Remind me (if I should forget) to never again tempt the gods of winter by making fun of them.  I also resolve to never again make fun of the Weatherbug's nor the weatherman's predictions because OMG!!!  It can up and slap you across your face like a glove challenging you to a duel.  It has been YEARS...and I mean that literally....since I saw this much snow ANYWHERE.  Poor Alabama is now snow-challenged in the worst possible way.  They had to declare a state of emergency in many of our counties because the roads were treacherous and impassible in most areas.   Here in Marshall County where we live (by *we*, I mean the Beast and I, the Princess, Johnnycakes, Chewlee and Tara and family), they closed ALL roads to everything except emergency vehicles or emergency traffic. 

It didn't start snowing until around 9pm Sunday night.  Then it came down in whiteout quantity.  We got 1 to 1-1/2 inches per hour in most areas.  Some it was even heavier than that.  It had been years since I saw snow that was coming down so heavy that it almost looked like a heavy fog.  We even had what is called *snow lightning* and *snow thunder*.  I don't ever remember seeing or hearing that....EVER!  By the time it stopped snowing here in our immediate area, we had almost SEVEN INCHES OF SNOW ON THE GROUND! 

We managed to keep our internet AND our satellite TV (that I am sure of) until I finally gave it up and went to bed.  The internet was lost for a bit this morning after we started getting the fine mist of snow (not quite rain) but the Beast went out and managed to dislodge the snow from the dish.  He wasn't as lucky later on when we lost our TV.  It was too dangerous for him to get up on the roof.  Even with the extension ladder and a broom, he couldn't reach it.  He finally (oh, and I know how stupid this sounds) took a pail of warm water up and threw it over the dish and we got TV back.    I knew he wouldn't be able to stand going without his news.  Even though he reads it online twice a day, he still has to have his Fox news on TV even if he's in another room.  He listens to that almost all day long.  I'm happy I have my own TV in my computer room.  If it's a bad day for reception or just bad programs, I am happy throwing in a DVD.

The Beast was worried about the Princess driving to school tomorrow but I had already seen where it was going to be closed for another day.  He said this area is just not equipped for heavy snow and even ezperienced drivers (in deep snow) were having problems.  He was actually going to drive her to school and pick her up if it was open.  However, they haven't even completed clearing the main drags here and I don't think our car would actually make it down the back road he would have to travel.  Secondary roads may not even get cleared since the equipment the county has is borrowed or rented, I think.  I know they haven't invested in any because they haven't had a storm close to this one since the '80's.   When you usually only get to look at a dusting of snow and watch it melt when the sun comes out, why would you need it?

I wanted to take pictures to show you what I mean by snow for us only my battery was dead, dead, dead.  I didn't think about it until Bratfink asked me about it so it was late afternoon by the time I plugged it in to charge up.  When it was finally charged up, it was dark out.  I'll take some in the morning.  Nothing melted, trust me. 

Poor Baron really, really had to go out to pee this morning.  You could see the shock on his face when he walked onto the deck.  He started to back into the house except I think cold affects dogs the same way it does a person when they really have to go.  He went down the stairs so carefully because he was mystified by so much white stuff and he couldn't SEE the stairs at all.  Then, as he trotted around the yard looking for that perfect place, he was totally shocked when he was in snow up to his *elbows* in spots.  I told the Beast to note those spots because they obviously need leveling. 

We finally had the new neighbors move in.  I only know that because the male of the household was out walking his two dogs today and they were also new to us.  Baron went nuts!  When the Beast took him out to the garage with him later on, he opened the garage door in case Baron needed to go out again and Baron started to run down the driveway.  Ever seen a car spin on an icy road???  Well, imagine an oversized doberman with four legs splayed out (looking like a big black spider) and sliding around.  When he stopped sliding, you would have thought he was a ballerina tip-toeing back up the driveway to the garage.  I doubt he will do that again for some time.

We have an arctic front heading towards us so it will be very cold tomorrow (and we might get a little more snow) then it will start warming up a bit until this weekend when it will be almost tropical (in the 40's  ).  I expect things will not return to any semblance of normal until then.  Me?  I'm okay and happy.  I have food, coffee, creamer and cigarettes to last me and no need to go out in that mess.

I just had to put that down.  When was the last time you saw a forecast of 100% chance of anything???    I would guess they are pretty sure of themselves this time.  They are also forecasting 3-5 inches of snow for us here.  If that happens, it will be the most amazing thing we've seen in the time we've been here.  I will be floored.

The Beast got all worried about the Princess driving to work in it and told me to call her and tell her he would drive her.  It's bad enough driving in show (and we already know she has no clue about that!) but to do it in an unfamiliar vehicle wouldn't be a smart move.  He had forgotten that she is supposed to start back to college on campus tomorrow but....any snow on the ground and the classes will be canceled.  She has already proclaimed that she wasn't going to drive on snow ever again!    I actually thought it was nice of the Beast to worry about her driving in that much snow.  He said she would probably do okay if it was just a flurry but that much snow on the ground here and it is treacherous.  I actually hope the city buys some salt or sand for any snow we DO get.  Or rents some plowing equipment for the roads here.  With some of the hills and inclines we have, it could be very, very dangerous.  But, it's already after 6 and we haven't had a single snowflake fall.  Since there doesn't seem to be any breeze going either, I have no idea where this weather is coming from...or when.  It should have started already according to the weatherman.  If I have to eat my words, I really don't care.  I would much rather the snow skipped over us to be truthful.  I am not a fan of snow at all.  I'm sure Chewlee and the Princess's malamute, Bailey, would love some but not many others that I know.

Our day was peaceful and quiet except for the Beast swearing up a storm at players online that can neither see or hear him.  Unfortunately, I can.  I shut my door and turn up the volume on the TV.  I decided to just have some soup for dinner since neither one of us had been very active and the Beast is still troubled by his tummy ills.  He, however, wanted both soup and a pot pie so I just figured that if he kept me up again tonight, I would take my body into the guest bedroom to get some decent sleep.  I would have slept well if it hadn't been for his moaning and groaning in the bathroom (you would think no one had ever had diarrhea like HE gets it from his sound effects) plus Baron woke me up three different times to let him out.  The Beast makes his sound effects on purpose because he gets increasingly louder until he is sure he's woken me up so I will know how he's suffering.  **Insert eyeroll here** 

My weatherbug has been chirping all day long.  First because we were under a *Severe Weather Watch* which has now turned into a *Severe Weather Alert* until 6pm on Monday.    My opinion is that we will get snow but not nearly the 3-6 inches they are predicting.  At least, not here locally.  We have never gotten the amount of snow they predict for our area.  You can, however, drive up the road about 30 miles and most likely find something close to it there.  That's just the way things seem to work out for us. 

Tara was here today and, for once, she stuck around for a while and we chatted in my puter room.  The Beast even came in and joined us.  We talked mostly about family stuff but got into the tragedy in Arizona with the representative that got shot (and the other innocent people gathered there with her).  The consensus of opinion was that it was NOT a good way to vote.  Just kidding folks.  I think it's tragic because, if you listened to how she voted on things, she was a voice of reason on most things and seemed to use common sense.  There's a definite shortage of people like that in our government these days.

We also got into the weather predicted for us.  Since it's going to start some time tomorrow, Tara was glad that she wasn't going to have to go out and drive in it, although she was a bit concerned about Chance's daddy, Tonto, bringing him home from his stay at his house tonight.  If any snow hits the ground and stays there, the boys won't be going to school on Monday.   I didn't ask her if she was going to have to work although she said she was only going to have to work 16 hours this week for one of the accounting jobs she's been doing.  The poor gal has really been working hard to get the books in order for these people and had 3 years of business to do for them.  They really had no idea of their spending habits and couldn't read a profit and loss statement.  They've learned a lot from her and she's got them in a good place now and they are understanding mistakes they made and changing several things to increase profitability.  It's tough when you first start a business if you don't know what you are doing.  The Beast and I had enough experience in different aspects of business that it worked out great for us.  We were saved from making some of the mistakes other people do.  Plus, we had a great CPA we found after about a year in business and, although he disagreed with some of the things we wouldn't do (like leverage), he did find out that it worked great for us.

I'm glad we did things the way we did because we ended up owning everything after just a few years.  Our trucks, our home, our various boats, the land we bought, etc.  We paid off our house in Margate in just five years even though we had only taken out a 15 year loan on it.  It saved our butts when the Beast had his strokes, let me tell you.  I do remember how strange it felt when we owned two paid for homes at one time.  We had our home in Port Charlotte built and it was paid off when we got our Certificate of Occupancy.  Then, two years later, we bought the *summer house* (brand new) and paid cash for it.  For two kids from not-rich parents that grew up in Chicago, that was something we had never even imagined we would be able to do one day. 

I've said before that if I had known the *summer house* was going to end up being the house we retired to, I would have bought a larger house.  Not much but a couple hundred extra square feet would have made a hell of a difference to us.  But we manage, regardless.

Chewlee was not in the mood for cartoons for long today.  At least, not cartoons on regular TV.  She grabbed up Godzilla 2000 first of all.  She calls it a *T-rex movie* because it is NOT *her* Godzilla.  All of the newer Godzilla movies are her *T-Rex* movies.  The original Japanese Godzilla movies (bad as you might think they are) are her favorites.  She also loves Rodan, Mothra and a few other Japanese monsters.  But it was Godzilla 2000 (the first...and last...American made Godzilla movies) for her today.

After that, she grabbed up Madagascar.  Madagascar 2: Back to Africa was next.  Then she wanted to watch Men in Black and Men in Black 2.  She did fall asleep for an hour or so during Men in Black but I had paused it when I noticed so she didn't miss much.  When Tara came over, after she got her hugs and a kiss, she decided she would go sit on her Dora chair in the living room and watch Sponge Bob until her mommy came to pick her up.  It wasn't long and, of course, I had to turn off Sponge Bob while she was watching me so that I wouldn't be watching it without her.    That's our Chewlee!

Johnnycakes bought himself a new (used) truck that is absolutely amazing.  It looks like brand new!    and yet, it's 7 years old...no, 8.  It's a 2003 Red Chevy pickup with leather seats and a sun roof even.    It's an extended cab with four doors and lots of leg room.  Like I said, it looks like brand new and was obviously well taken care of.  I'm so glad for him (and it's so much more comfortable than the old Jeep, too).  Chewlee was a bit surprised when she got into it tonight.  He and the Princess just picked it up tonight.  It might not give wonderful gas mileage but it sure can't be any worse than the Jeep got.  He'll find out over time.  You can't trust what the dealers tell you.  They lie! 

Okay...the temperature is dropping rather quickly now so I guess the cold front is starting to move our way.  I'll be putting on my long underwear type jammies after my shower tonight so that I won't get cold trying to sleep.  I have a feeling the Beast might have to put the central heat on tonight or tomorrow night.  It's not the temperature drop that cools off the house for us but the winds, it seems. 

yeah, you guessed it.  It was one of those kind of days.  I have no idea why but the Beast was miserable (but then, he always is but he has had one for several days now), I had one, Bratfink had one and even Chewlee complained that her tummy hurt her when I picked her up.  Hers improved when she had something in her stomach, however. 

I was glad she was able to go to school today and she told me, once again, that she liked her medicine.  She said that mommy put it in her mouth and she *ate* it.  If it's not in a cup, she doesn't think of it as drinking.  But she told me she liked it.  I told her I was proud of her because it's good to take medicine when you need it.  I told her that *I* took my medicine every day.  She had to have misunderstood me somehow because she got very upset and said to me, *You can't have my medicine!*  I laughed and told her I wasn't going to take HER medicine.  I had enough of my own! 

Bratfink had a tummy ache yesterday but she thought it might have been the food from Taco Hell that did it for her.  Me?  Not a clue why mine started bothering me.  All I ate before it started was some cereal with milk and half a sliced banana.  Oh, and of course, I have to include my coffee.  Hmmm.  Maybe I need to cut down on that until I have something to eat in my stomach.  Too much caffeine in an empty stomach might not be smart.  Oh well!  C'est la vie!  Live and learn.  One is never too old to learn.  At least, I don't think so.

Anyway, Bratfink ate some chili today (which she loves) and had to go lay down to digest it because her tummy was not feeling too good.  I had some eggs for dinner and now MINE isn't feeling all that great.  Oh, not enough to make me lay down or run for the Prilosec or Tums but it's uncomfortable. 

When the Princess came to pick up Chewlee she was worried about the weather forecast for the weekend.  They said 2-4 inches of snow and she said if it came to that, she wasn't going to school on Monday.  But, she also brought up a good point.  Here they close the schools if there is even just snow flurries.  If we do happen to get any real snow (our weather people haven't hit the mark most of the time), no kids of any age will be going to school.

Time to get this posted for you to read tomorrow.  Love you all and I hope you have a great weekend. 

The Princess dropped off Chewlee for an hour or so while she ran some errands.  She couldn't do her grocery shopping because Johnnycakes forgot to leave the ATM card.  Chewlee was only a teensy bit subdued, even though she was in warm, footie pajamas which told me she was milking it a bit.  She didn't have a fever and she was definitely not off food because she wanted this or that.  What DID surprise me was she wasn't asking for candy but she DID want a popsicle.  Since I didn't want to give her any milk, I did give her a popsicle.  They give them to sick kids in the hospital so I felt okay with that.  I asked her about her medicine (since she is on an antibiotic) and she told me *it tastes good* with a smile on her face. 

As for the Beast, today was the *battle of the open doors*.  He dressed himself in a hunters flannel shirt and heavy jeans plus put on his hunting socks and boots.  It was 40 degrees outside and overcast after just a couple hours of sunlight this morning.  The temperature INSIDE the house was 65.    I yelled at the Beast because the house was definitely cold and he kept leaving the inner doors open.  The storm doors do nothing to keep out the cold OR keep in any heat.  But, every time I walked out of my room, the damn doors were open....AGAIN!!!  I told him to take off his heavy damn shirt and find out what it felt like inside the house but he didn't care.  He's so damn self-centered that he honestly does NOT care how anyone else feels.  And it's not just me.  He wouldn't care WHO was here.  If he is warm, it's *the hell with everyone else*.  Just like his father was.  He's his father's clone now.  He always had the basic traits but now it's there for everyone to see.  No more hiding the similarities.

Like his father, this man will die friendless and unloved, I swear.  He's losing any endearing qualities he possessed (and those were few and far between).  If it's not about HIM, it doesn't matter.  But I do have my ways of *getting* to him.  I went around and turned on ALL the baseboard heaters and waited for him to notice.  His eyes start spinning because he can just see those kilowatt hours adding up.  At least today, he just went around turning them off and didn't say a word.  He KNEW what I was doing.  My protest towards his stupidity and selfish attitude.  But...the house was at least a warmer 72, which was enough.

However, when I went out to the kitchen to make us some dinner, what do I find?  You got it...both inner doors open again!    When I yelled at him, he just ignored me.  Either that or he's truly getting deafer.  I've noticed lately that I have to be near him before he hears me.  He told me he should probably get a hearing aid but the whole idea just mortifies him, I know.  I slammed the doors shut because I knew he would *feel* that and get the message. 

The house had cooled down to 68 degrees (the storm doors don't seal well and he's been lax about fixing that) in just a short time.  He's hoping I will just give up but I won't.  I make little remarks to him about his *being in training for being out in the cold while he's hunting that make-believe deer he's going to shoot*.  Yeah, I haven't stopped doing that yet.  He won't get out and do it.  Hell, he won't even get out and pretend to do it.   

I sat down and figured out how much money he's squandered over this mythical deer hunting he swore he was going to do and almost had a heart attack.  I mean it.  There's some family that is missing out on the money he spent because it's about what a family of four could manage to live on for a year.  I don't mean they could live royally but they could eat, pay rent/mortgage and utilities off it.  I almost threw up over that, let me tell you.

Oh well, no sense crying over spilled milk, is there?  It just raises your blood pressure.  Good thing mine is usually on the low side.  I'm going to put this to bed for today. 

I had a very bad night Tuesday night.  The Beast turned over and put his knee over my thigh and he hit a nerve that instantly set off spasms in the muscles of my lower leg.  It was along the front of the leg and my ankle and I was in massive pain from it.  It took me about five minutes to travel the short distance from my bed to my computer room.  I tried to massage the muscles to no avail.  I took a pain pill with some cold coffee sitting on my desk and just tried not to scream.  If I stayed very still, the muscle spasms were not too painful but the minute I moved, OUCH!!!!  I did manage to get to the bathroom and grab up an elastic bandage that I used to wrap my foot and leg to help contain the spasms.  I then laid back in my recliner and just tried to relax.  I was so damn tired and I did, finally, fall asleep for a bit.  I spent the better part of the day trying to keep that leg quiet.  The nerve that the Beast had hit dead-on was so sore for so long.  I finally took a stronger pain pill (I hate to take those things at all!) and kept the leg as still as possible.  Now it finally seems to be better.  I can massage the area of the nerve and there is no more pain there so I am hoping this episode is over.  It's going to make me very nervous at night, however.  The Beast has a bad habit of wrapping his legs around mine or laying a leg over mine.  It's always his bad leg and, let me tell you, it feels HEAVY.  It's almost like he is putting pressure on you when he lays it over you.

Anyway, I was battling a serious lack of sleep along with the spasming muscles just trying to prepare myself for the ride to pick up Chewlee from school when I got a phone call.  The Princess called to tell me the school had called to tell her that Chewlee had a fever of 102 and she needed to come get her.  She had been complaining about her stomach and they said that it might just be some stomach upset but she should get her to the doctor.  What the Princess wanted was to see if I could pick her up and take her to the doctor's office.  I told her I was sick and could pick her up but I was not going to be able to manage the doctor's office.  She said she was just checking and she would go ahead and do that. 

Well, the poor baby and the Princess were supposed to see the doctor around 4:20pm but, when I called, it was 4:40pm and they were still waiting.  I know how busy the doctors there are so I knew she was really a prisoner of time.  Later, when she called me, she told me Chewlee has an upper respiratory infection.  Those are miserable and it means no school for Chewlee for a while.  Thursday is the Princess's day off so I told her if she needs me to watch Chewlee for a couple hours tomorrow, to drop her off.  I just hate when the baby is sick.  Heck, I hate when anyone is sick but especially little ones.  They just don't understand why they feel so bad.  And Chewlee, our little darling, is not good about taking medicine either.  We've told her that it will make her feel better but, if it doesn't taste good or you can't hide it in something she likes (I'm thinking her chocolate milk), you can waste an awful lot of medicine trying to get it down her.  Well, I'll see how she is tomorrow when she's here.  If she's still running a fever, her chocolate milk is out.  The bad thing is that I don't have any juice in the house to give her either.  I may have to text the Princess to bring some if Chewlee has a fever still.

I called the dealer today so I could honestly tell the Beast I got the information from the dealer's mouth and then addressed the problem of getting the Princess some transportation since she really needs to A) do some serious grocery shopping, including getting pullups for Chewlee and B) she will be starting school next Monday.  I know the Beast wasn't highly motivated to give the Princess his truck because he had to offload his ATV from the trailer and unhook the trailer, too.  Since he's been feeling ill the past three days, he wasn't anxious to even leave the house, let alone do all that was necessary.  However, once the temperature here hit 50 degrees, he didn't have any reasonable excuse.  He did, however, put me in the position of driving it up to pick up the Princess (along with Chewlee) and then she could drop me off home.   Since she desperately needed a few things from the store, we made a quick stop there (I needed a few things, too).  Chewlee was upset that we all weren't staying at the house and telling her she would see me tomorrow didn't help.  I kissed her and told her we would have chocolate milk tomorrow.  I'm also saving my last piece of bubble gum for her for tomorrow.  I have to do some shopping myself and will get some more gum for her then. 

She was playing some kind of game with me on the way home from school today.  I have no idea what started it or where it came from but I coughed and she looked around and said, *Who's coughing?* and she had this twinkle in her eyes.  I was still recovering from coughing and said, quietly, *It was Gramma*.  She then said, *Who said that???*  Again she looked all around but avoided looking directly at me and I caught on to it being a game.  When I coughed a second time, she said, *Who did that?*  I said to her, *Who did WHAT?  I didn't hear anything!*  She then looked at me and said, *Gramma!* 

I started looking around (as best I could while driving) and said, *Gramma?  I don't see a Gramma anywhere.*  She then grabbed my arm and said, laughing, *YOU are Gramma and we are going to Gramma's house.*  She stopped for a second and then said, very meekly, *Right???  Not Mommy's house...Gramma's house.*  She had a worried look on her face so I laughed at her and said, *Yes, we are going to Gramma's house.*  Then she gave me a big smile and said, *First Gramma's house and Mommy's house a little later.* 

When I told her we were going to pick Mommy up from work later, she looked at me like I was crazy and said, *No, we are going to Gramma's house.  Daddy will pick up Mommy from work.*  I tried to tell her again but her mind was made up.  WE do NOT pick up Mommy.  That goes totally against things in HER world.  Nope.  Just not the order of things at all.  When it was time to leave, she was still giving me a hard time.  She tried negotiations.....*Just a little more chocolate milk, Gramma...and THEN we will go.*  Since she still had some in her cup, that didn't fly, of course.  She then said she was hungry but I told her she would be eating with her mother after they got home.  She finally let me get her coat on her and we got out the door and up to the Princess's work.

At least there, she brightened up because one of the gals the Princess works with is someone Chewlee is fond of and she got to get out of the truck so she could hug her.  The gal gave Chewlee a sucker (guaranteed to make her happy at any time) and she got back in the truck, albeit reluctantly. 

I get Thursday off from picking up Chewlee and I guess this Saturday will be my last Saturday for a while.  The Princess seems to feel that, if she gets a job part-time with some place that goes along with her school schedule, she will most likely just be working Friday through Sunday.  That will definitely alter my Chewlee schedule and won't make the Beast happy.  But very little does these days so...pffft! 

Today was the *high* temperature for the week.  It's all downhill through Sunday.  Lows remaining in the 20's.  I'll be hibernating as much as possible for a while.  I'll probably do a bit of baking over the next couple days.  Sheepie wanted to make brownies the other day but we were out of vegetable oil and you just can't substitute anything for it with these new mixes.  But it put the idea in my mind and now I just HAVE to make some.    I picked up some vegetable oil when the Princess and I stopped at Walmart before she dropped me off at home.

I woke up to a very frosty 24 degrees outside and the inside temperature of the house was just 61 degrees.  I went around and turned on the little space heaters in the living room and in my computer room before I made the coffee.  This is the Princess's last week working for AT&T.  She goes back to college next Monday.  The humidity had to be lower because the storm door didn't have any frost on it until after I opened the regular door to let the dog out.  The humidity inside the house caused the glass on the door to start frosting.   Thankfully, Baron is a wimp so he was outside for the minimum time he needed and right back in as soon as he was done.  There was no trotting around the deck like normal to *inspect his kingdom*.  He just wanted back into the warm house.  That was just in comparison, mind you.

We had lost our internet (again) late last night so I checked and it was back this morning.  I got online and checked the forecast for the whole week at the same time I turned on my TV to listen to the local news and weather.   I have often found the two differ, sometimes greatly.  The upshot was this:  cold, cold, and more cold.  Highs in the mid-40's.  Lows in the lower 20's.  No sign of any more rain, sleet or snow as of now.  The only nice thing I can say was that the skies were clear and we had SUN!  The dog barked his *open the front door* bark and, as soon as it was open, plopped down in the sun for his morning sun-bathing.  He does it every morning and is always disappointed when there is no sun.  He will give us the dirtiest look, a little bark and we know he wants to know just where his sun beam has gone.  He reminds me of the baby in the comic strip *Hi and Lois*.  The baby always looks for *her* sunbeam and is upset when it's not there.  That's Baron.

I picked up Chewlee and the Princess and we dropped Chewlee off at school and then I took the Princess to work.  After I got home, the Beast was almost ready to go move the injured car to the dealer for repairs.  He had spoken to the adjuster from the insurance company earlier and knew the amount the adjuster was mailing to us for repairs.  He said the dealer would contact him if the amount was less than was necessary after he got the door off.  The only good thing is the dealer ordered the door and window today and will be getting it on Thursday.  He expects all the work to be done by the following Tuesday or Wednesday.

The Beast went ballistic (of course) when he saw the car.  It looked to me (and I told him this) like someone had tried violently to get the driver's door open because today the inside section was separated from the door.  It wasn't like that the other day when I saw it.  He also looked at the paint job on it and was really, really upset because he said it had NOT been repainted after the tornado damage was done.  He said the Princess must have told them not to bother and kept the money instead.  I told him that she had brought it over when she picked it up and told him to take a look at it.  I didn't remember if he did or not but didn't say that.

When I told this to the Princess, she got upset and said she DID have it done.  She had the bill to prove it was supposed to be done.  I told her that the Beast had looked on the top of the car and found damage that he remembered.  I told her that I had also looked at it and found some of the scouring that was still very visible.  If the dealer had buffed it out even, it wouldn't look like it did now.  She just said it was washed and waxed when she got it so I wondered if perhaps the waxing hid the damage.  No real clue though.  I just know that I do NOT want him not to let her use the truck for the couple days she will need it.  He doesn't know it will only be a few days (yet) but I don't want to be her taxi service any longer than I must.

If I have to, I will tell him what the dealer said just so he will relax and give her the damn thing so I don't have to be doing this running around, especially on Thursday (her day off from work) when she has to go get her books or whatever it is she has to do at the college plus she needs to do her grocery shopping.

I won't be picking up Chewlee once the Princess starts school.  I also won't be watching her on Saturdays until, I'm sure, the Princess gets a part-time job.  We will probably go back to this kind of schedule once that happens since most part-timers work Saturdays and Sundays.  But Johnnycakes doesn't work on Sundays (that I am aware of) so that should be HIS day with Chewlee.  I guess only time will tell.

The Beast was supposed to be planning on going hunting but I know he won't with the temperatures being so low.  He's got his ATV already on the trailer so he's going to have to get it off of there before the Princess gets the truck.  I'm thinking now that it might be smartest to tell him about the faster repair so he knows it will only be for a few days that the Princess will need it.

I'm just so tired of hearing him bitch and moan and not even give the Princess the benefit of the doubt.  She's always been up front with him and he is usually so much more patient with her about everything.  This time he's so damned unreasonable that I am afraid *I* will be the one having a stroke!  I'm so sick of hearing him do nothing but rant and rave.  She doesn't deserve that.  She said she is no longer going to leave it up to him but is going to actively try to sell her ATV.  When she had decided she really didn't need/want it, the Beast told her to just stop paying him for it (he never told ME that) but she had paid all but $1000. of it.  She said he either needs to pay her back what she paid him, give her credit for her monthly car payments or get used to the idea that it's gone as soon as she finds a buyer for it.  He's been using HER ATV on his little *jaunts* so I rather doubt that would make him happy even though she would pay him the last of the money she owed on it so she would have the rest back.

What's going to happen when that comes to light makes me want to vomit.  It's not going to be pretty with the Beast in his current mode.  I swear, he's going to give himself another stroke and, right now, that idea is very attractive to me.  If you know what I mean.  I'm sure if and when things settle down, I'll feel differently but not right now.  He's making MY life miserable.

I'm hoping the tech calls tomorrow and gets here to fix our internet.  A good wind would take it away again in nothing flat.  It's made me very nervous all afternoon and this evening.  So I will give you the basics so that I am sure it gets posted.

The Beast drove Sheepie to Huntsville this morning for her bus back to Louisville.  Shortly after she got on the bus, she realized she had left her pillow in the car.  I hope her mom has extras.  She got up early to shower, blow her hair dry and straighten it so it wouldn't be flyaway for her trip home.  I dragged my butt out of bed to make sure she was up around 6:30am and she was already showered and dressed, just working on her hair.  I stayed up until they left and then went back to bed until the Beast got back home.

I made up our bed before the Beast got on it and then went ahead and dustmopped the floors.  I stripped the guest bed and threw the linens in the wash.  I turned on my computer even though the lights on the modem were not there.  I had spent over a half hour on with our internet provider, going through various screens to check our equipment and the satellite dish, too, before I was told that the dish was not pointed at a satellite any more and we would need a tech to come out to fix it and also test the dish itself to make sure it wasn't a bad transponder on it.  Sure...figures, right?  It's not bad enough they charge you $125 to come out but then there's possibly more cost if the equipment has gone bad.  We've been out of contract for over two years now and I have no plans on signing another one.  I swear, if we can get cable soon, we will be on that lickety-split.

I told the Beast today that he either has to go ahead and rent a car or else let the Princess use our truck because once the car dealer has the car, it's going to take 3 weeks before it's ready.  I told him that she starts back to college in a little over a week and I'll be damned if I am going to be getting up at Oh-god-thirty in the morning to drive her to school and then run back in three hours to pick her up.  Plus, she has to get out and find herself a part-time job to help make her car payment, too.  So, he thinks he will rent a car for ME to use and let the Princess use our truck (after he goes hunting in the next day or so).  He's going to be making the trip up to see his brother either this coming weekend or the week after.  That would be before her car is ready and I need a vehicle to be able to pick up Chewlee once the Princess has found herself a job.  I may be getting a break here for a bit, folks.    But you know I will miss the little stinker.  It won't last long because the Princess has never gone long without working.  There's just something about her.....!  **Grin**  But the Princess's school schedule will allow her to drop Chewlee off in the morning and she can pick her up later when she feels like it.

Time to go and get this posted.  The first thing the Beast did after he took his bath tonight was to walk around in his underwear....at least until he got a chill since it's cold outside.  We had a couple great days with temps in the 60's.  I guess I have become acclimatized because it felt like spring to me.    Heck, it felt like SUMMER! 

Love you all and I hope you had a wonderful New Year's.  They are cleaning up the Godzilla mess here and we should be back to normal in a day or two. 

This won't be long but I am reporting that we have survived the initial attack!  Oh....wait....that's Bratfink's story.    No idea what happened to our satellite dish but it stopped being able to communicate with the satellites.  It could be as simple as a bad transponder but...because the Beast went outside and moved the dish a little and we got internet for now....I think the dish just shifted from all the high winds the past week.  We noticed our internet seemed to be slowing down, but never figured that it might be because of being slowly moved away from alignment.