TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM #2

Have you ever packed for more than one or two people when you are going to be gone for a week?  I used to pack for four kids and the Beast for TWO weeks and used up very little space since there would be six of us and camping gear to take along also.  I was a great packer.  I packed enough for both warm and cold weather (since we did so much camping in the mountains you need clothes that are cooler for daytime and clothes for the big drop in temperature for night time) and seldom needed more than our one suitcase which was more like a small trunk.  Add tent, sleeping bags, camping gear and food and you had to be able to pack EVERYTHING you needed, including fishing rods and games for the kids.

We are taking just one kid, Chewlee, with us.  We will probably end up with more space used up from things we are bringing with us (less tent, sleeping bags and food) than I used with four kids.  Let me explain. 

I have one large bag of things that I will have up front with me because they will be the *necessary to keep close* things.  I have Chewlee's ear phones, my ear phones, my nook, some snacks, colored pencils, sharpener, pad of paper and a bunch of blue plastic holders with pre-made cigarettes in them.  I spent a couple hours making them up since we will be traveling or at someone else's home.  I think I have enough made up for four days, maybe more, before I will have to pull out the cigarette maker and other ingredients.  I have my prescriptions in there, my Nook (I intend to read some of the books I've downloaded), some bandages (just in case), my makeup bag since it has our toothbrushes and toothpaste in it, some gel for Chewlee's itchy mosquito bites she got running through long grass and some moisturizer with sunblock in it.  I have the gel hair ties I bought for Chewlee .  I have both brushes that we girls use.  And I am not done yet!

I still have to pack some clothes and dorm shirts for me.  I have four days worth of clothes in my suitcase plus shower gel and moisturizer plus some baby shampoo for Chewlee.  She normally uses what I use but this time I will use HERS.     Now that my hair is short, it won't make much difference what kind of shampoo I use.  I will be able to blow my hair dry in about three minutes...LOL.  I bought some 50 USB sun lotion for Chewlee last year that she didn't use much.  I just discovered that IT was apparently part of the *trash* the Beast threw out because he thought I had bought it for him and he felt it was *too thick*.  He didn't even try it but he thinks it's all about him so he never even asked me.  I'll have to buy some more for her once we get to where we are going.  I don't want her to come home with a sunburn.

Well, still quite a bit to do so I'll leave you to your day.  Hope it's a good one. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Has this ever happened to you?  I spent three days working on cleaning up different areas of the house so it would be neat and clean when we leave here on Wednesday morning.  Then, today I started packing for the trip.  I have things to pack for snacking, for Chewlee and for me.  The Beast is taking care of his own stuff.  Well, my computer room is a total mess once again.  I have stuff strewn all over it. 

Of course, partly because I did throw in one last load of clothes so there's stuff that's folded as well as stuff that just needs to be hung up (they are on hangers but hanging along the edge of my craft table).  I have the big suitcase in here that's partially packed.  I have clothes in piles scattered here and there.  I have a pile that's for Chewlee that goes in her drawer, another that I will pack in my suitcase plus my pile that needs to be put in my drawers.  I've already packed what I needed from that load of clothes in my suitcase.  But, do you get the idea?

I have one of those bags like they sell at Walmart for your groceries that I am putting things to entertain Chewlee in, some snacking stuff, my Nook, the earphones for me and for Chewlee.  Hers works with her portable DVD player and her Leap Pad.  It also works with my Nook so she can use any of them and not bother the Beast who will insist on doing most of the driving.  I'm a woman and a mother so I can block out those things, unlike most men.    But I don't want him getting mad at her and yelling.  It would only make her cry and I hate to hear any kid crying, let alone one that belongs to ME.  He never gets mad at Baron no matter how annoying he gets because Baron can't talk.  He can, however, whine and bark.  If he's really upset about something, he will bark right in your ear.  And his bark HURTS!

What annoys ME is that if the Beast and I are traveling together, Baron will bark in MY ear instead of the Beast's.  He KNOWS that *I* will make the Beast pay attention to his (Baron's) need, whatever it may be.  Usually, it's that he needs to get out and pee.    I can't say I blame him.  Since the Beast's urinary problems started, he's stopping more often than he used to when we traveled.  For that I am grateful.  Just not for the reason he started doing it.  I just wish he had been more sensitive to other people's needs.  Or, I should say, to MY needs.  He's good when we have other people traveling with us.  I'm going to be curious about how good he is with Chewlee's needs.

Chewlee got upset when she was told she would have to sit in back.  She said she wanted to sit up front but I told her that's where *I* sit.  She thought she wouldn't have a seat belt in the back but I told her the dog bed was going to be taken out so we could use the seat belts.  That really was just an excuse she thought up because she doesn't like having to wear a seat belt at all.  But she does because I told her it was the law and if she didn't wear it, we could get a ticket or even arrested and put in jail.  So she keeps it on even though she hates it.

We will pack up the car tomorrow evening so we will be ready to go after we have breakfast.  The Beast will shut off the water (his normal routine) and then off we will go with our coffee and a juice for Chewlee.  I'll buy some water at our first gas stop for us and check out what they have we can snack on that's different.  Chewlee is fascinated with the fact that I will be wearing my sandals even without a toe.  She really, really considers me broken and the fact that I can wear them just floors her.  By the time this trip is over, she should be over that.

I got my hair cut today and Chewlee's comment was:  *You're getting a haircut at WALMART???  They sell FOOD there, Grandma!*  She didn't really understand that there are other kinds of stores INSIDE Walmart so I'll have to point that out to her the next time we go together.

Time to try to sort out this mess.  Love you all and will talk to you tomorrow.  Then I will be here by Wednesday, the 26th.  But it will be spotty in between times.  I may not be able to get on at all, who knows?  But I'll take notes and catch you up when we are back.  Be safe, stay cool and drive carefully, as will we. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Chewlee has it all figured out.  She sleeps two more nights at home and then she has a sleepover at Grandma's and in the morning, we go to Chicago!  Tonight she asked me if it was going to be a long ride.  I told her we would be driving until it was almost time for dinner to get to her Uncle Brother's house and we would sleepover there before we finished up the trip to Chicago.  Then we would meet up with my best friend there and have a late lunch with her before we went on to her Aunt Kay's house.  BUT....(and this is important to her) we could swim in Aunt Kay's POOL when she got home from work!  That got a big *YAY!* from Chewlee since she has been dying to swim in a pool this summer.  She isn't crazy about lakes because of all the duck weed.  Since the recession started, they aren't spraying the lakes to kill most of it off like they used to do.  **Sigh**  I agree with her.  I hate that stuff all around my legs.

I got the guest room all fixed up and neat today plus did laundry.  I will start packing my suitcase tomorrow and I suppose the Beast's too.  The Princess will pack Chewlee's on Tuesday and bring it over with her on Tuesday night.  She (the Princess) wants to take us out for lunch on Tuesday for our birthday's and that sounds good to me.  I'm going tomorrow afternoon to get my hair cut.  I've been chopping at it for the past eight months and it needs straightening out.  I'm just glad I keep it short.  It makes it so much easier in the summer.  After I get my hair cut, I have to pick up prescription refills and a few odds and ends to take with us.  I may even pick up a new bathing suit since I don't think my old one will fit me any more.    I was half my size when I bought it.  I even have one that I am going to bring for Kay that I never wore and won't ever wear in the future.  I will NEVER be that thin again.  At least, I hope not.  I think I weighed about 90 lbs.  The suit was a bit big for me (which is why I never wore it) and then, when I started putting weight back on, I never got in the water that summer due to the Beast's bladder cancer problems.

I'm looking forward to this trip mostly because I've been housebound for so long and I really have missed my family.  I just wish Bratfink were more up to company because I would love to spend some time with her but I can wait.  Chewlee was disappointed but says she is sorry that she is sick because she would love to be able to tell her in person that she loves her.  I thought that was cute.

Chewlee wanted to go to the park today but she said she could wait until tomorrow if I will help her ask Grandpa to take her.  She says she wants to swing on the swings REAL HIGH!  She told me I could watch her from the car and I told her that I could go to the park, too, if I wanted.  She said to me then, *Oh, they have benches there and you can sit on them and watch me.*

I told her that I might want to swing, too, and she gave me this look like I was crazy.  Her comment was, *Grandma, how can you swing with a broken foot?*  To her, having lost my toe means I am forever *broken* and can't do a lot of things (in her mind).  I told her, *I might not be able to do ballet any more but I sure can SWING if I want to!*  She actually laughed and said, *Oh, Grandma!* like I had made a really funny joke.  I don't think she can imagine me on a swing at my age.  She keeps telling me that I am *old and broken* now.  Sweet child, isn't she?  I darn near stuck my tongue out when she said that but managed to restrain myself.

I just found out that my son, Marcus Aurelius, has a wedding coming up in two months.  His oldest daughter is marrying an Alabama boy.  **Grin**  I know the Princess will be floored.  She ran into them a few weeks back when she was shopping with her girlfriend up in Huntsville.  Every time she and Johnnycakes think about setting a date, something or other happens.  Right now, they are kind of aiming at early next year from what I understand but, as the Princess quipped, *There's no real hurry.  After all, he's got a house for me already!*    So, even though she and Sheepie both got engaged before Aimee did, she's going to be the married woman before they will be.

Marcus called me because he couldn't find our address anywhere and wanted to send our invitation out plus he needed the Princess's address and Tara's.  I found out that I never put Tara's address in our phone book (I know where she lives and can easily drive there!) so I have to call her and get it from her then call Marcus or my DIL with it.  I told him to just send the Princess's invitation here because we get a lot of her mail here anyway.  Plus, they are in the midst of a planned move so it seems silly to get the old address and then have to get her new one later on.  I will have to tell him to do the same with Sheepie's invitation, mainly because I don't have hers here and, with all I have to do the next few days, I will have a hard time catching up with her since she's going to school every day.  Or darn close to it.  Sheepie is going to school to become a Certified Nursing Assistant.  I still have no clue how long that's going to take but I think it's a minimum of 9 months or so.  It might be as long as 18 months.  I forget.

Love you all.  I'm still not sure if I will be able to blog while I am gone but I will certainly take notes so that you get all the news when we get home.  The Beast is trying to get the grass cut and everything trimmed.  I'll be cooking up spaghetti sauce tomorrow and freezing it until we get back home when I can can it and put it out in the garage for future use.  We just have so many tomatoes that are ripe and no time to can before I leave so it will be tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce or garbage if left on the vines.

Have a wonderful week.  Be good, be careful and stay cool. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

We finally came up with definite dates for going to Chicago.  We will leave here on July 18th and return by the 26th at the latest.  That's because we have our appointments with the ophthalmologist on the 27th.   That's how you can really tell when you are finally old.  Your life revolves around doctor's appointments!    I would have loved to have been able to plan better but I had to wait until I was dismissed from the Wound Center and the Beast was over his staph infection.  I couldn't drag him anywhere while he had THAT going on.

Of course, some aspects of the trip had to change since our plans didn't come together until now.  My ex-sis-in-law has some plans set in concrete involving a cancer walk and then babysitting her new granddaughter (the first grandchild) so we only get to spend two days with her as far as we currently know.  But, since the Beast and I discussed staying at a motel, it just means we will find one closer to his brother's house up there and use that as our spot to go visit from.  I don't really enjoy putting someone out and you never sleep as well anyway.  I do sleep better at a motel as long as there aren't partiers there slamming doors all night long.

There's a lot to do in a short time.  We want Chewlee to see her aunts and uncles that she can while she is there and her cousins.  I want to visit my brother, Icky, who is undergoing chemo and radiation therapy, and see Sister Bee.  I would also like a chance to visit with my aunt/godmother who is dying from metastasized breast cancer.  Chewlee just wants to be somewhere there is a pool.    Even if Kay didn't have a pool, the motel will.   One way or another, she will be happy.  She is also excited at the idea of getting a hamburger she can eat and hold in just one hand (White Castle).  She's never had one.  They happened to have an episode of Undercover Boss on today about one of the owners of White Castle and she got to see them shown on TV.

I will also spend one day (or afternoon at least) with some of my girlfriends from high school (yes, they had high school back in those days).  We are all realizing that we are, indeed, becoming old and we are sorry we weren't even wilder than we were now! 

The Beast and I looked around the house (we like to leave it in really good shape and cleaned) and decided, *We can do this!*  Even Chewlee says she will help and vacuum my rug in my computer room tomorrow.  I told her I would wait until she was here before I did it.  I'll clean up the guest room (the Beast and I did the kitchen and living room already) and he says he will do our bedroom and bathroom.  The guest bathroom was done yesterday.  We should have everything knocked out and ready on Tuesday so we can leave early on Wednesday and be at his brother's house Wednesday afternoon.

I told the Princess what I wanted her to have for Chewlee to use in the car (portable dvd player, Leap Pad and her stuffed kitty).  She's going to buy her a new bathing suit and some floatees for her arms for her to use at Kay's and the motel's pool while we are gone.  I want her to enjoy herself and be entertained, too.  The Beast's brother is going to keep Baron for the few days we are gone to Chicago and then we can come back and spend a day or so with him and his wife.  I like his wife anyway and I can keep Chewlee entertained while those three play cards.  I have to remember to charge up the laptop so I can keep in touch (and clear out my email, too).   Plus, I can always entertain Chewlee by letting her play games on Pogo, too.

Well, I am bushed and plan on calling it an early day...after a couple games on Pogo.  I didn't play much today because we were busy.  I won't be on much tomorrow either.  Love you all.  Have a great weekend. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Ver*zon makes a big freakin' deal out of their *4G* service but let me give you a clue....!  Unless you live in a big city somewhere, don't believe it for a minute!  We are paying a small damn fortune for what is supposed to be 4G service here in A'bertville, AL and I have yet to see it.  I have only seen more than two bars once or twice in the two months we have had this EXPENSIVE damn service.

You can ask Bratfink about the WiFi hotspot (that is also expensive) that's part of the service we are paying for.  THAT is a JOKE!  It bounces on and off, on and off to the point that I can't play a game on Pogo or any other internet site.  I am only ASSUMING that the cities might be getting real 4G service but they could be suffering the same crap as I am. 

If you are thinking about getting 4G service, it's offered by several companies.  I would check with your friends, co-workers and even neighbors to see if they have it, who it's with and how good it is before committing yourself to two years of paying an extraordinary amount of money.  But don't, don't use Ver*zon.  It sucks and they will give you a dozen or more excuses as to why it just isn't working for you if you call them or stop into one of their stores.  And the excuses are stupid and lame.  We will NOT be renewing with them and I am going to be checking with people who have one of the other 4G companies to find out what they think before we commit again.  That's a fact!

If anyone who happens to stumble across my blog is using another 4G service (or even the one WE have...and you know which one I mean), let me know what you think of your service.  I really, really want to know.

Love you all.  Have a fantastic weekend! 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

If there is one trait that I will hate to see Chewlee lose, it's her innocence.  How do I mean that?  I mean that she believes she can say what is on her mind without fear.   She doesn't have any real inkling about what is politically correct or unladylike or something you really hoped she had no inkling of.  She thinks it or feels it and it comes out in what she says to you.

We forget that children really ARE innocents.  We often react incorrectly to something that a child might say without realizing that there is a real question there.....and an opportunity to teach.  I try very hard not to be *cranky* and just react to something Chewlee might say.  She has a mind of her own and will make statements that can shock you.  Like her telling her paternal grandfather that she has *two daddys*.  First of all, her biological father didn't really come into her life until her paternal grandfather forced him to come when the Princess got involved with Johnnycakes. 

When I picked her up after her overnight stay with the grandfather (and the father was there), I knew they were trying to force-feed the fact that the biological father was her *daddy* down her throat.  But it was Johnnycakes that changed her diapers, drew her bath, got her ready for bed and even read her bedtime stories.  Even when she was two years old, she had questions and, thank God, I encouraged her to talk to me when she seemed preoccupied.  When she asked me about her *daddy* that her grandfather brought with her, I didn't deny he was her daddy.  Instead, I told her that she was sooooooo lucky to have TWO daddys.  The one in Florida and her daddy that loved her HERE.  She accepted that....and apparently, it still applies.  She sticks to that no matter what else is said.  Like I said, she had a mind of her own. 

That in itself is a form of innocence.  There are no questions.  Okay, a grownup told her that this one person was her daddy but she knew she had another daddy that lived with her HERE.  When I made it okay to have TWO daddys, that was good enough for her.  That's just one example.  I see others almost every day.  There's a bit of guile in her, no doubts about that, but it's usually because she wants her own way on something that she knows she won't get.  But she will try anyway by going for it 'round about.

The only reason she hasn't lost that yet is because both the Princess and I actually talk to her most of the time and tell her where she is right or wrong.  She will ask questions and sometimes she gets stubborn because it's not what she wants to hear.  But, lord, I love how she thinks about things.  She will watch programs with me (Discovery mostly or Animal Planet) and she asks interesting questions about the animals and sea life.  I bought some books for her on Nook and it reads them to her.  I will see her go back to a page several times until she thinks she understands it.  It's just a wonderful feeling to watch a  young mind at work.  It makes my heart beat just a little faster to think I am helping to expand that mind with some of the wonders of the world.

Like I said, when she loses that, I will be saddened.  But I understand that it is also part of life.  We've all gone through it in one way or another.  I'm just one of the people that hope to protect her from some of the worst ways you can lose your innocence....and keep her from getting hit by a bus.    But I will enjoy her as long as I can, god willing. 

Love you all.  Have a great week and distribute some smiles along the way. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Just down the road from us, at a four-way stop, once stood a gorgeous oak tree.  From the size of it, it had to have been somewhere around 100 years old.  It stood on a horse and cow farm and you could see the horses laying down under it in hot weather sometimes. 

The other day, we had a storm here that was really intense.  The rain came down HARD.  The wind was fierce!  And there was lightning.  Oh yes, there was lightning.  It was the wind and the lightning that did that poor oak in.

The skeleton of what was once a mighty oak shows that lightning hit it almost dead center.  It started the tree on fire and the wind whipped the branches and made some crack and fall.  The flames did their worst and then the rain put out the fire after about a half hour and before the firemen had to battle it.  They just stood there and watched us lose another of our trees that have stood for years and years. 

But this one I will miss.  I used to point out the horses underneath the tree when Chewlee was riding with me and we came to that stop sign that meant we were almost home.  That corner is going to seem naked now.  I know it's nature and we can't control that but I hate to see that kind of loss.  Trees take so long to grow and spread like that oak.  I thought the loss of the elms near downtown was bad enough when the tornado hit us a couple years ago.  It made that whole area seem naked without them.  But this oak was a tree I saw all the time and I mourn it's loss.  This was personal for me.

Love you all. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Today was my day to go to the Wound Center and I had this feeling....  Sure enough, the doctor took a look at my foot, took a picture of it and discharged me.  I will admit, he let me give him a hug because MY FOOT HAS HEALED!  There's a kind of skin scab on the surface that the doctor told me to make sure to lubricate it so it will fall off naturally.  He also said I MIGHT want to bandage it at night to protect it from being torn off before it's totally ready.  I know what he means.  I can see it is almost like a scab except thinner and a bit drier.  He did say he wanted me to come  in to his regular office so he could check on my bypass in my right leg but said, unless I have a problem, there's no rush on that.  He wants me to work on building up my endurance and some of the muscle I've lost including the muscles injured from the surgery.

I had a dream about the scars left from my surgery.  I bought some of that lotion for scars and stretch marks that I've seen advertised (remember, this is a dream!) and sat down to put it on the worst of my scars on the area between my knee and crotch.  When I started applying it, I heard this raucous laughter and it was the lotion!    It said to me, *You have GOT to be kidding!  You expect US to make THAT look normal?*  and more laughter.  I said, *How about just lightening it and making it less garish looking?*  There was a slight pause and some whispering and then I heard, *Well, we CAN lighten it but that's about it.  Sorry.*  I said, *I'll take what I can get.  I just hate that it's so brownish looking.*  Then the lotion said, *Well, you COULD try tanning your legs, ya know!*  I looked and laughed and said, *If I tanned that much, I'd cook myself!  No thanks!*  Then I put more lotion on and ignored any further discussion.  Like I said, it was a stupid dream.    It reminded me of some of the stupid dreams that Chewlee has that she tells me about.  I mean, lotion that talks? 

The Beast went in to the doctor this morning for his blood work but didn't get to see the doctor.  Since he's sending the part for his cholesterol out to be done, he's not going to see him until the first of August.  That's our anniversary (48 years!  I can hardly believe it) so I told him, *Well, *I* won't forget it.*  He just laughed and smiled because I can't tell you how many times he's forgotten.  I told him we both need to be here on the 27th for our eye doctor appointments (same doctor that did my cataract surgery) so we should go to Chicago before that and plan to be back here by then or make definite plans for going up right after he sees his doctor in August.  He's going to mull that over for a day and then we will sit down and make a definite date to leave.  I'll be glad because I can call my girlfriends and my ex-sister-in-law, Kay, to let them know.    I can also tell Chewlee because she wants to meet all her relatives up there that she's only heard about and seen pictures of.

Love you all.  Gotta go.  Chewlee and I are making some matzoh ball soup together for our dinner after Papa takes her for a ride on his *mooter scooter*.  She cracks me up sometimes.  Hope you are having a great week so far.  If not, well, chit happens. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

The day started out bright and sunny.  Today the Beast turned 69 and he didn't make his doctor's visit on Monday.  Now he says he's going tomorrow to get his blood work done.  It seems he forgot it was supposed to be done before he could see the doctor because he wants the results back from the lab.  However, since he was so damned sick with the staph infection for the past two weeks or so, he can be forgiven.  It just pissed me off because I want to make plans for going to Chicago.

Chewlee started talking about going to her paternal grandfather's and I need to ask the Princess about that.  I know he wanted to take her for a couple weeks (but OMG, she comes back a real brat because of how he spoils her!) but she told him NO because I want to take Chewlee to Chicago with me.  I'll ask the Princess when she brings Chewlee here tomorrow.

I said the day started out nice and sunny but...we started hearing thunder off in the distance.  The temperature on our electronic thermometer for outside and Weatherbug differed by almost 10 degrees.  The only thing we could figure was that it was raining where they have the Weatherbug setup.  Well, it wasn't long before it suddenly got cloudy and dark for the time of day.  Then, when the rain started, it was HEAVY rain.  I kid you not.  I'm sure the plants loved it.  A rain supplies nutrients it doesn't get from our water.  We have a chlorine filter on our water supply so we CAN use it for our plants.  We also have a rain barrel that collects rain water we can use from time-to-time.  I think the Beast really only uses it to get rid of any mosquitoes that might be in it although I've never seen the larvae in the water.  Not that it means anything if I can't see them.  They could still be there. 

I caught the Beast once emptying out the barrel and flushing it afterward with some chlorinated water he had put together.  He sprayed it down well, then rinsed it.  We had a storm the next day and it filled right up.    I told him that he should do that every time we need rain.

The Beast's aunt and cousin called to wish him a Happy Birthday and he had gotten some homemade fudge from them yesterday.  He laughed and told them he had to refrigerate it overnight before he could even try it out it was so soft from the heat.  They said they hadn't even thought about that when they mailed it off.  The Beast doesn't care.  His aunt picks the walnuts off a friends black walnut tree to add to her fudge.  There's a lot of work and love that goes into making it. 

I pretty much spent the day just lazing around since it was raining most of the day.  I had to do a little work on my puter since the storm interrupted our electricity just long enough to screw things up for me.  Then I played a couple of those *find the hidden items* games on Pogo.  I'm beginning to like them as long as there's a kind of story line to go along with it.  I played some Clue and a couple others they have.  It was a fun day for ME anyway.

Oh, I never told you.  Chewlee is very disappointed because, as she told me, she never got a cake or any presents for her birthday.  I mean, this kid was SAD like you wouldn't believe.  I think we are going to have to make it up to her.  She's just a kid and has certain expectations.  The fact that she got to go to Disney World as a gift wasn't REAL to her as a present.  I thought she was going to cry as she was telling it to me.  Broke my heart.

Love you all.  Have a great day, stay cool and hydrated.  Be careful driving and I'll see you again....I hope! 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Today we discovered that we needed to thin out the garden a bit.  Some plants were dying off for one reason or another, including one of the tomato plants.  The Beast always gets happy when we do this because it goes into the composting barrel so he doesn't have to deal with it in the garbage can.  He's all for composting only because it's less trouble for him. 

After we took care of that, we were hot and sweaty and decided we would wait until morning to get all the tomatoes.  They can take another day of hanging on.  The Beast also got rid of the Japanese beetle traps that were full.  He handed me one and I was shocked at how heavy it was.  We had three like that and, boy, did they STINK!  He put them into a garbage bag and made sure it was closed tightly before that went into the garbage can.  We put that out tomorrow night for pickup on Wednesday morning.  Bright and early, we will take the walk around the house and outside to make sure we have everything in it that we need to get rid of.  The Beast has a bad habit of leaving the bags of soil and mulch pretty much where he uses them so they need to be collected.

When I told him he sure wouldn't make it as a farmer, he said that he wouldn't be using bags of anything except maybe seeds.  The dirt would be delivered by truck.  I guess he has a point there but he's not as organized as he thinks he is.  He makes me crazy when he plants things because he pays no attention to how much space is really needed for the plants to thrive.  That's why we had to pull out some of the plants today.  They just weren't given enough room.

Chewlee wanted to play on her Slip N Slide today but decided she would help the Beast water the garden since he told her she could hold the hose and water the plants.  She watered herself mostly, of course.  Well, not mostly but she did stand under the water which came down like rain on her.  It helped cool her down and she didn't want to do her Slip N Slide afterward. 

She's gotten quite modest now.  She won't get undressed in front of anyone.  She either heads for the bathroom or undresses AND dresses in back of my recliner in the computer room.  It kind of tickles me because I have to remind her...a LOT...about sitting like a lady.  She wears skirts often and doesn't pay attention to whether or not she's sitting and possibly showing her underwear.  When I point that out, she gets all red and changes her position but she will forget after a while.  She DOES pay attention if any older boys are around because boys are *icky* and she doesn't like them (for now!)  However, that doesn't apply to family members.  She's willing to accept them just because they ARE family.  She believes you must love your family and that's a good thing.  Friends come and go but family is forever.  Good or bad, that is true.

Love you all.  Will this hot weather ever end, break or get worse?  August was always the hottest month and if it's hotter than what we've had, I need to think about going to the lake more.  It will be miserable here.  Hope your outlook is better and you are keeping cool.