TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I really do hate these up and down days.  Last night, when I tried going to bed, my heel on my left foot just started hurting and throbbing until I wanted to scream.  I don't know why being in an upright or semi-upright position tones down that pain but it does.

I didn't get asleep in my recliner until the wee hours because I couldn't get that foot comfortable.  When I woke up later, I was hot, flushed feeling and knew I was running a fever.  The Beast looked in on me at least once but never bothered to check and see if I needed anything.  He was busy revamping my kitchen cabinets.  The man has the feelings of a slug and, worse, he really is clueless about some things.  Like....you do NOT use CLR to clean drinking glasses.  He does not recognize the fact that just plain hot water, soap and a scrubby sponge will do wonders on badly spotted glasses.  Then a nice trip through the dishwasher with a filled rinse agent cup (he never checks) and they are fine.  Nope.  That's way too mundane.  Men....REAL men....beat their chests, use chisels and then go out and buy new.  *Sigh* 

I truly don't want to go into exquisite detail but I ended up vomiting the food the Beast had prepared (too freaking greasy for my stomach) and Chewlee kept trying to see what it looked like at the same time she was yelling at me for using HER (empty) glass.  I did manage to fend off her efforts but all I could think was, *Kids!* 

So I am there, trying to lay back and settle down my stomach and Chewlee starts asking me to get her something to drink in a new glass.  I told her to go ask Grandpa and she finally did but she came back in, crying, because he told her NO.  I told her to tell him that Grandma was sick and she had thrown up.  She wasn't happy but she finally did it and she still came back crying.  I told her she would just have to wait until I could get up and....I cried.  When Chewlee saw me crying, she asked me why and I just shook my head.  She went out and to her grandfather and I heard her ask him....*Grampa, why is Grandma crying?*  She came back in a little later and then I heard the Beast call for her.  She came in, all bright and cheerful, to tell me that Grampa gave her some knock-knock egg and she LIKED IT!    A few minutes later, he came into the room with a cup of hot chocolate for me and put it down next to me.  I knew why he did it.  That's HIS comfort drink.  He never asked me why I was crying or I would have told him it was because I was in an incredible amount of pain.  There was some frustration there but it was the pain that got to me.  And not a damn drop of vodka or anything to help take the edge off, either.

Chewlee doesn't like anything with hamburger so she wouldn't eat the Beast's hamburger garbage.  He, therefore, being the brilliant and enlightened man that he is, refused to give Chewlee anything further to eat.  I promised Chewlee that I would tell her mother so that she would feed her something when they got home (and I did).  Tomorrow is Pajama Day at Chewlee's school and, when she gets out of school, she will have a surprise.  She is going to be going to her paternal grandfather's house for an early Christmas with his family.  She will return to us next Friday, in time for OUR family Christmas.  I'm glad because it means that I might actually have a chance for some healing here.  Oh god, I sure hope so.

I need to close now and go lay back for a bit.  Love you all.  Please have a better time than I am having, ya hear? 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

It took me a while to get to sleep last night after Bratfink signed off.  It was so close to the time for the new *dailies* to be posted on Pogo that I had to stay around to see what they were.  Pogo has these daily game challenges that give you 1000 (utterly useless) tokens for completing.  Their thinking, I'm sure, is to get people to try different games they might not have tried before.  The challenges are, for the most part, easy.  Bratfink and I often do each others, depending on the challenge.  There are some we suck at and others we just don't enjoy so we will trade off doing them for each other.  Last night's were easy but I only did the one that Bratfink doesn't like doing since she usually does the other one even when it's a weekly challenge, which is much more difficult or at least takes more time to complete than a daily challenge.

Today we find out that, for some reason, Bratfink can't get into the dailies AT ALL.  It keeps telling her that the page was reset while it was loading.  She's tried rebooting, cleaning her cache, doing a disk cleanup, nothing seems to work.  So I usually jump in when that happens.  She had even tried to do another friend's dailies (who can't get on the internet from where she's at during the week....long story) and it's definitely something to do with her particular server, I think.  I got on and took care of the things that concerned her since I have no problems here.  I swear it's a Pogo server thing.  With the amount of subscribers they have all over the country....Hell!  The world!  I can't even imagine how many different servers they have to use and I am amazed that they can keep them synced.  You can find yourself playing a game in a *room* with people from Australia, Fiji, England, Germany, Norway, Scotland...it's amazing.

So I finally tuck my butt away for the night and fall asleep.  I woke up around 8am or so.  The Beast and I had coffee and a couple cigarettes together while we enjoyed the fact that it was obviously going to be a nice, sunny day and the weatherman said the temp would be in the sixties.  Not bad.  We discussed a few things I had noticed while he was gone that needed looking at or tending to.  I also discussed the upcoming visit of Buttmunch and Sheepie and he said, *You DID tell them I don't want any Christmas presents, right?*  I just raised my eyebrow and said, *You tell them that all the time and they will do what they please in the end.* 

Later on, when Buttmunch called me about something, the Beast was here in the room with me so I told her what he had said.  He had also said, *Just tell her that her presence will be present enough for me.* to which SHE said, *Oh he's so full of shit!* and laughed.  As did I.

He got busy and decided he was going to make some bread pudding.  After watching his aunt make it in NC, he decided he was ready.  It wasn't bad but it was a little too sweet for me and there wasn't enough of the spices in it.  He was trying for a custardy texture like when I make mine but he missed just by a little.  It was very edible but....I had an awful tummy ache later.  I didn't let him know that.  I like when he tries something new.  It makes him happy and he stays in a good mood for a couple days afterward.

Chewlee was here with us when he took the bread pudding out of the oven.  She had her nose in it and watched the Beast make me a bowl.  She asked for her own bowl but he told her she could share with me so she went to get her own spoon.  The Beast, however, was already there and tried to give her a teaspoon to use.  She got all indignant and said, *I'm a BIG girl and I get a BIG girl spoon now!*  She then put the teaspoon back in it's place and took a tablespoon out for herself.  The Beast, who surprised me with this all, brought me in a large bowl of the bread pudding and my own tablespoon and told me I was going to be sharing it with Chewlee.  Chewlee stepped up to my side, looked into the bowl and then held up her spoon and said, *See, Grandma?  I have a spoon just like yours!*  She only had a couple spoonfuls and decided she preferred a hot dog and some chocolate milk and, for dessert, some cheerios and milk. 

Grandpa took back his TV around 6pm so that's when Chewlee came into my room and announced the fact that it was time to watch MY TV now.  She watched quietly but she also was sitting on the floor and using the lid of a bin I have in here with Xmas stuff in it to draw numbers when there was a Mr. Moose break in between programs.  I am really impressed at how well she's actually doing on that.  She can successfully draw the numbers from 1-4 but then she skips around a bit.  She thought she was drawing her *3's* wrong but she was just not making the middle line long enough.  Once I showed her that she hit her forehead like she just had some sort of epiphany and said a loud, *Oh, I see!*

She asked me if we could put up my Christmas tree today but I told her it had to wait until tomorrow.  She loves the purple tree I have even though it's just a four foot tall one.  Due to the smallness of the house and the furniture we have squeezed into it, I have a beautiful 6 ft. tree no longer have a place to put unless I got rid of either an etagere I really use or a bookcase, that is also full.  I put the tree on an end table in the corner of the room near a front window.  It allows me to plug in the lights and provides a bit of cheer outside.  I told her she could help me put the *wires* on the ornaments and help hang them.  She gave me the blankest look and said, *What's an ornament?* 

The Beast, bless his heart,did a good job of sweeping up the floors for me.  I'll wash them tomorrow while I am cleaning the scatter rugs.  He also went to the store and got us a few more things we needed and some that just looked good to him, like some very sweet tangarines.  Chewlee liked finding out she could peel them all by herself and said she was going to tell her mother to get some for them.  She said they had strawberries but....she and her mother and daddy (yes, he's *daddy* again) ate them all.  She sounded so sad about them all being gone.  I almost wish I had some here for her but it's not really one of the Beast's favorite fruits.

I painted Chewlee's fingernails for her.  The color is so pale, you really can almost only see the shine unless she gets two or more coats on it, which I never do.  It makes her act and feel so feminine.  She told me a secret tonight and I don't know if she really wanted to tell me or it just slipped out.  She said she was going to buy herself some pink lipstick just like her mommy's that she hid (someplace I didn't get).  When I asked her if Mommy spanked her for it, she looked at me like I was nuts and said, *No.*  But, the kicker is that Mommy doesn't know she hid it and hasn't found it.  I told her she needed to put it back because she had to be a *little bit* older to wear lipstick.  She got this sad face on her and said, *I know.*  Then she brightened up and said, *But I am getting bigger all the time, Grandma, so it won't be long!*  I couldn't help laughing but she didn't get upset.  She laughed with me at that.

When the Princess got her to pick her up, she was ready.  She had started asking WHEN her mother was going to be there.  I saw her yawning and understood that she was tired.  I had tried to get her to rest for a bit but, like all kids, she fought that idea.  It's just as well.  She probably would have napped longer than I wanted and then ended up being a problem for her mother.

Time to get this posted.  Love you all.  Thanks for stopping by.  Hope your decorating is further along than mine.  I haven't even sent out my Christmas cards although I DO have them here.  I may fink out and just send to those that have sent to me.   

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

No surprise, both the big and little Beast were home by slightly after noon.  He didn't stop at Publix (waaa!) so no soft slippers.  But they were home, safe and sound.  After talking for a bit, the Beast went and took a little nap before heading out to the store for some things I really needed.

He tried to make up for not stopping at Publix by buying me some slippers that Walmart had but, although they are furry and have cuffs at the ankles, they are not as soft and caused me too much pain to pull over my heel on my left foot.  I may have to give those back to him to get a refund on.  I told him I had really wanted them so that I would be able to have something on my feet for going to the doctor.  Oh well.

Sheepie and Buttmunch are coming down for Xmas and I am glad that it's all settled now.  Who knows?  It might be our last chance to get together as a family.  Especially with the way I am feeling.  I felt awful yesterday and today.  I couldn't lay down without coughing my stomach into an upset and I would end up barfing up a big bunch of phlegm.  it was just awful.  It was what kept me from sleeping most of the night although I surely did try.  After the Beast left here for Walmart and the tobacco shop, I finally fell asleep for a few hours.  I'm hoping I will sleep well later on, too.  I find I am still nauseous and I keep burping up...nothing but gas.  Not a lot but, hey, I sure don't have a lot down there either.

I need to go lay back for a bit now because the waves of nausea keep coming and going.  Maybe it's actually BECAUSE the Beast is home now...LOL.

Love you all.  Have a great day. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Chewlee didn't have school today so she ended up here while her mother had to work.  Poor Princess wasn't given a reason why there was no school.  She just got a phone call at 7am.  Oh well.  Chewlee was in an interesting mood today.  She had her two stuffed cats here and, right off the bat, she had plans.  She went outside and grabbed a couple of clothespins while I was yelling at her to get back in the house because it was cold out.  When she came back in, she was full of apologies and said she *just had to get some bunny ears for her kitties*.  She put the clothespins on their ears and now they were her *bunny cats*.  She had them looking all over for their cages and finally coming to rest on the recliner where she covered them up so they could sleep.

When I asked her where her *bunnies* were, she said to me, in a very demeaning voice, *Grandma!  They are bunny CATS and they are in costumes!*  I'm such a dork for not knowing. 

I am making split pea and ham soup and, while I was cutting up some ham, Chewlee asked me for a piece.  She told me she liked ham turkey and I told her it was just ham.  She corrected me and said, *I know it's ham turkey.  I like ham turkey.  I only eat chicken and turkey.  Oh, and pefferoni and salami.*  She then gave me a big grin as she took another bite of the ham.  She then asked me if she could have some of the soup when it was done.  That would be a first if she eats it.  She has turned her nose up at it before this because of the color of it, I think.  We'll see.

The Princess is subbing today, I discovered, at a school in Douglas.  She enjoys that and it's another chunk for the monthly check she gets.  She also tutors which she will do today, as usual.  It's for her boss's son who sucks at math because he's lazy she says.  He knows how to do it but just doesn't want to think.  But the pay is good so she persists.  She's always been a working fool.  It's not enough that she works 45 hours at her job, she also manages to do these other things, too.

Sheepie called me yesterday.  She's been working for Yankee Candle since the fiasco with her other job.  She will probably quit working there after her birthday to take the job piercing ears for some other store (like Zales or something).  The pay is better and the work is probably less demanding.  I do hope she has pierced ears or she's going to seem rather hypocritical to be doing it to others but not have them herself. 

She asked me if I liked any of the Yankee candle scents and we talked about that quite a lot.  There were a few scents I hadn't smelled and she gave me her opinion of them.  I heard Buttmunch in the background throwing out her agreements, too.  It was funny.  I am looking forward to having them here over the Holidays.  I could use the help with getting a few things done if Sheepie can tear herself away from the boyfriend for a bit. 

Well, I may put up a post later today if anything special happens.  Right now I am trying to stay off my feet as much as possible since they really are tender.  I had hoped to get a few more things done in preparation for the Beast being home tomorrow (or even later today, who knows?).  Those went by the wayside when I woke up and stood on them for the first time.  I'm out of my pain pills and have to wait until tomorrow for more so there's nothing I can do but try to grin and bear it.

Love you all.  Have a great day. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

The bad thing about winter here is that it is never quite cold enough nor is there enough snow that shows up and stays on the ground to keep the grass from growing.  I thought it was supposed to go dormant in winter but...no!  Not here.  I'm sure other areas have the same problem.  Texas comes into my mind.  I'll bet they have the same problem that way, too.  The poor Beast has to wait for a bright, sunny and (hopefully) windless day in order to cut it.  He know when he left a week ago that it was really due for another cutting but he also knew it wouldn't grow much while he was gone so he left that for another day.

He comes home tomorrow but I have to tell you, just because of the way he is and how he likes to *surprise* me, it was a nerve wrecking day for me.  I didn't find out until I texted the Princess about a half hour after I knew she was supposed to be at work that I wouldn't have Chewlee today.  What a surprise!  Johnnycakes decided to keep her around.  She can be fun when she's in that chatty kind of mood because she chats about things she has on her mind.  Sometimes that's a real surprise.  I just wish the Princess had let me know because I wouldn't have stopped doing a couple things I was in the middle of.  I'm still trying to pull things together here for when the two of them get home.  I mean the dog and the Beast, of course. 

I've tried a couple times to get a hold of him but I know he's got his damn cell phone in the car and not with him.  It just dawned on me that I can call him at the new cottage.  DUH!  I'll do that later.  I want to remind him about looking for my slippers at Publix on his way home.  I'll choke him if they are gone.  I'm making some split pea and ham soup for when they get home.  I know the cold up in the mountains will have been a shock to his and Baron's systems.    I don't feel a bit sorry for them after they enjoyed the Florida heat down in South Florida for almost a week.  I still have a few more things to do but those require a bit more walking than I feel up to right at the moment.  I did take the garbage out which was a real distance for me (and it was so cold out there...(40 degrees) and it's going down to 30 tonight.  Brrrrr.  I'm glad I have all the covers I do on my bed.  It kept me toasty warm this morning.  I didn't want to get out of bed. 

Oh joy!  They (the Cousin and the Beast plus Baron) didn't get to the Aunt's until around 5pm today so he is staying an extra day there.  I am so happy!  That takes some of the pressure off me for things I wanted to do but didn't think I would have time for.  I reminded him about stopping and he knew immediately WHY I was worried about that.  He says he will stop at more than one on his way home if he can't find them at one.  There are times I could actually kiss him IF he actually does it.

Well, I think I will have one more cup of coffee and then try to get more of this stuff put away.  I was so nauseous earlier that I didn't dare eat anything except a cracker, which I ALMOST couldn't keep down.  I fought it and I won.  I feel better now but I don't know how long that will last for me so let me go do my thing.  I sure hope your weekend was better than mine and that your week isn't too hectic.  Get that shopping done and those presents wrapped.  I will be wrapping some tomorrow, I hope.  I have them here but I just haven't wrapped them yet.  I still need a few more and that will be something to accomplish. 

Love you all.  Keep that smile on your face now.  It confuses people. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I started this blog so I had a place to blow off steam or share some fun things with everyone or no one.  I really had no idea if or how this would work.  I'm not funny like Bratfink.  I don't create new patterns of crocheted items like Bratsis2.  I'm just a woman who loves her kids and her life most of the time but..... I live with *the Beast* and his sidekick, Baron.  Baron is an over-sized but gorgeous looking AKC Doberman.  He's neutered but I don't think he realizes that from some of the things he's been seen doing.  Ahem.

Bratfink stopped her blog a while back because she felt it had become more of a bashing site for the Boy.  It was never what was intended.  She originally used it to highlight the misadventures of the boy's family.   However, when the Mother died, she lost a lot of her *material*..  Plus, she was finding it a chore to write on a daily basis.  I know what she means.  I've had days when I really didn't want to blog.  I was either sick, overtired or just didn't have anything special going on.  Thank goodness for my Chewlee who is perfectly capable of providing me with material for my blog.

Today Chewlee told me she wanted *sparkly hair*.  I was like...*Huh?  Do you mean shiny?*  No, she meant sparkly hair as in she wanted *that sparkle stuff sprinkled in her hair.*  Comes the dawn...!  When I asked her why, she said because it was Christmas time and it made her hair look pretty.  Her mother made the mistake of spraying her hair with glitter spray for Halloween when Chewlee was a Princess.  Now she's going to want that in her hair every single Holiday.  Watch and see.  She was disappointed when I washed her hair today.  She thought I was going to put glitter in her hair and her face fell.  I told her that her hair would shine however and she accepted that to my relief.  She can really, really nag! 

For the most part, I love blogging.  It really does give me an outlet for my frustrations with the Beast, especially his spending.  He can spend money like we still own our company and have cash coming out of our ears.  NOT!!!  In compariosn, I am the type of person that doesn't spend money because I didn't grow up with it and I have always been conservative that way.  When you have a husband like mine, it's almost like I have to compensate (or over-compensate) for his excesses.

If you wonder if I will get tired of the daily grind of a blog and I can assure you.....if I ever do, I will let you all know and then pick a few days a week instead of just when the mood strikes me.  There is always something to write about.  We just don't see it sometimes because we are stuck in the middle of it and it's just so USUAL for us.    Bratsis2 is going to go through her journal and relive some of the cute and funny things that happened when she was babysitting for her grandson's.  You might stop over at her site once she gets that going and read some of it.  The boys could be funny.  They react differently to things than little girls for the most part so I will definitely be there to share because I know how cute those kids are/were.

Love you all.  Have a great Sunday.  I'll be busy tomorrow trying to shape things up for when the Beast comes home on Monday (if he doesn't sneak home late Sunday night).  You just never know with him. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

The past few days have been the coldest of the year for us so far and I totally hate it.  Not only are the floors in here cold which means I MUST have socks on to keep my feet fairly warm but they also chill the house down.  When the Beast left, he left the baseboard heaters on at about Medium.  He told me if they were lower than that, I should turn them up.  I found the ones on the outside walls are the ones that come on the most.  I know the Beast didn't realize they all were already on Medium.  At least I haven't been tempted to put on the central heat.  I know that it won't help all that much and it runs almost constantly.  That would run up our electric bill a lot.

Usually the hot water seems even hotter because of the temperature difference but not when I am in the shower for some reason.  Maybe because it's flowing down over the cold air in the bathroom so I switched to baths.  My feet like it better and I can get more dead skin off my feet when I soak them.  Is it just old age that makes your heels get callouses?  I don't remember getting them as thick or as quick even when I was wearing slip-on high heels for work all the time.  It means my baths take longer now and I'm not a kid playing with toys that wants just *five more minutes, please???* 

I had to go over the Greyhound rates and buees available from Louisville to Huntsville and back today.  My daughter and granddaughter want to come down for Christmas this year and I said I would try to get them both here.  The problem, of course, is the Beast has about spent us out of house and home this past year between his guns, ammunition and accessories for that make believe deer he was going to get us.  Oh, and the new car.  Let us not forget that.  Plus our property taxes are due this month.  That bill alone is over $1200.  It's the reason the Beast took the job down in Ft. Lauderdale.  The money he made from his consulting there should be enough to pay that.  I need to talk to the Beast about the price on the tickets but he hasn't had his phone with him and I don't think he's checked his messages since he got to his cousin's house.

He's changed his mind on what he's going to do.  He's staying at his cousin's until Sunday and then making the trip up to his Aunt's house in North Carolina to see how she's doing now that she's not sick.  I think he and his cousin are going together (but in separate vehicles, I'm not clear on this) so he won't be home until Monday.  I am glad because it allows me a little more time to get things in order here before they come home.  By they I mean the Beast and Baron.  I have to re-do Baron's bedS *yes, BEDS...*  The Beast made up two for him in our bedroom and I could just strangle him.  It makes walking around the room almost impossible with my bad feet.  To make up the bed, I had to throw all the stuff he used (spare pillows, cushions from our patio furniture, a big fleece blanket and even the spare electric blanket).  No dog is as spoiled as this one is unless they are independently wealthy.  The damn electric blanket was even plugged in!!  Dobermans are sensitive to heat and cold and the Beast worries about him getting a chill.  Sheesh! 

BUT...I can't wait until he hits the cold we are having.  He's been enjoying warm weather down in Florida while I am freezing my butt off up here.  I don't even have nice warm slippers for my feet.  I hope it snows in NC while he's there.    Of course, the new car has heated seats so it will be an excuse for him to try that feature out.  Even the dog will enjoy THAT.

I texted the Princess earlier to find out if they were decorating their Xmas tree yet and she told me not yet.  She's had the tree up and has been waiting for the branches to let down.  She wanted to know why I was so curious and I told her that I knew Chewlee was excited about decorating it this year.  I wanted her to have fun doing that now that she is big enough to be excited about Santa coming.  I'm going to put up my little purple tree and let her help decorate it with my purple and silver balls if I can find them.  I"m a bit upset that I can't go out and get some garland that I need.  I'm going to have to count on the Princess or Tara to help me out with that since the Beast is useless that way and he's much too *Bah!  Humbug!* about Christmas anyway.

I just spent today leisurely doing some wash and now I have to finish changing my linens on my bed.  I have to do it a little at a time because my legs just aren't strong enough to stand up and walk around as much as you need to do it right.  I can sit down to do the pillows but I have to walk around the bed to make sure the sides match up.  Don't you wish all things were made to fit *just so* so that you wouldn't have to do that?  I mean blankets, sheets, bedspreads?  Then you wouldn't have to do the match dance around the bed. 

Got to get busy and do another load of clothes.  If I do one more load tomorrow, that should bring all the wash up to snuff and I don't have to worry about it for another week at least.  I will be able to sleep in a nice, clean, fresh smelling bed tonight.  That will be a treat.  No doggie smell either because I will also take the time to wash his blanket and spray the cushions with Febreze.  Love you all.  Have a great weekend and keep warm. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Why is it that it seems like EVERYONE wants to talk to you all at the same time....and everyone gets mad at you because you aren't/can't give them your full attention?  I kid you not.  It happened to me TWICE today.  I was ready to scream because if everyone had just waited a bit (everyone knew I was watching Chewlee and she is a demanding little cuss at times), they all would have gotten my full attention...just not at the same time.

I was trying to talk online to Bratfink.  She wanted to send me a picture of Brat Jr's Christmas tree (the overachiever!) but I didn't know that because Chewlee kept shaking my free hand.  The Beast had just called and wanted a phone number from me that required I pull out the phone book and look it up.  Chewlee was yelling loudly becauseshe was sure I was talking to her mother and she wanted to talk to her.  So I am trying to quiet her down (and she wasn't cooperating), find the phone number the Beast wanted and I couldn't even hear myself think at this point.  When I got that done, Bratfink was offline and I never did get to see the picture of Brat Jr's tree.   I think Bratfink thought I was ignoring her or something.  Oh well.  It just hasn't been a good day for me. 

The Beast is going to start on his way home tomorrow instead of Saturday.  He will make his stop at the Cousin's house and spend the night and possibly even Saturday but he will be home by Sunday evening at the latest.  He knows Baron will miss the Dog Park but he will still enjoy the River Park here.  Today there was a huge Great Dane at the dog park and you could see both dogs sizing each other up.  They did the bumping for dominance and finally decided they were BOTH alpha males and divided the park up between them.  It was too funny the Beast said.

Chewlee has been pacing for almost an hour now.  She has her own time table in her head for when she thinks her mother will be here and she was off by that whole hour, too.  They have to head directly to the school when her mom gets here in a little bit (she got stuck in some traffic due to an accident...and NO, it wasn't hers....LOL).

Bless Tara's heart once again.  She was out doing a bit of shopping so I got her to pick up some REAL coffee for me (I was stuck with just French Vanilla because the Beast hadn't restocked our regular coffee yet), some fresh milk and some chips that I needed because I want to make some taco salad tomorrow.  I'm using up a lot of tortilla chips lately.  I've had such a taste for salsa and chips (and I spice up the salsa...a lot!).  I hope I get over this yen for many things spicy soon.  It would be different if I was eating some Chinese spicy or Thai spicy...but it's not.  It's salsa, salsa and more salsa. 

Bratfink got back online with me and told me she got off because she had a couple boxes she had to pack up so the Boy can mail them out tomorrow, weather permitting and his spirit willing.  And wouldn't you know it?  Right after she gets back online, my phone rings (it's Buttmunch) and the Princess comes running in to pick up Chewlee and head for the school.  I almost cringed.  But the Princess rushed in and rushed out, I told Bratfink I was on the phone and then finished up what I had to tell Buttmunch so I could get off the phone and on with my evening.

The Beast is just miserable after having to cope with the traffic and the rudeness of the people in South Florida.  We get so spoiled here in Alabama with how nice the majority of people are.  The traffic has gotten heavier since we moved here but is by no means heavy after you've seen South Florida...or any major city for that matter.  Knowing him, he will wake up around 3am or so and decide to get on the road then.  It would give him plenty of time to spend with the Cousin during daylight hours and make him feel less guilty about not spending Saturday with him.  I know my Beast and he will want to get home to his own bed ASAP.  It's just the way he is.

Well, the house is nice and quiet, sort-of.  Just the TV sounds and the dryer going in the background.  I want to finish putting fresh sheets on the bed so I will cut this short right here.  Love you all.  Have a super fantastic Friday and an even better weekend!  Smile no matter what.  It helps keep everyone's spirits high. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

One of Chewlee's favorite programs is the Fresh Beat Band.  It's a kind of cute program but definitely aimed at the younger viewer.  However, she loves when they play their music.  She gets up and starts dancing along with them and the others on the program.  They usually have some kind of *story* every program.  Today was a *Festival* which she, excitedly, told me was a *festifull*.  She then told me they would dress up for it and they would be dancing and a magic show...she was so excited you just had to smile. 

I watched her dancing around and singing along with them.  She could hardly wait for that part to start.  I knew it wouldn't be until near the end of the program so she kept asking me when it would start and she didn't want to hear *not for a while yet*.  She wanted it NOW!  Typical kid.

When Chewlee came into the house today, she looked around and came into my room and said, *Grandma, what have you been doing here?*  She wanted to know what I did to the house and when I told her I cleaned the rug, she just looked at it and said, *Oh!*  Then she peeled off her shoes and socks and that was the end of it.

The Beast stopped over at Sister Cee's house today to show off the new car and the dog, I think.  She laughed and called him the horse.  He's just about pony size actually.    He called me from the car to show that off to Cee and she let the cat out of the bag about the rug being cleaned in here.  My fault.  I never said I wanted it to be a surprise for him.  Oh well.  At least she didn't tell him about my blog.  Thank goodness.

Sister Cee had seen Baron but when he was a puppy.  She hadn't seen him since he was full-grown.  I'm sure he was a big shock to Frankenstein and Baby Brat.  The Beast got to see Sister Cee's new car, too.  She's got Sirius Radio, too, and she likes it almost as much as the Beast does.  She says she plays mostly 50's and 60's music but she was surprised that she knew so many of the 50's songs since she was a little kid back then.

The Beast is trying to find a company to take care of the building down in Ft. Lauderdale.  The two that have been working on it have caused the problems it's having now.  I think it's an effort in futility because it seems like none of them really care about the quality of their work.  It's just the billing.  Oh how they love the billing!  Especially billing a company that actually pays their bills.  Anyway, I hope he finds one by the end of the week so he can come home and rest a bit.  I know how grueling that trip can be.

Love you all.  Best Beat Band is over and now Chewlee wants me to hold her for a while.  Can't pass that up...LOL.  Hope you have a wonderful day. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Tara showed up around 2 or 2:30pm (she's never on time).  I was glad because I had laid down for a nap because I hadn't slept well during the night.  She had the rug cleaner and she immediately re-vacuumed the room and then set up the cleaner.  She took over and cleaned the rug for me and then cleaned it up and took it back.  She did a nice job on it and I think the Beast will stop thinking about putting a wood floor in here at least until Spring.  I know I won't be able to keep him from doing it but I will insist on a big area rug to save my poor feet.  They feel the cold of the floors during the winter.

Anyway, Tara was so sweet to just take over and do the work for me.  I have one spot that I think is bubblegum from when Chewlee lost hers and we couldn't find it.  When I moved the recliner, I found the spot.  So I will be anointing it with peanut butter tonight and will clean it up in the morning after it's worked it's magic.  That stuff is amazing to me.  My brother showed me how it works a few years back...quite a few years back because it was to get gum out of my Mustang convertible and the Princess's hair.  She was about two years old, maybe three at the time.  Hey, it was her mother that gave it to her, not me!  I thought her too young then and I was right.  But the gum came out of her hair and off my upholstery like magic.  It took less time on her hair than on my upholstery because we were able to remove it from her hair in about an hour.  She was unhappy about it but we made her leave it alone. 

I almost can't blame my daughter for giving the Princess the gum.  She was begging for it and we were on a long trip from South Florida to Chicago and my daughter just wanted to stop her whining.  But I digress.  I've used peanut butter a few times since then to remove gum from various things and it's worked every time. 

So now I have to put everything back where it belongs.  I'll do that a little at a time and try to organize it all a bit better.  My DVD's are a mess because Chewlee claims one of the stands I have for them as hers and she isn't specific about where she puts things back.  I decided I am putting all her DVD's in one spot and all I can do is hope she only uses that area for her searches for things to watch.

I talked to the Beast today and he found a dog park in the town just north of Ft. Lauderdale (Pompano Beach).  He said Baron had a blast there and was running around like a manic.  Unfortunately, he said the dogs that were there were all kind of wussy but Baron didn't care.  He was running around and bumping them like he does with his doggie friends here.  He was going to take Baron there again after he talked to me.  He really hates the traffic and the rudeness of the people there.  I think this may be his final trip.

Love you all.  Hope you are having a great day.  Tomorrow is Hump Day!  The week is half over now.  Soon the weekend will be here again.  I hope your Holiday preparations are going well for you.  I have to find my wrapping paper and wrap some of the things I have and put them under the little purple Xmas tree.  That should excite Chewlee but it will mean I have to watch her closely.  She thins everything is for her, don't forget.