TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Tonight I experienced some of the drawbacks to a wireless internet.  There's no such thing as a perfect solution.  Although I like it, it DOES have drawbacks.  For instance....the one *I* was using came with 3gb to use up and it ran out tonight at 7:30pm.  The Beast was at his bible study meeting with his phone so I couldn't switch over to the Droid.  I really like being able to use that one since it's a 4G connection.  I had to wait until the Beast got home which wasn't until almost 10pm because he stopped to buy me my Mother's Day present.  Of course, he couldn't wait to give it to me so I'll tell you what it is.....a Nook.  Yep, a Kindle would have worked but, hey, it's more than he's bought for me in years.

So, the Beast gets home and I tell him I don't have internet.  He's the one that found out I was out of *usage* (what else do you call it?) and reloaded it.  THEN we find out my wireless connection to my computer is only working sporadically.  It's bad, of course.  So the Beast runs out to solve that problem and comes home with something new....made by NetGear this time.  It's much better but has given us a fit about also recognizing the Droid.  **Sigh**  We THINK it renamed it AND it picked up a THIRD network somewhere in the neighborhood.  Very confusing.  When I tried to switch over to what we think is the Droid, it showed me connected but couldn't access the internet.  I'll let the Beast fool with it in the morning when he's less stressed.  And I am less stressed.

The Beast has a bad habit of swearing and screaming at inanimate objects.  It drives me nuts and, I am sure, raises my blood pressure.  He used to throw things and break them but that hasn't happened for a while, thank god.   I wasn't going to tell him about not being able to switch over because I have a bit of a headache as it is and I KNOW it's the Beast's fault.  He just went to bed so I am sure this headache will fade very soon. 

Whoever the neighbor is that has the wireless network we found, they have turned it off now because it's showing it's not connected to the internet now.  It sure looked weird to see three different networks, all showing four or more bars a pretty green (meaning they are connected and active).

The Beast finally noticed that Chewlee is starting to recognize different words so he decided he was going to get her some learning lessons for her Leapfrog.  Trouble is, he wasn't prepared to discover there are more *Leap-somethings* and didn't have hers with him when he was checking to see what the store had.  SHE has a Leap-pad.  It's different than the Leapfrog equipment (which looks more like a computer).   Her Leap-pad is a touch screen with a stylus and she knows her way around all the programs she has on it.  None for reading, however.  We did look what's available up on the internet and it surprised the Beast.  I've seen them *advertise* it on NickJr and show all the programs available so it didn't surprise me.  The Beast almost swallowed his tongue when he saw the prices, however.    The Princess laughed and told him what she has cost $200.  The paternal grandfather bought it for Chewlee for Christmas and ended up paying $30 more than what stores were charging because he had to buy it over the internet.  The stores were all out of them.  Bet he shops earlier next time.  **Grin**

Time to get this posted.  It's very late and I sure don't want to find myself without internet after all this crap.  Love you all.  Enjoy your Friday.  Have a drink with friends after work but, remember, drink responsibly. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

The Beast proved it again!  He's a real asshole when it comes to anything that belongs to ME.  He decided to clean out my bookcase yesterday and he was really sneaky about it.  He wanted to get it done early and get all the stuff he was throwing out in the garbage can which gets emptied around 6am today (Wednesday).  He threw out almost every book I owned except for the Harry Potter ones.  But all my Ann McCaffrey, my Tony Hillerman's, I can't even finish up all the ones he threw away because it makes me want to cry and scream at the same time.  He even threw out a First Edition signed copy of Watership Down that wasn't even mine!   I was so mad, I screamed at him and told him if he was so damned interested in throwing out shit, to throw out HIS OWN and NOT MINE.

He had the nerve to say to me, *Oh some of those books you haven't read in 5 years, I'll bet!*  I told him that wasn't true since many of those books only came out in the last two to three years AND books are good FOREVER.  I don't just read them once.  I read the same books over and over again because I ENJOY reading.  Also, when a new one comes out, I like to re-read the one that came out before it to *get into the series* so-to-speak.  Like my Tony Hillerman books.

I have barely said two words to the Beast since my small tantrum.  I'm just sick over what I've lost.  His crappy political books (which he shouldn't be reading according to his new religion) aren't gone, I noticed.  Trust me, those are going to go missing very, very soon.  I have a lot of stuff of his I haven't gotten rid of because I really didn't feel it was mine to thin out.  No more.  That is going to change as of NOW.  I believe in personal property but he doesn't.  Sorry.  I think the sword should swing both ways.  If that's how he wants it, that's how he's gonna get it and we shall see how he feels about my taking those liberties with HIS stuff.

My doctor's appt. went well except for having a bit of an elevated blood pressure which was to be expected after having the argument with the Beast.  However, the good news is the amputation wound is healed now.  It has a tiny scab on it but the doctor said to just put a little bandage on it if it shows any sign of leaking and to call him.  It really IS tiny.  The heel is going to take at least three more weeks he feels.  He gave me a prescription for (GAG!) diabetic shoes but he tried to tell me that they DO have some more casual styles now...more sandal-like with closed toes and velcro fasteners.  He gave me the addresses of two places that have them and one of them his buddy is the prosthetic doctor for.  He's prescribed a prosthetic big toe for me.  I didn't know they had them even.  However, he says it will help my balance and will feel better to me than going without one entirely.  I have to make an appointment and go in for a molding and choose the shoe style I want.  Then I will go back later to make sure it all fits and see what happens from there.

That's it for now.  I'm still so upset about the books, I am getting a bit of a headache over it.  Love you all.  Have a great day and please, please...respect the other person's property like you would want yours to be respected.

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I was in a game room on Pogo today and one of the gals I play with a lot asked me what I thought I was going to get from my kids for Mother's Day.  She had gotten a card with a gift card for dinner that was for Outback Restaurant from one of her kids and she was expecting flowers from her other one.  Or, she hoped, maybe one of those Edible Arrangements instead.

When I told her I expected nothing, she was shocked.  I told her that both the kids and I were so used to my making excuses for them (they're broke usually did it), they don't even call.  Well, Marcus Aurelius usually does but that's about it.  The last time I even got flowers was the first Mother's Day after the Princess and Johnnycakes moved in together.  (I mean from my kids, Bratfink!)

I would love one of those Edible Arrangements.  Hell, just a nice Mother's Day card would work for me.  Something that says to me that they appreciated my standing between them and the Beast when he would try to beat the crap out of them and used me for that, instead.  Not fun for me and it still upsets me at times that I didn't just divorce him.  But I truly believed *'til death do you part*.  Gawd, I was stupid.  Not that it matters now.  I'm equally ignored by kids and husband alike.  The Beast has always been a *bah!  Humbug!* type anyway and the kids are much more interested in trying to find out if their father loves them than worry about mom, whom they KNOW does.

I DID find out that I am not alone.  There were quite a few mothers in my position and they said the same thing.  The kids KNOW their mother loves them and they are still trying to get their father to love them despite everything.  There are a lot of Beast's in this world.  **Sigh**

I find it a bit depressing but we can thank Hallmark and a few others for this Holiday.  Just another one they invented in an attempt to sell more merchandise.  It hasn't been around all that long.  For those of us that don't have kids that appreciate all we did or at least TRIED to do for them, it's just a day that we try to ignore.  I watch our next door neighbor bring flowers and a present to her mother every year.  The present is always beautifully wrapped so it's probably from some upscale store that offers free wrapping.  Either that or she should give classes, trust me.

For some reason, I have spent a lot of today napping.  It's like I can't wake up entirely.  I feel great and then.....nap attack!  I'll probably be up all night now.    The weather doesn't help.  First rain, then sun, then rain again.  Weatherbug says we have one more day of rain before it clears up.  At least tomorrow I will have Chewlee (Wednesday) and she will make sure I don't get any more nap attacks.  But she makes me tired just watching her.  She has so much energy!

Love you all.  I need to get this posted while I have a good internet connection.  Be happy.  Have a great day. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Today the Beast made his trip to Verizon bright and early to straighten out the phone thing.  His only concern is that they locate what the hell happened to his payment since he had paid it a month in advance.  They claim they will since the Beast had all his receipts.  Funny thing is, no one knows why his phone was tied into the iPad because it had it's own *hot spot* as they call it.  I'm just glad it wasn't something I was in charge of doing because the Beast would have been sure I was just an idiot and *I* was responsible.  Since it was all HIM, it wasn't something he did.  Oh, no!  It couldn't be of course.

The day was very nice and quiet.  No tantrums.  No accusations.  No stupid demands out of nowhere.  Just did our own thing all day long.  He bought some groceries and I helped put them all away.  I just wish he would get rid of that sweet tooth of his.  He gets stuff like donuts soaking in icing, coconut macaroon cookies, ice cream of all kinds, fudsicles, popsicles, chocolate cakes, all kinds of pies, you name it!

It's not that I succumb to eating them but it gets so tempting at times.  There are a few things I DO like but getting them non-fat and unsweetened or artificially sweetened changes the taste.  So I ignore them as much as possible.  He found something now that is very tempting.....Mounds ice cream bars.  They must not have Almond Joys or that would have been his choice.  He is constantly buying candy and other sweets.  It's enough to give a diabetic a nervous breakdown. 

We often have these *whatever you feel like fixing for yourself is your breakfast/lunch/dinner* days.  He makes himself stuff that he likes but I don't and vice versa.  Today was one of those.  BUT...he already warned me that he is going to make scrambled eggs for our breakfast tomorrow made with some of that Philadelphia cream cheese cooking stuff.  He got some that is also mixed with Italian cheese (probably parmesan, I didn't check) and chives.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

He's been going nuts trying to find onion bagels.  He claims he's going to go to Foodland for the next shopping and see if maybe they carry it.  Walmart used to have it but sure hasn't carried any in over a year now.  I love onion bagels with or without cream cheese.

Well, it's late and my internet seems to be stable now so I will get this posted.  Love you all.  I wish you a great and happy day and good weather.  If your weather sucks, well....I'm no fairy or genie. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Tonight Chewlee got to see E.T. The Extraterrestrial for the first time.  I knew she would like it and she did.  She liked the fact that it was a little boy E.T. and he was friends with Elliott, the little boy.  When E. T. seems to have died, she was really sad and kept asking why and how he died.  When he suddenly was alive, she was so happy that everyone was wrong.  She had to get up and stand close to the TV when they were racing on their bikes to get E.T. to where he expected to meet up with the space ship and his parents.  She got sad when everyone was saying goodbye to E.T. and asked me why I was crying.  I told her because saying goodbye to someone that you wouldn't see again was always sad.  She gave me a hug and told me that E. T. would probably come back to visit Elliott when he could drive his own space ship (which made me laugh because of the leaps her thinking takes).  When the movie was over, she told me that she really liked the movie.

When her mother came to get her, she boiled down the movie to this:  *E.T. died!  And then he came alive!!!*  Too cute.

Today the Beast decided that he was taking back the iPad because he wasn't going to be able to do what he really wanted with it (Play his favorite game on Pogo while watching TV).  When he took it back, his salesperson told him that he was the second person that had told him the same thing.  How did the Beast screw up?  He forgot his cell phone # was tied in with his iPad.  It had to be for him to access the Internet since that was his Droid.  So he leaves and then discovers that his phone is *dead*.  Now he has to go back and get it re-activated and make sure that it isn't started over again like he JUST got it.  Trust me, nothing he screws up on is likely to end up simple to undo.  But we shall see.

It rained and thundered and lightninged almost all day long so I didn't even try to get online to play any games.  The Beast worked on getting the wireless working since our home phone is Magic Jack and that's required.  I just let him work on it.  Took him quite a while but he did eventually get it up and running but it kept going in and out, in and out.  I would have been frustrated as hell trying to play anything on Pogo.

Looks like more bad weather is coming in so I had better get this posted while I can.  Love you all and have a great week. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I almost didn't blog today...well, I probably would have at some time tomorrow (TODAY since it's after midnight).  This wireless network we have is a real pain in the ass at times.  We get a double whammy with it.  Bad weather affects it and, when the network gets busy, we are randomly (although I don't feel it's so random) knocked off.  We know this is true because we know a couple people that work for Verizon and they said it's just a fact of life.  We might get knocked off more often because we are using it all day long (hours on end) so they probably don't give a chit.  This evening (yesterday) we suffered from both problems.  Trust me, I was totally pissed off.  Bratfink finally suggested that I write one in a gmail and send it to her and SHE would post it for me.  I gave it one last try and, lo-and-behold, it finally loaded for me.

Today, the Beast went nuts and bought an iPad.  We can actually access the internet with it without paying an extra fee since we have the wireless.  I watched a bunch of U-tube posts and really enjoyed that.  They loaded fast and there were no hesitations.  Fantastic!  Fun!  There's a cute one of a lion trying to eat a baby through the observation glass.  The baby is dressed in black and white stripes so they think the lion must have thought it was a baby zebra.  It was funny.

We spent some time loading and personalizing apps on it with the idea that I can chat with my sister when we take a trip.  We will be making one towards the end of June so I can spend some time with old friends and my aunt, who is dying of cancer.  This has not been a good year for our family.  I lost the cousin that was like a sister to me; I had two major surgeries; we almost lost Bratfink to sepsis from a bladder infection of all things!  Then she got the shoulder injury and broken thumb.  Could her luck have been any worse?  No, that's just a rhetorical question, not any curse or anything like that.  We lost our great-nephew to a tragic car accident just two weeks ago.  Our aunt was told by her doctor that she has a year at best.  For a woman who did all the right things, including getting a mammogram every year, it's almost inconceivable that she could have gotten breast cancer that spread and metastasized on her lungs and some other organs.  She has always been active and has such a vivid, outgoing personality.  She also inherited that gene from our family that makes her look about 20 years younger than she is.  Hell, *I* look way older than she does these days!

Oh, I have to mention something so Marcus Aurelius doesn't think I lost it.  I got some texts from him that were showing up like they came from Mustachio.  The texts were obviously (at least to me) from HIM but I couldn't figure out how the hell my cell phone had gotten messed up.  That is, until I realized that the Beast had taken my phone with him when he went to cancel it.  He never gets texts.  I get a lot of them.  A text message came while HE had the phone.  My phone requires unlocking before you can make a call or see the text message.  He's not used to that so he was fumbling around and really screwed up a lot of things by pressing this and that, just trying to shut it off and/or read it since he's nosy and controlling anyway.  But, that's how it got screwed up.  The Beast just had no clue.  I had no idea it could even get as screwed up as it is now.  But, I won't have a cell phone after the 10th so it really doesn't matter.  I need to email my family and friends to let them know that and make sure to give them our Magic Jack #.

Okay, time to get this posted while I have a decent working internet.  Love you all and be sure to see the post before this one for the link to Bratfink's new blog site.  She's blogged and its very informative so don't miss it! 

I have started a blog, and Bratsis has graciously allowed me to tell you about it.

You can find it here:  http://planetbratfink.blogspot.com/

And I posted today.

Enjoy, and thank you for visiting me!

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I finally got to meet the doctor that replaced my previous one at the clinical practice I have been using for five years now.  The doctors at the hospital had laughed and called him Doogie Howser compared to the one he replaced (who was also young but had a few more years on this one).  This one, whom I will continue to call Dr. Doogie, is a much better doctor than the last one.  He has a great personality and is very much at ease talking with you.  He was informative, he listened to what I had to say, discussed alternatives with me and then even walked me out into the hallway while we discussed when I would return to see him.  He also told me if I had any questions, I should call him and either he or his nurse/associate would walk me through any problems.  I found him a fantastic replacement for Dr. Ratt. 

We discussed my neuropathy medication and what I had been doing with it when I was in pain from it.  I mean pain where I couldn't really walk on my feet.  He told me that I could actually triple it if I wanted and even taking it three times a day, would not exceed the maximum dosage.  I thought that was comforting to hear.  He did tell me, however, that one of the side effects was it would make me very sleepy.  That explained a lot to me since I had doubled up on those pills a few weeks back and was taking more naps than usual.  When I said I would rather take a pain pill than go through that, he prescribed me some that I had taken before.  No problem with that at all.    And I even have 5 months of refills on it.  Usually they want to only give you one month at a time to force you to come back (and pay another office visit) because you have to have an original scrip for any pain killer that's decent.

Chewlee was all excited today because next week she is going to the zoo with all her *friends* (classmates).  She just loves the zoo and could probably go every week and never grow tired of it.  I understand that part.  I used to take my brothers and sisters to our zoo when they were kids and there was never any objection to it.  I loved going as much as they did.  We would pack a lunch and head out for the day.  I always made sure we left before the zoo closed to avoid the big traffic clog as all the cars would try to leave.  I did that once and learned a lesson.    But don't we all learn the hard way on stuff like that?

I told Chewlee she would have to remember everything she saw so she could tell me all about it since I haven't been able to go to a zoo in a long time.  She told me, very seriously, that as soon as my feet were better, she was going to take me to the zoo.  She said, *...and I'll drive!*  I laughed and told her she wasn't old enough to drive yet and she got very mad and told me she knew how to drive.  She then said, *.....Mommy let me sit on her lap and *I* drove the car!*  Hmmm.  Gotta talk to the Princess about that.  Not a good idea with someone like Chewlee who thinks she can do anything....and could be sneaky enough to try it one day.

Weather is really crappy and I've had some real problems with my internet this evening so I am going to get this posted while I can.  Love you all.  Have a great weekend and I wish you fantastic weather to help out. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

The Beast went a little nuts today when he went into his clothes closet where he keeps his Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes.  He discovered they smell like smoke.  Well, duh!  There have been two smokers in here since Day One.  Just because he stopped smoking at the end of December, it doesn't mean the smells are gone.  I'm still smoking.  However, I keep my fan on exhaust all the time and I am sitting within about four feet of it.  I also shut my door and keep the door closed where his clothes are.  The closet doors in that room (the guest room) are also kept shut.

I really thought that would minimize the contamination, so-to-speak.  What I didn't know was he has had an air filtration machine in there for a couple years although I have one in here that I use, too.  His is different than mine so I really never noticed it.  Mine has a cleanable filter in it and I try to clean it up every couple months.

Today, when he went a bit nutty, he sprayed everything in the closet and the room with Febreze.  Then he took down the curtains and put them in the washer.  He took down the blinds and did the whole hot soapy water with some Clorox in it.  He cleaned the window.  After he put everything back, he closed the doors and felt very satisfied.  That is, until he walked in there about an hour later and the smell was stronger than ever!  Turns out, his air purifier was so loaded with that smoky residue, IT was the source of the strong smell.  I would have laughed but I kind of felt sorry for him.

He opened up the air purifier and took out the filter.  It looked just awful!  He bit the bullet and went to Lowe's to buy a new one.  He also came home with all kinds of other stuff you wouldn't believe.  He bought some of that Dryel so he can do his own dry cleaning in our dryer.  That's for some of his best sport and suit jackets.  He got some more Febreze AND he bought about a half dozen of those plug-ins that put nice smells in the air of any room it's in.  He bought one of those one's that spray a scent when you walk by it, too.  Then he comes into both rooms and heavily sprinkles some of that powder that you use to make rooms with rugs smell better and also has a little cleaning action involved.

When he finally felt the powder was down long enough, he came in and vacuumed it up.  Chewlee just loved all this stuff.  She kept asking all kinds of questions and wanted to smell everything.  The Beast finally brought in something for my room that says it will last 30 days on it.  We'll see.

When I went out into the kitchen, he was cleaning the air purifier from the guest room.  I asked him when the last time was that he had changed the filter, he actually looked embarrassed as he told me he *couldn't remember*.  I laughed and said, *Oh, THAT long ago, huh?*  That usually means he has never changed it.  It's not my first time decoding his cryptic remarks.

Bratfink mentioned that I hadn't mentioned going to the Wound Center yesterday.  The doctor changed the orders on my toe area because it was too *wet* for the graft to *take*.  The graft on my heel took and looks wonderful.  I have to change the bandage on the toe area every day now but the heel stays on all week long.  The doctor handles that one.  He feels a week of the new bandage procedure and the graft will take the next time. 

Chewlee was in a lovable mood today.  She wanted me to brush her hair while she sat in my lap and then laid back and put both my arms around her.  Earlier she had come over and just hugged me several times.  She was in a happy mood and played with the cat nicely.  The cat fell asleep in her arms and that made her happy.  She didn't move until the cat woke up and stretched.  She made me laugh when I realized she had to go to the bathroom but didn't want to wake the cat.  But...as soon as the cat woke up, she almost ran to the bathroom.

Her *goodbyes* have become interesting.  She will say goodbye and then add....have a nice day, Grandma!  I'll see you tomorrow!  It just sounds so different coming from her now.  Tonight, when she left, it was *Goodbye, Grandma.  I love you....see you!*  I told her to be good.

And thus ends another day at the Brat Farm.  The Beast has finally called it a day.  I stepped out into the living room area and it smells just wonderful out there.  He's got something that clips onto the fins of the little window air conditioner and I almost lost it when I saw that.  He's definitely become odor sensitive...or maybe I should say *over*-sensitive. 

Love you all.  Have a wonderful day! 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I've mentioned before that Chewlee's biological father has tattoos all over the place.  In fact, that's how Chewlee has come to refer to him as her *daddy with the tattoos*.  I really don't remember tattoos on her paternal grandfather but....he has this bad habit of buying Chewlee some of those play tattoos.  Now I don't mean the ones you just wet and slap on that can get kind of smeared.  I'm talking about the ones that can last for days and days and you have to scrub them off because there's something slightly adhesive involved.  I know.  I spent a lot of time taking 7 of them off her tonight while she was in the bathtub (including one in the middle of her forehead).

The Princess was beside herself over it.  She yelled at the grandfather and told him if he bought them for her again (this isn't the first time he's done it nor the first time she's told him that he wasn't to buy them for her), she would never let him take her to Florida again.  He said, *Oh!  I didn't know you didn't like that.*  She was just totally pissed over it because Chewlee thought they were just fine because her *other daddy* has REAL ones.  I told Chewlee that play ones were sorta okay sometimes but real ones I didn't like, especially on a girl.  Trust me, she checked me out but told me that her mommy had a tattoo.  I told her I know and I didn't like it one bit but she's a big girl so she can do what she likes regardless of whether grandma likes it or not.

Today the Beast finally blew out my computer.  He was shocked that it looks like a new computer.  I was glad to be able to clear away all the useless stuff that I didn't need in or around my computer now that we are wireless.  I was able to get rid of all the Hughesnet stuff plus the Netgear stuff.  I untangled my broken speaker wires (how in the hell do all those wires get so damned tangled when they aren't at the beginning and you don't undo them?)  I swear, it's nasty little gnomes or something that do that when everyone is asleep.  It's almost like they all become snakes or something.

He is having one hell of a time learning his droid.  He keeps screwing things up because his fingers are really too big for most of the icons and he will accidentally hit an app and suddenly he's somewhere he doesn't want to be with no clue how to get back to where he was.  He actually couldn't answer his phone and didn't know why.  He finally figured it out but it wasn't easy for a stubborn man who hates to read instructions more than once.

I now have custody of the Magic Jack since I don't turn off my computer for a much longer time period than the Beast.  Once you shut your computer down, you don't have a phone.  I go to bed very late and turn it on as soon as I get up.  All I have to do is remember to reset the Magic Jack when I turn on the computer and we're fine.

Every time Chewlee comes back from spending more than a day or two with her grandfather, she's like a wild thing.  We have to be very stern with her and retrain her, I swear.  He just lets her run roughshod over everything and everyone when she is with him.  SHE becomes the boss!  That doesn't work here and I'm sure her teachers don't like it either.

Oh...a note about Bratfink.  Her thumb is healed and she no longer has a block and/or sling for her arm.  Now comes the therapy.  Running fingers up and down the wall is the biggie.  There's another one that involves the thumb and a rubberband but that one will probably be the easiest for her.  At least she's healed now.  I am so relieved, I can hardly describe it.  I know those of you that know her will be, too.

And so ends another day at the Brat Farm.  Love you all and I hope the rest of the week is a good one for you.  It was over 90 here today but is going down into the 50's tonight so it should be a good night for sleeping.  Be good.  Stay healthy and be happy.