I stayed in my own bed for the first time in forever.  It was quite a milestone.  The pains were relatively mild and the sharp ones didn't last long, thankfully.  BUT.....I have a cold!  A SUMMER cold.  The worst cold in the world to have and I have no clue where I got it from.  Chewlee doesn't have one but I suppose she could be a carrier.  It doesn't really matter where it came from.  I'm stuck with it. 

I took some of my Theraflu Severe Cough & Cold liquid.  Cherry flavor.  Ick!  But it works.  Thankfully it's the daytime formula so it didn't make me sleepy.  The Beast complained to me about my coughing all night long.  I only woke myself up once or twice as I remember and turned away from him so I wouldn't keep making him wake up.  He got up around 6:30am or so and it surprised me to find out that Baron had stayed near me the whole time I was in bed.  I woke up around 9:30am or so but decided to go back to sleep.  I slept until 2:30pm but when I got up, I felt great!  It's been a long time since I felt that way.  No need to feel guilty and even my feet felt better.  Still hurting but I can walk less like an old person today. 

The Beast told me one of the juices fell over and got all over the fridge.  He said he spent the whole morning cleaning the fridge and it shows.  It also looks like he threw out a shitload of stuff that was in there instead of cleaning it off.  Oh well.  He'll have to replace most of it, little by little.  At least he cleaned it up nice.  He's become more useful these past several months and is doing more of the household jobs, too.  I wish he would do the laundry but that is one area he's awful at.  But he now knows that bleach is not used on colored clothes.  He thought bleach just made things cleaner.    He never really knew about it's *whitening* power.  He ruined a favorite outfit of mine the first time he tried to be helpful that way.  Actually, he ruined a few things but he just didn't know you separate colored clothes from whites.  But he didn't have any training that way.

When his mother got tired of folding and/or hanging up clothes, she used to put the washed but wet clothes in the big freezer in the basement.  Yep, she was a winner and he used to have to go through the clothes in the freezer sometimes to find his clothes and then dry them so he had something to wear.  At least I'm not guilty of that....and I hope I never am!

The Beast found a sausage he is crazy about at Walmart.  It's one of those smoked ones, the Walmart brand, that is pecan smoked.  I tried it and it is tasty but I'm not crazy about it.  Not enough to only buy IT and nothing else.  But I have a feeling that's what the Beast will be buying until he expires.

I love the cartoon movie *Madagascar* and I wondered about the *fossa* that the lemurs were so afraid of.  Today I happened on a Discovery Channel episode about Madagascar and they showed an actual fossa.  Cute little devils but very savage.  It's the largest predator on the island.  No wonder they are afraid of them.  They are probably the *dinner* of choice for them. 

Didn't get really hot here today and the humidity was down, too.  But the weekend coming is going to be miserable.  The Beast is getting a bit up tight about his doctor's appointment this Thursday morning.  He knows what it is going to entail and he hates it.  The doctor HAS to check the bladder to see how it's doing or if another tumor is forming.  He'll be miserable for a couple days afterward.  I feel bad for him but the alternative isn't good.  I imagine it will be another six months and then surgery again.  He'll be going in every three months forever now.

When the Princess picked up Chewlee last night, I was really exhausted.  My legs and feet hurt and I still had to attend to the two toes that need to be debrided and bandaged.  They are healing nicely, thank you but the baby toe on my foot is difficult to do well since it is the part that normally is on the floor that requires care.  It's not easy to see and take care of.

I got that done and found I HAD to put the feet up for a while so I said my goodnight to Bratfink.  I knew that with her daughter and grandkids there visiting her that one or both of us might not be back to chat.  I fell asleep since I had had to take a pain pill and they seem to knock me out these days.  The toes throb and cause these *electric-like shooting* pains that make my muscles contract until the toes calm down for the night.  I got up briefly at around 2 or 2:30am and went to bed.  I was there until around 6:30am and then headed for my computer room recliner since my back was killing me.  I had to have slept strangely and like I was dead for the way it felt. 

I woke up around 9:30am and found the Beast and Baron still asleep so I went back to sleep myself.  I heard them get up later but was too comfy to stir.  The next thing I knew, it was 4:30pm!    I had no idea I was trying to make up lost sleep again but I needed to get up and move around, take my seriously overdue meds and eat something.  I realized I had never updated my blog but figured I would be forgiven for that much.

I heard the Beast at one point working on the lawn.  I knew he had done the edging since some of the tall weeds along the fence were gone....finally!  He hates to do the edging, mostly because of the weight of the gas driven edger, I think.  He's getting older and weaker and that bothers him a lot but he's stubborn.  He hates to admit it to anyone but me.  I just laugh and tell him I told him he would be sorry when I once picked it up.  With gas in the tank on it, it has to weigh 25 lbs or so.  At one point, it might not have even bothered him because he was very strong when he was younger and even before his strokes.  But now, he's lost weight and muscle tone both and I think it's just pure aging.  He's 68 now and his limp has become more pronounced even.  He drags that left foot enough to affect his shoe badly and he has to replace them a couple times a year now where he once only had to do that maybe every two or three years.  He was never hard on shoes.

Well, I have to try to get my linens on my bed changed since I didn't do it yesterday when I normally like to do it.  I don't usually have Chewlee on Sunday so that threw me off.  I don't get her today or tomorrow but I will have her on Wednesday again.  I need the rest . 

I hope you had a great Sunday and Monday.  Chewlee kept me hopping Sunday but then went out to help the Beast in the garden and....oh joy!  brought in more tomatoes from there for me.  She also found herself a strawberry from the plants and one she had for me, too.  How the Beast kept her from picking them all is beyond me.  They really aren't quite ready to pick except for maybe the stray one or two.  The one she gave me had some yellow on it and could have stayed on there for a few more days.  Guess she couldn't have one for herself without one for me, too.  She *shares* as she keeps telling me. 

Today Chewlee had a bunch of questions for me regarding relationships.  What she was trying to do was figure out just how aunts, uncles, cousins, husbands and wives all work.  She was surprised when she found out that Grandpa was my husband and I was his wife.  We were Grandma and Grandpa to her and she had never thought beyond that.  I told her that the Princess, her mother, was our granddaughter but we had adopted her so she became our daughter.  She was really puzzled about that one so I told her it didn't matter.  We were all *family*. 

We looked at pictures and she is finally accepting that her mother was once little like she is but is big now.  She thought her girl cousins were her *sisters* because they were all girls.  But she didn't call the boys her brothers because I don't think she wanted any. 

She thought about all the things I told her.  I DID try not to confuse her and stuck mainly to cousins, aunts and uncles.  She found it funny that her uncles were my kids and had been young once, too.  She didn't understand how Aunt Bratfink could be my sister and her aunt, too.  I told her she was her great-aunt and her comment was that Auntie Bratfink was *wonderful* and *amazing*, not great.  ROFLMAO!  She's a bit prejudiced because Auntie Bratfink sent her DVD's, markers and a paper notebook.  Of course she thinks she's wonderful.  She asked me why she would do that since Auntie Bratfink didn't know her.  That was when we talked about why we send pictures to family and friends and talk about all the people they don't get to see so they feel like they know them.  Just like SHE feels she knows some of her relatives she hasn't gotten to meet yet.  Barring any big changes in their features, I think she would recognize many just from the pictures we have looked at over and over.  She never gets tired of that.

Today we had almost a knock-down, dragged out fight over her nap.  That seldom happens but today she was being a real stinker.  She needed a nap and had been yawning for over a half hour.  Believe it or not, she wrapped her arms around her Dora chair so I couldn't make her stand up so I dragged her into the bedroom then picked her up, put her in the bed and covered her.  I told her *Do NOT move* while she cried and I shut the door.  It lasted just a few minutes after that and, when I checked a little later, she was sound asleep.  When she woke up at one point to go to the bathroom (the Beast told me this), she checked on me (I was asleep) and he heard her come into the master bedroom where Baron and the Beast were taking naps.  He then heard his recliner make some noises and then quiet.  He got up after a few minutes just to check on what she might be doing but she was sound asleep in his recliner with her tee-tee over her.  When she woke up later (I was up before she was), I had my normal, adorable Chewlee back.

We watched Avatar on TV today and Chewlee can't make up her mind if the natives are monsters or just weird.  She didn't like the looks of some of them but she sure liked a lot of the animals and the floating mountains.  In other words, the movie confused and delighted her at the same time. 

We made chicken pot pies for dinner and Chewlee decided she didn't like them.  She liked the veggies and the chicken but not the crust around it.  She told me next time to not make her a crust.  LOL.  Like I made them.  Next time I will just give her some chicken and nuke up some mixed veggies for her.  That will make her happy.  She DOES love vegetables.  Some more than others but she prefers them to meat.  She is also still on her salami and toast kicks.  I won't let her eat any when it's close to lunch or dinner but I don't object if it's a snack.  I know her and I know this kick of hers will pass and it will be something else.  She will also *not like* salami or toast when that happens. If you have kids, you know what I mean.  If you ARE a kid, stop driving your mother nuts! 

Our weather is taking a downward spin as far as temperatures go.  Nothing in the 90's now and suddenly the Beast says he can take the 80's    Oh realy?  Wow..big change.  I remember when the 80's had him complaining BIG TIME.  Was that only last summer???

It wasn't my day I guess.  It was not supposed to be a Chewlee-sitting day but ended up that way.  The Princess called me from work and said she had been asked to stay (Fridays are busy days there) and she had no one to take Chewlee.  Of course, being the Grandma that I am, I was glad to have her.  My thighs were feeling fine and my feet were so-so. 

The first thing Chewlee did was take off her shoes and she put them under my desk.  At least we would know where they were later on.  When she sat on my lap, she sat still.  There was very little wiggling because, when that started, I got up and she had to kneel on my chair to play her games.  She wasn't comfortable doing that so she would sit still again for a long time before the wiggles started.  At least my thighs and feet are just fine now that she has left to go home.

The Princess said her boss told her she only had to stay until 8 since the bulk of their business seems to fall off around then.  I looked at her and said *sure* with my tongue in my cheek.  The bad thing about food service is its unpredictability.    I put Chewlee in the bathtub around 8pm since she had been bugging me but I had to make sure the Princess wouldn't be on her way by then.  Chewlee took her Mermaid Barbie in with her and another Barbie doll.  They both had been in the tub with her before tonight I could tell.  She played happily with them, even washing their hair.  I managed to pry her out of the tub after I shampooed her hair.  Then it was dress her, brush out that long hair of hers and I braided it for her.  Her hair is so fine and long that it is constantly getting in her way.  It has even gotten caught under her arms when she's sleeping. 

I'll get her again tomorrow.  That's my long day with her.  I'll have her almost 12 hours and I will be totally wiped when she leaves.  She was cute today helping me to make dinner.  She kept leaning over on her stool to hug me and tell me she loved me.  I made a vegetarian spaghetti sauce and I let her help saute the onions and then put the veggies I had cut up into the pan.  She wasn't really fond of the smell of the garlic I had crushed and cut up though.She stirred, I seasoned and then added the cut up tomatoes (yes, I added fresh tomatoes since I certainly have enough of them around here...).  Then it was simmer for about an hour and a half.  When I made the spaghetti noodles, she wanted some of them with just a little bit of butter and salt and pepper.  We salt and peppered together, as uaual.  She just HAS to help.  Then she whisked her paper plate off to the computer room in time to watch her movie.

She just loves *How To Train Your Dragon* and watching it with her is a real treat.  She gets very excited when she knows an action part is coming up.  She doesn't want me to miss it so she will say, *Watch, Grandma!  Watch!*  She questions everything she doesn't understand.  She got all upset that Hiccup, the hero, was hurt but was glad his dragon was there with him when he woke up because he (Hiccup) didn't know he was injured.

Tomorrow she wants to watch a baby triceratops and I think she means one of the characters in *Land Before Time*.  There is a little one in that who is one of the main characters in the group of young dinosaurs.  She asks what kind of dinosaurs each of them is but there are two that are a product of someone's imagination.  I am pretty sure they are not true images of dinosaurs that lived.  It's just a cute series but I do hate the fact that she takes it so seriously.

She got upset tonight to find out that she was going to lose her teeth one-by-one as she got bigger.  I tried to tell her that they only got loose when the new, adult teeth were ready to come in.  She said, *I don't want to lose my teeth!* and she sounded just like Sharp Tooth in the movie.  She figured out by herself that he was a tyrannosaurus and that Little Foot was a brontosaurus.  We've watched *Walking with Dinosaurs* often enough that she knows the names AND what they look like in general.  She also knows that Sarah is a triceratops and she likes her a lot even though I think she's a bit of a snob and a stinker.  She should be called Sharp Tongue....LOL

Love you all.  Have a great Saturday. 

On the days (evenings) I have Chewlee, I am always late getting my post for the day up.  Sometimes it's just because of the time when her mother picks her up and other times, like today, it's because she just exhausts me.  Today it was just a touch different.  I couldn't sit at my desk without placating my sore thighs and angry feet.  She just HAD to sit in my lap at the computer to play her games.  And she doesn't know the meaning of *sit still*.  Her butt is so bony that she makes my thighs sore as hell.  I keep trying to make her sit still but it's like asking the wind not to blow.  Worse, today she refused for most of the time to take off her shoes.  It wasn't because she thought the floor was *messy* as is sometimes her excuse (she drops crumbs constantly) since I had let her help me vacuum.  I try to have that done before she gets here because she isn't as helpful as she wants to be but keeps getting in the way, standing on the cord or fighting me for which direction the vacuum should go.  When she gets a bit bigger, I am going to let her do it herself when she's here.  That will probably end that desire to *help*.  It sure did with my kids. 

Anyway, her keeping her shoes on in such close quarters brings them into way too close contact...or the possibility of contact....with my still healing feet.  And it seems like that is all it takes to make sure she gets them every time her foot leaves the floor.  She isn't even choosy about which foot will impact with mine.  And her constant *I sorry, Grandma...I sorry* goes on until I am able to breathe again and tell her *it's okay*.  It wasn't until I was finally so sore and made her go sit in her Dora chair and told her *no more games* that she finally took off her shoes and told me she would sit for a while until *I* felt better.  She meant sit in her Dora chair, thankfully.  When SHE was ready, she promised me very, very, very sincerely that she would sit still this time.  And, know what?  She did!    No one was more surprised than I was.  However, my thighs were still unforgiving so, when the Princess rushed in here and out of here because she had to rush back to work for something she forgot, I had to creep slowly over to my recliner and let everything below my hips relax for a while.  I kept reassuring my thighs and feet that she was gone for the night AND we wouldn't have to contend with her tomorrow. 

It ended up being almost a dozen tomatoes.  A couple of them looked like Big Boys.  When Chewlee came, she brought with her two new DVDs.  Both are Barbie ones and the topic is Mermaids and Fairies.  So, of course, we had to watch those first.

I had just gotten my order from Amazon so our third movie we watched was How To Train Your Dragon.  A really cute movie that Chewlee didn't seem to react to the first time but she decided to put it on for a second run for some reason and that one she paid attention to and got excited over.

There wasn't a stuffed animal in the bigger box but it was even more exciting to Chewlee.  It was the Mermaid Barbie that she wanted.  It was really beautiful before she took it in the tub with her.  Her hair is wild now and I was going to brush it and semi-style it when Chewlee had a fit because *she has her own brush at my house*.  With that, Mermaid Barbie was set aside for when she went home. 

When I put my feet up when we put on the Dragon movie, she came and sat with me on the recliner and pulled the blanket over her legs.  Then she started telling me she loved me as she tried to make *asian eyes* on me by pulling back and up on the skin at the edge of my eyes.  We made a game out of me scrunching up my eyes so she couldn't do it.  She laughed until she got the hiccups.  I sure hope she doesn't do that her whole life when she is really laughing from *the belly* as some people put it.  She laughs with her whole body when she does that to herself.  It's really kind of cute but the hiccups really last for a long time and nothing seems to help get rid of them.  We've tried all the *usual treatments* but the hiccups go on and on.

The Princess told me she bought this little set for Chewlee to use when she takes her nap on the cots at the new school.  It's much like a sleeping bag, complete with pillow, but has no zipper to close it up.  Chewlee has been using it when she watches TV.  It goes on the floor and she makes herself comfy, including her stuffed koala bear that she loves.  It's incredibly soft so I don't blame her.

I was shocked today to discover that we have this thick vine of morning glories that is taking over the front porch.  I am not ready quite yet to start doing yard work but I told the Beast (after my *Yikes!*) that I am going to yank it out.  He said to just leave it because he thought it was pretty.  But I know how invasive that vine actually is.  It will take over the whole front and cover all the plants.  Eventually, it would choke off and kill everything out there.  It has got to go!  I have my little fir tree out there and it has just reached the size that it can be decorated this winter for Christmas.  I bought some solar powered lights for it and have some ornaments that can be used on it, too.  Goodbye Morning Glories!!!

The Beast got out on his Deere to cut the lawn.  It hadn't been done in a couple weeks.  Not since Tara's boys came over and did it when the Beast and I were ill.  I couldn't believe how much the grass had grown, especially in the lot next door where most of the Beast's fruit trees are located.  It was almost *WAVING* like a field of wheat.  It was so long that there are literally piles of grass that form rows where the Beast went up and down.  It looks like we rototilled it and planted something.  You know...like you see on farms.    Too funny!

I asked the Beast if he was going to try raking it up and putting it in the compost barrel and he just shot me a dirty look.  Him?  Rake?  You MUST be joking.  The last time he raked was about 25 years ago and that was for his aunt when we both lived in Florida and on the East Coast side.  She now resides in North Carolina and we are here in Alabama.  We get a lot of maple leaves in the fall and those long needles from all the spruce trees.  He just leaves them rot on the ground and says he's providing fertilizer for the grass. 

The plants are starting to really suffer from the heat.  Everything but the tomato plants.  They are HUGE and still full of tomatoes at various stages of growth.  They keep flowering and fruiting.  I'm about ready to yank THOSE out, too.  I looked out and from the deck could see about 8 or more tomatoes that are ripe and red.  The Beast says he will get them this evening for me.    Oh yeah!  I really want those.  NOT!!!!

Well, I am going to grab a nap before Chewlee gets here.  My stomach is a bit upset and I feel like I want to barf.  If I lay down for a bit, that will pass.

Had an interesting day.  The Princess called me early and got a little upset that I didn't pop up with *Happy Birthday* so she thought I forgot.  I laughed and told her to look at my blog page.  What she really called for was to find out if I could take Chewlee a lot earlier than I normally get her.  It seems she barfed at school and had a really upset tummy.  Guess it's something going around or else she caught it from us.  The Princess had to go get her and drop her off here to me but I was laying back in my recliner and she put her in my arms.  I covered us both up (it's air conditioned, remember) and we both took a nap.  She looked so sweet when I woke up before she did. 

I brushed her hair back from her face and found out she had a bit of a fever when I checked her neck.  She woke up about 10 minutes later and I got the Children's ibuprofen down from the medicine cabinet.  It's the grape flavor and she took it nicely.  I fill up the cup to the right mark and she sips it until it's gone.  She then played some Mahjong Safari from my lap and was tickled pink because I had changed a couple of the animal tiles.  She wanted to know what they were and I told her.  When I give her hints if she gets stuck, I always use the animals name and make her look for them.  She definitely has a high recognition rate.  That tickles me.  She knows the difference between an anteater, an ardvark and a platypus.  She recognizes about 30 different animal tiles.  Thankfully, although they are *drawn* pictures, they are lifelike.  She's a real trip at the zoo I understand. 

The Princess had to take her English final today for her summer course she took for college.  It was a 2 hour test but she felt good about how she did.  She's pretty much made nothing but A's in all her courses and I'm proud of her for that.  She was so BAD at English in school.  A whiz at math but, OMG!  You would have died to read her compositions.  She was so totally clueless.  I really had to work at home with her on that.  Now?  She does great.  You wouldn't know it was the same person. 

She and Johnnycakes were busy moving into the house they rented.  They really needed more room and a yard for the dog.  She's gotten so big!  The best part about it is the house is cheaper than the apartment she was in.  She needs a money saver because this is her last semester at Snead.  She will have to change locations for the rest of the math courses she needs for her degree and it's an hour's trip away.  That's going to really cut down on her work time.  She said something about finding a different job but I didn't quiz her on that.

She loved the ring that I got her for her birthday.  I have to figure out getting the ring for my other two granddaughters mailed to them.  I want to give Sheepie one just because her stepsister stole the one I gave her for Christmas two years ago.  But the other granddaughter's birthday is in less than a week so I need to get that to her quickly. 

A piece of good news.  We have a second Bartlett pear tree that the Beast had really not paid any attention to since it's on a side of the house he seldom uses.  We have several pears on that one and four were ready to be picked.  So the Beast feels a bit better that we didn't lose all of them.  They are really nice and a good size, too.  I'll have one with my cottage cheese tomorrow for breakfast.

Okay, now as to why we really should have learned when it comes to anything that has to do with the Beast's family.  When the Beast talked to his brother, Rembrandt, we got the real story on his sister's husband.  He does NOT have a cancerous mass in his groin but they did find some free cancer cells in his blood that they want to investigate further after they take care of his current problem.  Apparently, his pain was caused by a blood clot in his groin area.  They are treating him with blood thinners and he has to stay immobile until they can schedule him for a surgical procedure that will strain the clot/clots out of his system.  It's tricky, I gather.

With the Beast's family, they seem to only hear what they want to hear.  They heard *groin*, *cancer cells*, *surgery* and, like a rumor, it grew in scope with the telling.  It's bad enough what he is suffering with.  Especially since he is so much younger than we are (almost 20 years younger  ).  It IS true about his family and cancer.  It's really tragic and makes me think it might be a good thing they never had children.  I really wonder about the genes in that family.  As for the part of the family with the *tragic tale*, when I say we should have known better, we really should have.  They all lie and are so prone to exaggeration that it's not even funny.  **Sigh**  Live and learn they say but I guess we just haven't.....yet!

But, if you said a prayer for him, it's not wasted and I appreciate it.  Thank you.  Oh, and when Chewlee was feeling better (she even ate), she started to tell me all about her new school.  Right now, she's enthused and I hope that continues.  She went home early with the Princess to their *new house* and a couple of surprise presents from her *bald-headed grampa*.  We know he sent her a couple of DVD's but what was in the other box, I have no clue.  Probably a stuffed animal of some sort.   I'll find out tomorrow when she gets here because she will probably bring it with.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PRINCESS.....and may you have many more!!!

It was an awful day for both the Beast and me.  We were suffering from upset tummies. I spent most of the day in bed just trying to feel better.  Late in the afternoon, I finally was able to get my poor body up on my feet and make a fresh pot of coffee.  I got online with Bratfink and sipped my coffee until my tummy settled down.  The Beast actually fried up a pork steak and made some country gravy, which I have not eaten any of yet.  I'll try it a bit later.

We got a phone call from a relative to tell us that the Beast's sister's husband was taken into emergency yesterday in a great deal of pain.  They found a cancerous mass in his groin and I don't believe it's operable.  What is so sad about this is he lost his youngest sister recently to a mass in HER groin and the cancer got into her bloodstream and then into her lungs.  The whole family seems beset by cancer.  His father died of it, several cousins and uncles.  If it has to be terminal, please say a prayer that he doesn't suffer much.

Our garden is still producing.  The Beast brought in a couple more green peppers so I am going to cook them up and he's going to grill some Italian sausages tomorrow.  He'll make a trip to the Boaz store for some good Italian bread.  We seldom get it here at our local Walmart but it's a better grade store in Boaz.  Yes, there are differences in the stores and what they stock.  If you aren't sure about that, do a little research in your area.  There is even a difference in the clothes they carry.  Sad but true.

This is a short blog today.  Tomorrow I get my Chewlee and I wonder what she thought of her new school she will be attending.  They had the obligatory orientation and meeting of parents and teachers today.  I'll hear all about it tomorrow when the Princess drops Chewlee off before work.