established area so I am sure it’s on it. Our street is STILL not on the GPS or even Map Quest. It’s over 3 years now since it was established and two years since the county finally recognized it and even put up street signs on it. I wonder how much longer it will take? I will let you know when I find out.

It’s that time again. Gotta get this posted before it becomes too much longer. If you are traveling this weekend, please drive carefully. If you are staying close to home, be even more careful since most accidents happen within 25 miles of home. Love you all. I hope you slept well, had nothing but good dreams and woke up refreshed. I wish you good health, the best of days ahead and great weather.

We woke up early, thanks to the damn dog. He had been kenneled the night before and around 6:45am, he starts barking to get out. Now the Beast thinks the dog needs to go out so he drags his butt out of bed to open the door of the kennel and heads towards the kitchen back door to let him into the yard. When he opened the kennel, I told him *He doesn’t want to go out. He wants to come onto the bed.* He ignores me, as usual and it takes him all the way to the back door before he realizes the dog hasn’t followed him. The dog is standing in the doorway of our bedroom, looking at the Beast but not budging. When the Beast tells him to *come*, the dog backs up and jumps on the bed.

When the Beast came in to drag him off the bed and MAKE him go out, I laughed and told him the dog sure knew how to manipulate HIM. I told him that, if he thought about it, when the dog needs to go outside, he whines, not barks. It won’t make a difference, though. If it happens again, the Beast will still react the same way. MEN!!!

So we were up early and I decided I was going to make a roast chicken for dinner. I pulled the chicken out of the freezer and put it in the sink in some warm water to defrost for a while. I figured if that didn’t do it, I could use the defrost feature on my microwave. It’s a bit of a pain with its *turn the meat over*. With a chicken, it means several times during the process, it has to be *turned over*.

I did get the ingredients ready for the stuffing, peeled the potatoes and got them into water until I needed to start them cooking later in the day. I wanted to get everything ready while I felt good and had the energy. At one point, the Beast came into my computer room wanting the checkbook. When I asked him why, he said he was going to run down and pay the insurance on the Guntersville house. I was truly puzzled and told him that I had already mailed that in just yesterday. He swore he had never seen the bill and he was sitting at the table with me when I wrote it out. He had told me to hold onto it until after the 16th and then he would either drop it off or I could mail it.

I just decided mailing it was easier since he hasn’t really been feeling all that well. It’s cheaper to mail it than for him to drive there. He absolutely insisted that he had never seen the bill. I dug out the papers for it and the envelope it came in and showed it to him and said…*NOW do you remember seeing this?* He looked at it, snorted and gave it back to me. I think he was thinking it would be in a business envelope but insurance papers don’t come in those. At least, not OUR insurance company. It’s a nice 8×11 envelope because it has all the policy info, the endorsement page and any changes that you need to know about included. Luckily, I saved the envelope it was in for some reason because I KNEW it would ring a bell with him when he saw it even if he never admitted it. MEN.

Dinner was wonderful and there’s plenty left over for a couple meals yet. The dog was drooling over the chicken but this is one he ISN’T getting any part of. Darn dog gets lots of chicken. Good thing he likes it so much.

The Beast caulked all around the trim at the top of the walls and says he’s going to paint it so it won’t *turn* on us down the line. It needed to be done because of the popcorn ceilings we have here. The trim wasn’t flat against the ceiling. Funny but I didn’t notice how much of a gap there actually was until he had part of it done and not the other. It really DOES look better. He underestimated how much caulk he would need, however, so it means another trip tomorrow to Lowe’s to pick some more up. I really hate these ceilings with that rough texture. I loved the ones we had in Florida. So much nicer to have smooth ceilings. They also don’t need as much paint nor do they make as much of a mess due to the type of roller you have to use with them.

We got a cherry off the Bing cherry tree today. It’s very young so we really didn’t expect anything from it for at least another year. However, between the high winds, the violent downpours of the past few weeks and the birds, only one was left. It was wonderful. We shared the one left on the tree. Goofy, I know, but it was such a treat to us to know it came off OUR tree. I had no idea they actually could be ready so soon after blooming. I guess I’m just so used to oranges and peaches taking a couple months to be ready. But, these are much smaller so I guess that’s the difference.

Tomorrow we must thin down the plum tree. It’s been roughed up by the winds and rain but it’s still loaded with fruit. I don’t think it can take another summer of being overloaded. We will end up with more than one broken branch and probably kill the poor thing. As it is, I DID tell you it looks more like a small weeping willow than a plum, didn’t I?

The Beast also has to look and see if he can find the copper sulfate or whatever it is that we need to use to treat the peach curl on our trees. We don’t have to do anything right now but will have to treat it this fall and again in the spring before the blossoms open. We had it in California with our peach tree one year but I treated it (the Beast at that time was NOT interested in trees). It doesn’t affect the fruit, just the leaves which usually fall off. I did find, however, that the fruit didn’t seem to get as big as it would otherwise. So far we have no peach curl on the Alberta peach tree nor two others but I’m sure it spreads either by insects, birds or even the wind. I forget what I used to know about it and, since the trees are the Beast’s domain these days, I really don’t care. Inside the house is MINE; outside the house is HIS domain. HE bought all the trees, let HIM look up the problems and how to take care of them.

Other than that, it was a rather nice day around here. Not too hot, not too cold….just right! There was a nice breeze and the day was mostly peaceful. I still have to wrap up and put away the leftover chicken and find a container for the gravy that won’t be overkill. I found out that some of my nice containers I had were missing because the Beast was just throwing them out instead of cleaning them out. I know! I told him, *What the hell were you thinking?* and his reply was that I had a shitload of containers so he was just thinning them down a bit. When I said to him, *Did you ever consider that it is the SIZE that makes those useful to me? That’s why I used them so often?* They also happened to be the only ones that I have an actual spin holder for and now I am down to almost nothing because MR USELESS thinks he can just take over stuff he has no clue about. I told him he was as bad as my sister who started redoing my cabinets in a way that made sense to HER. There are still things I haven’t found out where she put them.

Well, time for bed for this gal. Love you all. I wish you good health, wonderful weather, the company of family and friends this weekend and lots of love. Remember to smile at everyone. Make them wonder what you meant by that? Help prevent wrinkles by smiling often. It really works and it feels good, too. Try it! You’ll like it.