TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

We managed to get up in plenty of time to get to our doctor's appointments.  If we had to get up early and be on our way early, too, it was a perfect day for it.  It was bright and sunny and oh so cool for a change.  Truly enjoyable.  The Beast was first at HIS eye doctor.  All that was seemed to just be more checking on the eye that had already been done and then looking at the eye that will be done in two weeks.  It's was about a 7 block ride to my retina doctor so he could check on the healing of my eye that had the laser surgery.  I had no idea that it's going to take about another 10 weeks before it is completely healed.  He said he was seeing a bit of puckering as it was healing and this would probably pull some of the retina into a bad configuration (?).  He said IF it did, we might have to think about surgery on the eye (Yuk!) but he said we would just *wait and see*.  Yeah, easy for him to say.

I don't have to go back to see him until November 20th (yeah, right before Thanksgiving) which means if I DO need surgery on the eye, it will probably be done between then and the Christmas holidays.  Fun! Fun!  Fun!

We stopped at Publix again and the Beast picked up some good rye bread and pastrami as well as our favorite kind of bologna and hard salami.  I made him get some oranges for Chewlee and me.  She'll be both surprised and happy.  She loves oranges.  I just can't wait until she can peel her own.    We threw our pastrami sandwiches in the microwave for just 15 seconds and had some delish hot pastrami for lunch.  It was only about a half hour later and I had the grandfather of all tummy aches.  I had picked up some Digestive Advantage pills made just for upset stomachs while we were at Publix (CVS was next door) because the egg salad I had made the day before had done the same thing to me and I had spent all morning (the next day!) burping up egg salad taste.  I know what it is.  It's actually the uncooked celery and onion.  It's a real bitch to get old.  Green pepper, which I love raw or cooked, does the same thing to me.  But I refuse to go on a bland diet.  Hence the digestive pills.  I can't take Pepto Bismol.  I know it's something in my head but the minute I taste it or anything similar, I barf it up. 

So I excused myself to Bratfink and went and laid down for a bit after taking the tablet.  I was amazed at how well it worked.  It seemed like no time at all and my innerds were feeling just fine.  I use DA for IBS and I KNOW how good it works for THAT so I had decided to give another of it's types a chance re: my upset stomachs.  It works. 

I had wanted to take a short nap but, between the Beast and Baron, I was either barked up so Baron could be let out to pee (the Beast was asleep, taking HIS nap) so Baron comes and gets me.  I'm easier to wake up.  I know I was finally JUST starting to go into a nice sleep mode when the Beast came in and turned on my overhead (and very bright) light so I could address an envelope for him to his aunt.  He's late getting it off (her birthday is tomorrow).  He wanted to get a stamp on it and drive it down to the post office right away.  So I dragged my butt up, sat down at the desk, got my address book out from it's niche and addressed the envelope.  I happen to love the woman so I bit my tongue and didn't yell at him for not letting me nap.  When I was done, it was impossible to go back to sleep right then. 

A little later, I found my eyes slamming shut on me so I told Bratfink that I HAD to nap.  She knew I would return and I did nap this time.  If the Beast peeked in, I have no clue.  I was too tired to react if he did, I guess.  We didn't have Chewlee today although the Princess called me around 3:40pm to see if Chewlee had gone to our house.  I told her we didn't get the bus here until almost 4pm.  She hadn't seen the bus and I suggested it just might be running late.  She knew I would call her if Chewlee showed up here but she didn't so I assume the bus finally got there.

Love you all.  Hope your week started off as nice as ours.  I could take this weather even though it did get on the warmish side by late afternoon.  But how nice to be able to open the windows and doors and just let the cool in for a change.  Even Baron enjoyed the day.  Have a great week and drive safely. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Today was the pool party that Chewlee was so looking forward to.  She was disappointed I wasn't going with but that didn't stop her.  She had been very, very good at church or Papa said he wouldn't take her.  My only trepidation was that the Beast really has no clue about what is normal behavior for a five year old and what isn't.  Sure enough.  The majority of his complaints were things that are normal.  Like wanting to be the center of attention.  Normal. Normal. Normal.  He would be clueless because he spent most of the childhood time of his kids avoiding being around them.  When he was around them, he was usually very harsh and very hard on them.  He wanted them to act like adults and that was really stupid of him.  You would really never have believed he was ever a kid.  Instead of remembering how hard HIS father was, he ended up acting just exactly like his father.

I guess he just never trusted himself and believed everything his father ever said to him.  I once asked him about this and he said to me, *Well, he was right!  He was an adult and I was a kid.*  I almost fainted when I realized he actually meant that.  He just had no reason to think his father just might be wrong.  And his mother was such a weak Nellie that she never stood up for him.  No wonder we had so much conflict between us.

Anyway, they both survived the party regardless.  *I* had a wonderful time.  I napped a little, moved the rest of my DVD's into the new cabinet and started to sort them, talked to Mustachio for a bit and chatted online with Bratfink.  Had a little bit of an adventure here that included my next door neighbors but I will tell you about that another time.   I have to wait and get it all straight in my head before I can relate it right for you.  And I have to stop laughing.

Tomorrow morning the Beast and I both have drs. appointments, an hour apart.  Thankfully, the two doctors are near each other but it's up in Huntsville which is an hour's drive away on a Monday morning.  Since his appointment is at 9, that means we must leave here a little before 8 in order to give ourselves time to park the car and walk to his office.   MY doctor is just a few blocks away but we can park right outside his door and walk into the office waiting room within 4-5 steps.  The Beast has to go in for his preop exam before his surgery to remove the other cataract.  Mine is at 10am but is just checking to see how the laser treatments have healed up.  He also wants to go over alternatives available to finish correcting the vision problem in that eye.  Somehow, I have this feeling it's going to involve more complex surgery and I am so damn tired of any kind of surgery right now.  **Sigh**  Well, we shall see.

I'm going to cut this short because I need to shower before I make it an early bedtime.  Love you all.  Hope you have a great week and good weather. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Chewlee dragged her pillow pet along with her today.  It's a cute purple rabbit.  She informed me that she also has a dog at home and debated whether or not she was going to leave it here with me.  She told me that it would be nice for me to have it when I sleep in my recliner because *she* is very comfortable to sleep on.    I told her to take it home with her since she seems so attached to it.  She admitted that it DID make her feel comfy in her bed.  I told her that her bed must be busy if she has TWO pillow pets AND the nightlight ladybug in bed with her every night.  She told me that she had LOTS of room for them plus her blankey.

She spent part of the evening brushing the rabbit's fur with her brush.  She would then mess it up and brush it smooth again.  I unlocked another game on Slotomaniac today so Chewlee was glad to play it with me.  I'm new to that site.  Wanna guess who got me started on it?  Yeah.  You got it.  Bratfink.    She is such a troublemaker....LOL!  I'm in the minor league compared to her.  She is so far ahead of the game that THEY owe HER new games.  I kid you not!  It may take them months to even get close to producing new games unless they get a little faster.  Otherwise, they will have to accept defeat and name her Queen of the site.

Chewlee was trying to get me to *hurry up and catch up with Auntie Bratfink*.  She thinks it's simple and, to her, it probably is.  But I do not want to have to spend real money for phony coins just to keep making another few ranks.  I'll take my time and just be careful so I am using THEIR coins to advance in the ranks.  It can be done.  Bratfink did it.  She just started earlier on the site than I did.

There is one slot game that Chewlee likes best of all just because of it's bonus game.  It involves Bees as the theme and their bonus game is a no-brainer and no way to miss.  You click on a bunch of *cell* doors until you get three images that match.  Every door has something behind it that can make you a winner.  Nothing negative.  Not a loser in the room.  BUT...her real, total favorite game is the one they call the Cat Chef.  It's cat and mouse plus food related.  I think it's dumb but she loves it and even loves the bonus game on it (it involves making a sandwich, layer by layer...but if one of the items you pick ...they are hidden from view...is a mouse, it's all over but the crying!)

I have to admit that some of the games seem totally stupid but some of them have great payouts for advancing.   When I finally started putting them up full screen, I had to admit that the artists for the games are really good ones.  They have some nice backgrounds related to the theme.  Chewlee had to go through each game I had unlocked and show me each theme background.  We did our *ooh-ing and ahh-ing* over them before she finally let me finish watching the movie I had on TV.  I had let her play her choice of a game (the Bees one) and adjusted the *bet*.  She did very well, actually.  She had lost a lot of coins for me earlier but had more than made them up by the time she finally tired of playing.  I made a big deal out of it because she kept telling me she tried hard to make them back for me.

When Chewlee was hungry at dinner time, I expected her to ask for chicken noodle soup since she had told the Beast we needed more in the house but she surprised me and wanted a salami sandwich.  We only had the Oscar Mayer kind, not her favorite (from the deli) but she took it in stride.  She didn't want anything else, although I made several suggestions.  She also had asked for it on toast but I kind of balked at that.  I knew she wouldn't like it that way.  So I made her a sandwich, cut it in four and then also made her one piece of toast.  She drank a glass of milk with it.  Then she ate a tangerine for dessert.  For our snack later, we had tortilla chips and queso dip.  She wasn't really crazy about the queso dip so she only put a tiny bit on one corner of the chip and then ate the rest of the chip plain.    But she talks like she used a LOT of the dip, of course.

She informed me today that she now likes onions.  When I asked her if she meant cooked or raw, she told me *dry*.  She then explained that when her mommy cut up the onion into small pieces and put it in soup, it was delicious.  That really made me laugh because she's seen me do that to my homemade broth for matzo ball soup.  I also add celery and she told me she didn't like celery but she DOES like it in matzo ball soup which is her FAVORITE!    She really isn't kidding about the celery thing either.  At first, she would push the celery aside while eating her soup but then she started getting some accidentally on her spoon.  She came to me and told me that she didn't like celery but she does in Matzo Ball soup....just so I knew. 

The Beast bought some of the sweet tea already made at the store because Chewlee has developed a taste for it and the Beast threw out my pitcher (insert mad face here) so I had to make it for her a glass at a time.  He was both trying to suck up to me about throwing out my pitcher and make it a little easier on me since I keep Chewlee occupied almost all the time when she is here.  He, occasionally, takes her for the ride to exercise Baron using the scooter.  She loves that ride almost as much as Baron loves to try outrunning it and making it home first!  LOL. 

Love you all.  If you happen to be a Grandparent, have a HAPPY GRANDPARENTS DAY on Sunday. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Today Chewlee's school celebrated Grandparents Day which is actually on this Sunday.  They had snacks of cupcakes, fruit, cake, cheese and crackers plus coffee, sweet tea and some juice (the Beast didn't try it so he wasn't sure what kind it was).  The kids got juice boxes so they were happy.  I asked Chewlee what she had and she said *nothing*.  It was just after her lunch time so I guess she was full.  I DO know that the Beast said she was really anxious to go to the library (which they did) and she picked up her book she had ordered.  It's an Olivia (the pig on Nick Jr channel).  She couldn't wait to show it to me.

The Beast discovered one of the reasons Chewlee gets in trouble in school.  That stubborn streak of hers makes her defy her teacher at times when she decides she wants to do something the teacher objects to.  Today she was told she couldn't put her chair in back of her teacher who was demonstrating (to the visiting grandparents) this special touch screen (the Beast said it was HUGE) that is tied in with the computer.  Chewlee decided she wanted to sit right in back of the teacher that was demonstrating it.  The teacher told her to go sit in HER chair.  Chewlee went and got her chair and moved it in back of the teacher (she DID have HER chair, right?).  The teacher then told her to put her chair back in place so Chewlee moved it back in place then took another chair and moved it in back of the teacher...again! 

The Beast thinks the only reason she got her smiley face today was because it was Grandparents Day and HE was there in the classroom.  THEN, when they were leaving to come home, Chewlee ran ahead of him and out into the parking lot.  When he got out there, she was wandering around.  He called her and told her that she needed to stay there and wait for him.  She had to go with him to our car.  That was when she made her first mistake.  She looked at him and boldly declared, *I am big enough now to go by myself and find the car.  I don't need to wait for anyone.*  That was her first smack on the ass from Grandpa. 

When they got in the car, she started singing, loudly.  Not to the radio but just singing very loud and very out of tune.  The Beast told her she couldn't sing while he was driving.  She told him she WANTED to sing and kept it up.  Second mistake.  She got smacked once again (on the leg this time since they WERE in the car, driving).  She made an ugly face but she stopped singing.  The Beast gave her two seconds to stop making the ugly face (a defiant one....I've seen it) and she was smart this time and stopped.

She wasn't like that to me at all when she got here.  But, like I said before, I have a different way of handling her and giving her the reasons for acting in the best and safest way.  I DID find out today that she gets very upset if she thinks I am mad at her or upset with her for some reason.  At least she tells me when that is how she is feeling.  It helps to keep communication open with her.  Many times she thinks I might be upset with her when I'm not.  I usually get upset, tell her WHY I am and then it's over.  Most of the time she will tell me she is sorry and give me a hug or I give her one.  The Beast got upset with me because he thought I had called her in the house and she was taking her time.  I told him, *I only told her to put her bike away (which she was doing).  I didn't tell her she had to come in the house or why.*  That's when I turned to her and told her it was time for her to take her bath.  She was mumbling something about not liking Papa THAT way (meaning when he was angry and harsh) and I thought he might have smacked her except that I was between them.  I pretended that I hadn't heard her right and thought she was just making sure HE didn't come into the bathroom and see her.  She's always worried about anyone seeing her naked so I think the Beast just thought my hearing is going. 

I knew by her behavior that she was tired so I tried to get her to take a nap by laying down on the floor with her and sharing a pillow, of course.  She always wants to share a pillow with me.  However, she was a *chatty Cathy* and wouldn't stop talking.  I was patient but, after an hour, I gave up and we both got up.  She will sleep for the Princess tonight, I'm sure.

The Princess got off work earlier than she thought probably because she wasn't originally scheduled to work a double shift today.  So she showed up about an hour or so earlier than normal.  After telling Chewlee how happy she was over the happy face she got today and Chewlee giving her a special Grandparents Day present (she made TWO....one for us and one for her), they finally left.  She'll be here tomorrow although I'm not sure if her mother works a double or just the night shift.  I do know she said she won't be working on Saturdays soon so I'll have my two days off back again.

The Beast and I have back-to-back doctor's appointments on Monday.  His is at 9am at the ophthalmologist's and my appointment is at 10am for the retina doctor's.  His is really just a post/pre-operative checkup before his other eye gets the cataract removed.  Mine is kind of the same thing except he wants to talk to me about what will be needed to correct the eye that had the retinal laser treatment.  I'm just grateful that the doctor's offices are so close so there shouldn't be a problem with us both getting to our appointments on time.  When we realized our appointments were on the same day, we laughed because it's such an *old people's* problem, isn't it?

Love you all.  Hope you have a fantastic weekend. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

The Beast and I spend a lot of money for Verizon's 4G coverage with Hot Spot (which is a kind of Wi-Fi you carry with you).  It's that service that costs us as much as all the rest of the services we have for our Droid's.   Well, guess what folks?  It's all BULL SHIT!  My internet comes and goes more often than it did when we had satellite services.  That was a hell of a lot cheaper for us, too.  The whole reason is that they just don't HAVE the service here in our area.  At least not enough for the amount of people who also got suckered into thinking that Verizon was a GOOD service.  I am so pissed over the fact that I can't stay talking to my sister's online longer than a minute or two when it knocks me off and then comes back on.  I go through this day after day, several times a day. 

I get so disgusted with it that I want to just scream.  I can't play a decent game on my Pogo site.  Even Chewlee sees what is going on and can see that games won't load or suddenly freeze and we have to start all over again.  Today she looked at me and said, *Grandma, I don't want to start over again!*  I couldn't blame her; neither did I.

Even when I wanted to blog after she went home yesterday, I couldn't get xanga to load.  I did all my usual things:  turn off the phone and hot spot.  Turn back on.  Turn off the router and turn back on.  Nothing was working.  I finally gave up and went to bed, knowing I would wake in a few hours and would try again.  I am going to cut this post short because I just don't trust the Verizon connection to continue to work after what we went through today.  I have NEVER, not since we got this service a couple months back, NEVER had one full day without interruption.  You should see some of the explanations.  My phone will tell me that my Verizon connection is not available or has stopped working.  It says I should check back later.  It's not ME, folks.  It's Verizon. 

If you live in a big city area with lots of competition, you might do better but I am 35 miles away from the largest city in the area (and government employers so I am sure THEIR coverage is much, much better) and they really don't give a crap about us.  We pay the same amount of money for what is supposed to be GREAT service but do we get it?  NO!  We do not.  So skip Verizon, folks, unless you are in a large city and there's a lot of competition.  For people in areas that are 29K or under, we are so NOT going to get real 4G service from them.

Love you all.  Have a great day! 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Sometimes it can be tough to motivate yourself to get your blog done.  It's not often that happens to me (like I really think there are a bunch of people who give a damn!  LOL) but I did have a tough time tonight.  Why?  Well, it's a stupid reason. 

Earlier today, the Beast borrowed my phone to use MY hotspot so he could get online and check his email and read his news.  Why?  Because HIS phone was totally DEAD.  Not MY fault, of course, but OMG!  I should really have thought it through.  He unplugged my phone to take it into his room and, when he did, he actually pulled the plug out of the power strip it was plugged into.  But he laid the end down that plugged into the phone itself just like I do when I unplug it.  So, when he brought it back later, he replugged it for me (wasn't that sweet???) and I thought everything was fine.

Several hours later, my phone alerted me to the fact that it was almost dead and I about shit!  Then I lost MY internet and discovered the thing had been unplugged on me for six or seven hours (or whenever the Beast unplugged it originally).  I was so pissed off, I can't begin to tell you.  It takes about four hours to recharge it fully and, in the meantime, I am OFF the internet AND I can't even get a phone call on my cell phone.  I decided to go ahead and take a short nap since Chewlee had already been picked up by her mother. 

I had already given her an early bath.  Chewlee no longer gives me a hard time about washing her hair since she noticed that her hair is nice and silky after I use my creme rinse on her.  She just LOVES that.  She did complain, however, that she did NOT like her mother's choices in her pants, her tops or her shoes.  I gather they had an argument about that this morning and, when I changed her into the clothes her mother had packed for her to wear after her bath, she was tut-tut-ing all over the place about the pants (bottoms) her mother had packed although she stopped complaining about the top once I turned it right side out and she looked at it.  She's starting to hit that fussy stage when they really DO notice what they are wearing.  The shoe argument I think was that her mother wanted her to wear gym shoes (which meant socks, too) and she told me she just HATES those.  She did say that she likes boots, though. 

The Beast forgot that today was gymnastics day and he was sitting, waiting for the bus, when I came out and yelled at him that he had to pick her up.  I knew he was going to be late, and he was, but only a couple minutes after they had called the Princess (who was in class herself at the Athens location).  I told the Beast he couldn't forget again because they will throw her out of the gymnastics program if he's late again.  A teacher has to stay with her when that happens and they want to go home, too. 

So, I took my nap after I had grabbed a bite to eat (some chicken fried rice with lots of veggies in it so it's not REAL fried rice...LOL).  I would love to find a good Chinese food restaurant here but..it's the South.  You learn not to expect those kind of things here.  BBQ, fried chicken, chicken fried steaks, steaks...yes.  But as far as *ethnic* types of foods, those are few and far between.  Edible ones, I mean. 

I napped for about 3 hours.  When I woke up, my phone was almost fully charged and I went ahead and tried to get it turned back on and my hotspot, too.  The hotspot is like Wi-Fi, in case you haven't guessed.  It worked and I got back online and Bratfink was there with her question.....*What the hell happened?*   I did finally tell her and I knew she could appreciate it since Sheldon does shit like the Beast does more often than you can believe.  It must be a man-thing.  But it really did seem to suck the joy out of what was actually kind of a nice day to begin with.

The stitches in my neck seem to be slowly dissolving along with that paste the doctor applied over them.  And, more impressive is the fact that the scar doesn't seem like it's going to be as awful as I thought it might.  Hell, a light dusting of mineral powder and it might not be all that noticeable.  Of course, I can't see the whole thing but, if I ever get my makeup mirror back from the Princess, I'll let you know for sure.

Well, here's my blog, such as it is.  Love you all and I sure hope your day was better than mine.  Have a great day tomorrow.  There's a party on Sunday that Chewlee is looking forward to going to.  The family that is being welcomed back has been gone for a couple months and Chewlee has missed the younger daughter.  Oh, and the truly BIG attraction is it's being held at a home with a POOL!!!  Too funny. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I told you about going to renew my expired driver's license a couple weeks ago.  They make a couple holes in the one you show them and give you a paper one that shows you are current.  Your real license comes in the mail about two weeks afterward.  Mine came in today's mail.  I could just die.  It's awful.  It shows every wrinkle and flaw I have.  At my best, I look bad but do they HAVE to make the lighting so harsh?  Yuk!

I can't understand why I didn't really smile for the picture.  I mean *show your teeth* kind of smile.  I think she took it just before I was ready.  But I doubt anyone has ever gotten a really good license picture once past the age of 25.  I swear, once the Beast dies, it's FACELIFT time!!!! 

My day wasn't bad except for my itching stitches on my neck.  I finally got this lotion we have here that's for mosquito and insect bites and slathered that all over it.  It actually DID help.  Now if I can only get Tara here again to check this one spot on my back that is itching me like crazy. 

The Beast made sloppy joe for dinner and he got the good rolls her found once before to use for it.  My stomach was, unfortunately, not feeling it's best so I passed for now.  If it gets to feeling better later, I'll try some.  Sheepie came by today to visit with me and Chewlee.  She brought Chewlee a HUGE chocolate cupcake which Chewlee ate half of and then told me I could eat the rest.  She's nothing if not generous but I am not a fan of chocolate.  Baron came slobbering over it and I had to give it to the Beast to either eat or throw away.  It's poisonous stuff for Baron to touch.

Chewlee found me in a cranky mood (itchy stitches) so she tried to cheer me up by volunteering to get me some coffee.  That made me smile because I could really envision her trying to do that for me.  She thinks she can do anything and usually she tries.  She hates when she fails at anything.  At least her watching Kai Lan (on NickJr) has made her realize that you have to keep trying until you get it right.  I have to remind her at times but ... she GETS IT!!!  That's kind of an insider joke.  You have to watch Kai Lan to understand.  Every program has a lesson to be learned on the majority of the NickJr. programs.  I do think it's one of the BEST for kids to watch.  And....no commercials.  That's the absolute best part of it all.  So you don't get any of the *Buy me THAT!* or *I want that*...yuk.

When her mother got here to pick her up, she said she wanted to go somewhere special today.  Her mother told her they were going home but she had some chicken for her in the car.  I don't know what kind of chicken but Chewlee was out the door and in the car in a heartbeat.

She got another smiley face today, which made her VERY happy AND she told me she was now at the Green table.  I gather that's one of the best tables to be at.  Smart teacher, too.  Make the kids want to accomplish things so they can move from table to table.

Love you all.  Looks like the rain is passing finally.  I need to get out in the garden, pulls weeds and finish up harvesting a few things.  Still have some crooked neck squash ripening out there.  I think next year I am going to try some cauliflower for the hell of it.  I love to make that stuff like mashed potatoes only using cream cheese to blend it with.  Scrumptious!  Try it some time. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

WARNING:  THIS BLOG IS NOT FOR THE WEAK OF STOMACH.  BE FOREWARNED!

I have no idea what caused it but I had what was almost a SUPER IBS attack last night.  It was after Chewlee left and I had written my blog (thank goodness!).  I mean a serious attack of the poops.  I would feel the urge and even if I ran, I didn't make it.  I had to change both my underwear and my pj bottoms four times.

One of the urgent runs was so bad, I felt like the Beast six or eight weeks ago.  I mean when I pulled down my pants (to take them off, mind you...it was THAT bad...), I literally sprayed everything behind and under me.  What a mess!  I cleaned everything up once I was done since I didn't have another *me* to do that for me.  Then I jumped in the shower to clean up myself.  Now that I think of it, that was the last one of the night.  I think I was on *empty* at that point.  I was then able to say goodnight to Bratfink and went to sleep on my recliner.  I wasn't going to venture anywhere else because that was the closest spot to the bathroom......just in case.

My tummy was hurting but slowly settled down and I fell asleep.  I got really mad at Baron because he came in and woke me up to let him out around 4 or so.  When I got up, what do I spot but the bathroom light on in the Master bedroom which meant the Beast had gotten up to pee or something.  No, his bowels were fine, thanks for asking.  But Baron knew he was up and STILL woke ME to let him out.  I guess the Beast knew it, too, because he seemed shocked to find me up when he was done in there.  I told him Baron woke ME up, he snickered, said *Oh* and went to bed while I sat on a chair in the kitchen waiting for Baron to be done.  I could have kicked his butt when he came back in but I guess he didn't want to wait for the Beast to be done.  Either that or he knows that *I* will get up and let him out with no stops beforehand.

I went back to sleep and didn't wake up again until around 8.  After making a pot of coffee and taking one back to my computer room, I sipped on it until I was sure my tummy was in good shape for the day.  Whatever it was that upset my bowels so badly (I actually suspect it to be the iron supplement pills), at least it was over.  I decided that I am going to take the iron supplement pills every three days.  I marked my calendar so I won't forget and we shall see what happens. 

Chewlee actually had school today, which blew me away unless it was a special session for the kids of working parents.  I say that because, although Chewlee was happy and said her teacher told her she got a smiley face today, it wasn't on her chart.  I couldn't believe she actually had school on Labor Day but the darn bus dropped her off here and she had homework she wouldn't do with me.  She said the teacher told her to do it with her mommy and that was what she was going to do.  She is stubborn, I told you, and insisted that was what she was told so she couldn't do it with me.  I suppose we should be glad that she IS listening to her teacher now but it's not going to be convenient for the Princess to finish working so late and have to help Chewlee with that, too.  At least none of it is difficult and can be done fairly quickly.

Johnnycakes came to pick her up early and surprised me.  I had no idea that was the plan.  If the Princess told the Beast, he sure didn't pass it on to me.  He's really bad that way and it's starting to piss me off that the Princess doesn't tell ME since I am the one Chewlee spends all her time with, not him.   Just because he spends a little time with her twice a week does NOT mean he's watching her at all.   In fact, he spends so little time with him that every time he treats her to a ride to the store, for instance, it's a major event in her life. 

Sheepie gave me a call tonight as she was driving home with Teach.  The heavy rain scared her a little and she decided to find out if WE were okay during all this bad weather the last couple days.   I thought that was cute and very sweet of her.  I'm hoping I get to see her before we go to the wedding on the 15th.

Chewlee got some interesting *toys* from her teacher.  Bags of soft rubber/plastic things.  One is what looks like money so I started to teach her a bit about the different *coins*.  There was pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters in the bag.  She likes to play store so I would make her count out the money for the different items she *bought* from me.  I showed her how they were different.  I then put up a quarter, four nickels, two dimes and ten pennies out.  We then played *Which is more/less/same?*   She really liked that and caught on quickly.  Another bag is various shapes but we didn't do any work with that one.  She knows just about all of them except the cone and one or two others.  We can do that one another day.

Love you all.  Have a great (short) work week and drive carefully in this rainy weather over so much of the country. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

We actually went to bed early for Chewlee's sleepover.  We made our bed on the floor of my room with the two comforters as our mattress and the two light individual blankets for when we needed them.  We shared a pillow.  Not to worry...her head is small and it usually ends up on my shoulder or my stomach.  Did I mention that she is a restless sleeper.  I kid you not.  All over the place goes those little legs of hers, including in my stomach or chest at times.  Needless-to-say, I do not sleep well when that happens.  She woke me up around 6am with *Grandma!  Look!  It's light out.*  I looked at the time and told her it was too early to get up and she should go back to sleep.  I was surprised because she actually did.  Me?  I gave up and put my poor body into my recliner.  The next three hours were part of the best sleep of the day. 

She still didn't want to take a bath when she got up.  She told me that she took her baths at night, not so early.  I wasn't going to fight her on that part but I told her she HAD to take one later.  I won't go into what happened to her after she left church with her Papa.  I'm too angry at him to write about it.  Suffice it to say that I know for sure that he's developed none of the aspects of a true Christian and he's only fooling himself or the people around him but God knows his heart.  That is very short on the aspects I think people who honestly love God should display.  Call them the fruits of the Holy Spirit if you will.  But when you terrorize a 5 year old over a couple of very small ink marks on a cream colored jacket (and they were NOT done deliberately either!), you are NOT being a good Christian.  I found out later that it was a jacket made of wool and Italian (?) silk (didn't know they had silkworms in Italy) but the dry cleaners will get it out...along with the water mark HE made trying to get them off with soap and water.

All she was doing was twirling her ink pen while she was thinking.  She was sitting right next to him and he didn't notice the marks at first.  BUT...she came in to my room crying like her heart was broken and said in a sad, quiet voice, *Grandma, I want to go home.*  Since her mother was working, that was impossible.  Later on, he took her to McD's, which is always her reward for going with him to church (and the only reason she does go if you ask me).  It's a good thing that kids have such forgiving hearts is all I can say.  She seems to have forgiven him and she took home all her markers and crayons because he said he didn't want them here any more.  It's okay.  I have pens here in my room and she can always use them IN HERE so he can't bitch.

The man suffers from what Bratfink calls envy but it's more basic than that, I think.  He wants to not so much keep up with the Joneses as have everyone think he's got it all and envy HIM!  Wonder what his Christian friends will think if they find out about all the damn guns he has and just why he bought them.

It's storming outside and we are under a tornado watch for several more hours.  I'm going to get this posted while I can.  Love you all and I hope you have a great Labor Day.  I had hoped to grill outside tomorrow but I don't think so with all this rain and more expected.  BUT...I think I WILL make some potato salad for us.  We haven't had any homemade in a while. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Every time Chewlee spends the night, it's always interesting.  When she came today, her *having a sleepover* was a surprise to me.  The Princess had talked to the Beast about it but he never said a word to me.  Since *I* am the one that has to deal with her, that annoyed me.  Especially when I asked him, *Is there something you want to tell me about Chewlee?*  He looked at me and said, *Like what?*.  So I said, *Did you talk to the Princess today?*  He then looks at me innocently and says, *Oh, you mean about Chewlee spending the night?*  I was ticked off at him that he never said a word to me and more than a bit annoyed at the Princess about the same thing.

But I knew that regardless of why the Princess wanted her to spend the night, she had wanted to have a sleepover here for several days.  We had her favorite for dinner (matzo ball soup) and she decided it was perfect for our *picnic*.  She went about putting down our picnic blanket and then put several of my rags down that I use for spills and cleaning for underneath the bowl of soup and her milk.  She didn't want to get our picnic blanket dirty.    She ate everything in the bowl (after I cut up the matzo balls for her) then drank what was left of the soup.  She was disappointed that she didn't get to make any of the balls this time but the Beast couldn't wait since she was dropped off later than usual.  Johnnycakes didn't have to work today so he kept her for a few hours after the Princess left for work.  I'm assuming that he doesn't have work tomorrow and the two of them made plans for after SHE got off work tonight.  They don't get a chance to go out much so I figured that was the real reason for the sleepover.

Chewlee came loaded for bear with her markers, crayons, a Nerf ball and several other things that I am sure she only brought for when she takes her bath.  She does like to have toys to play with in the tub.  She also brought her favorite dragon stuffed toy (a small one Johnnycakes bought for her) and a zebra stuffed toy around the same size.  Those she likes to sleep with.  She told me that she is taking her baby doll home with her for a sleepover but she is leaving me her dragon and zebra because they want a sleepover with ME.  I'm so thrilled!

After our picnic was over, she decided that we were going to sleep on the floor tonight here in my computer room.  We did that once before so I knew what was coming.  She went and got the two comforters that become our *mattress* and a pillow for us to  share.  I've learned that she WANTS to share a pillow with me and ends up with her head either on my shoulder or on my chest sometime during the night.  I would rather wad up a small blanket for my head than hurt her feelings and NOT share the pillow.  At least, until she falls asleep. 

Tonight she was tired and we went to bed (sort-of) around 9pm.  I knew she was tired because when I asked her about taking a bath, she just kind of waved her hand and said, *Later, later.*  That means she's too tired to take one, just in case you didn't realize it takes ENERGY to take a bath.  At least, it does the way SHE takes one.    So, I told Bratfink what was going on and then laid down with her.  I had to threaten to put her in the guest room twice before she finally settled down but, little-by-little, she started drifting off.  I had to put her body back on the *bed* twice because she is a restless sleeper.  Her head was on the pillow both times so that was kind of anchoring her but her legs were above my head once and then off on an angle the second time.  She finally fell deeply asleep and I was able to get up and get back on my computer once more.

SHE had turned it off on me because the *light from the monitor was hurting her eyes*.  She did it so fast, I couldn't stop her.  She pushed the button on the front of the cpu and I have told her more than once that it is not the way to turn off my computer.  I left her cartoons on for a while because she told me she thought *WE* could watch them for a *little while* until we were ready to sleep.  In reality, she just wanted that little bit of light because she didn't bring her dreambug with her.  She does NOT like a dark bedroom.  She needs to have a good night light or the dream bug.  That's actually cute.  She had it on her last sleepover and it lit up the guest room in the soft light of stars and even I enjoyed it.  It shut itself off after 15-20 minutes and she was sound asleep so it didn't matter then.

Bratfink came back online shortly after I got back on.  Sheldon was back home and all was well in her world.  When I got up to get something to drink, I found the Beast up heating some milk in the microwave for his nightly hot chocolate plus making some toast.  I took the opportunity to go ahead and heat up some of the soup since I was a bit hungry.  We are all big matzo ball soup fans in this family.  We even got Chewlee hooked on it, too. 

Love you all.  Have a nice Labor Day Weekend.  Enjoy yourselves a little because the rat race starts again on Tuesday!  Be careful and be happy.