Today the Beast got a picture from a couple of old friends that we once hung around with in high school.  At first, we thought it was just from the gal, who looked older but was still very recognizable.  We assumed that one of the guys in the picture was her current boyfriend (yes, older people date, too) and the other was a friend.  Imagine our shock when we read her note and found out it was her brother!    I could have been knocked over with a feather. 

The Beast was cracking up because the brother was NOT easily recognizable.  He just looked OLD!  The Beast kept laughing but, as I looked it over, I was thinking that the Beast looked an awful lot like the brother.  I didn't dare say so because it would have set the tone (and a bad one) for the day.  The Beast does NOT really accept how old he looks to others.  I have no idea what mirror he is using these days but he keeps it well hidden.  I would sure love to have that *magic mirror*. 

The Beast started making cracks like, *Can you imagine looking that old and being short, too?*  I said to him, *Short people don't lose as much height as they age.  You two could end up the same height.*  With that, I ducked into my computer room because I knew it wouldn't strike him as funny as it did me.

I thought about it and realized why neither the Beast nor I want to go to any of our high school reunions from the town where we lived.  Those are all people that we haven't seen in years and, since we drifted away from them because we actually had little in common, we hadn't even wanted to see them.  Most of the fun we had together was not the kind that you can relive over-and-over without being annoying.  We were just kids, we had fun, we grew up and no longer had any shared interests. 

Now that we were older and weathered and wrinkled, we preferred not to be subjected to the exclamations of *Wow!  Have YOU changed!*  *OMG, you look so old!*  *You used to be so....(thin, sexy, hot, cool, etc.etc....insert appropriate word)* 

I KNOW I am older.  I KNOW I am heavier.  I KNOW I have wrinkles now.  I KNOW I am not as attractive as I was.  I KNOW how much I have changed over the years.  Cripes, I've gone through hell and high water in my lifetime.  OF COURSE I am battle-scarred.  Why would I even WANT to subject myself to that kind of rhetoric and pay for the privilege?  No thanks!

And that's all I am going to say on THAT subject.  So there!

I picked up Chewlee from school and she was her normal, happy self.  Also very proud of herself because she said she had gone pee and poop in the *big potty* all day long.  So, what's the first thing she does when she gets here?  She pees in her pullups.  <<banging head on keyboard>>  I told her she was NOT going to get her *big girl panties* until she did BOTH...ALL THE TIME....in the big potty.  Her mother told her the same thing.  She just kept saying, *I'm sorry!* but she didn't LOOK like she really was.    Only time will tell.  At least she now loves to poop in the potty and that means no more smelly diapers or pullups.  **Insert happy face here**

I flirted with the idea of making a meat loaf today but then decided to be lazy and make the split pea soup.  I'm glad I did because it really hits the spot on this cold day.  Our high was 73 but it seemed brief and not all that warm due to the cold breeze.  When we ate our soup, the temperature had dropped to 63 and it hit the spot.  The Beast, ever the one to not miss a cue, didn't start his bread on time so it wasn't ready for us.  It would have been nice to have fresh, hot, homemade bread with our soup.  Instead, it won't be ready for another hour or so.  I saved some room so I will have a cup of soup with mine when it IS ready.

It was cold again today, as usual, when the Beast got up this morning.  But he opened up the house anyway.  I think he was trying to wake me up but, since I hadn't gotten to sleep until some time around 3:30am or so, I slept in.  He forgets I can stay nice and warm under the blankets on our bed. 

It did get up to a high of 74 and that was totally acceptable.  The breeze was cool but I put on a nice outfit of some kind of brushed knit with long sleeves.  It kept me nice and comfortable, even when I went to pick up Chewlee.  She was wearing a cute hair bow that the Princess told me she had made.  Even Chewlee knew that.  I took it out of her hair since it was half undone and I didn't want to take the chance of losing it.  She wanted to hold it so I was driving and trying to also keep an eye on her to make sure she didn't tug on any of the ribbons or pull the center button off.  I yelled at her once not to tug on the ribbons and she turned an innocent looking face towards me while she moved her fingers and said, *I'm not pulling on it, Gramma....I'm PRESSING it!*  She was then pressing down on the center button.  As if I hadn't seen her!  When she realized I was watching her, she tossed it into my lap and played with this Cinderella figurine she had purloined from the school.  But, since she seems to bring it back and forth, I guess they allow some of that (or expect it) at the school.  She left it here when she went home so I will return it on Wednesday when I pick her up next.  The Princess has tomorrow/today (Tuesday) off so she picks up Chewlee.

When we got back here to the house, Chewlee handed me a Care Bear DVD that the Beast had found in the car to put in the TV.  She then pulled her Dora chair next to mine, along with the cardboard box that is her *table*.  She then told me she needed some salad.  NEEDED, mind you!  She saw the halfway amused look I know was on my face and then said, sweetly...*Please??*

I got her salad while she was watching Care Bears and even put a bit more than usual since she has been in this *sharing* mood for a while now.  She had a surprise for me today, however.  When I went to grab the fork so I could have a bit of salad, she pulled it away from me and over to her side (the one opposite where I was) and said to me in no uncertain terms....*Get your own snack!*

I said to her, *What?  No sharing today?*  She looked at me. as she prepared to eat some more salad and said, *Not today.*  I can't help it...she just cracks me up at times.  We bantered back and forth for a while and, I swear, she ate every bit of that salad to make sure I didn't get any of HERS.  She was so proud to show me she had eaten it all up.

So far, so good on her potty training.  She's having fewer accidents these days and she's so proud of herself.  Heck, we ALL are.  I was beginning to wonder if she was going to be one of those kids that wet their beds into their teens.  Only kidding.  She just gets too *busy* (her words) to take the time...sometimes.  We keep letting her know that we are proud of her and I gather (from Chewlee) that the teachers are all doing the same thing.  Once they are sure she is fully trained and won't be having *accidents*, she will be able to advance to another class where the kids are in a more structured learning situation (with lots of fun, too).  Since she is so bright, one teacher told me that she would have been put in there already if it weren't for that problem.   I've seen the class and there's a wide variety of ages in that class.  Some kids that are young, like Chewlee, and some that will be hitting kindergarten next school year, having missed the cutoff date this year.

The Beast is now done with the two projects he wanted done before he even THOUGHT about making the trip to Florida (my spice shelves and the gun display for the flintlock rifle).  However, our car has been caught up in a recall by Toyota and needs some electronic part replaced due to faulty (cheap) soldering at key points.  So, until the dealer gets in those replacement parts from Toyota, the Beast has an excuse not to prepare for the trip.  I know he actually hates to make it but he both wants the additional income (since he promised he would make up the cost of the scooter he bought) and he has this loyalty to his old customers.  Until this one particular one retires, he will always feel that tug if she needs his expertise.  She trusts him above all others to be honest with her, even if he disagrees with her on some major point.  I told him, *YOU created that monster so she is your problem now.* 

So, hopefully, the car will be taken care of some time this week.  The dealer here locally expected to get the parts delivered by now but, as he told us, the recall notice DID say the parts would be available at the end of the month at all the dealers.  He was going to call since he has us and a few others waiting.  By call, I mean he was calling Toyota about the part delivery.  So, cross your fingers for me.  The sooner the parts are here, the sooner the Beast will make the trip and be gone for probably 9-10 days.  *Grin*

We are truly spoiled these days.  Back when I was a kid, I used to help my mother wash clothes in first a cast iron tub and using a wash board (remember those?).  Kids nowadays see them hanging as decorations in some restaurants and wonder what they are.  But, I sure remember them.  When we finally got a real bathroom with a tub in it, that tub became where we did the wash.  In some ways, it was nice because we could fit more clothes in it at one time.  When you have seven kids, you have a LOT of wash.  Especially the diapers.  Oh lord, I remember the diapers.  Phew!  The strong smell of ammonia and scrubbing to make sure they got nice and white.  It was a matter of pride that the diapers we hung out were nice and white.  Trust me, we went through a LOT of bleach on wash day.

When we were finally able to afford a washer, it was the ringer type.  I can't even begin to tell you how many times I got my fingers and/or hand caught in those ringers.  But that was actually BEFORE we got a bathroom in the house.  We had to give up our pantry, which was really large, but we gave it up gladly.  Once the landlord brought in the gas lines to the building, a lot of things changed.  We got a gas heater and a gas hot water heater.  OMG!  We could take a bath without having to heat up pots and pots of water.  WE got a GAS stove!    No more hauling up buckets of wood (and then coal) from the basement to the second floor.  We also got a real refrigerator around the same time.  No more running down when the ice man came through the alley to pay him to bring us up one of those huge ice blocks.  No more emptying the drain pans before it ran over onto the floor.

When we got a gas dryer, we thought we had died and gone to heaven.  No more hanging out clothes in all types of weather.  Our clothes and linens, especially towels and blankets were so soft, we could hardly believe it.  The diapers were softer and seemed to be more absorbent, too.  All the baby's clothes were so nice and soft.  Later on, when we got an automatic washer, then life became truly wonderful.  It took so much less effort to do EVERYTHING...or so it seemed.  As the oldest child, I was usually charged with doing much of the housework, laundry and dishes.  It was so much simpler to wash dishes for nine people without having to clean it up while I was heating water.  If I had pots and pans to scrub, it was nice to be able to empty the sink and refill it with fresh, hot water and dish soap to make it easier.  Life was good.  It's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?

Today, we don't even have to wash dishes (or dry them) by hand.  For the most part, everyone has a dishwasher.  We take hot water when we want it as a matter of fact.  It's there when we want a bath or a shower.  We can be *washing* our dishes and our clothes while we sit in a hot tub of water as our right.  Our kids have no idea what a cold water flat was.  They have always known microwaves, dishwashers, washers and dryers, refrigerators that just plug into an electric outlet, multiple bathrooms in the same house.  They have never known NOT having central heat or air conditioning. 

When I was a kid, air conditioning was having a fan in your window to help blow the sweat off you (which had a cooling effect and we appreciated it).  When I was small (before I turned 5), we lived in an apartment building where you shared a bathroom with the other apartments on your floor.  I remember standing in a cold hallway in my jammies needing to pee when someone was in the bathroom, taking a dump that you could smell clear into the hallway and then running upstairs to see if THAT bathroom might be empty before I peed my pants.  I don't remember having *an accident* but I'm sure I must have a time or two.  It was NOT fun.

But even *I*....after knowing how much things have changed over the years (and, trust me, I am grateful I don't have to use a washboard any more)....have come to dislike wash days.  I really and truly hate being at the beck and call of a dryer on a day when I am not feeling all that ambitious.  Or, worse, when my back is just KILLING me and I don't really want to take a pain pill because it knocks me out.  Since I don't use them every day, I haven't developed a tolerance for them so that I don't get tired and sleepy.  Today was that kind of day.  My back was killing me after I was on my feet for a half hour or so while preparing a casserole for dinner.  If you add the bending over to grab the folding stuff out of the basket to the equation, my back was just screaming after a while.

I DO have a clothesline (umbrella-type) out in my backyard, mostly because I love hanging my linens out on a nice, sunny, windy day.  I do not hang out my towels and things like underwear, t-shirts and towels out because I like those to be nice and soft.  I've also found that socks, underwear and t-shirts seem to stretch out when I hang them on the clothes line. Even if I am careful about how I hang them.  It really ticks me off. 

The Princess dropped off Chewlee around 9:20am or so.  After Chewlee ran into my bedroom and found I wasn't in there, she ran right to my computer room to give me a hug and show me she was wearing her pink patent leather shoes.  She told me, *These are my dancing shoes!*

I was kind of shocked because she had no socks on and the weather was cold.  Later on, the Princess told me that Chewlee had woken up around 6am and come into her bedroom and wanted to get into bed with her.  When her mother told her she could but she had to take off the shoes (which she had apparentlyput on as soon as she woke up).  Chewlee turned around, kind of dejected and said, *I'm going to MY bed.*  I guess she didn't want to take off the shoes.

When the Princess finally got up and was trying to dress Chewlee to bring her over here, Chewlee refused to take off the shoes so the Princess left them off, knowing that I had socks over here if she needed them.  Chewlee TRIED to give me a hard time when I made her put socks on her feet but finally gave in.  As soon as I had the socks on her, she grabbed up the shoes and put them back on.

Now just WHY she started calling them her dancing shoes, none of us have any idea.  The only thing we can come up with is that one of her teachers at preschool might have asked her if those pretty shoes were her *dancing shoes*.  It would be like Chewlee to have that idea appeal to her (she does like to dance to the music on some of her shows she watches).  Since she only came up with that the last couple of days, it makes the most sense that it came from one of the teachers.

Chewlee loves the idea that I made her up a little table using a cardboard box that is just the perfect size for her when she sits in her Dora chair.  I cover it with a small towel and she calls that her table cover.    She will sit in the chair, pulled right up next to my computer chair (only pointed towards the TV) and sit there with her snacks next to her feeling quite grownup.  She also loves to eat her salad there.  She insists on a fork but then uses her fingers and a napkin.  The fork?  She uses that to feed ME some of the salad. 

Today she suddenly got up and left the room, which is a no-no until she finishes her salad.  When I yelled for her to come back, she came to the door and told me, in a very serious voice, *I'm talking to Papa*.  She then shut the door and back she went.  When I asked her what she was talking to Papa about, she told me, *Nothing.*  Huh?  She then plopped back into her chair and finished eating her salad.  I guess she told me!  The Beast said she wanted to know if HE had any pictures of Chewlee on his computer.  She KNOWS that *I* do.  Why it suddenly occurred to her to ask, I have no idea.

Later on, when the Princess came to pick her up after work, Chewlee refused to leave until I turned off her program.  She stood at the doorway waiting for me to put one of MY programs on.  I guess I'm not allowed to watch HER programs unless she is here! 

Good news in the potty department.  She used it almost the whole day.  The only time she didn't was when she was out in the yard running around with Baron and picking some flowers growing on the other side of the chain link fence at the back of the yard.  Her hand is the perfect size to be able to fit in the holes and grab a handful.  I told her how disappointed I was that she didn't come back into the house to use the potty and she looked at me with this big eyes look and said, *But, Gramma....I pooped in the potty for you!*  I guess she figured a little pee in the pullups was better than poop.  And, of course, I was willing to forgive her that small lapse.

Okay, so maybe you are tired of me talking about Chewlee but it can be such a treat to see the world through the eyes of a 3-year-old who is very bright and has her own way of looking at the world.  If you are tired of it, just go on to the next blog you read.  It won't hurt my feelings. 

Since the *sky wasn't busy* again today, Chewlee decided that the clouds blew away.  But she reassured me that they would be back...wait and see!  She was just happy to be sitting there, chewing her gum.  The people there know she only gets it on Friday (at least when *I* pick her up) so they had one put aside for her.  She has the cutest, most exuberant way of telling them *Thank you* when it's handed to her.

They had a trick hand bowl there today and when the kids went to grab their treat out of it, the hand came down and grabbed them.  One little boy jumped about 3 feet off the ground and clutched his hands to his chest.  He wouldn't go hear it so I grabbed the treat he wanted for him and he gave me a meek *Thank you* while his father laughed and so did most of the people gathered in the foyer.  It made Chewlee laugh and she started taking different treats out of it and handing it around to the kids.  Every time the hand came down, she just laughed.

The school has a circular drive that we pull in on one end and kind of parallel park along it.  When I got ready to pull out to get past the others ahead of me, the guy just in front of me decided to pull out.  I slammed on the brakes, which made Chewlee bend forward suddenly and all I heard out of her was, *Oh s**t!*  I looked over at her and said, *Chewlee, that is a mommy/daddy/gramma or papa word.  It is NOT a word for little girls to say.  Do you understand?*  She looked at me, very seriously, and said, *But it is the RIGHT word!*  With that, she folded her arms and just looked at me.  I told her, *When you are big enough to drive, you can pick what words you say.  But now, while you are still little, it is NOT a word YOU can use.  Okay?*  She unfolded her arms and said, *Okay.*  Just like that. 

I think all kids *try out* words they hear said under whatever circumstances.  It's the reason I shut the bedroom door when the Beast is swearing at the people he's playing Hearts online with are particularly bad.  I would just die if she repeated ANY of the words HE uses.  *I* don't even use them.  Heck, I have a tough time even typing them out when trying to tell Bratfink some of the stuff he says.    I admit I swear a bit but the words are rather tame.  I will say s**t, damn or dammit, son of a bi*ch and that's pretty much it.  However, I try very hard not to use ANY of them when Chewlee is around.  She is just much too *aware* all the time and I know it would be disasterous.

Today, on the drive back home, Chewlee announced, *My mommy is missing me.  We should go get her.*  I told her that Mommy was working and she would come to get Chewlee when work was over.  She just said, *I know.*  When we got here, she ran over to the Morning Glory vine that I haven't yanked out yet (it's an insidious damn plant and will take over any area it shows up in) to pick a big leaf off it because it's shaped somewhat like a heart...for her Mommy.  However, when the Princess showed up here, Chewlee told her to *stay there* (she was in my computer room) and said, *I'll be right back.  You wait*  She then went and got her mother, not the leaf but three candy corns out of Papa's stash.  She then presented ONE of them to her mother (you know she was hoping to keep the others) but her mother was wise to her and took all three of the candy corns out of her hand.  Chewlee tried to bargain by saying she needed to give me one but she tried to eat it instead.  Her mother told her, *No...you don't get candy until after dinner.*  She then ran to my purse, thinking she was going to grab one of the Dum-Dum suckers I keep in my front pocket but her mother grabbed her hand and said, *Oh no!  No suckers either.*

On the way out, her mother told her that IF she was good, she might be able to come and see me tomorrow.  Yeah, right.  Wait until Chewlee is old enough to realize she comes here almost every single Saturday because there's no school and her mother usually has to work. 

For some reason, Chewlee decided she needed to inspect the closet in here today.  First she opened the door and looked inside.  I told her she was NOT allowed in there because that was all MY things.  She then turned on the light and explained she just needed to SEE my things but she wouldn't touch them.  They always try to bargain, don't they?  She opened the door and stepped inside and pointed out the clothes I had hanging there.  She turned to me and said, *Are these all yours?*  I nodded yes and just kept my eyes on her.  She started to close the door and I told her, *No!  Chewlee, I told you that you can't go in there.  You do NOT touch anything.*  She opened the door a bit and said, *I am NOT touching anything.* 

She then proceeded to close the door again (a bit difficult since there's nothing to grab on the inside of the door).  When I said, *Chewlee!*  She opened the door a bit and said, *I am busy but I'll be out in a minute*.   When I started to get up, she opened the door and tried to distract me by saying, *Look, Gramma...Dora is on TV.  You watch Dora! and she kept pointing to the TV.*  I laughed and told her, *I'm watching YOU, not Dora.*  Ever the stinker, she closed the door as much as she could and before I could get out of my chair, she came out of the closet with a handful of some spare rags I had folded and put aside in there.  She said, happily, *Look Gramma...I got rags for you!* and she dumped them in my lap, then closed the door and turned off the light.  She was happy because she *touched* something when I told her she couldn't and got away with it.  I had forgotten about the rags I had in there so I just told her, *Don't you do that again without asking me if it's okay.*  That's when she came over, put her hand on my leg and said, very seriously, *I only gave them to you because all your rags are gone, Gramma*. 

I usually keep several under my desk on this one particular shelf and she had used the last one to hold some ice she wanted.  That's how she knew I was out of rags in here.  The little stinker is always aware of everything.  She knows I would be putting more in place since I washed them the other day and just hadn't folded them yet.  I get lazy, too, ya know! 

More cold weather today.  Like I said, no real fall weather like normal.  We are headed quickly into winter.  My feet got so cold on the wood floors yesterday, I had to go and get some warm socks on my feet.  I could have put my fluffy slippers on but they really would have been TOO warm since they fit up to my ankles.  Last night, it was my toes that were mostly cold.  The socks worked just fine.

Out of the mouth of babes!  That's what Chewlee said to me on our way back to the Brat Farm when I picked her up from preschool.  When I looked at the sky, I realized what she meant and I said, *Oh, you mean there are no clouds?*  She smiled and said, *The clouds are sleeping now*.  I really wouldn't have noticed the total lack of clouds since I don't spend much time observing the sky unless it looks like a storm is coming or the sky is a greenish-gray.  Then I'm not noticing much in the way of clouds unless it looks like one of the ones that spawn tornadoes.

But Chewlee noticed right away.  It's actually unusual for us not to have any clouds at all in the sky but that shows you how dry it's been here lately.  You can't have clouds without moisture and our humidity has been low and getting lower every day.  We are now in a severe fire warning/watch...whatever they call it.  When the humidity gets this low, it's extremely dangerous here for fires.  Of course, all you have to do is look around you and you can tell the ground is very dry.  I wouldn't dare throw a cigarette out the window of the car.  I'd be too terrified of starting a fire.

Chewlee then proceeded to tell me the clouds were *sleeping* for a while but they would be back.  Wait and see. 

She looked so cute today that even the Beast noticed and told her so.  The Princess had brushed and blown her hair dry so it was nice and smooth because today was picture day at school.  I know why she did that.  Chewlee's hair stays a bit neater than if she lets it air dry and get it's natural curl in it.  I'm going to be anxious to see how her pictures turn out when the Princess gets them back.  Chewlee will be happy that her picture will be included in the picture on the wall at the entry that has all the kids on it.  She will want to be held up so she can see herself when it gets changed.  I'm glad they are alphabetical because she's not a lightweight now and I'm not all that strong, either.

I made us some pork chops, country gravy and biscuits for dinner, along with a salad.  Chewlee pigged out on salad then asked for a hot dog.    She likes them sans a bun so I just fold a paper towel up small so she can hold it, neatly, in her hand.  But, as soon as I started cutting up my pork chop, she dropped the hot dog on the table and told me I needed to *share* with her.  So she and I shared my pork chop and the dog got the rest of the hot dog which made HIM happy.

She actually ended up eating more than half my pork chop.  She DID try to snag one of my pieces when she had one in hand and another in reserve.  Little piggy...  Then and only then would Papa let her have some of his candy corn.   Just as she was eating them, Johnnycakes came to pick her up and I couldn't believe how the little stinker yelled, *Bye* and ran out the door.  Johnnycakes was still in the house, waiting while I gave him Chewlee's tee-tee and there she was, outside, standing by his Jeep.  Too funny.  She never even got one popsicle today. 

She had to make sure I was picking her up from school tomorrow because it's candy day there and all the kids get to pick a piece of candy out of this bowl as they leave.  Chewlee looks for a bubble gum and, as I told them at the school, it's the only time she gets to chew some.  Her mother wouldn't let her have any because of past problems with it but I've been meaning to tell her how good Chewlee is when she gets it.  She spits it out after the flavor is gone and makes sure I know it most of the time.  Sometimes she will say to me, *Give me your hand* and then spit it out into my hand.  That way, I know she doesn't still have it.  I haven't had a single time when she's tried to keep it longer than it has flavor in it.  At least she knows that tomorrow, she will get her bubble gum.

Our high here today was a whopping 70 degrees and it's going down into the 40's again tonight.  Brrrr!  Like I said, we are going to head rapidly into winter with not much of a fall at all.  It's downhill after this little break of decent weather.  Oh well.  C'est la vie! 

Love you all and I wish you a wonderful day.  Last work day of the week for most people.  Relax after work tonight and have a drink for me!  Oh, and here's a piece of trivia for you all.  This month there are five Fridays, five Saturdays and five Sundays.  It's something that only happens once every 823 years.    Imagine that!  And here we are living it! 

I'm sure I'm not the only one that got hooked on watching the miners who have been trapped in the copper mine in Chile being rescued.  How amazing a story has that been?  What a fantastic tale of cooperation and innovation among more nations for the rescue of those 31 men than we have ever seen before.  I was really impressed.

I especially had to admire the President of Chile, Sebastian Pinera, who went out on a limb and did not stop efforts to attempt to locate the trapped men and then made the statement that the men WOULD be rescued.  Many nations offered help and expertise to assist and he was wise enough not to play the politics card.  His focus was in keeping his pledge and doing everything in his power to do whatever was necessary. 

How great that a small American company had just developed a drill that was specifically made to drill through the kind of rock they were faced with.  The more stories I heard, the more amazed and impressed I was with everyone there.  I didn't watch the first two men being brought up but I then turned to the news and watched it...I watched it until 5:30am and went to bed bleary-eyed and fuzzy brained.  I was glad I had taken a 3 hour nap earlier in the evening because I was up at 9:30am and immediately turned on the TV.  When I had to pick up Chewlee from school and run to Walmart to pick up a few things, I had to go past the televisions at least twice to keep track of what was going on.  When they finally brought up the last of the miners this evening (and well ahead of schedule!), I felt just a rush of joy for those men and their families.  It was such a happy, positive occasion.

I did, however, wonder if they had forgotten the six volunteers that had gone down to the miners and assisted them getting hooked up and ready for the trip up into the world.  Suddenly, it seemed like everyone was gone.....but they did come back to bring those men up a short time later. 

Now I feel, like many others, a bit of a letdown that it's all over.  Weird, isn't it? 

Chewlee was mellow again today.  When I picked her up from school and told her we were going to Walmart, she looked at me and said, *I told you we were going to Walmart, didn't I!?*  In truth, she had told me yesterday that we would go today.  Since I didn't know I was going until around 3pm, I found that a bit disconcerting but I gave her the points for that one.  After that, the little stinker kept saying, *I told you we were going to Walmart.  Yep, I knew it.*

The Princess is dressing Chewlee in layers of clothing.  Today it was a long top, a puff skirt and leggings.  She looked adorable, as usual, and definitely very mod.  It was a very *now* look for her and she kept looking at herself in the big mirror when we got home from the store.

I picked up a couple of belts for her that her mother wanted.  She has no idea what happened to the belts she bought Chewlee earlier this year.  I picked up a pink one and a black one.  They look like they are braided and should be easy for Chewlee to take on and off when she goes potty while she has pants on that need one.  If I were the Princess, I would avoid belts until Chewlee is WELL-versed in the potty training department.  Most kids have a tough time just pulling down their pants before needing to be ON the toilet.  Unfastening a belt can be intimidating, let alone fastening it afterward.

Johnnycakes and the Princess went grocery shopping after the Princess got off work so Chewlee was watching TV sitting in my lap.  I was watching the rescue (of course) and Chewlee asked me what was going on.  I tried to tell her that the men had been trapped deep down in a hole in the ground for a long time and they were finally getting to get out and go home.  She just looked at me, shrugged her shoulders and said, *Why didn't they open the door?  Didn't they know how?*  When I laughed, she got mad and told me not to laugh.  I hadn't meant to hurt her feelings but, to her, it was a real question.  I told her I didn't mean to laugh but their *door* had a lot of rocks in front of it so they couldn't get out that way.  They had to wait for someone to dig another hole for them to get out.  That satisfied her and she thought that made sense, I guess, because she just turned around and went back to watching TV with me.

I am going to bed early tonight so I will get this posted for you to read on Thursday.  Love you all and I hope you have a great day.  Our weather is slowly but surely cooling down on us.  The Beast is working on something for his cousin in Florida because he wants to be able to drop it off on his way down or back so he won't have to ship it.  I think it's actually for displaying an old rifle that's been in the family for a while.  He'll never use it and I doubt he's even fired it himself but it will look nice on his wall and be something else he can exaggerate some story or other about.

Today is the day Bratfink sees the OB/GYN aka doctor who can perform surgery for her cervical cancer.  I am hoping that she gets a quick surgical date and that it has not spread beyond the cervix.  Please say a few prayers for her.  We love her.  Say a prayer for the Boy, too.  He's lost a mother to cancer and is worried beyond belief about our Brat.

I was always told you couldn't *pay back* sleep you lost even with sleeping in on the weekends.  Then, I read an article yesterday that says there IS a way to pay it back and that's with small additions at a time of 15-30 minutes at a time.  Naps don't count (but I don't believe that for a minute!  LOL).  However, it tells you to *listen to your body*.  Yeah, like you can be sure of what it's telling you.  My naps happen to be me *listening to my body* because it says GET YOUR BUTT TO SLEEP!    If I didn't, I would probably fall over in a dead faint at some point.

I guess today was part of that *payback* because when I first woke up, early this morning, I took a look around and it was kind of dismal outside.  I actually thought it was just before the sun would finally come up....you know, the twilight kind of morning.  So, I rolled over and went back to sleep.  I didn't wake up until (gasp)   1:30pm!  I know!  I was stunned.  The Beast said he let me sleep because he figured I might need it (and, of course, I did).  What I wonder now is......does this count as payback for my lost sleep this past week or so or not?  I didn't do it in the short increments the article said would work but kind of in a lump sum. 

It took me about an hour to fully wake up.  Mostly because all we had for a morning wake-up drink was tea....or so we thought.  I can be so dumb at times.  I had actually forgotten that when I saw we were getting kind of on the short side of our coffee, I actually put some away in the cabinet for the day or two before we get our SS $$ deposited.  Unlike the Beast, I don't want to keep pulling money out of savings to fund even the necessities of life.  I am not in the habit of buying stuff we don't need and could live without.

So, anyway, I took my shower and dressed after I took care of a few daily things I do on Pogo (I just love Trivial Pursuit Daily on it...*grin*).  I knew the day would go quickly since I started it so late in the day.  My Chewlee was happy when I came for her and I found out from the teacher that she had had a fantastic day.  Not just her attitude but also her toilet habits!  For that she got chocolate milk from Grandma (and two popsicles)   Her mother was so happy she gave her a choice of treats and Chewlee picked gummy bears (wouldn't you?)  I checked her out before she left and found out she had pee'd and never said anything and her mommy told her that a BIG girl goes potty in the bathroom ALL the time.  Not just at school or when she feels like it.  So, she promised her mommy she would be a *big girl* all the time from now on.  Boy, that would be wonderful because then she could advance to the Quick Start program (or whatever it's called).  She's already got so much of that stuff down pat but it would be fantastic for her to start kindergarten well ahead of the game.  I think she pretty much would now but she should be challenged just because she IS so bright.  Been there.... 

Usually, right after Chewlee leaves, I need to take a nap but today she was very mellow.  She spent a lot of time in my lap while we watched her programs together (Dora, Diego).  I like those programs because they teach the kids so much and make it fun at the same time.  Chewlee will count along or repeat the words in Spanish.  She thinks it's funny when I do the same thing but I like to encourage her.  This is the time in her life when she is a sponge.  I'm thinking of doing my *Learn to speak Spanish* cd's on Saturday when she's here.  She'll probably pick it up faster than I will even though I took two years of Spanish in high school and learned quite a bit of it when we lived in San Diego.  But, when you don't use it all the time, it tends to fade away and you end up trying to grasp bits and pieces out of your memory later on.

As she was sitting in my lap, I was just running my hands down her hair that was hanging down her back and it suddenly occurred to me that her hair was all the way down to her waist now.    I knew it was close but it was a bit of a shock since it wasn't all that long ago her mother had it trimmed.  The Princess said she can't use baby shampoo on her any more because it makes her hair nappy and ultra curly.  She has to use a regular shampoo AND a creme rinse on it now.  I told her I have always used both on her when she's here and I bathe her because it was the only way to make sure it didn't tangle on her.  But now it's taking over two hours for it to air dry and that shocked the Princess.  She had to blow it dry this morning before she could take her to school because her hair was still too wet to take her out in the cool morning air.

Chewlee looked so cute when I picked her up because she was dressed in the purple leggings I bought for her and an adorable purple print smock top with plain purple long sleeves in them.  Her mother had put a big purple bow on top of her hair to use to keep the hair from falling over her face and the whole thing was just adorable.  Chewlee knew it, too.  I think everyone must have complimented her on it today.    She can be so vain at times but on her it's cute.  At least, for now.