TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

The Beast announced to me today that he was thinking about going to his brother's house in Southern Illinois for a few days.  Like I would object!!!    I told him to GO!!!  It gives me a break from him and vice versa.  He'll be taking Baron with him to visit *his cousins* (Brother's two shepherds).  Baron actually knows when they are getting close.  When the Beast makes this one turn, he says Baron will wake up from a sound sleep and start getting excited.  The three dogs go nuts when Baron gets in the house.  The Brother just opens the back door and out they all run.  It's all fenced in back there so they let the dogs just play and run around to tire themselves out.  Baron needs it after spending 7 hours riding in the car.  He's a great dog to travel with.  He's very calm and will either just watch what is going by or he sleeps.  The Beast stops every couple hours to walk and water him.  He will check to see if Baron is hungry with some of his dry food but he usually just haunts the Beast's shoulder when HE gets himself something to eat.  We started just getting Baron a plain hamburger when we travel and we always give him some of our french fries.  He loves french fries. 

Chewlee finished off a bag of cookies today and told me she was a piggie.  I told her she was going to get a snout and a curly tail if she kept it up and she got very upset with me.  She said, *Piggies don't stand on two feet and see?  I stand on two feet.  My nose won't be a piggy nose and I don't like to roll in mud.*  She then proceeded to tell me that piggie's poop really smelled bad.  How she knows that, I have no idea because as far as I know, she's never been around a pig farm.

The bag of cookies she finished off were sandwich cookies.  What's bad about her eating them is she will eat the centers first, then she eats the side of the cookie that came away from the filling but she doesn't eat the side the filling was stuck to before she licked/nibbled it off.  That she puts in a stack on my desk and I have to make her throw them away.  She told me that THOSE were for ME!    I told her, *No thanks.  Not after you licked them and made them all soggy.*  She ran over to the stack and started checking them out to see if they were mushy and held up the ones that weren't and told me I could/should eat those.  She was upset when I wouldn't (I'm not a cookie person anyway) and told me that *I* was *wasting them*.  ROFLMAO!

She's gotten bored with the *easy* puzzles for mahjong so I upped her to *normal*.  When she was taking a food break, I started a *hard* one and, when I got back from the kitchen, she was doing mine.  She told me, *This puzzle has a LOT of animals, Grandma.*  She enjoyed having a bunch more tiles to match and finished my game for me.  I guess I have to start letting her do more difficult things now.  The *hard* puzzles have a lot more tiles and I guess she needs the challenge.

She is still telling me she loves me a lot.  I didn't say anything a couple times and she finally looked at me and said, *We have a problem, Grandma.*  I said, *Oh?  What kind of problem?*  She told me, *When I say I love you, you have to say you love me, too!*    I hugged her, gave her a kiss and told her I would ALWAYS love her even if she didn't love me, too.  She looked so puzzled at that idea.  She hugged me tight and said, *I will always love you, too, Grandma.*

When I laid back in my recliner with my feet up, she grabbed her blanket and came and laid back with me.  She wanted me to play with her hair and I did.  She almost fell asleep but then decided she needed to know what time it was.  I couldn't see the clock on my computer screen so she got up and went to ask the Beast.  He was watching his news on the big TV in the living room but has an easy view of the clock in the dining area.  He told her the time, which she came back and told ME and then she said, *My mommy will be coming for me soon.*  She sat in my lap and did a puzzle and we had just finished it when her mother got here.  She jumped off my lap, ran to get her shoes and put them on and told her mother she wanted to take a bath with her.  That got her a smile but her mother, the Princess, told her she could have a bath but SHE had homework.  She looked so tired to me and I mentioned that to her.  She told me she might drop one of her shifts at work because she's working six shifts and she's got 15 hours of college courses this semester.  It's tough being a mother, working for a living AND going to school.  But she's a hard worker and she's determined to get her degree and start teaching math.  That's going to be quite an event since she looks so young.  She's been doing some sub-ing at different school so she may just have that part behind her when she's got her degree.

I don't know how it works entirely but she had to pay to enroll in the program for being a substitute teacher (you have to reach a certain point in your studies) and she gets paid for all the days she works once a month.  When she gets that check, she says it feels like it's *free* money. 

Bratfink is under a *Dangerous Storm Watch* right now and that makes me nervous for her.  I'll watch the weather later and find out if the storm is going to hit us in a day or so.  We don't usually get them from that area.  Ours usually come from the direction of Texas. 

Love you all and I wish you all good weather.  Have a great day and smile a lot. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I'm a procrastinator.  I have no idea why.  I just hate to do some things that really aren't all that difficult.  Like my Medicare Supplemental Insurance.  And the Part D Prescription coverage.  It's a real pain in the ass as far as I am concerned so I dragged my feet (foot) to get enrolled with a plan.  I was a bit surprised to find out that supplemental no longer includes Rx coverage since Obama got involved.  Now you have to purchase it separately.  Figures.

I finally bit the bullet and started checking out various insurance companies.  I ended up taking advantage of AARP's offering through United Health Care.  The coverage they all offer is standardized and the same price (mostly) but I wanted an insurance company that had a good track record.  I once had UHC for our family insurance and we were very happy with them.  I like their plans and had no problems.  I didn't and don't want surprises.  I also finally got myself enrolled in an Rx plan.  I feel like a million dollars because both of them start on the first of next month.  I wasn't sure if that would be possible but it was, thankfully.  So if something major happens to me, I'm covered now.

I had also put off calling my best friend.  That was partly because I had left a message for her one day and never heard back from her.  Then I hurt my feet and the Beast started his chemotherapy.  Her husband is a serious diabetic on insulin but he still has incredibly high numbers on his glucose levels.  I mean six or seven times what is normal WITH insulin.  I also know she travels a lot with her family spread all over and she is the only one that isn't working and doesn't have any children.  She will travel in a heart beat and often does.  Time flies when you are occupied with other problems but it had nagged at me for a while.  So, today I called her. 

It turns out her hubby was in the hospital twice, then in rehab and then she had home health people there all the time, trying to get him back into some form of a workable human being.  The doctors also discovered that he now has a heart problem so there was the time period of adjusting various medications to find the right *mix*.  She was not a happy camper.  We both shared some of our frustrations with how our lives have gotten just because we had the nerve to become old people.  I said it sure wasn't for the faint of heart, was it?

Since neither one of us made it, our annual get-together with our girlfriends from school wasn't held.  I thought that was kind of dumb but sweet to think without the two of us attending, no one was really in the mood this year.  We both vowed that we wouldn't miss it next year.  We laughed and said we might have to shoot our spouses in order to make it but, hey!  Whatever it takes. 

I also finally got replacement boxes for the ones that got ruined (don't ask) so I can send out some long overdue things to various sisters.  Actually, it's my *skinny* clothes.  I'm sending some of them to Baby Brat and others to sister Cee.  I even have something to send to Bratfink and to two of my girlfriends.  The Beast looked at it all and just rolled his eyes.  He HATES going to the post office and isn't all that fond of UPS although you never have a line there. 

I still have more to send out to Sister Cee and Baby Brat but each box is kind of heavy so it will be expensive to send them.  I'll have to do that a little at a time.  I noticed my walk-in closet is looking kind of bare.  I need to switch my *fatter* clothes (not really, just not skinny clothes) from the computer room closet into it.  It's just been convenient for me to hang them in here because I spend so much time in here.  I will try to tape up the replacement boxes today and repack the ones no longer fit to send out.  I need to check them to make sure none of the clothes need recleaning, too.

I even went through the drawers in my desk, threw things out and reorganized them.  THAT was LONG overdue.  Heck, I had some address labels in one drawer that had the year 2010 on them.    Don't tell anyone but I even found two pages of ones that had 2009 on them.  They are all ones I get sent for free from some charity or other looking for a donation.  I only have a few that I will send anything to but word gets around, I guess and they all figure I am a soft touch.  No way, Jose.  I don't care how nice your address labels are.

Well, we never got the rain that was predicted.  Big surprise, huh?  So the Beast is outside watering the things he didn't do when it looked like we were actually going to get some rain.  I'm doing wash again and going to change my linens on my bed.  I should strip the guest bed and do that, too, but we aren't expecting anyone.  I am just going to push myself and try to ignore my feet.  My worst fear is that I might actually have to learn to live with my feet feeling like this forever.  I hope not and I'm praying very hard about that.  But I have things to do so I am going to post this now.

Love you all.  Please don't get lax just because the heat seems to be diminishing somewhat.  Hydrate.  Hydrate.  Take care and drive carefully. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

It seems my son, Mustachio, has been accepted for a job in Afghanistan.  He's passed all the physical and drug testing, the background and all he is now waiting for is his security clearance.  Then he should get his shipping out date and his visa stamp for working in Afghanistan.  He's excited about this and I am excited for him.  He's been ind of in a holding pattern after a bad romance and then some physical problems that he has overcome.  Now his gypsy heart has come into play and he is off to see the world.....again.

While he was in the Navy (he spent 6 years in the Navy), he did a lot of sightseeing in the Mideastern countries and also spent some time in Italy while he was stationed in Japan.  He also spent quite a bit of his leaves in Australia, which he loves and would live there if he could.  He's going to be working for a large company that has a lot of military contracts all over the world.  He's going to be installing satellite communications and monitoring comm calls.  A little interesting tidbit is my grandson, Doc, will be going to Afghanistan later this year or the beginning of next and the two of them might be able to hook up during a leave or something, depending on where he's stationed.  Afghanistan is the size of Texas so it does matter there.  It's not a tiny country nor is it easy to travel around with the state of things there.

My solace is that Mustachio will be on a base surrounded by armed men so not directly in the line of fire, so-to-speak.  Not like Chewlee's paternal grandfather who is driving a truck in that awful place and subject to those roadside bombs and such.  However, I believe his contract will be up shortly and he will be returning to the US of A.  He's spent most every Sunday talking to Chewlee online using Skype or some such program.  Chewlee always calls him (to me) her bald-headed grandpa but she doesn't call him that at all when she talks to him.  I think she knows it would hurt his feelings.  He's not totally bald, after all.  Just on top.

Love you all.  Just had to pass the news along. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I went to bed early last night due to the tummy ache.  I have no idea how long it took me to fall asleep but I did and I didn't wake up until almost 8am this morning.  The tummy ache was not gone, unfortunately, although it could have gotten started again because of the really weird dreams I had.  Yes, more than one.  The first one was Chewlee and I were chasing and then being chased by a red monster.  It kind of looked like a red cookie monster only with shark teeth.  It was actually afraid of us but Chewlee would scream every time she saw his teeth so he started laughing at that and started to chase her (hence ME because I picked her up and was trying to get her to stop screaming).  I finally got her to stop looking at him and his teeth (and screaming) when I threatened to put her down and let him have her.  Yeah, I got mean. 

The next dream was about picking cherries off our trees and the birds kept grabbing them out of our hands.  We couldn't pick them fast enough and more and more birds kept showing up.  That dream rolled over into Chewlee sitting on my lap eating the cherries SHE had hidden from the birds (don't ask me where) and she wouldn't share them with me.  The little stinker!  She was eating them and trying to play my solitaire game on Pogo and she kept messing up and saying, *Sorry, Grandma*.  She also was spitting the seeds into my hand (she insisted on that for some reason) and she wanted me to save them so we could plant them to make more cherry trees.

Then we were suddenly planting seeds for flowers and they were growing as fast as we planted them.  Chewlee was jumping up and down, happily, and saying, *See?  I told you!* like a smart-ass.  She then started picking them all for her mother because her mother didn't have any flowers.  That is something she has said more than you would believe so I wasn't surprised it showed up in this dream.

Then I was at the doctors office having him working on my feet.  He was cutting and taking stuff out of my feet and I kept saying, *Shouldn't you put me to sleep to do this?* in a panic.  He kept saying, *Oh, you have a high pain tolerance!  You don't need it*.  Then I was running away from the doctor who had this mad look on his face and kept yelling, *Come back here!  I'm not finished.  I need to remove a couple of those bones!*  I was trailing a long ribbon of cotton material behind me like an unraveling mummy and was trying to grab it so the doctor couldn't and trip me up.  It was totally weird.  I was glad when I finally woke up.  The first thing I checked was if the bandages on my toes were still in place, figuring that might be where that dream originated but they were still intact. 

I was very puzzled that I woke up and remembered all my dreams.  Well, maybe I didn't.  I could have had more dreams but those stayed in my mind for some reason.  I think I would rather NOT remember my dreams, thank you very much.  I'm not into dream interpretation or any such thing.  A dream is a dream you have during REM sleep so I know I slept well.  As far as I know, I had no pain from my feet because that is usually what wakes me up.  But I had to deal with the stomach ache.

I took a pill for my IBS, just in case that was threatening to flare up and then took some Mallox, which I really detest no matter what flavor they add to it.  I then laid down for a while and fell asleep for a bit.  The Beast's mowing the back yard woke me up but that's a nice sound to me.  Poor Baron was frantic to be outside but he's bad about getting in the way of the mower and the Beast won't let him outside any more.  That doesn't stop Baron from frantically whining and running back and forth to try to get me to let him out the door.  He gets really annoying until I yell and tell him to *go lay DOWN!*.  He won't lay down but he does become a statue at the door, waiting for the Beast to finish.  He WILL lay down if I go out there and just stare at him.  He KNOWS he has disobeyed and becomes very timid then.  He will also try to make it up to me with kisses and laying his head on my lap....that is, IF I let him.

When I went out into my kitchen for some coffee, I was shocked to discover the Beast had cleared off the table and the counter.   He has had it in a mess for several days and I refused to clean up after him this time.  I wasn't feeling all that well anyway.  He finally took the hint and the table has been a real mess of his stuff scattered everywhere.  You wouldn't believe one person could do that much in just a day or so.  He will have it messed up again soon enough.  He IS a creature of habit, after all. 

Love you all.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope your week started off better than mine did.  We are expecting some rain today (which is why the Beast was outside getting the grass mowed....it grows like a weed with even a little bit of rain) so I need to get this posted while I can.  Be good.  Be happy. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Today was a short day for watching Chewlee but she was in rare form.  Hugging, loving but she was on the go, go, go from when she got here.  I finally sat her down and told her to play her game while I started dinner.  I made a pot roast, which we hadn't had in a long time.  I found out you can't even bribe Chewlee to eat beef.  And potatoes?  If it's not a french fry or something that looks similar, she won't touch it.  She will eat baby carrots or those cut into chunks but not sliced ones.    She ended up eating...you guessed it....hot dogs again.  She goes through streaks with those.  In a few weeks, she probably won't touch one.

The Beast helped by taking her for another motor scooter ride to exercise Baron and then she spent some time up on the John Deere with him while he mowed the front lawn and the lot next door.  She must have eaten about a pound of cherries.  I can't blame her; they tasted sweet and wonderful.  I just think it startled the Beast to see how many she was able to go through. 

Later, when she got tired of watching her cartoons (too many repeats), I threw in one of her favorite DVD's but...get this!  She told me to take a nap and not watch it!    That was a real first.  She even turned off the overhead light and brought me a pillow.  She watched her movie and played her game on Pogo and kept checking to see if I was peeking.  It made me suspicious at first because she can be sneaky and I had both my powder and my nail polish on my desk.  But I checked and didn't find anything out of place.  After raising a bunch of kids, you just don't lose that.  I may realize something is gone later but not at the time.  I guess she just wanted to watch her video alone. 

She wanted to spend almost all her time when she was near me on my lap.  She wanted to play our tickle game.  Our *if you hurt my baby, I'm going to have to beat you* game.  Our *tickle my ears* game.  My legs hurt and she is such a wiggle worm that I was starting to hurt all over.  When I caught myself watching the clock to see how long before the Princess came to pick her up for the third or fourth time, I realized my *short* day seemed longer than my long day (which was Saturday).

I think even the Beast felt his ears were assaulted because Chewlee came in twice, all upset, because Papa had told her to *shut up for a while*.  When she complained to the Princess about it when she got here to pick her up, she said, *Well, maybe you should have stopped talking so much.*  It seems she always wants to talk to him when he's either reading his news online or playing one of his games (which are interactive and timed). 

I now have a stomach ache so I am going to get this posted and try to get over that without medicating myself.  Love you all.  Have a great week. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Why is it that late at night (at least for us *old folks*), it becomes a time for deep thoughts and reflections?  I happened to think about something my sister, Bratfink, and I were talking about earlier today and that thought took me to other places.  It made me think about how often I've sat here, late at night, and thought about all the things I wanted to do when I was younger and about all the things I did that I never considered.  I mean...how many city girls think about deep sea fishing when they've never even fished for a fresh water fish or even tried to put a worm on a hook.  Especially when you have a father that thinks it's not something girls are interested in even if you ask to do it. 

My dad would let my brothers *wet a worm* when we would go on picnics at one of the various parks that had ponds or lagoons.  I was always a bit jealous because I would have loved to try to catch a fish but it wasn't a *girl thing* in his mind.  I also used to watch him work on our cars in the alley lot at our house in the city and I loved the smell of the grease and gasoline.  I wanted him to teach me how to do some of the things he was doing (changing spark plugs, changing oil, etc) and he was flat-out horrified by the very idea.  Hell, it wasn't all that many years in the future when many girls/women were actually doing it.  Times can sure change fast.  In some ways, I was a girl ahead of my time but I was born too soon.  **Sigh**  I think even my father changed his tune not too many years after his horror at my suggestion but I was already gone from home by then.

I wanted to be another Lois Lane at one time.  That is, until I spent six weeks at one of our major newspapers during the summer and found out that newspapers were almost as full of politics as Washington D.C.  Too much sniping and underhanded stuff went on and talent was really secondary or even third.  I wanted no part of that, trust me.  It wasn't my nature.  But, years later, I actually got a chance to write when I went to work at an advertising agency and filled in at times for the actual writers.  It eventually got me into the Creative department full-time when the director realized I was good at it.  I was tickled pink and had the most fun at it than at any other job in my life.  I did it for over five years and enjoyed damn near every moment of it.  I can't say all of it because there were times.....but, hey, that's with any job!

I also reflected on my marriage and it's ups and downs.  I never minded the financial hardships but I sure hated more than a few years of physical and emotional abuse I went through.  I'm one of those *marriage is forever* people.  Can't help it.  It's the way I am.  So I suffered and endured.  If I had it to do over, however, I would have left him and divorced him.  It would have been better for my kids.  But...there IS a God!  He had two strokes and someone, when he was in intensive care, told him when he asked where he was (a stroke is painless and he wasn't aware of what happened to him) that he was in a hospital where he was being  punished for all the evil things he had done in his life.  I swear to you, that really happened although the nurses told me that no nurse of her description was working there at the time.  Too bad.  Must have been an angel sent to give him fair warning.  I really wanted to thank her. 

I definitely never, ever thought I would end up owning six different homes in my lifetime either (although one was bought as a rental).  And, incredibly, actually owned four out of the six outright.  Fully paid for.    Not bad for two kids from middle-class families from Chicago.  We worked hard but we also did things right.  Once you get that first house paid for ahead of time, the rest comes easy.  It's very comforting to own a house from the first day you move into it.  Hell, we even had a house custom built for us and it was paid for from the day we signed the final papers.  That was a true treat. 

My only regret is the house we live in now.  IF we had known (and we both agree on this part) that it would have been the house we retired in, it would have been a bigger house we chose.  It is a great house for just the two of us most of the time but add a damn 110 lb. oversized Doberman and you can understand how it might seem a bit on the smallish side even without company.  He's such a klutz, too, that it doesn't help.  We both agree that a couple hundred more square feet would have been wonderful.  I've seen the Beast eyeball the house thinking about the chances of extending it here or there.  I think he's even thought about converting the garage and building a separate garage but that would be a real nightmare at this point.  I suggested buying another one of the adjoining lots that are still available and building another house and using THIS one for a rental but we would have to wait for my niece to be able to pay off the house she is buying from us.  As it is, we don't see that happening any time soon with her starting her business and all.  Besides all the banking problems and tougher credit laws in this crappy economy, she really won't be able to qualify unless things go well for her for several years.  So that thought went by the wayside.  Besides, the idea of moving again, even a few hundred yards, makes me shudder.  No real solutions there, are there? 

I would love to get a newer, more comfortable car but the Beast spent so much money on his guns, ammunition and scopes, he really used up what would have been our new car money.  At least to MY way of thinking.  Lord only knows how the Beast thinks these days.  **Shudder** That scares the hell out of me.

I also think about the state of my health.  Normally, I am in good shape.  My diabetes has been under control and I haven't had any major problems.  But these feet of mine are pushing me to the limits of my endurance.  The pain seems not to be going away.  It fades a bit from time-to-time but it doesn't seem to be truly making me feel like it's going to go away.  That's scary.  If the sores healed well and the pain lessened, I could probably learn to live with it.  By lessening, I mean that it wouldn't interfere with sleeping and I could resume driving again without fear.  Right now, no way!  I spend more time asleep in my recliner than I have been able to do in my own bed (except for the past three days).  I'm not sure if that's because I'm outright exhausted with little sleep and then add Chewlee to the mix or if I am really not hurting as much when I sleep in my own bed.  It's a coin toss.

These are just a few of the things that roll through my mind late at night.  I also worry about my sister, Bratfink and HER health problems.  I worry about my sister, Cee, and her having to take care of Baby Brat and Frankenstein.  They both have unique health problems and Frankenstein is really getting up in years now.  When he finally dies, it will be a sad day for Cee.  She does love him and she will miss him greatly.  I know she would love to be close to her daughter and family but I also know she would miss Florida.  I have no idea what she would decide to do when she is free to think about doing something different.

I am glad there are a few family members I don't have to worry about and one or two that I REFUSE to think about.  I try very hard not to worry about my kids because there's nothing I can do about them and that would bug me even more so than anyone else.  I would do more for them if the Beast weren't constantly spending us into the poor house.  I would rather do that while I am alive than for them to wait until I die, know what I mean?

Ack!  I think I am going to stop doing this now or I will make myself nuts.    Be good.  Be happy.  Stay healthy. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Chewlee is having a loving day again today.  She keeps hugging and kissing me and telling me how much she loves her grandma.  I can handle that any day of the week.  She also told me in very dramatic terms that she *LOVES* her new school.  I wasn't feeling well (the cold) so she spent most of the morning with the Beast and Baron.  It was Baron's bath day so she got to help wash him.  He will still run away and hide initially when he sees the bucket of water but when the Beast fetches him and makes him sit, he is so good about staying.  I think he actually loves his baths in this hot weather and Chewlee loves to help out.

Chewlee found a large packet of perennial flowers seeds that I had here today and, of course, she wanted to plant them.  She didn't understand that it's really kind of late to do that.  To her, you just plant seeds, water and wait.  In this hot weather, I'm sure they wouldn't even germinate.  They might but they would die off almost immediately.  They need some moderate weather so they are strong enough to survive the heat.  Her idea?  We can bring them in the house where it's cooler. 

She has such an imagination.  Today she gave me some imaginary presents that I had to unwrap.  At least I didn't have to guess what they were.  They were all things she had made for me.  A necklace that was purple and had hearts and stars.  A pink Grandma shirt with different color hearts and stars.  A stuffed kitty just like the one she has so we both have kitties.  It went on like that for several more *gifts* and then there was the blanket she told me she had to buy and she apologized for not being able to *make it* for me but she didn't have time because she goes to school.  That really cracked me up.

The Beast found out that he can't just close our bedroom door when he goes to take his bath.  He has to lock it because a closed door is an automatic challenge to Chewlee.  She thinks nothing of walking in on him and then he's trying to cover himself with a wash cloth.  He wasn't using one in there all the time because we have scrunchies we use (those net balls).  He's now got one permanently on the wash rag bar even tho' he's locking the door.  He just isn't sure she might not be able to pick the lock somehow. 

We started a new thing with Chewlee because her mother said she's been doing it.  I figured we should reinforce it when she's here.  For every glass of chocolate milk she has, she has to have a glass of water and then the next glass is of regular milk.  The Beast was a bit surprised when she asked for water after her chocolate milk but...he recovered fast.  He also checked to make sure she had finished her water before he gave her regular milk.  I'm a bit surprised that she hasn't asked again for more chocolate milk but she might be saving it for her last drink of the night.  She doesn't get anything more to drink after 8pm so that there are no *incidents* during the night.  She sometimes doesn't wake up enough and she's had a few.  Enough so that the Princess got a rubber sheet and a pad for under her.  But, for the most part, she's very good.  She hasn't had an accident here at all when she's stayed overnight.

She's pretending she's at the beach today and has separate blankets for her stuffed animals and her baby doll on the *sand*.  I talked her out of using the umbrella in here mainly because it's just too small a space with everything laying all over.  I can't even walk without stepping on something.    But she's having a good time and is talking with all her *friends* and helping them swim.  She's also showing me how she holds her breath when she goes under the water.  She kept asking me to come in the water with her but I convinced her that I couldn't with the sores on my toes.  In reality, if I had access to the ocean, I would be in the water.  It's very cleansing and would help them heal.

It's kind of funny that the Princess calls me every day I have Chewlee to find out how she is doing.  I guess she's afraid that Chewlee might act up or something and have me pulling my hair out.  After all the kids I've raised, she sure isn't going to get the best of me.  I can handle anything she pulls or tries to pull.  Most of the time, we have no problem.  She has more problems with the Beast mainly because he has no patience and, sometimes, he isn't paying attention and doesn't realize she is *pretending* something or other. 

They say we are going to have rain later so I am going to post this while I can.  Love you all and hope you had a good day.  Have a wonderful Sunday and I'll see you then. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

The Beast got an early morning call that got him up before he was really ready.  It was his buddy that has become a bit of a nut since he and his wife retired, sold their home, bought a custom 40 or 45 foot motor home with a special hitch that allows them to carry their motorcycle and a small car behind them.  The car is in a special box-like trailer.  The motor home has two pushout walls.  A microwave oven, a large fridge and freezer, a wall of intruments near the driver that shows everything going on with the engine, axles, air conditioning and there is also a GPS.  I didn't even want to know how much it cost.  They sold their home for $1.2M AND the psychiatrist wife is on a retainer plus she has a pension as does he. 

They travel all over the USofA and even hit Canada a couple times.  When they got down to Florida the first time in the motor home, they ended up hooking up with some survivalists.  Yes, all ex-military or ex-policemen.  BOTH of them took special training about hiding or keeping covered as  you face an assault or some such rubbish.  I read about what they were doing and it's like they are training to be Rangers or Green Berets.  They wanted the Beast and I to come down for a week or so and take the course.  The Beast seriously considered it because you also learn to fire a bunch of different weapons.  All because these people believe our system is going to break down.  They have built a compound and everyone worked on fencing it in.  It has a huge area where they are building their homes or spaces for motor homes.  There's room for a huge farm so they can grow their own food.  They are raising chickens and have cows and a bull.  I mean, what the hell?  They chose not to have pigs (I don't blame them there....the chicken shit smells bad enough). 

Anyway, his buddy calls him to talk about guns and other *men* stuff.  The Beast seems to have backed off a lot on his enthusiasm for what his buddy has been preaching but you can still see it in many ways.  It's like all the survival food we have that is in sealed buckets plus the seeds that are specially packed and has a booklet of instructions on how to gather and prepare the seeds from all the plants included so that it's self-sustaining.  It says you only need an acre.  We are just short of that with the house so I can't even imagine what he's thinking. 

He's got the shelves he built that is stocked with all kinds of foods.  Canned chicken breast, tuna, beans, chili beans, tomatoes, spaghetti noodles and sauces, olives (he loves those), soups, soups and more soups.  Ramen of all varieties.  Mushrooms.  Green beans, beets, corn, peas.  We have rice, northern beans, black beans, split peas (those he got for me) and even some canned ham.  Coffee, creamer, sugar in air tight containers.  Each container holds 10lbs.  I won't even tell you how many different spices we have plus salt and pepper, including peppercorns.  It looks like a darn grocery store, trust me.  I told the Beast if everything DID go to hell and gone, anyone who had seen our garage and was hungry would be trying to break into the garage.  Baron wouldn't be any deterrent because he's such a woose.  If anyone had ever been around Baron, they wouldn't be the least bit afraid of him although there are times I get the idea that he is finally becoming a bit of a watchdog.  He's very alert if there's a strange sound outside the house at night.  He DOES have an incredible growl and a very, very loud bark when he's upset. 

I was really surprised at his friends strange conversion to a survivalist's attitude.  The Beast said that they have been traveling all over the country for three years and they might just have a better idea of what is going on with all the unemployment, homes being repossessed and other troubles with our economy.  Maybe they do.  However, besides the Beast's collection of guns and ammunition, I'm glad that's as far as HE has taken it.  I halfway expect him to start fencing in all our property.  It would stop the filching of the fruit off our trees but would sure make me feel isolated.  I swear I will have him declared incompetent if he starts anything like that.

He's so strange about his trees.  Every single one on the properties are ones he planted.  It was naked except for the little trees that are against the  house.  One is finally a nice enough size that I can decorate it this Christmas.  I bought some solar lights for it even.  It's about 3 foot or slightly more now.  Its got a beautiful shape, too.  The Beast planted another kind of fir or spruce almost directly even with the porch but back about three feet from the walkway.   I told him he needs to cut and shape it but so far he's ignored me.  He said it was planted for me since I liked live or fresh Christmas trees and we have limited space inside the house.  It's a couple hundred square feet short of what I would have chosen for a retirement home for us.  However, this was supposed to be just a summer home for the Beast when we lived in Florida.  He spent two summers here before we sold the house in Florida.  We were lucky to get it sold because the real estate market had tanked at the time.  I didn't have a choice and moving from a 2400 sq. ft. house with a huge screened patio and 3 car garage to a 1250 sq. ft. house was very traumatic.  I gave away scads of furniture, dishes, pots and pans, all kinds of things that I just didn't have room for here.

If there was such a thing as a house stretcher, I would be using it for sure.  I've come to terms wtih it and most of the time, I enjoy my life here.  It's uncomplicated and we are old now.  It's easy to take care of, especially since the Beast put down wooden floors and we got rid of the rugs in every room except my computer room and the guest room.  I can see him doing the guest room but I will fight for this room.  My feet get really cold even in summer and the crawl space under the house ensures that the wood floors get cold during the winter.  I really prefer to go barefoot most of the time but I have learned to wear my slippers now in the winter.  They are warm and fluffy and I need to go to Publix around Christmas time again to replace them since they are getting a bit....well, worn out.    I can always find them there because they are put out as Christmas gifts and aren't expensive, at least not to me.

Time for me to go soak my foot again.  Love you all and thanks for letting me rant a bit.  We always have something that bugs us, don't we?  Have a wonderful day. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

It hasn't been a good day for Chewlee.  She was asleep when she got here but Baron woke her up and she never went back to sleep.  I don't think the naps at her new school last long enough with it being more structured.  The Princess said the teacher said she was very good today so we had to tell her *great!*.  It was a good day at school but not a good day at Grandma's.

She got bossy and demanding.  I finally got so mad at her that I shut down the computer and told her no more games today for her.  I meant it.  She really only asked me once and then accepted it as a fact.    She also tried to get some snacks that she knows she's not allowed when it's close to dinner time.  She tried an end around and asked Grandpa but he surprised her and told her no, too.

She remembered after she ate and so was happy.  She also altered her behavior and stayed that way for the rest of the evening.  We watched her favorite TV programs and she asked her usual *why* questions.  Always the same with me giving her the same answers.   I don't want to confuse her with new ones, LOL.  She got a big thrill when the Beast took her for a ride on his motor scooter when he took Baron out for a run.  Baron got so excited that she was with the Beast that he raced full out for once.  The Beast laughed his butt off over it.  Chewlee came running into the house like she had just won a million dollars and had to tell me all about it.  She then spent a good 15 minutes playing imaginary caterpillar tag with the Beast and Baron.  The Beast kept telling her that Baron had eaten and swallowed it but she always *found* it had escaped it's awful fate. 

The Princess got to see my big toe un-bandaged before she left for work and freaked out.  She has no idea how much smaller and better it is from when I first got it.  I have to soak it later to get rid of more of the dead skin and then re-bandage it.  Chewlee looks at it with the detatchment of a physician and makes different pronouncements on what I should do that makes me laugh.  Then she will ask me what I am going to do to fix it.  She would watch every single step but she likes to touch too much.  Otherwise I would be able to do it while she's here.

The Beast finally went ahead and filled his pain prescription for his *exam aftermath* so that pee-ing won't be so painful for him and will also be less bloody.  You would think that doctors and their nurses who do those exams all the time would be able to do it less traumatically.  Guess not.  **Sigh**  This time I won't let him toss them out afterward but will put them up somewhere until his next appt. in three months.

Love you all.  Thanks for being patient with me.  Gotta go do my soaking now and the other stuff.  Be good.  Be safe.  Stay happy. 

TALES FROM THE INTERNET

Last night was not my night for posting.  Sorry.  We had thick cloud cover and that meant my internet kept fading in and out.  I gave up and went to bed.  This cold was killing me anyway.  Love you all but I will be getting Chewlee in a little bit and I am not really mentally ready for this.  Spent most of the day worrying about the Beast (his appointment was today) or just doctoring the cold.  I will return later.