TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I made my doctor’s appointment easily.  The Beast got a cold nose in the face because Baron chose to wake him up to let him out instead of me for a change.  It was light out but still early enough we didn’t have to rush.  We drove to my doctor’s office in Guntersville, which I had never been to before.  What is weird about this particular office is that it seemed to be understaffed but it might just be they do things differently.

It was the doctor himself and not a nurse that called out the names of the patients that were to come into the inner office and exam rooms.  The receptionist left her window and directed us to go to certain rooms.  I didn’t have to wait long and the doctor came in, pulled out the extension on the exam table so it forced me to lay down and he immediately started taking off my shoe and sock on the right leg to check the pulse.  It took me totally by surprise that he did that (remove the shoe and sock).  He almost giggled over the strong pulse in my foot and told me that was what made his heart feel good.

Then he wanted to see how the incision was so I pulled down my pants to my hip so he could check it out.  I commented on how it felt very different this past week.  It had gotten softer and smaller.  When he checked it out, he told me he was very happy at how it had healed and how it felt.  It was then I asked him why, if it was all just great, was my lower leg swollen.  He told me that first of all, my leg wasn’t used to the increased blood flow and secondly it caused a lymphatic disruption that would take time for my body to resolve.  Once that happened, my leg would look and feel normal again.  At least he took the time to explain that much to me and it DID make me feel better.  It really had me worried.

I found out when we were walking out to the car in the crisp air so early that the Beast had somehow injured his right heel.  He didn’t know how or exactly when.  Actually, he thought it was his ankle so on our way home, he stopped and I got him one of those ankle bracing elastic bandages because his limp was getting worse.  His right leg is the GOOD leg, so-to-speak, since his strokes.  The left leg never got it’s feeling back entirely and it already gives him a gimpy walk.

It wasn’t until this afternoon that we discovered the big bruise on his heel…you know the section where you always seem to have people step on and it gets *skinned* or broken.  Right where the top rim of your shoes puts pressure on it.  So, although the bandage helped him, the heel opening edge hits the bruise on it’s lower edge.  **Sigh**  No good deed goes unpunished, right?  He tried to keep off it as much as possible and was even using my cane to help him take some pressure off that foot when he DID walk.  He soaked in the tub for a while and then went to bed early.  I doubt that will help a whole lot except maybe better healing takes place when you sleep.

Chewlee didn’t come here after school.  Johnnycakes was off work so she went home after school since he was going to take her trick or treating.  I was upset that he didn’t at least bring her here so we could see her in her costume and I could have taken a picture of her on MY phone.  But the Princess said she was sure Chewlee would want to wear it over here on Saturday so I can take a picture then on MY phone.  She will be able to fix her hair so she should probably look better than when Johnnycakes took her out because he can’t fix her hair (or won’t, not sure which).  After being at school all day, I’m sure it was messy….LOL.

I know I will hear all about her day at school in her costume and the treats she got.  I’m sure this will be her most vivid memory of Halloween so far so I’ll hear about it for DAYS. 

Poor Baron was upset that the Beast hadn’t fed him and, in truth, the Beast just couldn’t bring himself to getting to his feet.  It was just as well because I had to go out to the garage to get some of his canned dog food for him.  I nuked some veggies for him and then had to put the veggies in the freezer to cool them down for a bit before I mixed it with his dog food.  Goofy Baron LOVES cauliflower and he carefully picked all of that out first before he finally ate the broccoli and carrots.  It always amazes me how he loves veggies.  Wish Chewlee liked them half as well.  She’ll eat a lot of different veggies but not as much as we all would like to see.  Except for green beans, of course.  She loves those most of all.

I did a lot of walking around today at Walmart because I had to go from the grocery entry door clear over to the pharmacy and then back to the grocery section to pick up a few things.  I even picked up popsicles since it was cool enough out to transport them home without much fear of them melting.  Chewlee is always asking for regular popsicles and the Beast always forgets.  I picked up some more fruit (bananas, apples) to add to our oranges we bought at Publix.  I slobbered over the large peaches they had but they were rock hard and I’ve had too many bad experiences with them rotting and not ripening that I was afraid to spend the money on them.  I was proud of how much walking I did and I made it out to the car and I wasn’t exhausted.  Even when we got home, I didn’t have to head right to a chair.  I put the groceries away, made a fresh pot of coffee and THEN headed for a chair. 

I did end up taking a 3 hour nap after eating dinner.  I was going to nuke us a sweet potato but the Beast said he wasn’t all that hungry and neither was I.  But I did eat an apple, too.  I’ve had a taste for some tortilla chips and salsa but I think with all the other things I’ve snacked on that I’ve eaten enough calories for the day.

Love you all.  Hope your week hasn’t been too bad so far and, for those of you that have suffered through H. Sandy, I am still praying for an early end to your sufferings and a quick resolution to things so that your life can resume some kind of normalcy.  Be good.  Laugh and smile as much as you can.  It’s very healing. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Chewlee was in hog heaven today because the Beast and I had shopped and gotten several things that we knew Chewlee liked to eat.  So, when she got here, she got her usual milk (Grandma, I am SOOO thirsty.  Can I have some cold milk or water?  I’d like milk best if I can have it!) plus a dill pickle spear.  Then she had some salsa and chips along with some salami and she topped it all off with some grapes and another glass of milk.

Chewlee made a list of things we had to do, which included her bath later and that’s where the *Duh!* moment comes in.  We both forgot that today was Tuesday.  Tuesday her mom is at school but doesn’t work after she gets out of her class in Athens so it’s one of the *early* days.  She doesn’t take a bath here on Tuesday.

When her mother got here around 5:30 or so, I heard Chewlee run out there and say, *Mommy, why are you here so early to pick me up?*  Her mother said something that sounded like she said she wasn’t here early to pick her up….and Chewlee got excited and ran back into my room to tell me her mother wasn’t here to pick her up.  The Princess came in and said, *Oh yes, I’m here to pick you up.  What I was saying was this is TUESDAY and it’s my regular time to pick you up.*  That’s when I felt really dumb.

It wasn’t bad enough that I missed my doctor’s appointment (again) but then to forget THIS, too> color my face red.  I’ll see my doctor tomorrow at 8:45 am at his Guntersville office so it’s not a total loss but I felt really bad about that.  I overslept but had this nagging at the back of my mind.  On a hunch, I checked my corkboard and, sure enough, I had an office visit scheduled.  I missed the one last week.  When his nurse called me later, I played dumb.  You know…*Oh no!  I had an appointment today, didn’t I?*  Phew!  They bought it.  Sometimes it’s okay to be an old person….LOL.

The Beast had a taste for some chili salsa so I did the Velveeta cheese/Rotini tomatoes and green chiles recipe for him.  I grabbed me a bowl of it, too, once it was all melted and still hot.  Yum!  A neighbor of ours brought us over dinner.  She had made chili and the Beast played his *sick* card and she dropped some off for us.  It smelled wonderful.  I had made some mac for it…just in case and it’s a good thing I did.  It was very juicy.  I was surprised that it had these tiny kernels of corn in it.  It was VERY filling and tasty but I like my own (of course).  I still feel very full two hours later and I ate no crackers or bread with it either.  The mac was carb enough.  I didn’t even finish that.  The Beast said the same thing; it was very filling to him, too.

I’m tired (and full) so I think I will take a short nap.  Love you all and I am still praying for those affected by H. Sandy.  Be good, drive carefully and be happy. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I couldn’t blog yesterday due to Xanga being *down*.  I tried, hour after hour, to get on it but it kept saying it couldn’t be located.  After trying several things to ensure that it wasn’t *ME*, I realized that it was down for whatever reason.  Xanga does get hacked from time-to-time.  Unfortunately.  It figures it would happen on a day I was actually busy. 

The Beast and I took off for Huntsville early so we could stop at the dog park there to let Baron run around for a while.  He always gets so excited and can smell it when we get close.  Too bad for him but there were no other dogs there for him to play with when we stopped.  We then hit the doctor’s office where I stayed outside with him on his extending leash but, when he started shivering, I got back into the car with him to wait for the Beast.  The wind was just brutal here (from the effects of Hurricane Sandy) and he’s a wimp when it’s cold out.  I sat and read my Nook for a while until the Beast came out.  The doctor says he’s doing well but he’s got to come back next Monday at 1:30pm.

We headed towards home and decided to stop and do a *necessary things* shopping at Publix.  They are undergoing a remodeling so that made it *fun* (NOT) to try and find things.  They are adding a pharmacy to this store now so things are a bit more compact and yet it seems like it’s more a maze than I would have thought possible.  We needed things like coffee, creamer, crackers, some fresh veggies, fruit, jello, lunch meats, fresh bread, canned dog food (just this one type they carry), milk….you get the idea.  The Beast, of course, loves their bakery and picked up some fresh donuts, a lemon iced sponge cake, some bagels and we even found some Kaiser rolls.

Chewlee will be happy because we DID get some good deli salami for her and I even remembered to get her some dill pickle spears and we needed more salsa and chips.  When she shows up today, I can almost hear her yell, *Picnic!*.

I missed my doctor’s appointment today due to oversleeping.  I would have slept later than I did except my niece, Tara, showed up with a DVD of Johnnycake’s sister’s 6th birthday party.  She found it in a bunch of stuff she was going through that they had given her a while back.  With everything that’s gone on with her and her family, she’s just finally getting a chance to sort through much of it.  She figured they might want that back or, perhaps, his sister might want to save it for when SHE has children of her own.  IF they still have DVD players. 

We headed home after completing our shopping and stopped at Pet Depot to pick up some of the good dog food and some doggie treats for Baron.  Chewlee will be tickled to know we have more of those here.  She likes to make him sit and then throw one in the air and watch him jump up and catch it.  That tickles her so much that she laughs hard and gets the hiccups.  That’s been a trait of hers since she was a baby.  When she laughs one of those laughs from deep within, she ALWAYS gets hiccups.  That’s one way you know for sure she is really tickled about something.  Luckily, they don’t last long.

Walking through the Depot was interesting because they had a lot of *etcetera* animals like a lizard in a warmed tank, a couple guinea pigs and even a chinchilla that looked like it was going to be adopted.  It’s been a while since I’ve been in there and I like to see the new *toys* they have for various animals.  The groomer came out of her area to greet and skritch Baron and he was in heaven.  Baron, in comparison to some of the other dogs in the store, is really well-behaved.  Not that he didn’t initially give a tug or two, wanting to play, but he settles down right away like he knows he won’t be allowed in again if he doesn’t behave.  Some of the other dogs…..are not well-trained and shouldn’t be out in public.  One dog was chowing down on an open bin of dog treats while his owner just stood there.  Guess some owners need better training, too.

When we got home, the Beast brought in the bags of groceries while I put everything away.  We had bought a sub and we were both starving.  I’m not usually a sub person but this was GOOD (or I was REALLY hungry ).

The rest of the day was kind of anti-climatic.  It was mostly watching some of the news about Hurricane Sandy and the damage it was doing up in New York and New Jersey.  I was really worried about those trains but the mayor and companies related to potential risk areas closed them down early enough.  Lots of damage for a hurricane the Beast said was a *dud*.  What does HE know?  Of course, we went through Hurricane Charley while we lived in Florida and that just about wiped out our town (Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte area).  Our main drag was decimated, except for my favorite watering hole, of course…GRIN!

Gotta run for now…well, limp.  I want to finish up my laundry before Chewlee gets here and I need to straighten up this room, too.  Love you all and I sure hope none of you were involved in all that mess from the hurricane.  I’m sending up prayers that the recovery is swift.  Swifter than it was for our town when it was hit, at least. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

The Beast looks a bit better today.  At least there’s a bit less swelling but much of the black and blue areas are more black than blue.  The Beast says he can see better but his eyes feel all gooey.  I told him to try wiping them gently with one of the rags we cut from his old t-shirts.  I don’t know if he did or not but he hasn’t been complaining to me so I count my blessings.

When Chewlee got here today, she had her blankey, Leap Pad and a set of clean underwear and jammies to put on after her bath.  She had to show me and told me she had picked them out.  She also brought along a pajama top she has outgrown.  When I asked her why she brought it, she told me, *So you can put it in the garbage or give it to someone or put a stamp on it and send it to someone.  Or, maybe, if you put it in the mailbox, someone will take it that it can fit.*

She gets some strange ideas at times.  I told her I would put it in a bag and, since I had some clothes I was going to get rid of because they don’t fit me now either, I would give it to Goodwill for her.  That made her happy.  She asked me if I was going to do it today and I told her no so she said she would check to see what other things she could give me to give to Goodwill but I had to promise to wait for her to give them to me.  I told her I would wait.

After Chewlee grabbed up some grapes for a snack, we went into my computer room to watch Madagascar 3 (again!).   She ate them quietly while we watched and laughed.  When the movie ended, she begged me to play it again.  I agreed but only after we ate something.  I made tuna salad for sandwiches which she turned her nose up at because it has raw onion and celery in it and she didn’t want any chicken noodle soup.  I told her that her mother wouldn’t feed her so she had to eat SOMETHING.  She finally settled on some cut up hot dogs and some chips and salsa.  Then she decided she didn’t like the hot dogs (they were the Hebrew National ones) after eating just a few.  She drank her milk, ate her chips and salsa and then had an orange.  I don’t think today was one of her *hungry* days because I offered her chicken nuggets and she said she wasn’t hungry.  Since she only had a glass of milk more afterward, I guess she really wasn’t.  When she’s really hungry, she haunts my pantries.

Anyhow, we came back into my room and watched Madagascar 3 again.  I endured it because it IS funny but I drew the line when she tried to get me to watch it a third time.  She happily went to get her Barbie movie but I told her no Barbie movie today.  We’ve watched it so often that I know ALL the words to it.  That’s just a bit much for me to take.  So she decided it was time to straighten out my DVD case in an order SHE wanted.  She started putting all my Godzilla movies together (and did a good job of that).  Then came my monster movies (Independence Day, AVP, District 9, Enemy Mine…etc.).  Then she started on HER movies and that cracked me up because she decided all the ones SHE likes are HERS.  She has a bunch that Auntie Bratfink sent her plus there are quite a few I bought just for her but….my Harry Potter ones…my Dr. Doolittle ones and a few others are NOT hers.  I told her that and she said, *I’m just PRETENDING, Grandma.  But they are ones that *I* like to play so I’m putting them with MY DVD’s*

We finally watched Dr. Doolittle because Chewlee loves all the talking animals.  Then it was her bathtime and that’s where we have our problems.  Mainly because once in, it’s tough to get her out.  Her hands and feet get so wrinkled that I worry about her having sore feet.  Once I wash her hair (she’s a very active participant) and we put the cream rinse on it, she knows it’s time to get out and get dried off.  She will try to cajole me into letting her have just five minutes more.  I’ve had to make her learn that when I say now, I mean NOW.

Today she gave me no problem and got out right away to dry off.  After putting on her pajamas so she’s ready for bed when she gets home, we played a game on my computer until her mother got here.  There were no tantrums over anything and she wasn’t afraid of the Beast at all.  In fact, I think it might have had something to do with the candy corn he had in a bag.  She went and asked him if she could have some….PLEEZZZZ!!!  She got some, of course.  I think mainly because she wasn’t afraid of him even though he barely looks better than he did yesterday.

The Beast brought me in some jello he had made earlier as a late snack and it really hit the spot for some reason.  Bratfink has gone to bed already, although it is an hour later in Inderana (as she calls it).  It just seems too early for me.  I’ll stay up for another hour or two.  I expect to hear from the Beast’s eye doctor tomorrow since they never bothered to call us back about the time for his appointment.  It’ll probably be late afternoon before he gets to see him now but I really don’t care as long as it’s tomorrow.  My doctor’s appointment is on Tuesday and I sure don’t want to be running down to Boaz and then up to Huntsville in the same day to see two different doctors.  The Beast says that if his eye is no better tomorrow than it is today, he will ask the doctor to wait another few days to see him because both eyes are too tender and sore to be touched.

But, he did no complaining, Chewlee behaved herself and we enjoyed our time together immensely.  She’s so excited that it’s only three more sleeps and then it will be Halloween!  She is going to be Rapunzel she keeps saying.  But, from time to time, she changes her mind as she sees different costumes.  It was a really nice Sunday for me.

Love you all and I hope you had a good Sunday, too. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

My new DVD player is up and running, which is why Chewlee and I were able to watch Madagascar 3 yesterday.  The one the Beast gave me wouldn’t work for me so I gave it back to him and ordered this one from Amazon.  I think I told you that much.  What I didn’t say was that after some trial and error on the installation (it had a hell of a lot of colored thingy’s and no real instructions as to what they were all for).  I finally got the three cords in the proper place and then figured out where the Beast went wrong when he put HIS DVD player on it. 

I watched a couple of my DVD’s last night before I finally went to bed.  It was so nice to have them work so smoothly.  It’s not an expensive DVD player BUT….it has a feature on it I hadn’t anticipated it having.  With the purchase of a special cord, it will RECORD from the TV like a DVR.    That means a trip to Radio Shack but, hey, it may be worth it.  The Beast has a bunch of the special DVD’s that are for movies so that will be something I just might want to use one day.  It may save me the money I would have spent buying the DVD, who knows?  I know the commercials will be a pain but I can fast forward past them just like I did on our DVR in Florida.

The Beast can open both his eyes today and is oh! so! happy! about that.  But he’s still not out of the woods.  He’s black and red and green with a touch of yellow.    Underneath his eyes are big swollen pouches.  If those just shrink but the pouches remain, he will be very upset, I’m sure.  I know it’s not how he envisions his looks after what he went through.  He didn’t, however, actually have plastic surgery, no matter how much I kid him about that.    Right now, he could tell the neighbors that we got into a fight and I won and it would be believable.  That’s about how he looks.

Since his eye doctor’s office never DID call us back to give us a definite time for his appointment, I’m not sure if we are going to just go up there and wing it or what.  He won’t be healed and, with luck, they’ll want him out of the office as soon as possible.  He’ll scare the patients, for sure.

It was cold here this morning. It was only 38 degrees when I woke up around 8am.  The week of warm weather was obviously our Indian Summer weather because it never warmed up all day.  I think it hit 60 around 2pm and it was downhill after that. 

When I let the dog out a little bit ago, the temperature was 44.  Baron didn’t spend any time loitering around the deck before meandering down the stairs to the yard.   He ran down the stairs, lifted his leg and then ran back up the stairs to be let in.  I saw all this because I stood at the door because his run gave me the first clue that it was colder out than I thought.  He’s a wimp when it comes to cold weather.  It’s hysterical to see him when it snows or there’s ice on the deck.  He absolutely hates to step into snow or on ice.  Of course, I know people that are like that, too.  I am not a fan of ice and I always make sure we have several containers of the salt every winter because both the front porch and our deck out back are prone to that.   I worry about the three of us slipping on ice and getting seriously hurt.  Especially since the Beast and I are no longer young.  Hell, he’ll be 70 next birthday. 

Love you all.  Hope you are having an enjoyable weekend so far.  I’m going to have a drink, I think, while I am watching Aliens vs Predators. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

The Madagascar 3 I ordered from Amazon got here today so Chewlee and I watched it right after dinner.  It is the funniest movie I have watched in ages.  Mostly it’s the little things that both of us laughed at but it’s totally enjoyable and kept Chewlee’s interest throughout.  I have all three of the Madagascar movies and Chewlee wanted to watch them from the start but I told her we would have to do that on Sunday when she is back here.  I know she will change her mind by then and want to watch her other movies I have here.

Before we could watch the movie, we first had to get our *snacks* in order and ready.  Chewlee chose grapes and two little candy bars as her snacks along with a baggie of Doritos.  I had an orange, my coffee and the last can of coke in the house.  I told the Beast, *You aren’t fit to be seen outside this house so I am running up to Walmart tomorrow to pick up a few things.*  He wasn’t a happy camper about that (he’s liked being totally in charge) but he’ll have to cope.

Once we started watching the movie, Chewlee really didn’t move.  Her eyes were glued to the TV.  When she started wiggling around, I finally asked her if she had to go to the bathroom.  When she said yes, I told her I would pause the movie and wait for her.  She was off like a shot once she saw it was paused except to stop at the door of the bathroom to say, *Promise not to watch it without me?*  I assured her that I would wait for her and she finally went into the bathroom and shut the door.  I waited until she sat down next to me to start the movie and she went right back to sitting there, riveted to the TV.  When it ended, she wouldn’t let me pop the disk out until she listened to ALL the music and watched the pretty colors they used.  She grabbed the disk (carefully, like she was shown a long time ago), put it back in it’s case and then put it away on the shelves where I keep all the DVD’s.  She pointed out where she was putting it and told me I had to put it with the others tomorrow. 

I have to do some straightening up now that the Beast has gone to bed and Chewlee is gone with her mother.  We won’t have her tomorrow and I’m really hoping the Beast feels better (less pain) than he has so far.  Love you all.  Be good and have a truly great weekend. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I never imagined doing three blogs about the Beast’s eye surgery but, when we were talking about it last night, he told me that he had been awake while it was going on.  He actually saw the doctor cut away a big chunk of his skin/meat from one of his eyes.  I think he meant he saw it being moved from his eye area to a tray and it was just a quick glimpse of it.  He said to the doctor, *OMG!  Was that MY skin?*  The doctor told him yes.

His looks have not improved yet and the one eye that had the chunk taken out of it is still not open.  When he tried to open it, it looked to me like he had a huge blood clot underneath it.  I have to wait to talk to the doctor to find out if we can buy some saline solution and flush out that eye or what.   He CAN open his right eye so he’s able to watch TV. 

He tried sleeping in the recliner last night but just couldn’t fall asleep for any length of time.  He finally gave it up and went to sleep on our bed with two big pillows under his head.  He doesn’t understand how I can sleep on MY recliner.  I told him that his disability and mine were just very different.  My recliner is now *fitted* to me after all this time.  However, last night I went into the guest room and went to sleep.  I was so worried about the TV bothering the Beast because you could hear my TV through the wall where his recliner is located that I figured I would sleep there.

I was kind of surprised that Baron came into the bedroom and thought he snuck up on the bed with me.  I was really half-asleep so I didn’t yell at him.  He crept next to me and laid his head on my thigh.  He was still there, asleep, when I woke up around 8am.  I got off the bed, quietly, so as not to disturb him.  I saw the Beast wasn’t in his recliner and went to the bedroom.  He was on his side, the two big pillows still under his head and he was sound asleep.  He didn’t wake up until it was around 11am or slightly afterward.

I took a good look at his eyes.  His right eye you can see is very slightly better but his left eye…oh lord, it’s huge, puffy and so black and blue!  It’s starting to turn a bit yellow in spots so he really IS scary looking.  My DVD player came and he actually went to the door in all his glory to get it from the UPS delivery guy.  I give him credit for not reacting badly.  You could tell he was startled a bit but he never asked what happened. 

Gotta go put the ointment on his stitches.  Love you all.  Have a great day!

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Baron was haunting the front door.  I tried to entice him outside so he could do his duty but he wouldn’t budge.  His *man* was gone and I believe Baron knew it wasn’t for any of the usual things.  I swear, he knew that it was something serious.

Baron was suddenly on his feet and running back and forth, looking out the window on the door.  He started it about 5 minutes before our car turned into the drive.  The Beast’s friend from church was driving.  I discovered that when I was thinking about driving down to Walmart.  I mean that our *around town* car (mine) was gone.  When I realized that Jeffrey was reading the Beast his post-operative instructions in the car, I opened the door and Baron came out with me…he ran down the stairs, found a tree and relieved himself finally.

I discovered the Beast couldn’t really see anything but Baron had run up to him and bounced his nose off his man’s leg (no jumping ).  It made me sure he knew something serious was up.  When the Beast heard my voice, he yelled to me…*Do you know that Baron is out?*  I shook my head from side to side, not as a *no* but because he made it sound like I was an idiot.  I yelled back to him, *Yes.  He came out with ME when I came outside.*  He shut up.

The Beast had his dark sunglasses on that also cover the side of the face so his peripheral vision is protected so I didn’t see his actual eye until he got in the house.  Jeffrey handed me the bag from Walmart where the Beast had stopped to fill his prescription and grab a few other things he needed from that area.  He also added a bag of candy corn and some chocolate candy.  Figures.  He’s got such a sweet tooth!

When he took off his sunglasses, I was shocked.  As far as I knew, he was having just the lower lid on one eye fixed.  What did I get?  Both his eyes were done.  The folds on his upper lids are gone and the bag underneath both eyes are gone.  He looks like Frankenstein and tells me had can’t see more than a sliver and that’s just one eye.  His eyes are so swollen, it puts me in mind of the way a chameleon’s eyes look. 

When he had asked Jeffrey what he looked like when he got out of recovery, he was told, *Well, let me put it this way.  You won’t need a costume for Halloween.*  ROFLMAO!

His instructions are actually simple:  Keep head elevated for 24-48 hours.  Use ice pack (they provided one that’s designed for the eyes) 20 minutes ON, 20 minutes off.  You can use it longer than 20 minutes if necessary. 

Necessary?  What the hell does that mean, huh?  For pain, swelling…they don’t say WHAT determines if it needs more time.

The stitches are dissolving so he can’t get water on them.  He’s supposed to gently wash his face with a wet rag.  He’s got erithromyacin drops to apply on the eyes 3 times a day.  He can’t take any aspirin or blood thinners for four days.  I can understand that part since his eyes (you put a gauze pad on the eyes before applying the ice pack) are still showing blood on the gauze.  For pain, he’s only supposed to use Advil or Tylenol.  He grabbed Tylenol.  I would have picked Advil but, hey! that’s ME. 

So Chewlee will be shocked when she gets here and sees him.  She knew he was going to the doctor today but it looks like he was in some terrible accident and it will probably scare the hell out of her.  I already told the Beast that with what was done to him, I could now tell everyone that he had plastic surgery.    I’m sorry but that’s just what it looks like to me.

Love you all.  He hasn’t started his moaning and groaning yet but he hasn’t gotten all the anesthesia out of his system yet.  Only time will reveal his TRUE nature.  More later. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I told you the Beast was self-centered once or twice before, right?  Well, here’s a good example of just how he is.  As far as I knew from the original information provided by the doctor’s office, his surgery was for 10am or 11am…I forget just which it was.  However, I did know that he wouldn’t be able to drive himself home afterward.  I got myself set to get up at 7am so there was lots of time to get ready, have some coffee and then leave.  I’m not sure how long the surgery would take so I thought I would just bring my Nook and read.

A little bit ago, the Beast woke me up because he had asked a friend from church (nice family) to drive him up to the hospital and bring him home.  It seems the doctor’s office had called him the other day to change the time of his eye surgery and he never told me.  Never.  Never even mentioned it.  He also NEVER told me he had made this arrangement and I am going to tell you why.  He doesn’t want me to drive.  He hates the idea of me TRYING to drive anywhere except Walmart which is close and requires me to use only not very busy rural roads.

I am not kidding.  All because I lost my big toe.  What really pisses me off is his not telling me at all about the changes.  When we talked originally (and even a couple times during the last week), he knew I planned on driving him home from the hospital.  So instead he has put out someone that he’s only known for a short time rather than let me drive.  He only woke me up early because his ride wasn’t here and wasn’t answering his phone.  He then bowed to the inevitable (his thought) and woke me.  I told him I had planned and why leave so early since his surgery wasn’t until 10am or so.  I thought about it and realized it was at 10am because he had been told not to eat after 5am.  I had gotten the same instructions when MY surgery on my arteries in my abdomen was scheduled.

That’s when he told me about his *ride* not being here yet so I got up and got ready.  I was almost ready to grab my purse and Nook and go when his *ride* pulled into the driveway.  He gave me a kiss goodbye and ran out the door.

So here I am, sitting at my computer and I am PISSED over the way he handled this whole thing.  I will let you know how the day progresses.  He does this to me and yet he will expect me to take care of him when he gets home.  What am I?  Chopped liver?  I’m his wife of 48 years (last August) and this is how he treats me?  I don’t know why I keep thinking that he has become easier to live with and a bit nicer than he used to be.  He’s still an asshole.  He acts like it’s nothing but I know how much of a drama king he can be.

Like I said…I shall return with updates.  Love you all.

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I have said it before, I LOVE family and I forgive them their short-comings as they forgive mine.  I was thinking mostly about my siblings, aunts and uncles when I said that because that has been our family history.  I never expected that this would not be the case with my grandkids or even my children.  It’s a real shock to me.

I have a granddaughter (I will NOT identify) that apparently has a yen for drama all the time.  It’s the only thing I can figure out because she just won’t let things go just because everyone doesn’t rush to agree with her.  She’s apparently also jealous of another granddaughter.  Maybe it’s because she is both older, smarter and has more material things.  Of course, she is forgetting that nothing the granddaughter has came easily.  She had to work hard for everything she has.  The second granddaughter also has an adorable, smart child.  The first granddaughter has no children but thinks she is a MUCH wiser person than any of us that have HAD or have children.  She has forgotten her own childhood and how SHE was.  I was there.  I remember.

Anyway, she has managed to start a feud with her aunts and uncles and now with me.  She said she was told she couldn’t talk to me anymore (by whom, I have no idea….she never checked with me….ever!) due to something she did that I found shocking because it was such bullshit.  She’s thrown all kinds of accusations around that I can’t believe and never even heard about.  Then she said not to expect her for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

First of all, I am totally pissed off that she has just swallowed things that were said without letting me know so I could have stepped on it and put an end to it.  But now, no, no, no.  Regardless of what anyone and everyone has told her, she persists in her character assassination and it looks bad….mostly for her.

She called her cousin a *half-breed* (the cousin is Italian and East Indian so I guess she must think East Indians are not human).  It just keeps getting worse and I said, *ENOUGH!*  I no longer care if the family is fractured by this crap.  If she can’t behave in an adult manner, then she SHOULD stay away because *I* don’t want to hear any of it any more.  She chewed out an uncle for calling the cousin his *sister*.  She IS his sister because the Beast and I adopted her many years ago.  She may call me *grandma* but her birth certificate now lists me as her mother and the Beast as her father.  We did this only after talking to the other kids about doing it.  It makes her one of our direct heirs so they had to approve the move, too.  Their comment was, *You should have done this years ago!*

It’s really too bad because, if she had just been an adult and handled things in an adult manner, she would have found out that her grandfather and I could have been good friends to have besides being relatives.  We happen to love her and her fiance but right now we don’t LIKE them very much.  Perhaps this time away from us all will help her grow up.  I certainly hope so because she was gone from our lives for many important years.  When we found her, we were ecstatic. 

I will miss her smiling face during the Holidays.  All of us that get together (her cousin, the daughter and fiance, her aunt and her two children plus another cousin and her new hubby plus the Beast and I) will do the best we can to get through the holidays without her.  It will just tear my heart up but….I am praying that God in his infinite wisdom will help her heart grow big enough to contain both forgiveness and love for her blood family.  I know her soon-to-be family loves her.  Otherwise they would not have permitted her to move in with them while she and her fiance are working towards their wedding.

Love you all.