TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

The Beast went and bought the *cottage* today.  They said we could have it in as little as one week.  So, sometime during the next couple of days, he will loosen the fence post he needs in order to remove that section of fencing for the cottage to be moved into place in the back here.  I also found the list of things that need to be purchased for getting it ready for the Princess.

My relief is that my room will remain the same...phew.  No putting a bed in here which would mean a lot of other changes, including it not being available to me late in the evening.  Oh, some things will still change but it will be good ones.  Much of the stuff that is in my closet can be moved out to the new storage area once the Beast is done with that section.  The Beast has also promised to move a lot of his stuff out of the big bookcase in here so that I can use it for my DVD's.  We shall see. 

If it reduces the clutter and makes getting at my Xmas stuff easier, I'll be very happy indeed.  Only a few more days until I go to the orthopedic doctor and hopefully find out what is going on with my feet.  It's been three months now and, although I can walk now without support, the feet are incredibly painful and make walking difficult.  I also have that one wound which is not healing well.  I really have to find a new primary physician.  He is just not experienced enough with older patients.  He almost seems afraid to touch me, like I might break or something.  Perhaps he's afraid of just hurting me unknowingly.  I don't know but this is the second time he's failed me greatly.  Both things had to do with needing to see an orthopedic doctor and his not doing HIS part.  Hell, he never even took an x-ray because I could wiggle my toes.  Of course I could.  It was only a couple of days after the accident.  Now I can bend them but not wiggle them.

Chewlee is spending more time with the Beast and Baron lately.  Plus, if he goes outside, she's right there with him.  She reminds me of Baron that way but, so far, she hasn't wanted to take a ride with him in the car.  If he gets on the scooter, however, that's a different story.

I think the Princess is really getting *into* this whole thing.  She will have all the conveniences of a dorm room in a college, including a small fridge (the one we bought for emergencies, such as the tornado troubles last April).  She will also get the small microwave to use.  And, although she is not usually a coffee drinker unless she is studying late at night, she will have the spare coffee maker I keep in the garage.  It's almost new.  It's only been used three or four times so far so it should work for her needs.  I imagine she will buy some of those special coffees they feature at the store.  You know the ones I mean...the French Vanilla, Hazelnut, etc. 

Time to think about something for dinner for us.  I have some leftovers I might just heat up.  Some cubed steaks in gravy, a bit of pot roast, some potatoes and I can open a can of veggies.  Yep, sounds good to me.  Hope you are enjoying the cooler weather if it applies.  Ours won't really start until the end of the week and I know the Beast will be happy if he's going to be busy getting ready for the cottage to be delivered.  Love you all and I wish you a great rest of the week. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

The Beast and I have noticed a trend here that intrigued us.  Sheds are very popular and so are playhouses for kids.  Some of the manufacturers of sheds have taken things a little further so that a family can make use of the *playhouse* after the kids are grown.  They have some of the neatest storage sheds because they look like cottages even to having a porch on them.  Some are a little more barn-like with a loft, too.  One that I am really fond of but had a lot of useless or should I say WASTED area was this one that had a bay window in it. 

The outsides look fantastic but the insides are 2x4's and in need of finishing, depending on what you plan to do with it.  Well, looks like we are going to get one of those.  A 12X32 cabin.  A bit on the plain side but....it will go in a spot in the backyard so there can be no complaints nor any code violations (as per minimum size).  The Beast measured it out with the Princess's help and it will fit nicely.  It WILL require the Beast removing one section of fence and one post besides the gate in order to get it in but, since it's the fence that was tipped over at an angle by the tornado winds we had in April, not a big deal.

The Beast is excited because it can easily be converted into part storage and part bedroom/study for the Princess.  We have AC for it and even heat.  He is going to insulate it and put up paneling in the area the Princess will use.  He'll bring electric and water to it but ... it will only have a port-o-potty in it (like ones used on some boats) for emergency use at night when she sleeps out there.  It will have a sink for washing up in the morning although I told the Beast that I know the Princess will be taking showers here in the house.

But she will be able to watch TV out there with Chewlee when she's not working.  When she finally moves out, we can use it as a spare room for company.  We've needed that and this will have comforts.  It won't be like being sent out to a tent.  The Beast will build a long closet on one side and put up shelves along the other.  There will be a divide so that part can be closed off when someone is occupying the *other guest room*. 

When they went to go look at the actual units, Chewlee was totally fascinated although she told me that Grampa was going to buy a house with NOTHING IN IT!!!!  She was mystified over it.  I told her that it would look very different because grampa was planning on fixing it up.  She just shrugged.  She does that when she really doesn't think you know what you are talking about.  She'll learn.  She will also be amazed.  I have to give the Beast credit; he really can do a good and quick job on anything he sets his mind to.  He DID tell the Princess she had to help out, however.  I think he's going to try using Tara's boys, too, so they can earn a few bucks with Christmas ahead.  They will be able to learn something as well as earn money.

Neither one of us is really happy about the outlay of cash for all this but....it does solve several problems.  AND...later, the Beast can actually screen in the porch on the *cabin* and put in a screen door so it will be nice to sit out on during the spring, summer and fall.  The Princess plans on living here until she graduates as per our pointed conversation.  **Sigh**  Will we NEVER have one of the kids NOT living with us for more than a year or so?  At least the older ones seem situated finally.  Well, except for Mustachio but he's heading for Afghanistan to work and build up some savings for himself.  New truck and who knws?  Maybe buy a house?  Whatever it is he wants to do, he should be able to do.  He loves traveling anyway (he's like me) and this will put him within reasonable distances to many places he likes and some he's wanted to visit.

Well, love you all.  Enjoy the cooler weather.  We don't get ours until later in the week but there's nothing in the nineties or triple digits in the forecast for us, thank goodness!  Have some fun.  Be careful driving.  Smile. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Looks like some of the things I felt about the relationship between the Princess and Johnnycakes was right.  Of course, I kept it close to my chest since I took my clues from various things Chewlee said.....and didn't say.  It made me sad to think that he went from being very loving to Chewlee to not wanting to have anything to do with her.  Chewlee stopped talking about *daddy*, which is what she called him because he was the male figure in her life from when she started becoming aware of the people in her life.  The *daddy* term was not suggested by anyone.  She knew from her story books that everyone had a *mommy* and a *daddy* so....he had to be her daddy.

But the past year has seen less and less of her talking about *daddy*.  The reason I started watching Chewlee once again was because he told the Princess that he *didn't want to take care of a kid that wasn't his*.  I knew that much and am really not sure why the Princess even took him back after their one breakup.  The bad thing right now is that they actually found a place she likes that she can afford without him but he refuses to leave.  She is tired of his being mean to Chewlee who is a loving child.  All the furniture in the place is hers.  He owns just a computer and a recliner.  Period. 

We are talking about accommodating them once more here at our house.  We've discussed several different things, including buying another travel trailer but that has it's problems, too.  We will have to give it more thought so that Chewlee doesn't lose her feeling of her mother and herself being a *family* on their own.  **Sigh**  All because Johnnycakes wants to feel he's in control.

He could move into his mother's house, which is empty but he doesn't want to make anything easy for the Princess and Chewlee.  Big man.  I really liked him at one time but this is a side of him that I had never seen.  The Princess said he no longer helps clean, cook or anything that resembles being a couple or a family.  He's a slob and he pays half the utility bills and rent but nothing else.  She buys all the groceries, too.  It's a sad situation all around.

He's become cruel to Chewlee.  If she leaves a book on the floor, instead of calling her and making her pick it up and put it away, he throws it into her room.  If it hits her, well....that's too bad.  She shouldn't have left it on the floor.  It explains a lot to me about why she has become so clingy to me.   She feels her *daddy* doesn't love her any more.  If she tries to hug him, he just pushes her away and tells her she's annoying.

My heart hurts for her and for the Princess.  She wants him out of their life since he says he LOVES HER but not her daughter.  The Princess says they are a package.  He knew from the beginning that she had a child.  He's just not mature enough to take on that responsibility nor to do the right thing and leave.  So sad.

Love you all.  Hope you are having a good day.  I'll let you know what happens. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Like everyone else that was near a radio or television on this date in 2001, we will always remember where we were at the very moment we heard about the Twin Towers being hit by that first airplane.  I had turned on the news like I always did at that time of the morning.  I had seen the Princess off to school (her school bus picked the kids up at the end of the block which was maybe 100 feet from our front door).  I got myself a cup of coffee and headed towards my office.  I got a call from our company secretary to tell me to put on the news because a plane had crashed into one of the Towers in New York.

My first thought was that it was purely an accident.  I got the Beast on his cell phone as I watched the screen and was telling him about it when the second plane crashed into the other tower.  It was THEN that I screamed, *OMG!!!  That was no accident!  It's terrorists and we are under attack!*  The Beast was in the midst of a major project on one of our bigger office buildings and told me to keep him posted as I found out more information.  I didn't have to because our clients and their tenants were totally in shock and made sure they kept all the guys informed.  Many of them were former New Yorkers and had friends and family living in Manhattan.  A few had friends that worked in the Towers.

Everyone, I dare say, was totally glued to their TV sets for the next few days.  I had a cousin that worked at the Pentagon and I spent the next couple of days trying to get hold of him or find someone that knew how he was.  Turns out he wasn't working at the Pentagon that day but was at a satellite center....phew!  But HE lost friends in THAT attack.

It was almost impossible to tear yourself away from any information we could glean from the television reports.  Sleep and eating suffered.  The Princess and her friends absorbed the information and went out to play in the pool while the weather was still nice.  The Princess, I am ashamed to say, was at least old enough to fend for herself as far as eating.  I don't remember what or even IF I ate.  Every television set in our house was set to the same channel so we couldn't move without being able to see one.

I sit here, 10 years later, and it seems like it was just yesterday as I watch the specials on TV today.  My only consolation is that Osama Bin Laden is dead, finally.  If he wanted to bring their objectives to our attention in a dramatic way, he sure did.  It did not, however, terrify us as a nation.  It riveted us.  It pissed us off in a BIG way.  Homes that had never done it before suddenly flew the American flag to show where OUR allegiance lay. 

We lost thousands of innocents that day.  Our hearts bled for their friends and family and for ourselves.  We had been complacent for far too long and taken our Armed Forces for granted.  There was a huge outpouring of love, patriotism, compassion and a solidarity of spirit we had not felt in many years.  Perhaps never before in our lives.  It was indeed a day we all knew we would never forget.  It was an end to innocence for many and a determination set in that took our enemies by surprise.  They unleashed a tiger that day.  Or should I say an EAGLE.  The American Eagle was flying and totally pissed off.

We've lost some of that determination and patriotism but....I still touch my heart when I see a man or woman in uniform.  It's a special salute that was online to show your support for them and your gratitude.  I know it's on UTube but I have lost that link, sad to say.  Perhaps Bratfink has it and I can post it later in case you haven't seen and/or used it. 

But, today should be a day of prayer and remembrance.  It may have been 10 years but it sure seems almost like yesterday........

PS:  HERE IS THE LINK THANKS TO BRATFINK.  LOVE YOU,SIS.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSfFYxSdKdo

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

You have to remember that this next information is from a four-year-old girl.  My great-granddaughter Chewlee.  When she showed up yesterday, I gather she watched some zombie movie with her mother.  The first thing she told me was that she had watched a movie with Mommy at her house.  She said this guy got a broken heart and he died.  Then he became a zombie (as she demonstrated how a zombie walked, arms straight out in front of her).  Then with wide eyes, she said, *...and then he went for his MOTHER!!!!!!*  That fact horrified her.  She told me, *That wasn't nice.  He should love his mother even if he does have a broke heart.*  She then told me our hearts were in our bellies because when her heart hurts, her belly hurts.  I tried to tell her where it really was but she refused to listen to me.  I just shook my head.  What can you do when they are just four?  They KNOW they are right.  That will continue on through her teenage years and probably until she is about 30 or so. 

What I love about this kid is how she loves me.  I was tired since I hadn't slept well so I was laying back on my desk chair with my eyes closed when I felt her getting on the chair on her knees so she could put her arms around me and nestle her head on my shoulder.  She stayed that way while I put my arms around her and held her for a few minutes before she leaned back, saw my eyes open and then gave me a quick kiss before she got down..  She actually does that a lot to me.  She will suddenly feel the need to give me hugs and a kiss or two.  How can you not love a kid like that?

I got some new DVD's today from Amazon that she looked over and promptly claimed as her own, which kind of surprised me since I thought they might be a bit *older* than she was ready for.   One is Neverending Story 1 & 2.  Another is The Secret Garden.  The last one is A Little Princess.  She told me she wants them and immediately put them into *her* DVD stand.  That cracked me up.  She told me we would watch one of them tomorrow.  She knows that there isn't much she likes to watch on TV on Sundays and, since she is becoming semi-aware of the days of the week (mostly weekends, which is not surprising to me...LOL), she DOES know when it's Sunday.  I think it's also because Saturday and Sunday are her longest days here at Grandma's house.  I asked her if she wanted to pick out which of the new movies we would watch and she told me *not today....tomorrow*.  At least I won't have to watch all those damn commercials with toys that makes her crazy because she wants them ALL!!!

She made a new friend yesterday.  Our neighbor had some people come by to visit and it turns out those people (an aunt and uncle) had their five-year-old granddaughter with them.  Her name is Ashley and she was really cute.  The two of them got along immediately,  as soon they saw each other, they were drawn together like a magnet.  They played outside for about a half hour with me doing part time watching and the Beast the rest.  Then Ashley and Chewlee both had to come inside to eat.  She looked for her to be there today a couple times but she didn't come by.  I'm kind of sorry she doesn't live nearby.  They tired each other out. 

Blue Clues was focused on making various letters of the alphabet today and Chewlee was almost as focused, watching.  She would make the same strokes and look at me and say, *Well, THAT was pretty easy!*  He went through the whole alphabet and, when he was done, she looked at me and said, *I know all my letters, don't I?*  I told her of course she does but she DOES need to practice them so she doesn't forget them.  She gave me a look that just about said she was FINE without practicing.  Of course.  I keep forgetting she knows it all (already....sigh!).

Going to fix dinner for us now and get this posted.  Love you all.  Have a great day and a wonderful Sunday.  Take care and say a prayer for those suffering from the flooding. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I live in Alabama.  It's in the heart of the Bible Belt, so called because of the strong Baptist presence.  I am constantly amazed at the number of churches you find here.  It's almost one on every block.  Not quite but a drive around town would amaze you.  I guess there are as many different sects of Baptist as there are churches.  I don't know because I don't attend any church.  I don't believe in organized religion.  They all get weird.

When I was a kid growing up in Chicago, I went to Catholic school.  I was a very bright child.  I could read in kindergarten and it caused a ruckus there with the nuns.  Especially because I brought a book I was reading to school one day and it turned out to be on the black list they have of books for Catholics NOT to read.  I ended up in the rectory with the head priest, Father George, pulling out books and asking me to read different paragraphs.  He called my mother to come to the school and Mother Superior brought me in front of the eighth graders to read from their book.  I was very proud of the fact that I could read but I had no idea that my mother thought I just had an eidetic memory because she would read things to me like the newspaper every day when I was sitting by her.  I would read it to my father when he came home from work and he thought the same thing.  Until that day, no one knew I really WAS reading.  That was something I give my mother credit for because when I would ask what a word was, she always told me and I remembered.

Anyway, one of the books I read was the Bible.  All of it.  Took me over a month to do it but I finally got it read.  I found it....confusing in some ways.  God seemed to have a short temper.  And, although He created us all, he sure seemed not to like some of the people that filled the earth.  I thought many of the people that wrote the Bible put a lot of their own personalities and preferences into it and that made God seem almost psychotic at times.

I had a real problem with the Catholic idea of Limbo.  First of all, there's no such thing in the Bible and Father George got really angry with me when I challenged him on it after my mother had a miscarriage and the baby hadn't been baptized.  I remember getting angry and telling him that a loving God wouldn't send an innocent baby to Limbo forever.  That made me really angry even as a youngster.  I was about 8 years old.  It wasn't long after that when my parents put all of us kids into public school.  With seven kids, paying for Catholic school was not something we could afford.  Besides that, a lay teacher told my parents that I should be in a public school because Catholic school was geared toward the least intelligent student.  A bright child would become bored because there would be no challenges.

After I was put into public school, I was double promoted a few times and skipped grades.  By the time I was 11, I was in eighth grade with five other bright students and a teacher that took the time to devise a curriculum that challenged us.  It was during this time that my mother decided to find another faith.  She checked out a few and ended up with Jehovah's Witnesses.  Now THERE was a real interesting time and I mean that like the Chinese curse.  People get angry with me when I call it a cultish religion but they spend most of their time separating their followers from family and friends who are not a part of the religion.  They don't celebrate any holidays at all except for the one celebrating Christ's resurrection.  No birthdays.  No Christmas.  No Easter.  No Mother's Day.  Even wedding anniversaries are just tolerated.  No Thanksgiving.  They spend a lot of time saying not to store up any wealth in this life because Armaggedon is just a short time away.  I heard that when I was just 10 or so.  They were wrong and, if I had taken them literally, we would have had no extra money set aside for our retirement all these years later.

There were a lot of things about them I didn't like and couldn't stand about them.  They were cliquish and they also listened to a lot of rumors.  They did a lot of things they preached against and it eventually led me to leave them.  I told the Beast he could continue if he wanted to but me and my kids were never going to attend another meeting again.  

I studied several other religions and found they all were pretty much the same.  Hellfire and damnation.  No gentle and loving God.  There are cliques in all of them depending on donations and involvement in each.  I decided that I would just go ahead and keep my personal God.  I had a long talk with Him one day and told him that I loved him with all my heart and I would be the very best person I could be and leave my destiny in His hands.  I pray...a lot.  For my kids, grandkids, even the Beast.  I pray for other people that are suffering from one thing or another but I do NOT go to any church.  That alienates me in many ways from my neighbors who are very much church-going people.  I'm the strange one even though I do many things that they find good about me.  I don't mind.  I just continue to be a good person and a good neighbor.  I'm outgoing and I speak to them when they take their dogs for walks and I am outside.  Or if they are walking their babies.  All the things that tell them I am friendly and pleasant.

What they feel about my not going to a church doesn't matter to me.  I know that God loves me and He knows I love Him.  I leave my soul in His loving Hands and just go on trying to be the best person I can be.

Love you all.    God loves you, too, you know.

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Today is September 8th.  It's a momentous date for me because that is the day my mother died. in 1985.  She was only 56 years old.  Way too young.  She wasn't the world's greatest mother but, good lord, she managed to teach all of us kids a whole hell of a lot.  I am grateful for all those good things she taught me.  And I miss her every day with an intensity I can hardly believe.  When I think of her not being here with us, I still cry.  Crazy, right?  I'm sorry you might think that but, if you haven't lost a mother you loved (even when she wasn't loveable at times), then you have no idea what it's like to lose her before we were ready for her to leave this earthly plain.

She never got to see any of her great-grandchildren.  She loved and adored babies and they loved her back.  Something about her voice and her laugh...!  I can still hear her laugh at times.  Sometimes, at the family reunion, one of her younger sisters will laugh and it's close enough that I instantly think *MOM!* before reality sets in.  Unless I happen to be talking with them at the time, of course.  Then it only causes a little twinge in my heart.

Mom was really just starting to be a wonderful person again after a period in her life that was both rough and unstable.  She had become that caring person that you enjoyed spending time with and talking to about pretty much anything that you wanted.  She loved jokes and we all loved to call her and share them with her.  It was several years before, after hearing a good joke, I didn't automatically start to pick up the phone to call her and share it with her. 

When I have Chewlee and she is doing and saying some of the cute things she does almost daily, I think how much my mother would just love to be around her and watch her grow up.  I know my mother would be 81 now but I look at AM, who is 92 now and I know that Mom would be just about as active.  Oh, not running around like a 50 year old but she would join in the gathering of family and help with the cooking, sitting down and peeling potatoes or some such thing.  That would be mom.  Every holiday, I always think of her and include her in my prayers.  There are even times when I feel her spirit close to me. 

She would love that my sons were in the service, regardless of how long (or short).  She had been proud of her brothers who predeceased her from cancer when they served their country during WW2 and her brother, Wally, who made the Navy his career.  She would have been so proud and happy that the Princess is becoming a teacher of mathematics even though that was never HER strong point.  Her great-grandson who just became a Marine would have made her proud and happy.  She would have been incredulous at her great-grandson that learned to speak Mandarin Chinese and won an award for it, I believe.  I do know he was written up in the paper because he was so fluent and I think he was only in sixth grade!  If I am wrong, Bratsis2 will correct me on that in a comment, I am sure.

She would have loved and adored each of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren for their many different accomplishments, from learning Chinese to shooting their first deer at the age of 12 (Bratfink's granddaughter).  I would have loved to have seen her enjoying herself with them all.  I feel so sad that I have been as deprived of her as all the children have.  They will never know that loving person who would have loved nothing better than to spoil them rotten.

I still miss you, Mom.  Love you so much. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I wasn't sure I would blog again today except I didn't expect to talk to my grandson THE MARINE today.  I called my son, Marcus Aurelius, to make sure he had made no mention of my blog on his Facebook page.  The Beast does, at times, go through Facebook and looks up people that we know.  I have never wanted the Beast to know I blog.  The whole purpose was for me to be able to blow off steam at the different things he does or has done in the past that have hurt me.  But, as in everyone's life, there are good days, funny days and a lot of it is because the Beast is now old and not able to do many of the things he did before his strokes.

Anyway, my son assured me that there was no mention of my blog on his Facebook site (phew!) and then I got on the phone with my new Marine grandson, Doc.  It's funny how you can be transported back in time while holding a totally TODAY conversation.  I remembered Doc as the excited kid that was always discovering new things, new games, new places.....the whole world was an adventure to him and one he embraced with open arms.  It always bothered me that the Beast never warmed to him as a kid.  He never understood him and didn't want to take the time to, either.  I was happy he had his maternal grandfather for that.

So, it turns out that our Marine boy has some time before he even gets assigned to a company and a duty station assignment.  He may not be slated for Afghanistan, he says, since there are other guys there that haven't been overseas yet.  So we can wait and see what happens there.  He was telling me his little sister has been becoming more of a spoiled brat.  He hadn't noticed it as much before he went to boot camp but it was obvious to him now that he was at home.  He returns to base on Monday evening and I know for sure that his mom and dad will miss him terribly.

He got to at least hear Chewlee interrupting me while I was talking to him and it made me laugh because he remembers her as a toddler, barely walking and talking.  I told him she's now 4, going to a real preschool and the trick is trying to get her to shut up, not talk!  He laughed at that.  I wish we had still been talking when she came up with her most recent line.  She will tell you something she wants to do and then ends it with....*does that work for you?*  It makes me laugh every time.  Even the Beast mentioned it.  You really have to be careful what you say around her.  She's like a little vacuum cleaner.

Just wanted to let you know what happened after I posted earlier.  Have a great Thursday and keep warn/cool as your weather demands.  We should be back in heat on Friday here.  **Sigh**  Oh well, I've enjoyed it while we are having it.  Love you all. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I was a bit shocked today when the Beast brought up the fact that he needed to get a birthday card for AM, his aunt.  She's over 90 now and more vigorous than you would believe.  She has Parkinson's but is on a medication that seems to control it very well.  She doesn't shake like she used to anyway.  Her birthday is on September 11th.  Yeah...THAT date and she hates the fact that it happened on her birthday.  A lot of people will never forget her birthday now and not for the best reason.  BUT....the fact that it was the BEAST that remembered was VERY shocking.

We were kidding about cards today and how you can buy ones that say things like:  why are you still alive?  Or I hate your guts (those new divorce ones).  Or even:  Am I still in the will?    The Beast is not really sentimental but I told him to remember that AM has always loved him.  She's his father's sister.  The Cousin that was just operated on for bladder cancer tumors is her son.  The Cousin and the Beast have always been close even though the Cousin can be a real idjit at times and tries the Beast's patience.

So the Beast headed out to get me some cigarette fixings and to also pick up a few odds and ends that I had on my list while he was at Walmart.  Unfortunately, we do not have a Hallmark store around us anywhere.  I'll end up signing it and addressing it so he can put it in the mail tomorrow.  She should get it right on time.  She's the kind of aunt that always seems to remember OUR birthdays but at least this year, I don't have to be the one to go buy the card.  **Grin**

I was surprised that the Beast only got ME the fixings for my cigarettes.  I looked around and didn't see a whole lot of his stuff except for tubes.  I asked him if he was planning something like quitting and he just said *eventually*.  Oh yeah, like I really believe it of him.  He's tried before.  Hell, he was in the hospital for over a week when he had his stroke and nary a cigarette crossed his lips during that whole time.  He had orders from the doctor not to smoke any more.  I had our friends, who own a duct cleaning company, come out to our house and clean the ducts for us and ordered everyone outside on the pool patio to smoke.  We cleaned the house well (I even hired a gal to come in and help out).  We washed down walls, cleaned windows and frames, washed curtains, cleaned off cabinets and wood furniture well.  I used Febreze on all the furniture and every bedroom had curtains, sheets and bedspreads cleaned so the house had no smell of smoke or tobacco.  I was doing everything I could to help him along and prevent any smoking to lure him back. 

Know what happened?  On the day he was released from the hospital, while I tended to checking him out, his Cousin whisked him away to the house and had cigarettes ready for him as per the Beast's instructions to him on the phone when he set it up.  He KNEW I wouldn't give him one but I walked into the house and he was sitting on the back patio, smoking.  I was furious!  And very disappointed in him.  He should have been past the intense need and it would have been a cakewalk for him.  **Sigh**

I have to go take care of Chewlee now so I will ttyl.  Love you all and have a great evening. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

We finally saw an end to the rain and Baron got to go outside to complete all his *stuff* he needed to do.  Lord, the dog woke me up with whining while he was asleep because he was so miserable.  I felt bad for him but there was nothing to be done until and unless it got to be too much for him.  I really enjoyed the cooler weather which will be with us until Friday, I see by the weatherbug and the weather channel both.  I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.

We had a real funny today.  The Beast's remote for the big HDTV in the living room told him the other day that the battery was low.  I kid you not.  It popped up on the screen.  When mine needed replacing, it just stopped changing channels.  That was clue enough for me.    However, even with a fresh battery in it, it started doing a lot of strange things.  It would change the channels in rapid succession.  Or it would just suddenly switch from one channel to another.  It would go to a channel that told him what satellite we were pointed at.  In other words, it became POSSESSED!

So, *I* had to contact DISH and try to find out how to get him a new one.  I ended up putting him on the phone with a tech once I was able to reach a LIVE person and I let him go over all the BS questions they put you through because they believe everyone is an idiot with no clue.  End result?  They are sending us a new remote and have waived the *normal* $20 fee for it.  No clue why they did that because the Beast says he could barely hear whoever it was.  I don't care but I kidded the Beast that he was going to have a lot of adventures over the next couple of days until the new remote got here.  He just shot me *that look*.

Time to get this posted while I can.  Love you all.  The Beast just refused to open the window in our bedroom....wimp!  Just because it's in the 50's outside.    Be good, be careful driving and try to laugh a little today.  It's good for the soul.