I always knew my daughter, Buttmunch, had a mind that flitted from this to that at times.  When she started her blog, I told her to just put down the things on her mind or stuff that bothered her.  God knows, we all need to vent at times; other times, we just want to *talk* about things that make us sad or depress us.  I thought she could use it and was glad Bratfink talked her into actually doing it.  I knew she sometimes got depressed over Circle and her situation and she was uncomfortable talking about some of it with me. 

Well, I’ve been learning a LOT about my daughter since she started her blog.  Things I never really knew and some things that SHE is discovering about herself that I already knew and could have told her.  Nothing big but it’s all part of what makes her…her!  I love her sense of humor and know that is why she and Bratfink get along as well as they do.  They share a common sense of the ridiculous and the ability to laugh at themselves at times.  They also can quickly see the funny side of situations that escape most of us.  Once they bring it up, we can laugh with them.  I have times like that but it’s not my normal way of looking at life in general. 

I was also thinking about my sister, Cinderella.  She called today to get the Beast’s opinion on a price she was given for a new air handler for her condo.  The poor air handler was installed in 1980…..and it’s tired.  That’s a long life for an air handler.  They (Frankenstein and Cinderella) had replaced the condensing unit on the roof about 4 years ago.  The guy that had been out to give them a second opinion told her he wouldn’t even bother to clean the coil on that air handler.  By now, it’s so fragile that it could actually spring leaks on her and that wouldn’t be a good thing for obvious reasons.  He also said the fan motor in it was old and could go at any moment.  It jived with what the Beast remembered from looking it over two years ago.  So she is replacing it in the next few days and that’s one less thing she will have to worry about with Frank’s health failing like it has been.

She also has BabySis living there with them now.  It’s a good thing for them both, I think.  Cinderella makes sure that BabySis gets the exercise she needs to strengthen her legs.  Hopefully, she will soon be able to manage without a cane.  The other good thing that comes out of this is that they are BOTH walking every day (weather permitting).  They walk from the condo to the rec center where the pool is located and go swimming for an hour or so, then walk back.  It’s a decent walk and BabySis told her that she can already feel the difference in the muscles of her weakest leg.

 It’s also helping Cinderella keep from putting back the pounds that she lost from the bleeding ulcer.  It will help keep her toned.  I think they kind of needed each other since Frankenstein isn’t capable of doing anything more strenuous than playing cards with a few of his still living friends.  Some days he can’t even manage that.  It’s really sad since all of my memories of him is being an active, vital man who loved his golf and his teaching others to golf, too.  He wasn’t much of a conversationalist unless you were very interested in golf or sports but I didn’t have to live with him.  But I know that if something happens to him now, she will have BabySis there for her.  I wouldn’t want her to be alone.  She loves him and she will miss him greatly.  No matter what, all of us siblings are there for each other when chips are down or we lose someone we love.  Doesn’t matter if we didn’t know that person well, we know our sibling.

It’s been like that for all the people we love, however.  You want to be there for them in times like that.  I hated not being there for my Aunt Rose when her hubby died.  But, as she told me on the phone, he had suffered for so long that it was a relief that he was now out of pain.  She urged me not to spend the money to come up to Chicago and said she knew I loved her and she loved me, too.  I also knew that my other siblings in the area would be there for her so it made me feel a bit better.  At the time, the Beast was recovering from his bladder surgery where he had a cancerous tumor removed.  He still had the catheter in and was really miserable.  I would have loved to get away but …. he really DID need me here.

I was also thinking about KP.  She is the friend of Bratfink that is currently in Iraq.  All of those people who are loved by someone that are over there….it’s just so sad in many ways.  I did feel a bit better about HER when she said all her assignments are on base.  She isn’t allowed off base.  What she has to worry about is the possibility of indirect fire (being hit by something not meant for them but falling short of the target).  It still keeps me worrying about her (and I have never met her in real life).  I have played games online with her and still do when she gets off duty.  Since she usually starts her duty around 6 or 7pm Iraqi time (there’s either an 8 or 9 hour difference from MY time) and she gets off duty 12 hours later, she joins us in a game for an hour or two while she is winding down before going to sleep.  I told her I didn’t know we were her sleeping pill.    She laughed and just said, *I guess so*.

The dog is still staying away from the couch.  He tried just once to get up on it and the Beast yelled for him to get down.  He sulked around here for a few hours but got over it.  I guess he just wanted to see if he was correct in thinking that is the reason *his* blanket was put on the mattress.  He is still pretty much leaving that alone.  He tried it two or three times briefly but I think he just doesn’t like where the Beast put it.  I may move it myself and test my theory.  All-in-all, he’s become a much better dog to live with since he is no longer master of the bed and stays off most of the night.  Oh yes, he is still sneaking up on it when we are both sound asleep but he stays at the foot of the bed and doesn’t sleep on our feet.  I think he’s now afraid of waking us up because he knows we will make him get down. 

I have to take my sewing machine into Huntsville either tomorrow or Wednesday.  The gentleman I spoke with said he has no idea how long it may take until he finds out what is wrong with it.  *sigh*  Nothing less than I expected. 

Oh, oh…I knew there was something else I wanted to talk about.  I found out from the Princess that she had to go up to the day care one day because Chewlee was being so uncooperative.  So, she went up there, smacked her on her bottom and made her sit in a corner for almost an hour!    I know!  Now, they know how to make Chewlee behave when she’s being bad because she HATED it.  Well, she was here and she had picked up a straight pin that had fallen unnoticed on the rug.  I told her to give it to me because she kept putting it in her mouth and that scared me.  She actually looked at me and told me *NO…mine!* (Like she was playing finders-keepers).  I looked at her and said (without thinking about it) *Do you want to sit in the corner?*  She got a shocked look on her face and shook her head no and then came over and gave me the pin.  It was all I could do not to laugh because she looked so serious and defeated.

Time to get this posted.  Love you all.  I hope you have a great day.  Stay healthy….get those flu shots before flu season gets fully underway.  Here’s a thought for the day:  The way to inner peace is to finish up all the things you started.  It does NOT mean you have to finish off that bottle of vodka or Wild Turkey….ROFLMAO

The house is actually Kym’s, Johnnycake’s mother.  She has been back with her ex- now for a while and I guess she feels comfortable letting the kids rent it rather than strangers.  They will be close to us anyway since the house is only about a mile or so from us.

It’s because of getting the baby tomorrow that I decided to go ahead and make another pair of pajamas for the baby today.  I checked it out and it was a very simple pattern.  I bought a stretchy material yesterday that was on sale so I pinned the pattern, cut it out and started to sew it.  Right away, all kinds of stuff started happening.  First the material got trapped into the feeder bars.  I got that taken care of and managed to get part of the pants done before the bobbin started going all weird on me.  Now, I had checked my book and I was using the proper stitch and the proper foot for stretch material so all I could think of was that the thread might have been the problem.

So, instead of using the thread that matched the material, I put the same thread I have been using (white and very fine) in and tried using that.  Nope.  Same damn problem.  I checked to make sure there was nothing stuck under the feeder bar and it was clear so now I am stuck.  I even tried using some of the leftover fabric from the outfits I already made but the machine did the same thing.  I guess it means it committed suicide rather than make any more pajamas for Chewlee.  BAD MACHINE!!!!!!  BAD MACHINE!!!!!  Now I have to take it to an authorized repair center in Huntsville.  *sigh*  I have only had the darn thing since August 26th.  It was an expensive one, too.  It’s the Brother SE-350 that does embroidery also.  I would never have bought it but the Beast always tries to *spoil* me in really dumb ways.  *I* don’t have to have the BEST.  I just want something that works without problems.

The Beast cooked up a bunch of chicken legs and thighs for the dog and I decided to use the broth for some homemade chicken soup.  Didn’t take long at all to get it done and makes for a nice quick meal.  I used up the last of my celery and carrots so had to add them to my list of groceries I will buy next week.  I no longer trust my memory for all those things I run out of during the week.  Sometimes my memory isn’t jogged while going through all the aisles like it used to be.  It really IS a bitch to get old, isn’t it? 

I’m really ticked off about the sewing machine.  Bugs the hell out of me that it’s screwing up on me.  I had a cheap one made by Singer that I used for years and it never gave me one second of trouble even when I made heavy jackets.  I actually had a lot more personal control over it than these new computerized sewing machines give you.  You can’t even adjust the pressure of the foot on the fabric to make sewing stretch materials a breeze.  Damnitall!

Oh well.  Can’t get frustrated over the stuff you can’t control.  Their warranty should apply.  I just hope that I can get it back quickly.  I’m going to call both of the shops that are authorized in Huntsville on Monday and speak with them to try to get an idea of how long it might take.  I hate that trip up there but I might be able to get the Beast to take me to a real fabric store so I can find a nice dress pattern or two for things I want to make for the baby.  I also need to try to find a good leather thimble if possible so my fingertips won’t be raw from pinning together a pattern or attaching a ruffle (they are a BITCH to pin so you can sew them on).  If I go without the Beast, I could even manage to stop at one of the craft stores to pick up a few supplies I need.  Hmmm.  Now that’s something to consider.  Naw!  The Beast wouldn’t miss a chance to hit Huntsville.  He loves to go there with me so we can stop at Outback.  Besides, we could use some things from Sam’s Club and we’ve kind of put that off far too long.

Time to get this posted for your perusal tomorrow (Sunday).  Love you all.  Wish you a wonderful day with family and/or friends.  Here’s a wish for you all today:  *May you always have a rainbow of smiles on your face and in your heart forever*  (You know how I feel about smiling anyway….)

The Beast has gone to the Boaz Walmart to buy a crib mattress for the little Beast.  He has decided that his getting up on the couch has to stop.  He wants him to be comfortable so came up with this brilliant plan.  I told him to find me some foam and I’ll cover it so that it’s washable and I think it will be more comfortable than a cheap crib mattress (and can be a bit less awkward looking).  But, as usual, I am ignored.  We shall see what happens.

Love you all.  Gotta try to get this posted….just in case I don’t get online again for a while.

So I took my shower and got dressed.  Blue jeans.  Tangerine short-sleeved pullover and …. a bra!    It’s a new one I bought that has a front connection.  I love those.  Better than trying to get both hands in back (with one shoulder that is always sore) trying to put the hooks in the right spot.  What surprised me was the size I had to buy.  Looks like I’d better start watching what I am eating.  I’ve developed a bustline.  No more rolling these babies up and stuffing them in the cups.    Now I am grabbing the sides to make sure they get into the bra correctly.

I also threw out all my size 4 underwear.  They were biting into me so it was time for them to go.  The small, highly padded old bras went the same way.  I’ve put on almost 50 lbs now from when I originally bought those.  Went from 80 lbs. up to almost 130 now.  I guess it’s safe to say that I have recovered well from my illnesses.    When I found out I had to buy size 6 jeans just to be able to breathe, I knew then it was time to do some cleaning out of old stuff.  I even had to throw out some of my favorite jammies because the tops no longer fit me.  I did, however, keep some of the bottoms since I can wear those with t-shirts.  Most of them were a kind of generous size small. 

I worked a little more on the top of the baby’s pajamas.  I could finish it off quickly but I am taking my time so it comes out nice and comfy.  I also have to admit another thing.  I have to go out and pick up some more of the material anyway because I seem to have either misplaced or reused the material for part of the pattern.  It’s the part between the bodice and the ruffle.  *sigh*  I guess doing my own thing wasn’t really the smartest thing without making sure all my cut pieces were securely in a stack in one place.  This sewing again is going to take a few adjustments on my part.  *sigh* 

Cinderella called to talk to the Beast about her air conditioning in her condo.  It seems some young turk working for the service company they use tried to tell her she needed to replace both parts because *they don’t match*.  Sheesh.  Not only is it obvious that he doesn’t really KNOW air conditioning but it also tells you that his company pays him a commission for new units.  He would rather install new ones than clean the air handler (not a fun job) even though the Beast inspected it two years ago.  The condensing unit was replaced no more than five years ago.  The air handler was old but it was in very good shape.  Since it HAS been two years since the Beast looked at the air handler, he gave her the name of a guy in Ft. Lauderdale that knows his shit and will give her an honest opinion.  Because of ties they both have there, he also knows the guy won’t overcharge her for that either.  Why is it that people think all old people that own homes or condos are made out of money? 

It’s like our car insurance slowly creeping up.  Not enough that I think they are required to notify us but still…..  It’s bad enough that our license plates are costing us over $100 to renew since our vehicles are fairly new.  The cost goes down as the vehicles age.  No wonder a lot of people hate to buy a new car or truck.  Sheesh.  When you think about all the different things you HAVE to pay for (car and homeowners insurance, license plates, real estate taxes) plus the monthly bills you can’t get away from….electric, water, garbage, health insurance, mortgage (if you have one), the costs just keep adding up.  Add groceries every week, milk probably every other day if you are milk drinkers like we are, gas for your car (oil, anti-freeze, oil filter, air cleaner…those pesky maintenance items that you also have to cover).  Then add onto those costs a movie on occasion.  Craft items if you have a hobby.  The occasional gift here and there.  Some cash sent to the grandkids on birthdays and holidays?  Christmas gifts.  Doctors visits or co-pays.  If you have a pet, vet bills and pet food.  The list is endless really.  And how about a vacation or at least a get-away once in a while?

I have no idea how or why I started thinking about all this stuff.  It happened somewhere around the time I started making the Beast and I some dinner.  It continued as I worked on the ruffle for the bottom of the pajama top and then through my search for the missing piece of the top.  I’m glad we don’t think too much about all this stuff or we would probably have to be put on Prozac.  We are luckier than most that our income is just about adequate to allow us to do what we want AND for the Beast to indulge himself as often as he does.

I really feel badly for people who are struggling to make ends meet.  For all the people my age and older that I see still working; not because they want to work but because they have to work to pay their bills.  It’s one thing when you are young and raising a family.  It’s quite another when you have worked all your life.  You would think that a country as great as ours would be able to give us a bit of a break other than medicare (which, in actuality, we paid for like it was an annuity insurance policy our whole working life) and social security checks based on our five top earning years…as long as those occurred within 10 years of retiring.  At least I think that is what the lady at the Social Security office said to me.  It was tough getting straight answers to a lot of questions I asked.  What more can you expect from civil servants?  I guess they are a product of their training.  They were nice but too busy to be informative.  Heck, too busy almost to listen.

I guess that’s enough of my bitching for today.  I was just in a strange mood.  I’m glad Buttmunch didn’t try to call me today because I really didn’t even feel like talking to the Beast who is here.  Do you ever get that way?  It’s not a depression per se.  It’s more like one of those times you start to think about all the things you cannot change.  I try not to worry about the things I cannot control.  They say that you should use your vote to let your senators and representatives know how you feel about different issues but I’m a realist.  I know those people live in a totally different world that is insulated from every day issues that you and I face.  Most of them are wealthy and will remain that way.  They have no idea what it is to struggle.  Heck, for most of them, a struggle would be going without a housekeeper for a week.

Anyway, I do love you all.  I wish you a wonderful and happy day.  Be sure to share your smiles today and see how it spreads. 

I think the Beast loves Halloween more than any other Holiday.  Know why?  He can buy candy to his hearts content and doesn’t even have to search for it.    Just walk into any store and there are stacks and stacks of bags of candy of every sort.  He just ran up to the store for some milk and he came back with a huge bag of Three Musketeers, Butterfingers, candy corn, Snickers, Milky Way plus his caramel corn and god only knows what else.  I get a high sugar count just looking at it! 

Just wanted you to know I am aware of the days of the week.  Love you all and have fun today.

I have a couple pet peeves that have stayed with me since I was a kid.  Like elastic around arms and ankles that is too tight or just irritates you with it’s rubbing.    So I decided to make my own fabric *sleeves* for the elastic and use a wider elastic than the pattern called for.   I made the pajama bottoms first since those were the easiest.  It went like a dream and went together nicely.  The Beast laughed because the bottom of the legs were already gathered before I stitched up the legs.  I did all the edging on the legs before putting the sleeve on for the elastic.  I did the same for the sleeves.  After the pants were completed, I did the edging on the sleeve selvage before I did the wrist elastic sleeve.  I stitched the ends of the elastic in place because I couldn’t stitch up the sleeves before putting the rest of the top together.

Since I didn’t have the baby here to take measurements of her wrist, ankles or waist, I just used the ones provided that were considered *average* (although we all know OUR Chewlee is not AVERAGE).    I really DO want pictures of her in both taken on Saturday.  If I must make adjustments afterward, I will. 

My poor baby, Buttmunch, tried to call me today, I think.  Unfortunately, my phone was shut off.  When I was at the store, it started beeping on me because of a low battery so I turned it off because the beep gets annoying.  By the time I got home with my groceries and put them away, I forgot all about it.  I had other things on my mind and wasn’t expecting a phone call anyway.  Later on, when Bratfink and I were chatting online, she suddenly disappeared.  A few minutes later, my other sister, Bee, IM’d me to tell me what happened and I suddenly remembered my cell phone being turned off.  I knew that was the reason that Bratfink hadn’t called ME to tell me what happened and why she disappeared.  (A sudden and unexpected loss of power….no apparent reason for it and it came on about 15 minutes later).  When I read Buttmunch’s blog, she made a reference to her friends and family having their cell phones off so they could avoid her calls, I somehow KNEW she was referring to me.  Color my face red.  *Love you Buttmunch…I didn’t do it on purpose*.

Tomorrow I will be doing up the top of the pajamas and the outfit will be complete and waiting for the baby to try on.  I can hardly wait. 

Love you all.  Have a wonderful Friday.  Smile a lot and be sure to tell those you love that you do.  It will make your day and theirs, too.

So now the sewing machine is set up and ready.  I pulled out the table top ironing board and my iron for when they are needed and I am ready to go tomorrow.  I decided to do the bottom of the pajamas tomorrow since those are the easiest. 

The Beast made some bean soup with ham last night so that was dinner tonight.  I was glad since I really wasn’t in the mood to make spaghetti sauce.  I pulled the meats out of the freezer yesterday and have them in the fridge.  I’ll make that tomorrow instead.  The Beast’s soup actually turned out better than usual.  He didn’t try anything fancy as far as seasonings go this time.  I think he may finally have learned his lesson.  If it’s not broken, don’t fix it!    The bad part about it is that my IBS seems to be acting up now.  Not the pain part so much as the extra gas in the abdominal area.  I just had to take another pill to help get rid of it.  Either way, the Beast is going to suffer tonight, I think.  It may be a while before he makes it again.

Another day that I forgot to call the Princess to find out how their house hunting is going.  I don’t envy them this move.  Especially because of the baby’s little backyard play thingy.  It’s not going to be an easy thing to move and I don’t envy Johnnycakes if he has to take it apart.  One thing the Princess said to me when she first saw my craft table was, *Oh, so I don’t have to worry about returning your table to you now?*  Figures she would think of that first thing.    Not that I blame her.  It really is a pain in the ass to try to find a kitchen set that you like….especially if you feel under pressure to get something.  No pressure for her now.  What the heck would I do with it?  Throw it out?  Hell, no!  I would rather she uses it until and unless she decides to replace it.  If not, fine. 

The day sucked for TV so I decided to watch some DVD’s for a change.  Besides, the ones I have here I’ve seen multiple times and I could listen to them and still be entertained while I was pinning and then cutting out the pattern.  I watched Dune (the original, not the made for TV one that I actually liked better), then the first three Tremors ones.  Right now I have I, Robot in which I haven’t seen all that many times.  But I can sit and watch this one since I am done doing anything more on the pajamas today.

I’m closing this out for today since nothing much else happened here at Brat Farm.  The Beast just sprayed the fruit trees with some stuff he’s supposed to do to them when the weather cools down.  It’s supposed to be okay if it rains as long as it has enough time to dry and it has had that.  Love you all.  Have a really great day and take care of yourselves. 

The thought for today is:  Some people cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go!