We talked to our insurance agent about the possibility of buying flood insurance and were told the only way we can get it is if we are in a 100 year flood plain and then we would need a certified survey of our elevation.  It kind of surprised me to find out it was still that way (I knew this from our homes in Florida where we always lived near water and always carried flood insurance because of that).  Mainly, it's because we thought it might have changed somewhat due to the type of advertising they show for flood insurance on TV these days.  They make it seem like everyone should have it.....not just those living in a flood plain. 

Our main concern was not being flooded so much as getting so much rain that it might actually wash out our foundation.  I'm still going to explore this further.  We have several creeks nearby and it's not beyond belief that we might just BE in a 100 year flood plain area.  I somehow doubt it due to the fact that the lake is located about 200 feet lower in elevation than we are BUT better safe than sorry.

I picked up Chewlee from school today and she was so happy to see me that she ran all over the playroom area telling all the teachers and pointing to me that I was her Gramma and I was taking her to Gramma's house!  She was just too funny.  She chatted a mile a minute to me about her day.  She talked so fast that I only got about half of it.   As we drove home, she kept pointing out various trees, the electric wires, telephone poles and cows out in the rain.  When we got to the stop sign near the house, she pointed out which way I had to turn.  I told her she was soooooo smart and she just sat there, shook her head yes and said, *Yes, I am.*

She couldn't decide just WHAT DVD to watch first but settled on Godzilla.  As I got one of the movies down, she told me very seriously that she liked Godzilla.  I told her I knew that and I liked him, too.  She insisted she put the DVD in but first she checked it out to make sure there were no fingerprints on it (it's always MY fault if there are).  When Godzilla came on, she ran up to the TV, yelling *Godzilla* and had to point him out to me.  She then came over and sat in my lap.  The movie had just finished and I had turned on Diego when her mother showed up.  At first, she didn't want to leave but her mother threatened her with *If you don't come, I won't let Gramma come and pick you up any more.*  I was surprised that she then went willingly with a cheerful, *Bye, Gramma!  See you tomorrow!*

Tara came over to do a little business with the Beast and it was that Bring Your Kid to Work Day at the high school so she brought the middle son over for a haircut.  He's got hair like my son, Mustachio, had as a kid....stick straight.  It's kind of a tough type of hair to cut so it layers nice so I said I would buy a shaper at Sally's for the next time.  Used correctly, that will do the trick.  His hair actually is easier to shape than his brother's was (due to his curl) but he looks so damn cute with his hair cut just enough to be able to see his face.  I actually think he would look strange with what is considered to be a *regular* boy's haircut.

I made us some beef stroganoff tonight.  I really tried to cut down the amount of meat and stuff I used but still made enough for at least one other person (more likely, two).  The dog was happy, though.  He thinks he's entitled to any leftovers we have.  I won't let him eat out of our dishes tho'; I put any leftovers into his bowl.  I can't break the Beast out of the habit of giving it to him that way, however. 

Time to get this posted.  I haven't seen Bratfink online today so I guess Hawk is still in the hospital.  She has other stuff to do so she can always do that if she starts to get the shakes.    We are all doing a good job keeping the internet going so keep it up, guys!

Love you all and have a wonderful day.  I hope you have good weather.  Weatherbug is saying we will have clear weather and temps of 82 and up for the rest of the week.  The Beast is moaning and groaning over that.  He hates hot weather but I love it.  I hate when he puts on the AC.  The only thing that consoles me is he won't do it just because he hates a high electric bill.  So, he will turn on the fans all over the house (is that really saving anything?) and piss and moan until I want to choke him.  Only then will he turn on the AC and tell me it's *just to cool down the house a little*.  I know he will turn it on before bedtime but our nights should be temperate enough even for him (in the 60's).

Be good and stay safe. 

I wasn't up long; just barely had a couple sips of coffee, when Marcus Aurelius called me to wish me a Happy Mother's Day and tell me he loved me.  **Blush**  I was starting on my second cup when the Princess showed up with Chewlee.  Chewlee was carrying a bunch of flowers and ran over to give them to me.  The Princess handed me two cards; one was from Chewlee that was so darn cute and another from both her and the Princess.  We sat around and chewed the fat, playing with Chewlee at the same time before she finally took Chewlee home for her nap. 

Buttmunch called me later and we talked for about 20 minutes.  I brought her up to speed on some things going on here (which will be the subject of another post during the week some time) and then we were just talking about her *mudding* when she was younger and how she would come home just covered with it to the point where I would yell at her to undress OUTSIDE and her reply was, *You want me to strip down NAKED out here????*  It always made me laugh when she said it because of the WAY she said it.

Finally, Mustachio pulled himself away from his Space Commander (or Fleet Commander, whatevah) game long enough to call me.  We chatted about the news that I referred to up top and a few other things.  He was glad to hear that we would probably drive up to Tennessee to see Marcus Aurelius's house AND spend the day together on Sunday.  It will be a Brat family reunion in miniature. 

The Beast busied himself with completing the wiring job he started on the house.  It was the last set of wires he had to pull for something he intends to do to the air conditioner.  It kept him busy and out of my hair while I did some clothes folding that I had tried to ignore.  But, since Bratfink was busy unpacking totes at the new place, I had no excuse.  I knew she was going to be offline due to what will, hopefully, only be a defective fan on her computer.  It's going to the computer hospital tomorrow and we are hoping she can get it back right away. 

I will keep the internet going for her until she gets back, I promised.  I need to shower and get myself going with a few other things before I head for bed.  I have to start picking the baby up from preschool tomorrow and I am going back to having her on Saturdays for a while.  She was kind of mad at me (at first) today when she came over.  I think it was because *I* wasn't the one picking her up every day any more.  She should be happy tomorrow because it will be a surprise.

I woke up around 8:30am and it was already 78 degrees outside.  I felt great but the Beast was a bit whiney.  I changed that when I quickly hemmed up a pair of his new jeans for him.  He's lost some weight and his big complaint (other than the trauma of admitting he's gotten OLD....**Insert an eyeroll here) has been that his pants are so loose that he feels like he's wearing his grandfather's pants. 

I finished shortening the other two pair of jeans he'd given me and made his day for him.  He's as bad as a woman when he has something new to wear, I swear.  I love new clothes, too, but jeans?  I guess I'd hate having a pair that was so baggy on me, too. 

He got dressed and got busy painting the shutters on the garage.  Those are on the side of the house that he had to pressure clean first and then let dry.  He also painted a strip at the top of the garage door so it could have some drying time before Tonto arrived to do that.  The bad/good part of using an oil base paint is that it takes so long for it to dry.  But, wow...does the house look great.

I had to help the Beast put down the non-slip strips on the porch and stairs because they were really too long for him to do by himself.  His arms just don't stretch that wide to make sure they went down straight.  Later, Tara came to pick up Tonto and had the baby with her.  He's such a cutie pie.  He's got his mother's smile (which is adorable on that cute face) and I played *gonna get the belly button* with him just to hear him laugh.  Babies are so easy to amuse!

I took the dog on a trip to pick up some KFC for us for dinner.  We haven't had it in a while and I wasn't anxious to heat up the house at all.  It was almost 90 degrees outside.    I also had to pick up some liquor (I was totally OUT )  so I got that.  I had forgotten to do it earlier when I was out.  It's cooled down now to 75 degrees...LOL.  That would be a wonderful DAY in some places right now. 

I did the usual housewifey things which took all of about 20 minutes if you don't count the time folding clothes.  That's a chore I have a love/hate for, but I think that's kind of normal for most of us.  I sometimes have dreams about folding clothes...towels, sheets, rags, underwear, tshirts, etc. in an endless stream.  More like a nightmare.

Some moron was driving next to me on my way home from KFC and was yelling something at me.  Scared me and I was looking for signs of smoke or something else coming from the car because he was pointing at the car.  I damn near pulled over except there was no place to do that and too much traffic.  We came to a light and he leans out the window to tell me, *That's one good looking dog you got there!*  If I could have shot him, I think it would have been justified.  I just thanked him and was glad the light changed.  Talk about almost having a heart attack!

Time to get out to the kitchen to straighten up.  The food is put away but I have to get the rest of the dishes into the dishwasher.  We only seem to run it about every other day these days. 

I have to admit that today was definitely not boring.  It started out with someone knocking at our door around 8am.  The Beast was up and ready for our visitor and I realized it was the painter the Beast had spoken of that he said he wanted to get a price on some painting on the outside of the house he wanted done.  Since we have aluminum siding, I doubted it was that and put two and two together that it was the trim.

Imagine my surprise to discover the *painter* was Tonto!  It was hard to believe that he had come so close to dying just a few months ago.  For one, he hadn't lost a pound (and he could stand to lose a few....LOL).  He has been doing a lot of painting for various businesses since he specializes in sign painting and design.  He was tanned already from the time he spends in the sun (regardless of the temperature unless it's very cold).

We had talked about painting the trim and the shutters around the windows before and had finally decided on doing it a hunter green.  When I told this to Bratsis, she said to me, *OMG...now he's painting the house camoflauge?*  Cracked me right up.  Especially when Sis said, *...and he hasn't even shot his first deer!*

Well, he only got to stay until around two since he picks the two older boys up from school but I was really stunned at how much he got done and how great the house looks.    I wouldn't have believe that it would make such a difference.  It makes the house look totally different and it stands out now.  Of course, the gray color of the old trim was not exciting at all.  We considered painting it that dark red wine color at one time but I am glad we changed our mind. 

When we decided to paint the whole porch area, the Beast ran down to Lowe's (yes, I really MUST check into buying some stock in that company) to get some of those non-slip strips for it because we know painting it will make it slippery and I sure don't want to fall down the stairs....not at my age.  I just don't heal like I used to. 

We grilled our dinner again tonight.  I love it because outdoor cooking is the Beast's love.  He's always in charge.  I like only having to make the etc's for whatever meat he's making.  He grilled the sausages I've come to love and I made us a salad and some mashed sweet potatoes (the Bob Evan's brand...I'm not stupid!).  Nice, quick and easy to do.

I've been watching the radar on weather channel and trying to figure out where our bad weather that's supposed to hit us this weekend is coming from.  Still no clue but even weatherbug has put it in our forecast now.  Oh well.  We're prepared as much as we can be. 

I washed a couple loads of clothes and put half in the dryer to dry and hung out the rest.  I do so love the smell of clothes dried outdoors.  We had a nice breeze going but I hung them out late so they weren't dry yet.  I left them hanging on the umbrella clothes line since we don't have a lot of humidity in the air today.  They should be able to be taken off early since our *low* for tonight is 70 degrees. 

I woke up this morning after a really crappy nights sleep with a headache.  Some surprise, right?  So I got up, grabbed a cup of coffee, turned on my computer, took my pills and was still so tired, I couldn't finish reading the news.  That's my usual routine.  Get up.  Get coffee.  Read news.  Read email.  Then I will usually do my housekeeping stuff.  Make the bed.  Clean up any mess from the night in the kitchen.  Dustmop.  Throw load of clothes in washer.  Then back to my computer.

Today I couldn't do that.  The headache and lack of sleep saw me go lay back in my recliner where I promptly fell asleep and slept for about four hours!    I know!  Shocked me, too.  When I woke up, I still had a bit of a headache but a couple aspirin took care of that and I finally was able to take care of things around the house.

My niece, Tara, dropped by for about a half hour.  That's a long time for her lately because she always seems to be like a mini-tornado of activity.  She carries this energy around with her that almost makes YOU tired watching her.  That was the most exciting thing that happened today, which was fine with me due to having that *blah* feeling.

It was very warm and humid today.  The temperature got up to about 86.  I checked on my strawberries and tomato plants and they were still a bit soggy so no watering today.  I have to change out the syrup in the hummingbird feeders tomorrow.  I don't like to leave that in there for longer than about 10 days or so due to the chance of bacteria in it.  I want to feed the hummingbirds, not make them sick.  I started making my own syrup for them after reading that the red food coloring used in most of the commercial concentrates actually can cause problems for the birds.  It leads to something they call a soft beak.    I didn't see a study on it but I would rather not take chances with such beautiful and delicate little things.

I suppose the heat had something to do with my sheer boredom.  I'm not used to it yet but I usually love it and thrive in it.  I'm just not sleeping well lately with the damn dog climbing into bed with us when we are sound asleep and slowly taking it over.  Take a 110 lb. Doberman into bed with you and you will find out how damned uncomfortable that can be.  Worse...their long legs can be downright lethal when they stretch out!    It wakes me up and I have to get the dog off the bed, which means getting up to let him get down.  Not very conducive to a good night's sleep when he does it several times during the night.

I actually dreamed about the Beast dying and having to make a decision about keeping the dog or not.  It wasn't the first time I had that kind of dream but it is interesting how many different ways I can decide on what I want to do with him.  On nights where he's a real pain in the ass, guess how I decide? 

So, having done virtually nothing exciting today, I will close this with a thought to ponder for you.  Why do you press harder on the buttons of a remote control when you know the batteries are dead?  How come abbreviated is such a long word?  Why do they call it a TV set when there is only one?  If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular? 

Well, local officials are warning that we are in for some more bad weather next weekend and it seems that Nashville is supposed to get more also.  Nashville is still reeling from the massive flooding there and still has water in some areas between it and Memphis.  So, Marcus and I agreed that we will cancel the plans to get together this weekend.  It would have been nice if we had all been together for Mother's Day for a change but c'est la vie! 

Weatherbug has been flashing alerts all day long with flash flood warnings for our area.  We don't have much to worry about here at Brat Farm because even the creek nearby runs down into the lake that is a couple hundred feet lower in elevation than we are.  But, with all the damaged homes from the tornado a little more than a week ago, that's one thing we really don't need.  There are still families in the emergency shelters waiting for places to live.

They are so concerned about this expected storm front that they say will be hitting us over a period of 4-5 days that they are actually handing out flyers at all the local shopping centers, churches, etc. telling people where to go for temporary shelters if needed during those expected days.    They are concerned because of all the damage done to homes during the tornado plus there are still people without power or access to storm radios.  I'm sure they will be having a big push again for donations of either money or those radios to get them into the hands of those without them.  We have one that can be used both with or without power.  Which reminds me.....I need to check the batteries in ours.  **Blush**

I took some pictures of the Beast and Baron today.  The Beast set his camera up on a tripod and all I really had to do was wait for something halfway decent in the lens and click the button.  I ended up with about five or six that I was SURE would be good ones, and even with the Beast's *search for perfection* in pictures, he agreed.  I knew what he was looking for...something that made him look younger than he does.    I told him the only way he could do that would be to airbrush the hell out of it, especially with his *Arctic blonde* as he calls it.  Men are much more vain than women when it comes to old flames.   It seems one of his early heartthrobs contacted him via Facebook.  He had an old picture of his posted from way back when he was in his late 20's or early 30's, I forget which.  She asked him for a *more recent* picture.

Sure as hell, after picking out one of the good pictures I took, he put it in Photo Shop to *fix it up a bit*.  I told him he needs a future version of it to do what HE wanted to do to it. 

As I write this, it's 83 degrees outside and has pretty much been sunny all day long.  If we are going to have a lot of rain this upcoming weekend, we can use some time to dry out.  The Beast grilled our dinner (some great sausages he found at Walmart).  Nothing fancy...just a light salad and the sausages but they are wonderful grilled.  I probably wouldn't like them any other way but I enjoyed mine a lot.

It felt strange not to have to pick up Chewlee from preschool today but I stayed in my jammies all day long.  They actually look like a nice summer outfit (light cotton knit, female version of wife beater top with shorts and in a nice yellow).  I stayed cool and comfortable.  I'm sorry now I didn't buy a couple more of these when I found them.  They would be perfect for those hot summer nights when the Beast starts going crazy over what he calls *high* electric bills.  **Insert eye roll here**  Must be his way of compensating IN HIS MIND for his extravagant overindulgence the past two months.

Since I am not going to be seeing my kids on Mother's Day (except for the Princess, Johnnycakes and Chewlee, I mean), I think I will *let* the Beast take me out for brunch.  I should see if I can pick up the makings for Mimosa in case we DON'T have all that rain.  I love nice cold Mimosa on a hot day. 

For all those that were concerned, we are fine here.  The rumors about possible tornadoes were, apparently, unfounded by the time it reach our area.  *Phew!*  The storm, however, was a bit on the nasty side.  The neighbor in back of us had a tree that was listing badly after the tornado hit nearby but it is totally down now just from the winds we got last night. 

I'm glad I picked my ripe strawberries before it hit because some of my plants look a little ragged today, including my poor tomato!  The blossoms that were on it are gone so now it's another waiting game for new ones.  *Sigh*  I went out in the  midst of the early part of the storm and took down the hummingbird feeders and one of the hanging plants.  I moved the upside down tomato to a place where it was sheltered as much as possible (but not enough, I guess).

Today, instead of overcast and more rain, it was bright, sunny and warm.  Got all the way up to 83, in fact.  The Beast got out and mowed the back yard.  If it stays nice, he'll do the front and lot next door (or *the orchard* as I call it).

I got to see some of the damage to the baby's preschool today when I went to pick her up.  The playground....all gone!  Nothing was left there except some rubble.  The chainlink fence was taken out and never found, all the playground equipment (which was mostly made of heavy wood and included a couple neat playhouses) was just trashed.  It was sad.  The sandbox, which was a big, covered area...gone!  The church bus was destroyed also.  The school building was actually the building that suffered the most damage.  Windows were blown out and much of the furniture inside destroyed.  With all the diapers, pullups, blankets, pillows and spare sets of clothing for all the kids....well, you can just imagine the mess.  Part of the roof had tarpaulins on it until that can be taken care of, I guess.  The kids were able to stay in the sanctuary building and offices located at the front of the property.  The awning portion and a high window were the only casualties it looked like. 

I DID notice, also, that all the new river rock that had been put down during the winter seemed to have been a casualty, too.  I looked at the homes a little further behind the church property and was really shocked to see the downed trees and the mess that was still partly in a pool back there.  The lake will probably need some dredging out, too.  But, physically, it seems like the church property was the worst hit.  I couldn't see any really noticeable problems with the homes back there.  Of course, I was only seeing it all over a week later and from the back. 

I got news today that I won't have to pick up the baby from school for a while.  Johnnycakes has been transferred to days now and will be getting off work at 4pm.  He is, however, going to try to get a job inside the plant (more $$$) until he gets his college courses done and can then get into law enforcement, which is his dream.  I think he just likes the uniform since he wants to be a state trooper.  You know, the guys with the wide brimmed hats?   

My son, Marcus Aurelius, wants us to come up to his house this weekend.  He just bought his first house last month and is ready for company now, I guess.  His sister, Buttmunch, and brother, Mustachio, are coming from Louisville.  I think we will probably only go up for the day (Saturday) because of Baron.  Suffice it to say that Baron is not exactly welcomed.  Partly because he gets too damned excited around people and he's too big and clumsy and can be lethal.  Also, my youngest granddaughter was attacked by a dog and was bitten rather badly.  She bears the scars from that attack in more ways than one.  She was here, however, for a couple weeks last summer and did end up getting along with Baron well after just a couple days.  Baron was actually rather sweet with her (perhaps feeling her fear?).  He would have slept with her if given half a chance but his *daddy* won out on that one. 

As it is, Marcus told me Baron would have to either stay in the garage or outside with the older two kids (whom he insists will play with him and keep him company).  I know that's going to go over like a lead balloon with the Beast so it will be a short visit.  But, at least we will get to see Mustachio, whom we haven't seen in well over a year and Buttmunch, too.  I have a proposition to convey to her when I see her anyway. 

The Princess was upset we couldn't make it for Sunday because then she said she could go, too.  I may broach that with the Beast because leaving Baron in the garage would make more sense to him then with the baby and so many people there.  I'll find out if the Princess really meant that and we could make it a family day trip then.  We shall see.

Time to get this posted for today.  Love you all and you have a wonderful day, ya hear?    Be kind to one another.  No matter how obnoxious someone may seem, someone...somewhere....thinks they are worth loving. 

Today there was nothing but blah, blah, blah on TV about tornadoes and being on a "Watch" for them.  *Turn on your Weather Radio!* *Be alert!*  The day was dark and dismal but, get this, hardly any rain falling here.

No tornadoes hereabouts today (thank God!) just rain and wind.  The worst of this large, slow-moving front hasn't hit us yet.  There's some sort of cold front keeping it from passing over us quickly.  I pity the areas that are getting the worst of it right now.

My son, Marcus Aurelius, lives near Nashville and he was talking to me and describing the rain in his area and on his street.  He lives in mountainous country so it was passing his home and running downhill.  Then, the storm drains started bubbling up.  It started really flowing out faster than it could run downhill.  He saw his neighbors yard filling up with water and they were all looking out windows and keeping watch on it.  I told him I really pitied those that lived down the road from him and the lower areas leading into Nashville.  He was glad he didn't have to go into work.

Our rain was lighter today than expected but we won't be so lucky tomorrow.  Our flash flood warnings have been extended into Monday.   I'm glad only because I haven't had a chance to get out to Walmart and pick up a few things we need.  I cleared out a lot of stuff from the fridge today (and I mean a LOT of it) after watching a program about power outages and your fridge and freezer.  I went back and took a good look at what had been in the fridge at the time and started chucking stuff.  No worry about condiments but I had several iffy items and didn't want to take a chance.  I DO know that at least one of my salad dressings tasted *off* and I threw it out.  I have more of them in my pantry (unopened) so it wasn't a big loss. 

I also went through my pantry and took a good look at expiration dates on things like pancake mixes, cake mixes, corn muffin mixes and had to throw out a few of THOSE, too.   I don't want to end up with some of the problems that those outdated items can do to you after reading about a healthy young man that died.  He had eaten pancakes just two hours before being struck by symptoms so badly that he ended up on life support within 12 hours, I believe it was and was dead just a couple days later.  At MY age, what chance would I have if struck by something like that?

So, I am going to buy some things we might need, including some water in bottles and throw some ice in our ice chest....just in case.  If YOU are struck by a power outage, remember to let your fridge run for two hours before putting those items from an ice chest into it.  I still have a can opener that's NOT electric in my utensil drawer and I have lots of canned items we can eat if we must.   I'm still going to pick up some pre-made burgers to keep in the fridge (just not a big package) so the Beast can have his meat that he feels he must have for almost every meal.  I am also going to go back to throwing a package of hamburger and hot dog buns in the freezer.  I can then pull them out in the event of a power outage and let them defrost for those burgers and/or hot dogs we throw on the grill.

I went and put new batteries in all our flashlights and put them within arms reach of the places we normally are in the evening.  I will go through my candles (yes, I remember where they are this time ) and get those put out, too.  I told the Beast he should make sure all his batteries for HIS big flashlight he has in the garage (I believe he has three batteries for it) are charged up and ready.  He thinks I am being silly but I don't so I insisted he do that.  He did it, mumbling under his breathe the whole time. 

I made sure the guest bedroom had fresh sheets on it in case we end up with *guests* aka the *kids* here.  One never knows, does one?    Of course, WE could be the ones hit this time and it could be worse than what happened to the kids house.  I did find out where we could go if worse came to worse and there was actually enough time.  Better to be safe than sorry.

Not a fun few days here at the Brat Farm and the Beast is sick thinking about all the fruit on our trees.  I told him he should be glad we haven't thinned them out yet (although the cherry trees worry ME).  Nature may do the thinning for us.  I'm more concerned about the amount of rain we might end up having.  All speculation, of course.  Until the storm actually hits us (and I mean the core of it with all the activity), we are just guessing and trying to prepare.

Remember that we lose our satellite connection in bad rain storms so I might not show up to keep you up-to-date.  If so, Bratfink will let you know in HER blog as long as I can get through to her on my cell phone.  Sometimes, even that isn't possible.  The Beast and I both are keeping ours charged up and will put it on our car chargers, if necessary.  Say a prayer for us and those areas where the storm is raging.  I hope there are no more deaths but, c'est la vie!  When your time is up, it's up!