Johnnycakes brought over Chewlee and told me that the Princess had awoken with a bloody nose and then was coughing up bloody phlegm.  I didn't panic because I know the bloody phlegm could have been caused by blood dripping down her throat while she was asleep.  He also mentioned that Chewlee had already eaten FOUR bananas.  I laughed and told him she must be part chimpanzee.  He said there must be a word for her obsession with bananas lately.  He watched her push the high chair over towards the door to my room since I had gone there when he started to leave.  I expected Chewlee to follow me like she always does. 

However, today she pushed the high chair and said to me, *See this, Gramma?  I want to eat.  I want noodles.*  I pushed it back towards the living room and she made me stop so she could have the tray pointing towards the TV since that is where she likes to sit while eating.  Johnnycakes reiterated that she had really eaten four bananas and I reassured him that it was okay.  It was a good thing she was hungry after going with very little food for that period of time when everyone was worried about her.

The Beast raised his voice and said, *Hey, what is this?  I should have a day off when I don't have to watch Sponge Bob all day long!*  He laughed when he said it but I knew what he meant.  I told him not to worry.  After she ate, I would take her into my room and we could watch 'Zilla movies.  Later on, after Chewlee and I were watching Godzilla's Revenge (her favorite movie of the genre), the Beast came in and told me it was alright if she watched the TV in the living room since nothing good was on until evening and he had other stuff he could do.  When I told her, she ran right out there and plopped down in Papa's chair and waited for me to put on the Nik channel for her.  We get a couple of them and the Beast had actually already put one of the Nick channels on but it was one for older kids.  I put Sponge Bob on for her and she said in a casual but regal manner, *I need my juice now.*  I had to remind her that she forgot a very important word and she said, *Please!!!*.  We always make sure she says please and thank you when she wants something and then gets it.

She did take one break when she had to come in with me and have a *serious* talk.  She sat down on a box in the computer room and demanded nicely that I *turn around* in my chair and face her.  She then pointed to the wipes on the floor from when I changed her and told me I needed to put it away.  I told her that SHE had gotten them  and she said that she had gotten them for ME so it was my job.  She then handed them to me and said, *Be sure to tell me when you have put them back where they belong.*  She watched intently while I replaced them on the shelf and then said, *Very good!*  She asked me a question and I answered her to which she replied, *Whatever!*  Then the talk was over and she went back to her TV.

She just LOVES the TV in the living room.  First of all, it's a 52-inch and it's an HD TV.  The picture is amazing.  It also has surround sound hooked up to it.  She loves it when the sound is cranked up higher than I would normally p ut it.  She sits like a Queen on her throne on the Beast's recliner and is just mesmerized.  I don't complain most days because if I get up and go outside, BAM!  She is right there next to me.

As for the Princess, she and Johnnycakes spent 3-1/2 hours in the waiting room before she was seen by a doctor.  Johnnycakes said she told them she hadn't eaten anything since Friday because her throat was so sore.  All she did was drink cold liquids.  When he examined her throat, there were the telltale white spots in her throat that indicated she has strep throat.  Since she hadn't eaten anything in a while, the doctor ordered some kind of super shot for her since she said she didn't have any more time off coming to her for another month and she really needed to go to work tomorrow (Monday).  When the nurse came in with the shot, Johnnycakes says he swears the needle on it was a foot long and she had to give it to the Princess in her butt.  The nurse told the Princess she would have to sit there for a while or lay down just to make sure she didn't vomit.  She got to her feet and fell right to the floor.  At that, the nurse said, *You can stay there, if you prefer* (which I thought was kind of funny, but then, I'm weird).  They insisted she had to stay until they were sure she was stable enough to leave.

When Johnnycakes came to pick up Chewlee (he said he would keep her away from the Princess), he said she had gone unconscious (so to speak) as soon as she got in the car.  He took her home and then went to get the prescription the doctor had written.

The Beast busied himself with lawn cutting on the John Deere as soon as the temperature dropped down to 86.  He came in once when dinner was almost ready (I made salmon patties, mac and cheese and some green beans) then headed back out to try to get it all finished except for the weed whacking.  He'll do that tomorrow, I'm sure.

I just emptied the dishwasher while the salmon patties were cooking and then put the few dishes that were in the sink into it.  I made fresh coffee so I would be set for a while.  The Beast doesn't do much coffee after dinner but I seem to drink it all day long.  I can't help it.  It's my drink of choice (besides a good vodka and coke on occasion).  Lately, it's been vodka and Sprite Zero; it all depends on my mood.

His anger wasn't even about that.  It was about something entirely different.  I think they call it *misdirected anger* when he does this kind of stuff.  Then he starts taking it out on me (verbally...trust me, I can take him!).  What pisses him off even more is that I don't react to it all.  What it reminds me of is his father and HIS tantrums.  That kind of behavior is so ingrained in him because his personality is so similar that I don't believe it could ever have been corrected.

Which makes me wonder why I didn't trust my own instincts all those years ago when I was young.  As much as I was attracted to the good side of him (and he does have one), I remember my reaction the first time I saw one of his tantrums.  Right then and there, something told me to stay far away from him because his reaction was so violent and inappropriate.  It all had to do with his oil cap being missing.  He actually took a tire iron and started beating the engine of the car.  I was totally freaked out over that.  But, I didn't listen to myself and I could have spared myself and my children so much agony.  Of course, I believe I STILL would have had my children, regardless.  They just would have had a different father.  Perhaps they might even have been happier.  Hell, I'm SURE they would have been.  Oh well.  Too soon old, too late smart.  *Sigh*

The Beast's gun kit came today so he started working on it shortly before I went to pick up Chewlee from school.  Chewlee was so happy to see me, I was surprised.  She chewed me out for making her mother pick her up.    I told her that even Gramma's get vacations once in a while.

I made her the usual *noodles*, which she chose.  I had told her that I was going to be making BLT's for dinner and she told me I HAD to let her know when I was done because she wanted some bacon, too.  Like I would hide it from her or tell her NO!    Grandma's are for spoiling their grandkids.  We don't often say no to any treat they want.

The Beast keeps coming into my puter room to show me his progress on his gun.  He finally got the stock sanded nice and smooth and just finished staining it.  I love the way it looks.  The grain of the wood looks wonderful.  I'll have to take a picture of it to share with you all when he finishes it.  So far, so good.

I worked a bit on organizing this room a bit more.  It's slow going mostly because I keep getting distracted.  I found a couple joke books I had forgotten I had.  Then I had to go through some CD's and sort them all out.  Those are time consuming and slow you down.  I also found some stuff I forgot I had.  Mostly different types of printing papers that I bought for making my own greeting cards and also some nice stationery that I can use for letters.  Nowadays, with almost everyone having email addresses, no one does much of that any more, do they?    I use them mostly at Christmas time when I feel like including one of those god-awful newsletters that you hate to include but want to catch people up on highlights they don't know about.  I am always embarrassed when I make one up to send instead of writing an individual, more personal letter.

Last night, I could hardly believe what Baron did to me.  Twice within a half hour he *knocked* on my door to be let out.  I always close it when the Beast goes to bed so the sound of my TV doesn't keep him from getting to sleep and the light doesn't bother him either.  So, I open the door and walk to the back door to let the dog out.  I set up the coffee for morning while I waited for him to want in the first time.  When he wanted out the second time, I figured he wasn't feeling well or else he had to poop.  After the second time, I figured he was down for the night but, lo-and-behold, about 10 minutes later he comes to the door of my computer room and makes a low bark.  I was like and walked out, mad as hell, figuring he was playing with me or something when I look and he's in the bedroom doorway, just standing there looking at me.  He made a kind of bark/growl and it woke the Beast up because he knew what it was.  He got up, laughing, because Baron was trying to tell me it was time for ME to get to bed!    I couldn't believe it!  He's done that to the Beast more times than I can tell you but this was a first for me. 

The Beast got up, had a glass of milk and a couple cookies, laughing the whole time.  I did NOT think it was funny (actually I did but didn't want to give the Beast the satisfaction).  At least when the Beast went back to bed, taking the dog with him, that was the final time Baron came to the door.  He left me alone.  He WAS on my side of the bed but got off to let me lay down and laid on HIS bed next to my side of the bed.

We got a bit worried about him today when he wasn't eating anything and he seemed to just want to lay at the foot of my bed.  I didn't even make the bed until much later than normal because you can't tell if a dog is running a temperature or anything...at least, not easily.  I don't even remember what a normal temperature IS for a dog.  Whatever it was bothering him, when we grilled a couple hamburgers on the grill (we made one for him, too), he chomped down on it and then ate his bowl of canned dog food mixed with fresh chicken and finished that off.  He even ate some of his dry dog food, too.  The Beast had taken him out for a run since it was not as hot today and it was cloudy outside so the road wasn't too hot.  He had hoped the exercise would encourage him to eat when they got back but it hadn't.  I told him if he didn't eat the hamburger, then he was going to the vets tomorrow.

He's definitely feeling better now because he is chewing on one of his rawhide bones and even keeping it between his paws when he rolls on his back.  Looks so weird! 

The Beast spent a short time at the gun range today finishing up the fine tuning of his muzzle loader.  He headed home and cleaned it up and put it away.  He was happy with the results so I guess he's set and ready to go kill us some wild game now!    Yeah, right. 

He says after we get back from NC for his aunt's birthday party (remember, she's going to be 90 years old), he's going to start exploring some of the special sites for hunting that are set aside here in Alabama.  Of course, there's no way of telling how good a site it might be but it WILL be one of the easier ones to manipulate for him.  That's one of the reasons I don't hold out a lot of hope for his being successful.  However, if he goes with Johnnycakes (and that prospect looks like it's open), THEN he might actually at least SEE something wild. 

It poured her again today.  We had all kinds of flash flood warnings going on due to being in the mountains.  We aren't in any danger here where we live but there are areas around us and further north as the elevation goes up.  I believe the rain barrel is now full so the Beast is happy because it means he didn't *waste* the money.    Of course, if he spends money on something *I* want, that's usually what he means by *waste*.  I should have acted a little opposed to the idea then it would have been all HIS idea and it could still be empty but he would *have it ready* for when it did rain. 

Poor Johnnycake's AC went out last night and the Beast was going to go over there to take a look at it for him but, once it started raining and thundering, Johnnycakes knew it wasn't a good time to do that so the Beast will go over there tomorrow.  He doesn't have access to any parts any more but he can let him know if it's major or minor before Johnnycakes has to call anyone to come and repair it.  Since it's his mom's house, any major problem will be for her to decide on, I guess.

In the meantime, our grass is growing like crazy, which it always does after a rain.  Plants really love rain a lot more than water from a hose, don't they?  All the trees and bushes seem to be acting the same way.  Guess the heat has really gotten to them, too.

I have no clue (because I forget to ask) when I will start back into picking Chewlee up from preschool but it should be soon.  I have to admit, I enjoy not having to worry about that but, at the same time, I would miss seeing her if I didn't.  No happy medium, I guess.

He carefully placed it in the trunk and wedged it so, if it did accidentally discharge, it would fire through the side of the vehicle and not hit anything important.  He drove home trying not to hit any obstacles or potholes.  Thankfully, there aren't many around here.  They take good care of all the roads.

When he got here and told me about it, I told him to do his repairs OUTSIDE.  He laughed and said he would put the muzzle in a pillow and I just growled at him even though I knew he was kidding.  He went outside to replace the part (thankfully, he always gets extras of things) and then fired off the gun into the treeline where it could only hit a tree if it hit anything.  It was LOUD but he walked into the house and said, *I don't think anyone noticed.* 

He then dropped his bombshell on me and told me he had ordered a kit for making one of the black powder guns.  It stopped me dead in my tracks.  I whipped around and told him, *This has grown into your latest obsession!  When is this shit going to stop???  You've spent $XXXX. so far on guns,the gun safe, ammo, cases for each gun and the stuff for the black powder rifles.  This is NUTS!*

He just looked at me with his puppy dog face and says, *What obsession?*  This is where the urge to kill comes in.

It only got up to 91 today and the forecast for tonight is showers and thunderstorms.  I actually love thunderstorms when I am safe and dry in the house.  I especially like it when I am in bed.  Don't ask me why I find it comforting because, years ago, it was after midnight when a tornado hit the apartment buildings the Beast and I lived in and tore the roof off from over our heads.  For years, a thunderstorm was guaranteed to keep me up.  I guess I got over that fear somewhere along the line.

I was talking on an IM with Bratfink and had to tell her I needed a little nap because my eyes actually hurt.  But it only took an hour before I woke up and felt 100% better.  I got my normal stuff done and decided to make barbequed ribs for dinner.  Don't get excited...it was the boneless pork ones.  I slow cooked them in the oven and they turned out wonderful.

The Beast pulled a big boo-boo and I have no clue how it's going to turn out but he may have ruined the scooter.  He pulled out this plug on the engine, thinking it was for draining the oil and a spring fell out of it.  He had no idea what it was for but he put the spring back in and replugged it.  Later, when he went to take Baron for a run, the scooter could hardly keep running.  When he brought it back to our garage, he pulled the plug out to take a closer look at it and ... no spring.  He thinks it wasn't properly placed and it was sucked up into the engine.  Yeah, all because he did something without thinking.

He ordered a replacement spring, took the engine apart to look for it (that's more complicated than I want to put in here) but, suffice it to say, he actually only took the two sides apart for a cursory look.  He's hoping he doesn't have to take it completely apart.  The garage smells like gasoline and so did he as he came back and forth into the house.  The aroma still lingers.  To take it into Honda and have them do what must be done would cost him around $600.  That's more than the scooter is worth at this time even though it looks like new and doesn't have all that many miles on it.  If he can't fix it, it means he will have to get himself a bicycle.  Why is it with him, it's always something he is ruining?  Nothing he does ever goes the way it should.  He goes to do something simple and makes it complicated one way or another.

I babysat Chewlee for a couple hours while the Princess and Johnnycakes went to a movie.  Chewlee obviously didn't nap.  She wasn't crabby like some days but she was tired because she was quieter than usual.  She was so polite tonight that I think she and her mother had some sort of a run-in and then a *mommy talk*.  We watched the new Sponge Bob DVD that I bought the other day.  Two of the episodes on it I've seen multiple times but it also had a couple I had never seen.  Chewlee was riveted to the TV. 

I'm heading for bed early tonight to make sure I get enough good sleep.  I need to do a little running around tomorrow to look for a few things I've had on my list for a while.  I'm still trying to get this room organized and I'm out of a couple things I use for cleaning.  The Beast needs to borrow my cords from my computer to fix Tara's computer.  Although her boys are smart enough to erase the history, they have obviously been hitting some porn sites.  It's probably loaded with malware.  I think the Beast plans on wiping the drive clean and reinstalling all the programs.  It's cleaner and faster than trying to remove them all.  But, it should make the computer run a heck of a lot faster than it was.    The boys are young enough to be curious and I'm sure they hit some sites that friends recommended.  They aren't allowed on the computer now unless Tara is home and, to be certain she's around, she takes the power cord with her if she leaves and when she goes to bed.  She should be grateful that all the hard core sites are NOT free.

It poured again today.  Bad enough that we lost our TV and the internet.  Not just once but twice.  It seldom happens that I lose both.  Usually it's just the internet.  It upset the Beast because the back yard is looking scruffy and needs mowing.  I laughed because it seems there's just no satisfying him at times.  At least it dropped the temperature down into the upper 70's from 95 degrees.  That felt wonderful.  There was also a nice breeze afterward.

I let my SIL know he had left and she said he had figured it was going to take him an extra hour or so to get home because he is going to be going through a lot of bad weather.  I guess it's raining and, if he runs into high winds while hauling the trailer, he will have to slow it down or stop for a bit.  If he's like his brother, the Beast, he will just hit the gas and take his chances.    Idiots, both of them.

That's the kind of stuff the Beast does, though, that scares the crap out of me.  I just hate it so I avoid driving with him most of the time.  Sometimes, I can't but I try not to travel with him unless absolutely necessary.  Even going to his aunt's for her 90th birthday, he is going up a day or two before I do.  I will travel with the Princess and Chewlee unless I can get *sick* and avoid going.  I hate to miss family gatherings, however, and I do love a couple of his relatives.  It's just that traveling with the Princess can be almost as scary as the Beast.  But she wants to go up after she gets off work (which would mean getting there around midnight) and driving through those mountains at night can be really terrifying.  There are some BIG dropoffs that you can't see.  But then, maybe that's not such a bad idea.    If you can't see it, they can't be there, right? 

But, it would mean renting a motel room for the night when we got there.  There are a lot of people coming so space will be limited.  I would rather rent a room, actually.  Then, we can spend a couple hours visiting before returning on Sunday since the Princess has to work the next day.  The preschool will be closed so I will have Chewlee on that Monday (Labor Day weekend we are talking about).  I guess AT&T employees don't get it off like normal companies. 

The Beast ate sloppy joe for dinner since the two guys had stopped for a late breakfast about a half hour before getting home.  I was glad because it meant I didn't have to worry about feeding them.  I also didn't have to make dinner.  That's always a treat.  He's now happily watching preseason football on TV (Tampa and Miami).  He can hardly wait for the regular season to start.  I will be glad when it does, too, since it keeps him occupied.

I was right about the Beast being happy about the rain barrel.  He is tickled pink and had to go out and check it.  He says it is almost full.    That kind of shocked me until I realized that, with all the rain we had yesterday, there had to be a hell of a lot of runoff from the roof filtering into it.  In fact, I am surprised it ISN'T full.  To my way of thinking, it should have been but it couldn't have been coming down so fast that there was a lot of splashing going on that didn't make it into the small opening (it has a screen on it which would further restrict it).  But, whatever is in there made him happy.  I would sure be if I had a garden going.  That is great water for the plants.  No chemicals.

I snuck a pot of expresso in this afternoon and found out the Beast was really enjoying it.  He said to me, *It's so nice to drink coffee that doesn't taste old or burnt.*  I just laughed.

We were supposed to get more rain today but it missed us.  At least the weather wasn't as hot as it has been.  It only got up to 84 and, with the weather we have been having, that seemed almost balmy.  They are still predicting rain for tomorrow (Sunday) but who knows?  No one can truly predict the weather so we just have to wait and see.

Nothing else to report.  I'll probably get to try out my earplugs tonight since the Beast and Baron are both back.  Even Baron seems happy to be home.  I guess the BIL's son has four dogs and two of them (black and white cocker spaniels) are nasty.  Took Baron a while to put the four dogs in their place because he's really patient and fairly mild tempered but he is definitely an Alpha dog.  Once he realized what the hell was going on, he set things straight without a real dog fight but not before one of the cockers bit him on his nose and drew blood.  After that, if the dog saw Baron looking at him (must have been a special look), the dog turned tail and ran to hide.  All this without Baron biting HIM.

I think being around all those dogs made the BIL yearn for his home and his two dogs.  The Beast says that, compared to the son's dogs, the BIL's two are great dogs.    Since *I* know the two dogs, I know differently.  But, there's a lot of rivalry between them for the BIL's attention.  And he's such a jerk about handling a dog.  If it weren't for the SIL, those dogs would be totally unruly.  She is the one that can make them mind.

I did find out a few things about the Beast's, however.  I have to keep a better watch on him and his pill taking.  He's been on a cholesterol medication now for three months and his count actually got worse!    I know!  Of course, he wouldn't tell me that.  Since the Beast SWORE to the doctor that he took his medication like he was supposed to take it, the doctor changed the medication.  He figured not all people respond as well to one but might on another.  When I got home, I checked around and found his old meds for it.  He has NOT been taking it.  That pissed me off.  It's bad enough that he's not taking it like he should but to LIE to the doctor about it???  What in the hell is he thinking???

I told the doctor that I really didn't understand how his could be so bad since we pretty much eat the same things.  Then I thought about it and told him, *Well, I don't eat the ice cream, candy and other stuff he snacks on.  And he loves a lot of butter on his popcorn while I eat mine with just salt.*  The doctor laughed.  He even blushed a bit and said, *I guess that's something that men must have on their popcorn.  I'm the same way.*

I got my prescriptions filled and picked up a few odds and ends we needed here plus a bathroom scale.  Now that we have the wood floors, it should be more accurate.  I got a digital one even though I will need to keep a spare 9-volt battery around for it.  I usually keep a couple anyway just for the smoke alarms and the Beast also has one that is for detecting propane gas leaks since we have the fireplace now.  I think that's what it 's for....it might just be a carbon monoxide detector but it nonetheless needs a 9-volt battery in it.

Took me a bit to get the scale calibrated the way they tell you to do but it agreed with my weight at the doctor's office so I guess it's working just fine.  Since I am exercising a couple days a week (in the privacy of my computer room), I want to keep track of my weight.   I have a bit of a gut I am anxious to tone up.  Ever since I put on weight (I was, at one time not that long ago, down to 80 lbs.)    I know...that's how I feel when I look at pictures of me during that time.  I look like death warmed over.  Now, I look hale and healthy but about 15 lbs more than is ideal for me.  Oh, well!

It literally POURED down rain today.  It cooled it off nice, however, so I am really not complaining.  The Beast (if he ever shows up today like he told me) should be very happy at how much rain there is in the rain barrel now.  It was also thundering and lightning so I turned off the AC for a bit, opened up the front and back doors and just enjoyed the fresh, if humid, breeze blowing into the house.  I finally closed it up when the temperature started climbing towards 80 again so it will be nice for sleeping tonight.

I tried reaching the Beast on his cell phone but, I swear to you, I don't know why the man even carries one because he has it shut off.  I know they took the charger with them, including the one for in the car so it isn't to save the batteries.  BIL needed the charger, too and he, at least, keeps in touch with his wife when he is gone.  I swear, I am going to strangle the Beast for more than one reason.  Today, ANOTHER package was delivered for him.  That makes a total of four and he's been gone for what?  Three days?  One I knew was coming because Traditions cheated him out of two parts for his black powder rifle kit.  But there are now THREE here from another sportsman's catalog.  Not a cheap one, either. 

Looks like we will be having more rain tomorrow or so the weatherman and my Weatherbug are telling me.  If the guys show up before this posts after midnight, I will be sure to add a footnote on whether I let them live or not.  I made some sloppy joe and if they don't end up coming home until tomorrow, it will be just as good.  Maybe even better. 

Love you all and I hope you have a great Saturday.  If we get more rain, it will keep the temperature moderated enough to make it more comfortable at least.  I hope you are comfortable wherever you are.  Have fun.  Laugh a little.  Heck, laugh a lot!  It's good for you and those around you.