September 29, 2010

  • Fantastic Day!


    TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

    It was cool when I left the house to take Chewlee to preschool....just 53 degrees.  It was foggy out and Chewlee got a kick out of that.  Because the fog was a light one, it looked like it was moving away from us as we went down the road.  She started telling me to *go faster, Gramma......you are scaring it!*  Cracked me up, especially for so early in the morning.

    I told her that her mommy was going to pick her up from school and she got a big scowl on her face.  She was so serious when she said to me (as she kept pointing her finger on the palm of her left hand), *AFTER school is Gramma's house, not mommy's!*  I just laughed and told her that her mommy and I traded.  I got to keep her for the night and take her to school and mommy picked her up.  She was not really happy about that turn of events but she accepted it.

    When we got to school, Chewlee's teacher asked her if she wanted a waffle and some peaches.  Chewlee just waved her hand and said *No thank you.  I ate a banana.*    I told the teacher that Chewlee has no problem eating when she is hungry and the teacher just shrugged and said, *Well, she'll have a snack later anyway.*

    I did have to turn around and go back home shortly after we left because Chewlee (and I) had forgotten to grab her *ti-ti* and she needs that for her nap.  All the kids bring them in but only a few are so attached to them that they bring them home daily.  Most just bring them home on Fridays.  The Beast laughed when I ran in, grabbed the blanket and turned around after taking a fast drink of my rapidly cooling cup of coffee.  The first one. 

    When I got home, the Beast asked me if I thought having BLT's for lunch sounded good to me and it did.  I pulled out the bacon when it started getting close to the time for lunch and the Beast and I got into a nice routine.  He cooked the bacon while I sliced up the tomatoes, pulled off the lettuce, got the mayonnaise out and toasted the bread.  It's a routine we just kind of fell into since we moved here and it's a pleasant one.  We used paper plates so cleanup was a breeze.  I saved the rest of the tomato to have with our dinner.  We made two small round steaks, nuked sweet potato, corn and, of course, the tomatoes. 

    Before dinner, the Princess came by to drop off her car payment and Chewlee didn't want to leave until I reminded her that daddy would have some *happy cake* since today was his birthday.  The Princess had Bailey, the malamute pup with her and Baron went nuts.  He just wanted to run and play with that little thing.   She's plucky, though, and when Baron got just a bit too frantic or rough with her, she ran under the stairs where he could only put his nose and lick her little face.  Chewlee went nuts, however, because she thought the dogs would fight or that Baron would hurt Bailey.  It took us a while to get her to see that they were playing and Bailey was holding her own.  However, Chewlee finally had enough of Baron and came up on the deck while calling him.  She opened the door and told him, *IN!!!* 

    What she wasn't prepared for was that Bailey headed into the house, too.    The Princess scooped her up and off they went.  We found out today that Johnnycakes had his wallet stolen out of his Jeep and never realized it.  I guess that's what can happen when you aren't used to carrying it in your pocket all the time.  He thought he had just lost his time card from work.  When he realized his wallet was missing, he almost had a heart-attack.  His jewelry store credit card was in his wallet, his drivers license, his social security card and his checks from his bank.  When he started calling, he found out that his jewelry store credit card had been maxed out to the tune of about $3000.  His checking and savings account were wiped out too (he had overdraft protection and that was how the savings account was gone).  He put a special kind of alert on his credit reports so that any attempt to get some sort of loan or other credit cards (with his company time card and his social and drivers license, they have all the info they need).  What really ticked him off was that his checks had his drivers license number written on them by the cashier.  That means that someone presented his license and they didn't notice it wasn't Johnnycakes?  Come on now!

    Don't worry, he got his money back from the bank and the jewelry store is sending him an affidavit to be filled out and returned with a copy of the police report so he won't owe anything except the small balance he still has to pay off on the Princess's engagement ring.  I am kind of looking forward to seeing her wearing it again.....soon. 

    Johnnycakes was really ticked off about the wallet itself.  He's had that wallet since he was very young.  So, today while the Princess was in Huntsville and had a 2-1/2 hour wait until her doctor's appointment, she went to every store she could in one of the big malls there until she finally found an exact duplicate of the wallet.  That was her birthday present to him and he was ecstatic!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOHNNYCAKES!!!  LOVE YA!!

    As we were getting ready for dinner, one side of the silverware drawer slide broke so the Beast waited until we finished eating and then went in to fix it.  He loves that stuff even though he gripes about it.  He, like most men, love to feel needed and useful.  We had no sooner finished that repair (I held the light ) when Tara showed up with KV, the oldest boy living with her.  She and KV had worked on getting her lawnmower repaired and, even though it was sparking and had fresh oil and gas in it, it wouldn't turn over.  KV also needed something done on his computer.  So, off went the Beast to work on the lawnmower and got it working.  I think.  Otherwise, I think Tara would have said something since we talked about family and always having a support system to help you out.

    The Beast and KV worked on his laptop and got that fixed and Tara and I had some time to just talk about *things*.  It was nice and I found out that KL, the oldest son, has also done the delayed enlistment into the Marines like my grandson, Doc.  He, too, is doing the same kind of physical training program that Doc has been subjected to the past few months.  The difference is, KL is going to boot camp this January because he's already graduated.  Doc won't graduate until June, 2011 and will go to boot camp in October of that year, I believe.  KL will be doing something with computers.  I really don't know what Doc is going into just yet.  I'm not even sure if HE knows. 

    Just sitting here in my computer room (I was making cigarettes while we talked), was fun since Tara usually is so hyper and is in and gone again most times.  This time she was much calmer.  I DID find out that Tonto now has a job, his health has improved that much but he will still have to have periodic testing.  He is living with his boss's brother in a nice 3-bedroom trailer on a big lot.  He takes Chance there on weekend, I believe and has a crib set up for him in his room.  He's even paying Tara for support for his son and all this is done without a court order.

    The nice part is that she gets to spend some good time with the other two sons living with her.  She's gotten a bit stricter with them about such things as homework and chores around the house.  KE, the middle child living with Tara, has been having some anger issues so Tara got him into a teenage Anger Management program to get him out of that bad habit.  We all know where that can lead if he didn't get some sort of help.  I've often said that my life (and the life of my children) would have been much better if the Beast had gotten some sort of help when he was younger.  I'm speaking about PRE-stroke now.  POST-stroke, he's had fewer of those episodes than he probably had before he was 10.

    The Beast was a happy camper.  He was needed, he was kept busy most of the day and the weather was just marvelous.  The hottest it got was 72 and tonight we will get down into the 40's.  That will be wonderful sleeping weather with us under nice warm blankets.  We've got our windows open for the fresh air and look forward to another day or two of this.  We WILL get warmer (the lower 80's) but that's much better than the high 90's and triple digit weather we have been having the past few months.

    Love you all.  I have to get this posted while Xanga is still up.  It was down for several hours today and I don't think it was for maintenance.  I wish you a wonderful *Hump Day* and hope you get to laugh for your health.  It IS good for you, ya know!