TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

First of all, let me clear up something.  Chewlee seldom *discusses* anything.  She becomes a motor mouth and you can’t say a word or even ask a question until she is forced to take a breath.  She gave me a litany of things she saw and did and compressed it all into about 20 minutes.

I know she pretty much saw every Disney character.  She had breakfast with Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and several others.  It’s a special feature of the hotels in Disney World.  It’s a breakfast just for the kids and she obviously LOVED it.

The Princess said that during the parade, Chewlee was right on the curb and would put out her hand and beckon the various walking characters with the ends of her fingers.  Believe it or not, they all came over where she kissed the end of her fingers and pressed her fingers on their foreheads.  The Princess said it was so cute to watch as each character came over to get *their* kiss.  She came up with that all on her own and it just floored everyone.

I heard about her trip to the Water Park in Disney and going down the big slide with her mother.  She said she wasn’t afraid (and the Princess verified that) and she even *swam* with her life jacket on all by herself.  Chewlee told me about going down deep under the water and popping up and she was laughing while she told me so I think she really had fun crashing into the water off the slides.

She loved the Parade of Lights and the fireworks.  She got to see each of the various Princesses while visiting the castle.  She even got to meet the mean old witch that gave Snow White the poison apple but she really was nice (Chewlee’s words).  She also got to meet the *Princess with the feather in her hair* (Pocahontas) when they went to Frontier Land, I believe.

They saw three 3-D movies and they liked the one with the bugs best.  The stink bug actually DID stink up the place (for a REAL adventure…LOL).  The cricket in 3-D was scary…to her mother, she said.  The Princess told me they went on a roller coaster ride that scared HER but Chewlee kept telling her that *it’s all right, Mommy….it doesn’t go upside down!*

I guess the Tea Cup ride has been revised quite a bit from when I went on it with my kids.  You controlled your spin by how quickly you turned this round piece in the middle of the cup.  The ride controlled the up and down motion.  Now I gather, IT controls it all and the Princess said it was scary but Chewlee had a big grin on her face and kept saying *whee!*.  She had pictures taken with darn near all the characters and the Princess got her an autograph book where you can put a picture on one side and the autograph on the other.  I think Mickey and Minnie (maybe others) signed her hat.  Chip and Dale took her hat off her head (teasing) and then hugged her.

I think I’ll stop here and finish this *vacation memories* in tomorrow’s blog.  But, I think you will agree, she had a very, very good time!  She will remember this for a long, long time.

Today (Wednesday) is also her 5th birthday.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHEWLEE!  As she said, she *is 5 years big now*.  She’s getting a real sense of humor.  After several tries to leave tonight, I think they actually got out the front door.  Suddenly Chewlee was at my door and she looked at me and said, *Hi!  I’m back!*  I think the Princess forgot something and had to come back in for it (probably left her phone on the table again).  Chewlee just took that opportunity to tease me.  But I had to laugh at her little joke.

Love you all.  Stay cool.  Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!  Drive carefully.  Thanks for dropping by. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

If you haven’t guessed it already, it was hot as hell here today.  On the temperature gauge under the deck, it registered 94 degrees.  Out front it registered 100 but the Beast said he knew it was wrong and needs recalibration.  That was at 3pm and the sun was at the back of the house.  Weatherbug said it was hotter than it is now saying was the high here today (90).  Lying little bugger!  I just know that everyone, from animals to humans, were moving S – L – O – W – L – Y.

The cat curled up on the Beast’s computer chair in the bedroom while Baron slept on the floor and the Beast was on the bed.  At first, he turned on the fan in there.  Then, after about a half hour, he gave up and turned on the window a/c unit.  He napped three or four times during the day and only got up to watch his basketball game.  I had made some country ribs, spicy Mexican rice and corn on the cob for dinner.  I know it sounds strange but it just appealed to me for some reason.  The Beast, who had agreed with the choices, seemed to have lost his appetite in the heat and didn’t eat until an hour after I did.  He just picked at everything and said the ribs tasted *off* to him.  He asked me how mine had tasted and I told him *just fine* and added that I ate two of the bigger ones I had made.  He shook his head and said he thought his *taster* was off. 

I knew he wasn’t feeling good.  He hasn’t been himself for about three days now.  Nothing you can put your finger on except that he’s been nauseous but hasn’t vomited.  No stomach pains or any pains at all.  I told him he’s never done well when it’s hot and humid out and that’s what it’s been the last few days.  Ever since his stroke, he’s suffered when our weather is like that.  The thing is that we bought this house originally when we lived in Florida for him to stay in during Florida’s hot, humid summers.  It’s only been the last couple of years here that we’ve had the humidity and much hotter temperatures than are normal for this part of the country.  It makes me want to sit under one of the many waterfalls we have around here or, at least, our water hose. 

I just realized the date and I have to make the Beast go get Chewlee’s birthday present tomorrow.  We discussed it and I think she will LOVE it, especially with this hot weather.  How time flies!  It just snuck up on me because of her going to Disney World.  I can’t compete with that but I can still find things that make her laugh and smile.  This will I’m sure.  I plan on getting her a slip and slide but one that has a belly board.  It’ll take a little doing to get her to use it right I’m sure but it should still be fun.  I may just join her even…..LOL.

I’m a bit worried about Bratfink.  She was only online today for a very short time.  She is another one that doesn’t do hot weather well.  She suffers with the heat even more than the Beast does.  She didn’t sleep well even with the air sucker on and she can’t sleep with the air conditioning on because she wakes up chilled and aches all over.  She even tried sleeping in her own bed but was miserable and woke up feeling like she’d been run over by a truck.  The recliner has become her *bed* lately and probably will stay that way until/unless she gets to feeling better overall.  She said she picked a really bad time to quit smoking again. 

Well, it’s late and I need to get this posted.  Love you all.  I’m going to make my way S – L – O – W – L – Y to bed and try not to sweat too much even though I know the Beast will eventually shut the bedroom door and turn on the room a/c.  He’s predictable that way and it’s 11pm but the outside temp is still 83 degrees.  Hope you are keeping cool.  Be sure to drink lots of fluids in this weather.  It’s very important.  You do NOT want heat stroke. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Do you have any idea how often you really don’t pay  attention to exactly what you are doing because you do it so often you could do it in your sleep?  For example, you take a shower.  You keep your shampoo and creme rinse in a certain spot and you know where your shampoo is and your creme rinse.  You know where the bar soap is or liquid body soap so you can just lean over and grab or pump as you need one or the other.  You know where the towel is and can grab it without thinking.  If you are like the Beast and me, you have your brushes, combs, hair dryer, deodorant, face cream or body lotion that you keep in certain areas all the time.

You probably go about getting dressed in a routine way and often just grab what you need without really looking at it.  I hadn’t thought about it until today because something was moved on me and changed but….because the color of the item and label was just about the same, it wasn’t until I smelled it that I really looked at what I had used.  Don’t panic, it was deodorant.  Nothing harmful or that would have hurt me…BUT it COULD have.

It seems the Beast was doing his *helpful* thing in the bathroom, wiping down the top of the commode and moving things around.  He tried to remember to put things back where they had been but he also gets these *fits* of deciding that things would be better THIS way instead of THAT.  I hadn’t inspected the top of the commode when I went to take my shower so I didn’t see that my deodorant was moved until I went to grab it to put it on.  I was a bit annoyed when I glanced over and saw what he had done but just grabbed *my* deodorant, pulled the top off and used it.  However, the aroma that wafted up to my nose was VERY different.  I stopped dead and looked, REALLY looked at what I had in my hand and it was a brand of deodorant that the Beast used.  The aroma was very masculine.  I decided then and there that I would move MY stuff into the guest bathroom and keep it in the medicine cabinet.  That would keep it out of the Beast’s eyes and hands.  At least for now.  He’s incorrigible that way.  Give him an inch and he takes a mile.

But I realized that we do a lot of things without really thinking about it.  If you keep your salt and pepper in a certain area, you will reach for it when you want it without thinking.  You get annoyed if it was used and not put back where it belongs.  That happens a lot here because the Beast will grab the salt and carry it off with him for his popcorn.  He never puts it back.  I have to go retrieve it and put it back where it belongs. 

Another thing our minds can do to us…if you put something somewhere in your pantry, for example, and go to get it from that spot but it’s not there (because the Beast never puts anything back where it belongs when he DOES put something sorta back), have you found yourself unable to find it even when it’s THERE, just moved?  The Beast and I play hide and seek with my flour, for example.  He ALWAYS knows where to find it if *I* use it before he does.  But me?  He never puts it in the same place two times in a row.  It’s very frustrating.  But what I find peculiar is that it’s like my brain disconnects from my eyes, causing me to not be able to see where the Beast put it even though it might just be one shelf down and over to the left.  Get what I mean?

I expect that with things in the fridge.  We are constantly moving things around in there so I get a mental picture in my mind of what I want and can move this and that and spot where it is.  You don’t expect that with things in your pantry or your cabinets.  Oh lord, and the same with pots, pans, casserole dishes and things like that.  The Beast has made my life a nightmare with that.  After so many years, well, five years, of me keeping things in a certain cabinet, do you think he could put something away where he found it?  Hell no!  He still can’t remember and I can’t find my favorite casserole dish.  For all I know, he threw it away.  If HE doesn’t see the need for something, out it goes.  He thinks he’s making our life simpler.  He’s making it more expensive because I make him go and buy me another one to replace whatever is *missing*.

That’s all I have to say at this time.  Love you all.  Be good and drive carefully. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I have always loved babies from the time I was very young.  I was a great babysitter and I charged more money than was normal at the time (more than much older girls did back then) but everyone that I babysat for thought I was well worth it.  I would cook dinner for them, feed them, make sure they got a bath and then put them to bed.  They seldom gave me any problems, even the worse kid in the neighborhood had a healthy regard for me.  I once made him clean the bathroom floor with a toothbrush.  No problems after that.    But I digress.

I have always had the knack of being able to quiet a crying, fussy baby or just make them smile.  I guess they like the sound of my voice, a nice alto.  It’s the one thing that can always make me feel good and/or bring me out of a depressed mood because babies make ME smile.    I bring this up because Tara came over today with her dad, who drove up from Florida for the Holiday weekend.  It was nice to see him and all I could think was *wow, he’s sure changed from when he was young!*    Haven’t we all?

What I thought was cute was how Chance called him *Grandma*…not Grandpa and he resists any attempt to correct him on that.  It’s hysterical when you hear him say that a time or two.  He came into my room and shut the door so Baron couldn’t come in.  He knows that Baron makes this room seem really crowded and he’s still not quite sure if he’s afraid of Baron or not.  He called it to my attention that he was petting Baron when we all were in the kitchen and Baron was standing there just watching us all.  Chance is so damn adorable when he’s happy.  His grin is almost ear-to-ear like his mother’s.  Tara came bearing food for me and the Beast.  Some salad, a couple chicken legs that had been smoked and some pork chops that she had barbequed.  Oh, and a half dozen cupcakes since she (and her dad) babysat the bakery on Saturday for the owners and they were told that the cupcakes couldn’t stay at the end of the day since they don’t keep over two days.  So what was left, she brought home.  Our family just can’t throw good food out.  That’s part of why we have such extraordinary figures. 

I found out that Sheepie will be coming down to move in with her fiance’ after graduation.  He should be up there in KY tomorrow and will stay with her and Buttmunch until the graduation ceremony on Tuesday.  Mustachio is taking her out for a steak dinner as her graduation present (it’s what she asked him for) and then she and her fiance’ will put her packed bags all in the truck and head back here.  I’m hoping she will get a job quickly so the two of them can get their own vehicle and not have to share one with the family.  They’ve been paying for the fiance’ to get through college and living frugally but not TOO frugally.  They are just a very close knit family and nice people.  But I could tell that just by the son.  He’s a sweetheart, too.

Chewlee and the Princess will be home tomorrow from their Disney World adventure and I can hardly wait to hear what Chewlee has to say about it all.  We’ll be hearing about some of it in bits and pieces as she remembers it, too.  Should be fun.  I’m looking forward to it.

Love you all.  Hope you stayed cool if you got some of the same heat we’ve had.  I love it.  I’ve stayed out of the A/C in my room with just my fan blowing air out the window for circulation.  It’s warm but I enjoy it much more than snow and cold.  Be good.  Drive carefully.  Remember, the life you save may be your own! 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Today was a really nice day.  The Beast and I had bacon and eggs for breakfast, albeit a late one.  I fried up the bacon, then cooked the eggs while the Beast did toast.  He broke down and got me my own Droid after doing a little research.  It turns out that it ends up being cheaper for us and we are in control of our own computers now.  So I ended up with my own cell phone again plus a lot of other stuff I’ll check out later after the phone is fully charged.  The bad part is I have a whole new number I have to memorize.  So now I have more electronics than I ever figured I would have.  But it has it’s own *hot spot* as they call it which is really my own WiFi on my cell phone.  We both have 6GB on it but if we go over, they just charge us for any additional GB’s we use.  The other way we had it set up, we couldn’t check if we were almost done using up our GB’s and it would just shut down when it was all used up.  It then became a pain in the ass to get it turned back on and additional GB’s were expensive as hell!

I’m still reading the John Carter series on my Nook although I AM more than halfway through it.  I thought the stories were short but it turns out I was wrong.  There are almost 2400 pages for the five books that comprise the Martian Princess series.  I’m over halfway through it and I had actually forgotten about one of the books.  Either that or I never read it.  I was sure I had read all of them but that was many years ago.

I did some wash and just have to fold the clothes.  It’s mostly my sleep pants and tops plus some of my socks.  I have two more loads to do and then MY stuff is all done.  We did the Beast’s two days ago so we aren’t in bad shape at all.  Poor Baron is miserable partly because it’s so hot out.  It was over 90 today.  He spent most of the day staying cool by laying on the laminate floor underneath the ceiling fan in the living room.  He’s also missing Lovey who must be spending the days she is missing around here at her OTHER adopted family.  She’ll show up tomorrow and Baron will be licking her and sniffing her all over to make sure she’s okay.  Where do we find these weird animals????

Although Bratfink is online now and has put up several blogs, she isn’t feeling well.  She’s not sure if it something she ate or the stomach flu that is going around her town.  One of the therapists told her that when she had to call and change her appointment.  I’m hoping (and so is she) that tonight might be the last bad night she has and then she will feel better.  She only got online for a little while today. 

Love you all.  Take care and have a great weekend.  I’m loving it! 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I have one medication I have to take every day that I just hate to take but must.  It’s for the  neuropathy in my feet.  If I don’t take it, my feet really become very tender and sensitive on the soles.  I can walk on them if I take it but it makes me want to nap….A LOT! 

I didn’t know that was a side effect of it although I did read about those back when I first started taking them.  I still don’t recall anything being said like that but hey!  I’m an old person now.  But when I saw my GP two weeks ago, he mentioned that was a side effect because he said he didn’t want to double up those pills just because of that.  However, even without doubling up, I have to take them three times a day and it’s like they KEEP me tired. 

Oh, I have some times when I feel wide awake and full of energy but that fades on me.  Today I wake up feeling nauseous and my stomach muscles hurt like I had slept on them badly.  The pain was external.  I was running a slight fever (two degrees) and I could barely keep my eyes open after being up just about an hour.  I spent most of my day sleeping off-and-on.  I just didn’t feel good.  Then it hit me.  I hadn’t taken my pills for my feet so I couldn’t even blame them for that.  I also hadn’t eaten so I had to fix that.  I didn’t feel like breakfast any more but the Beast had the solution.  He came home from taking the dog to the park for a run with hamburgers from McDee’s.  He got himself a big Mac but he knows I love just the regular hamburgers.  He also got me a vanilla shake which goes well with feeling nauseous.  Helped settle my stomach right down.  I ate one of the hamburgers and just a few french fries (he gets a large and we share) and I saved the other hamburger for my dinner.  Of that, I ate half and ended up giving the other half to Baron.  I just wasn’t all that hungry.

I’ve been drinking a LOT of water just because I don’t feel well and it seems to help.  That means I am also going to the bathroom a lot and on my feet….which hurt like hell but it’s getting better since I’ve taken two of the three pills I am supposed to take so far.  They really DO help and, when my feet are especially sensitive, I have my pain pills from the doctor I can take.

That’s been my day but I feel better now.  I’ll put my butt to bed early (I hope) and I should be 100% tomorrow.  I get a week off from the Wound Center (the doctor is taking a few days off although he tried to BS me that it was because I was so much better :laughing) this week and will get my Chewlee back on Tuesday or Wednesday next week.  I feel like I’ve been on vacation!

Love you all.  Have a fantastic weekend!  I’m going to try to talk the Beast into barbequing something. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I apologize for not having a blog up earlier.  But I took a fall, hit my head and really wasn’t up to it yesterday.  The fall wasn’t serious but I was ready to skin a cat over it.  Let me explain.

We have a cat that adopted us.  You never adopt a cat.  It has to adopt you or you have major problems.  Cats are not like dogs.  You become their servants.  They don’t always come when called is one example.  But….if they want attention, you had best pay attention.  They have very pointy ends on all their paws and they will use them to make you pay attention.  That’s why the saying is that dogs have owners, cats have attendants.  It’s very true.

And then you have some cats that are like Lovey.  She is the sweetest, most content cat I’ve ever been around.  When they purr, they are happy and content.  Lovey purrs constantly.  She LOVES attention and wants to be laying in your lap or next to you or at your feet.  She follows me around like some dependent dog.  She will lay at my feet when I am at the desk.  If I get up to go to the bathroom or the kitchen, she follows me and wants to rub up against me the whole time.  And she purrs constantly.

The problem is that she will get between my legs while trying to rub up against me when I am not expecting it.  There have been a few times when she ran up to me from behind, got between my feet and almost tripped me.  Yesterday she DID and I fell backwards and thunked my head on the wood floor.  Nothing else was hurt but I was so damn mad at the cat because she’s been moved aside so often, you think she would *get it*.  But the Beast took her and put her out on the deck along with her food and water.  She spends more than half her time out there so you don’t have to worry about her on that point.  In fact, she keeps presenting us (at the door, of course) with the dead bodies of the little kangaroo mice (they can really jump!).  Baron likes to chase them but has never caught one.  I don’t think he would know what to do with one if he DID catch one.  But it’s funny to watch.

As for me, after the fall I was very conscious of looking for symptoms of a concussion but none appeared so I didn’t hit it hard enough.  But I’m sure my brain bounced a bit in there (I think I still have a brain anyway).  I waited to take my normal nap and stayed more upright by napping in my recliner.  I did sleep longer than expected and just didn’t feel like blogging so I didn’t.  I went to bed at a more normal time than usual only because Bratfink didn’t get online.  She hadn’t been online on Tuesday and I was starting to worry about her when my niece called me with a message from her.  She said she was alright but they didn’t have internet. 

That’s happened a time or two before.  I don’t know who she has for internet but it goes down on them every few months.  A tech has to come out and work on it every time so it’s a few days before she gets online again.  **Sigh**  I know Bratfink gets upset over it but there’s not a whole lot she can do except wait for the company to get someone out there.

Love you all.  Thanks for coming by. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

The Beast and I took a stroll out to the garden today to look over the state of the tomatoes and the squash.  I was cutting the Beast’s hair and glanced over at the squash and saw a lot of yellow that looked like it was ready.  It was.  Lots of them.  Enough so that the Beast gave some away to the neighbors.  They got one summer squash and two crooked necks.  And we have a bunch that will be ready in another few days plus flowers galore.  I actually took off some of the blossoms because squash does not can well.  At least not cut-up squash.  They get too mushy.  I haven’t tried mashing it but I just may do that this year. 

It looks like I may have near 50 or more of the cherry tomatoes on the one bush.  They are all green, thankfully and I told the Beast he’s got to find some rosy tipped lettuce seeds for me or some other kind of leaf lettuce.  I really would like to have some.  It grows quickly (although not quickly enough for when the first of the cherry tomatoes are ready) and that way we should be able to make salad with it all summer.  The Big Boy tomatoes are doing well but we only had one that was ready.  It was also a victim of something that bored into it so the Beast tossed it into the garden and went to Lowe’s to get some spray or something to put a stop to it.  He thought at first it was the fungus but I showed him where it had been entered and split the soggy area open to show him the borer.  Ick!  It grossed him out.  I didn’t react to it because I knew what to expect and I think that surprised him.  I’ve just been taking care of a garden for many years unlike the Beast.  He’ll *get it* eventually.

I was glad to see the strawberries are full of little blossoms.  It won’t be long and we will have bunches more of them.  Oh, and the raspberry bush is just FULL of raspberries.  They aren’t ready by any means but I actually may get a few pints of jam from it.  The blueberry bush has little tiny berries on it.  They looked adorable.  The raspberries, by comparison, are HUGE already.  The ones I inspected were already an inch long and that should be about as large as they get if I remember correctly.  Now they can concentrate on ripening. 

I told the Beast he’s probably going to have to hit Sam’s Club for 25# of sugar and a couple more containers for me to keep the sugar in.  Making jam is sugar intensive or it doesn’t set up no matter how much you cook it.  Even that additive (brain fart because I can’t remember the name of it offhand) that is supposed to help it *gel* won’t help at all if you don’t add the correct amount of sugar.  Whoda thunk it?

I made some summer squash but I did it with brown sugar and butter because that’s what the Beast said he had a taste for.  He liked what I made last summer and said he missed it.  It turned out a bit sweeter than I wanted even though I didn’t even use a cup of brown sugar in it.  It was more like a loosely packed half cup.  Of course, it could be that I am not used to using much sugar so it just tastes a bit more sweet to me than it will to the Beast.

I reiterated to the Beast that he WILL be helping me can tomatoes this year.  It’s really too much work for one person.  Even though we didn’t plant as many tomatoes bushes as we did last year, they really went nuts this year and are so damn tall (we measured over six feet and had to add some more support for them all on both sides.  The Beast was moaning and groaning over that because that meant six more trellises at a cost of $20 each.  But we can use them year after year.  These are made of a nice strong plastic…and I do mean strong.  They aren’t hollow.

He moved one of the trellises from last year over by the asparagus to support them.  They are tall enough to cut but really need to thicken more.  I may just trim them anyway to help them out.  I don’t think they should be as tall as they are.  It seems all our veggies are doing exceptionally well this year. 

Well, that’s about all the major news here.  Hope your gardens, if you have one, are doing well.  Also hoping that you are having a great week so far.  I discussed getting the Slip and Slide for Chewlee and he got a kick out of the idea.  I could see him envisioning her using it and it agreed with him.  He’s going to check it out when he goes up to our Walmart and, if he can’t find the one I want (they have a variety of them!), I’m going to order it online to be shipped to our store here.  It’s free (no shipping charges) and sometimes it’s cheaper. 

Love you all.  Stay safe.  Smile a lot for no good reason.  It’s good for your teeth. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I have a collection of buttons.  Just like my mother used to do, I find a button, I keep it because I might find out what it goes to.  Also, when I am ready to throw away something that has buttons on it (or add it to the rag bag), I cut off the buttons and add them to my collection.  As you might guess, it’s got a LOT of different buttons.  I’ve used them when I sew new things.  I use them to replace lost buttons on shirts, coats, all kinds of things.  But no matter how many I use, the collection doesn’t seem to get any smaller.

Chewlee has been fascinated with my collection and has always asked me to let her play with it.  The rule is that she must put them all back when she’s done and she can’t leave the room.  She’s been very good about it and has used the buttons to make faces or house shapes for the most part.  Today she decided to do something different.  Today she sorted them all out into their various colors.  Then she took each color and sorted the buttons into their various sizes.  As I watched her, I realized that I had a lot more matching buttons than I thought but I also realized that she has a good eye for color.  As she was sorting them, she would say their color.  I didn’t realize that I even had some orange buttons.  I can’t for the life of me imagine where I got them but it’s an old collection.  I just thought it was funny.

Chewlee was thoroughly engrossed while she was doing that.  Some buttons she stopped and looked at closely.  I think the different patterns they have on their edges caught her attention as well as the different finishes.  Some she jumped up to show me and I would tell her that was a pearl finish or a marbled one and she would shake her head to agree with me like she knew that all along.

They celebrated her birthday at school today since school will be over next week and Chewlee is leaving tomorrow for Orlando with her other grandfather.  I thought she was flying but the Princess told me it’s only her flying out on Thursday.  The paternal grandfather and Chewlee will pick her up at the airport and they will come back on Monday.  Chewlee insisted that she was now 5 years old because they had her birthday at school.  When I told her she had another week to wait, she got all upset with me about it.  But when I told her that meant she was going to have TWO birthdays, she got a big grin on her face.

She gave me a hug and a kiss before she did the same to the Beast and then ran out the door.  If I know the Princess, she hasn’t packed anything for Chewlee yet.  Which is probably why she was in such a hurry to leave.  She usually sticks around for a while to talk about *things* before she leaves but not today.  I know she must be tired from work but she will stay up until she’s got everything done that she needs to do.

The kids put an offer in on a house.  I saw the pictures and it’s a nice modular on a huge piece of property.  It’s got a huge deck and is on brick supports all around.  That’s unusual for this area but so are modulars.  Most people just get double wide trailers.  I know the realtor presented the offer to the owners but the Princess hasn’t said anything to me about whether or not the owners took the offer or countered it…..yet.  I’ll call tomorrow and ask her about it since it means a lot of changes.  The house isn’t all that far away but it is further than I would like to see them.  I wouldn’t get to see Chewlee as often and it means Chewlee would be going to a school where she knows no one unlike if they stayed in our area.  If the people took the offer, they will be moving soon because the kids were pre-qualified by a lender just for that reason.  So most of the paperwork has been submitted.  Johnnycakes hates paying rent even though their rent right now is reasonable.

He just hates the idea of not being able to do some things he would like to do including putting up Chewlee’s playhouse and slide.  It’s a really neat one of wood but too much work to put up and take down.  He hasn’t put it up at this place they are renting because there’s no room for it.  He’s also used to living in a home with lots of land.  His dad’s house is on a huge piece of property because of raising chickens and having horses.  This place they are trying to get is just on 2-1/2 or 3 acres but that’s big enough for what he wanted.  No close neighbors.  The deck is huge and he would like to put a hot tub on it.  He could put it flush because the deck is elevated enough.  The Princess said to me…*I could sunbathe nude and no one could see me there because of all the trees surrounding it*.  That made me laugh….wanting a tan with no lines…it’s her age talking. 

I saw the dog do something I could scarcely believe today.  Gotta tell you.  The cat disappeared yesterday.  We didn’t see her and couldn’t find her in any of her usual places.  That worried us and even Baron went searching for her.  Today she showed up at the door as usual and Baron was beside himself happy to see her.  He kept rubbing his head over her and even licked her face a time or two.  They both finally laid down on the big area rug in the living room and Baron started licking her all over like she was a puppy or kitten.  It was too damned funny to be believed.

That’s it for the Brat Farm for now.  We got a little rain, enough that the Beast didn’t have to water the garden.  We also had an official high of 81 but we recorded an outside temp of 84 here.  We turned all the fans on but the Beast broke down and turned on one of the window air conditioners to cool down the living room and kitchen area.  We did leftovers so we didn’t have to use the stove, just the microwave.  It was fine and even Chewlee broke down and had some sloppy joe which she knows is beef.  That shocked me.  She usually won’t touch it.  BUT….she couldn’t have a popsicle until she ate.    She loves those crayola popsicles! 

Time to go now.  Hope you are having a great week and some decent weather.  The summer and crooked neck sqash are doing great and the asparagus plants are starting to thicken and stand up straight.  They look wonderful.  Yum.  I’m going to be canning tomatoes for days, I can tell.  I told the Beast that he is going to help me slip off the skins at the very least.  That’s the most tedious part of the canning as far as I’m concerned.

Love you all.  Thanks for stopping by. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Don’t ask me why but do you find it annoying when your hubby or significant other can’t seem to get themselves dressed by themselves?  The Beast can’t seem to get those damn buttons for his collar buttoned or his collar over the back of his tie either.  He asks how he looks just like a woman does with less reason.  I mean does one suit vary much over another?  Only the fabric and color changes.  He’s got suit jackets alone that cost more than anything I’ve ever owned in entirety.  That includes all my underwear and my shoes.  **Insert eyeroll here**

Today, for some reason, he didn’t bother me at all when he dressed for church.  I was napping and usually he has no respect for that most wonderful of activities.  I don’t take a nap unless I have a *nap attack*.  That’s when your body says you CANNOT do another thing until you give it some rest.  It’s a totally important thing you have to do for your body or you pay for it later.  So imagine my shock when I woke from my nap and he was gone.  It just proves he can actually dress himself. 

Chewlee came home with what she calls her *magic wand*.  One of the women there gave her this really cute flower made out of a thin rubbery material that’s about the size of a paper plate.  It’s layered and has a stick attached to it.  She waves it around and tries to say *abracadabra*.  She cracks me up at how she manages to mangle that even after several attempts to help her say it correctly.  She’s now trying to do magic and make a coin disappear.  What she does is, of course, obvious but I try to act surprised and like I didn’t see her put it in her other hand.  It makes her happy and I love how she laughs.  This will be short-lived (her attempts at magic) so I’m not concerned about HAVING to burst her bubble.

She got a spanking today from Papa.  All two thumps to her bottom but you would have thought she was beaten by how she cried when he made her sit in a chair afterward.  She got smart-mouthed today when he told her to put something back.  She actually got this snotty look on her face and said, *I don’t have to!*  Ut oh!  She’s done that a time or two with me but she doesn’t do it any more.  I guess she has to try it with everyone before she learns it’s not acceptable behavior.  When I chided her about it, she said to me, *But I don’t know what I can’t do!  You didn’t give me a list!*  I told her why write her a list when she hasn’t learned to read yet?  That just made her cry because she hasn’t been practicing and didn’t know *I* knew that.

Later, I heard her say to her grandpa, *Grandpa, are you still mad at me?*  This was in a very low, sweet and sorrowful voice.  He told her it made him mad when she wouldn’t listen and got smarty-pants with him.  She then said, *I’m sorry, Papa.  I won’t do it again.*  He gave her a hug and later even took her for the ride up to Walmart with him so all was well there.

The Beast made a dreadful mistake when he bought bacon for BLT’s.  He got the maple flavored kind.  I cooked it up but I told him it wouldn’t taste good.  He actually tried to tell me it would be fine.  Well, he’s singing a different tune now.  The only good thing is that he found out that H**mel bacon has GREASE!  He’s been bitching that even bacon has become inedible by the damn do-gooder’s who think our food has to be made healthy for us because we are too stupid to think for ourselves.  There are just some things that shouldn’t be messed with.  There are surely enough alternatives on the market for those who need or want to adjust their diets away from fatty foods.  But STOP MESSING WITH EVERY DAMN FOOD ON THE MARKET!  When you can’t even make country gravy any more, that’s disgusting.

Chewlee will be leaving for (and arriving in) Orlando on Thursday.  They are flying out of Atlanta and it only takes about an hour or so to get there.  That’s where the grandfather will meet up with them.  I really, really hope she loves it at Disney World.  There’s so much to see and do there.  Since they will be doing a lot of walking, I’m glad they are staying at the resort.  It means they can go back to the hotel for Chewlee to catch a nap when she needs it and they will be able to go back into the park when she’s awake again….that is IF she doesn’t want to hit the pools or something.  It’s mind-boggling all you can find to do there and they keep adding things onto it. 

If she gets to go to Universal Studios, too, and see Harry Potter, she should be in Hog Heaven.  Darn, looks like I am having internet interruptions so I am going to get this posted now.  Love you all and I wish you all a fantastic week.