TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I wondered what the Beast had planned for today until I realized that he had the box for the stand mixer sitting on the table and both the regular beaters and the dough hooks were inside it.  He planned on putting it away in the box and then out in the garage on the shelves.  I then saw he had a cake mix out and figured he was going to make a cake.  He had made some cream cheese frosting with a small difference (a touch of lemon added) and was in love with it.  The cake mix was for a carrot cake and that meant he could use his frosting on it.

I decided to try to get him to make cupcakes with it instead and he liked the idea.  I really figured that Chewlee would like the cupcakes better than a slice of cake.  I was right.    BUT....I got suckered into being the one to make the mix.  It was a Duncan Heinz cake mix and I had never made this particular one.  It was...interesting.  A bit different.

As I was reading the ingredients, it called for HOT tap water and that kind of threw me for a minute until I kept reading.  It has a separate bag of dehydrated carrots, raisins and nuts.  That goes into the hot water and needs to sit for 5 minutes or so.  But it all gets used in the cake mix along with the usual eggs and oil.  I sprayed the muffin cups and floured them per instructions.  That isn't easy either.  Especially since I didn't want flour all over the place.  I ended up standing over my garbage can shaking the flour all around and I tapped the flour right into the garbage when I was done.  No mess.  **Grin**

The cupcakes turned out great and I managed to not only get the mix into them fairly even but ended up with three extra ones than the mix said it would make (15 instead of 12).  I'm just glad we have two cupcake tins.  When the Beast got back from the store (he was out of cream cheese), he was tickled that they were done and cooling on the wire rack.  He proceeded to make the cream cheese frosting but with a variation.  He added a little bit of orange marmalade.  I didn't know this until after I tasted it.  I knew there was something different about it but it was really good!    He bought a pineapple cake mix and plans on adding some crushed pineapple (well drained) to the frosting for it.  He CAN get creative in a good way at times. 

I ended up with Chewlee for a couple hours.  She can be adorable at times but I've mentioned that before.  Today was one of those days.  We (and I was a reluctant participant) ended up playing school again.  There was a little book she had (and I mean LITTLE...about 3"X4").  It was one the kids made in class.  Cute because it actually opened up into an 8"X10" sheet of paper.  When snipped here and there, it was folded into a multi-page little book.  It had (supposedly) safari animals in it and the names were underneath them.  The project had the kids trace the names and then color the animals.  Chewlee also colored the backgrounds, each one different.  The animals were a hippo, elephant, lion, parrot, rhino and a snake.

I was asked to help one of the (ahem) students that was having a difficult time reading.  Chewlee, of course, played the student (and two others that I was asked to go over the book with them.  I had to report to Chewlee, the teacher, as to how well they did.    As the student having a problem reading, Chewlee feigned a problem until I told her to sound out the name of the animal.  It was really kind of cute how she did it.  She also played the class snitch and I had to tell her that it wasn't nice to snitch on her friends.  Yes, they were talking when they shouldn't be but *I* should be the one that catches them doing it.  

She then told me that there was a girl in her class that tells the teacher all the time on other kids, including her.  But, she said, the teacher listens to HER and the kids get punished.  Even if she (the teacher) didn't see them do it.  She then admitted, under further questioning, that sometimes the teacher listens to the girl and then watches closely or looks up and catches them.  Kids!  But, she admitted that she didn't like it when someone tells on her so she's not going to do it when *we* play school any more.

Before she left, she announced that tomorrow we are having a tea party.  She almost jumped up and down in excitement.  She wanted me to dress up for it and even went into my closet and picked out what I am to wear.    She was so funny as she opened my closet door and started going through my things like she was shopping at the mall.  She finally said to me, *Okay...this is what you wear (a pink top with long sleeves because it will be cold tomorrow) and you have to wear a nice pair of long pants.  No jeans, Grandma.  This is a very fancy tea party we will have.*  She then started talking about picking some flowers for the center of the table and we will each have a cupcake.......*  Just too cute as she got more and more excited as she planned our tea party.

When her mother got here to pick her up, she got so excited because one of her cousins was in the car.  I think it was one of Johnnycakes cousin's kids but I'm not really sure.  The Princess had called me to help Chewlee get into her dress correctly (she wore it backwards so she could zip it up herself).  It's a good thing she's a kid because it really didn't make a difference....except to the Princess, of course.  But she did turn it around and had me zip it as she held up her hair (that her mother cut again!)  I knew it as soon as I brushed her hair.  Mainly because the Princess doesn't know how to layer it so that the ends lay nicely. 

I think she's trying to let the *bangs* portion of Chewlee's hair even up with the back but I could be wrong.  However, it looks like it's almost there.  It will make the French braid that the Princess sometimes puts Chewlee's hair in look much better because there won't be those clumps of hair that just won't stay put because they aren't QUITE long enough to be held by the braided part.

Our temperature is dropping down to around 30 degrees tonight (25 or so on Tuesday night).  Our *high* will be somewhere around 40-45 tomorrow.  I turned my heat on in my computer room (I HATE the cold) when I noticed that my fingers were starting to hurt.  I have arthritis in a couple of my fingers.  Traumatic arthritis the doctor said.  I WAS a bit rough on them at times and the injuries became arthritic.

Love you all.  Time to get this posted before it turns into a book.    Drive carefully.  The life you save may be your own. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

The Beast has some sort of a mental block about starting to make donuts at a decent time.  No, I take that back.  He DID start his first batch at a somewhat decent time but he made such a major mess of the kitchen, there was no doing anything else.  He started on telling me all about how superfine powdered sugar is so much different from 10X powdered sugar that I told him to just go and do what he wanted because he would anyway.  He was throwing the 10X sugar into the blender to make it superfine.  **Roll eyes here**  I told him that 10X powdered sugar WAS superfine and he wanted to argue about it.  I tried to tell him that if it didn't say 10X, it hadn't been put through the *blender* 10X, unlike regular powdered sugar and he just wanted to argue.  I gave it up.  He slammed the door leaving my computer room.  He's such an adult.

I refused to help him.  Okay, so maybe that wasn't so adult either but why give myself a headache when, if it doesn't make sense to him (he's so experienced at this), he comes over to read what I just told him.  No!  I don't need the high blood pressure, TYVM!  So, he tried to make these sour cream donuts.  After following the directions exactly (he swears he did and the book is obviously wrong and should be thrown away..), the batter was too gummy to even take out of the bowl.  It had to be scraped out.  It stuck to his hands and fingers.  He finally grabbed the flour and started adding flour to it until he actually could roll it out.  Then, when he had made the donut forms, they started to flake apart in the fryer.  I had to be a smartass and look in and say, *Oh!  Flaky!*    He didn't  appreciate the humor.

I swear he made four or five trips to Walmart for different things.  Mostly ingredients but I also now own a new set of measuring cups (he threw the old set away...oh, and my measuring spoons, too).  Now he knows why I kept them even if I wasn't using them all the time.  He also read the directions that said the donut cutter was to be 2-1/2 inches.  The one he bought (he wanted BIG donuts) was almost a full inch bigger than that.  His sour cream donuts were to be cute with the smaller cutter.  Oh, oh...and he discovered also that the amount of time dough is left in the fridge is important, too.  He thought 15 minutes (OR SO) was enough.  When he left it in for the full half hour, guess what?  They actually WERE no longer the gummy mess he had earlier.  They were able to be rolled out.  They fried up without flaking apart.  They even looked like the picture of them in his recipe book. 

Chewlee wanted no part of his donuts.  She wants the light, airy kind like crullers.  Real raised donuts.  She told the Beast she would have some when he makes *her* kind.  I just snickered.  She wouldn't even lick the beaters from the frosting he made.  I tried to get her to do it but she put the tip of her finger on the frosting, got a little sliver and licked it.  She then told him, *No, thank you.  I had enough.*

Chewlee told me today that she found out something.  She said, *Santa knows when a grownup is mean to kids and guess what?  They don't get any presents then.*  She had this self-satisfied air about her when she told me that like she had finally found a defender of kids and that suited her feeling of fair play.  The kid was almost smug about it.  I told her, *Am I ever mean to you?*  She said, *Sometimes!*  She then caught herself and said, *But it's only when you aren't feeling good, Grandma.*  I had to smile when she said, *I know Santa is going to bring you some presents.  He's really nice!*  The kid is quick!  A little later, we were talking about names for some reason that I forget now.  But she said to me, *Some people call me 'smart ask'.  Is that a good name?*  As I rolled on the floor, she got mad at me because she didn't know why I was laughing so hard.  When I wouldn't explain to her, she told me she was going to tell Santa that I was being mean to her and I would be on his *bad* list.

Well, I took my shower earlier than I normally do and that's why this is late.  Love you all.  Have a fantastic week and don't try to cram all your Holiday shopping in at once.  Take the time to enjoy yourself a bit. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I am sorry I am posting this late for those of you that read it late at night...but I really had to wait until the Beast and I had finished our first donut project (together).  For this he had to go out and buy a new deep fryer, a beater on a stand complete with dough hooks, his special peanut oil and a few other things that he felt we should have fresh.  Fresh flour.  Fresh unsalted butter.  Don't ask me where he gets those notions.  He's a man.  I am a woman.  Never the twain shall understand the other.  Actually, it's more that MEN feel they are bakers or chefs when THEY decide to make something.  We learn to keep our mouths shut because they don't believe a word we say until they have a disaster on their hands (or near disaster).  Some men actually CAN cook and bake, but they are far and few between in their ratio in the world.  We women feed families each and every day but...well, we get little credit for it.

Anyway, after he CAREFULLY measured, heated up the milk and dissolved the yeast (I was relegated to reading instructions), then put it all together EXACTLY as the recipe stated, then it was time to put it all in the fridge for an hour and wait.  Then the roll out, cutting out the donuts, putting them on a floured dishtowel (I kid you not!) and wait for them to double in size.  He then deep fried them to the perfect golden color and after they cooled slightly, he used powdered sugar on them.

Now, I admit they taste great.  However, the instructions say to roll the dough out to half an inch thickness.  Thankfully, he didn't do that because he knew they had to rise.  Besides, his REAL reason was he didn't think he would get enough donuts out of the dough if he did that.  So, he ends up with 8 donuts (exactly what the recipe said...well, it said 8-14 so they know we women are much better at this stuff...LOL) and 8 donut holes.  He lets them rise until doubled in size (remember, they were not a half inch thick but they weren't thin either).  Then he throws them in to deep fry and OMG....they get HUGE! 

The Beast looks at me and says, *I think next time, if we make these, we can roll the dough out a lot thinner!*  Talk about an understatement. 

At least they are tasty.  When Chewlee comes tomorrow, she will love eating one all by herself!  Everything becomes a project when it involves something HE wants to do.  It gives me a headache whenever he comes up with something like this.  Me?  Well, if you are a woman, I would have just DONE it.  Not a big amount of fanfare and I would have done it with what I have on hand, not gone out and bought a mixer that I won't use much in the future (HE might) or a new deep fryer.  We had one here already but he forgot about that.  He never thought to ask me.  It might have taken me a bit to remember where it was but I knew we had one. 

Well, at least there were no disasters.  That alone is encouraging but I knew these were not the donuts he really wanted to make.  Oh, and get this.  He says to me, *I wanted the donuts to be GREASIER than they turned out to be.*  He was disappointed, can you believe it?  HE is the one that should need his arteries cleaned out.  Hell, maybe he does but we just don't know it yet.  He's the one that loves anything and everything greasy.  Not me but that's neither here nor there.  He made the donuts and they are edible.  More than edible.  They are good...tasty.

Love you all.  Have a great Sunday.  I'm going to sleep in since the Beast kept us up this late and then we had clean up to do.  I'm beat.  Enjoy your day. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Chewlee's week turned out this way:  Smiley faces, 2; Squiggly faces, 2; Sad face, 1.  Result?  BAD WEEK.  Definitely NO trip to the Treasure Chest for her.  The Princess has talked to her teacher pretty much every day.  I have a feeling they might get to be good friends since the Princess is going to be a teacher, too.  But it must be nice for the teacher that she has a parent that is trying to work closely with her to get Chewlee straightened out and behaving.  I was thinking today that poor Chewlee can't win and should just give it up and behave.  When she comes here, the first thing I do is check her folder to see what she got for the day.  Then we discuss it.  Her biggest complaint is that *her brain won't listen and it won't let her be good!* 

I told her that she better start telling her brain to be good or she's going to spend another year in kindergarten while all her friends move on to first grade.  That made her very unhappy to think her friends wouldn't be in the same class with her any more.  Also, she thinks everyone will think she's a baby.  I told her that, if they did, it would be because SHE didn't learn to listen, didn't learn not play while they were supposed to be working and hadn't learned not to talk during class.  She's REALLY bad about the talking thing.

So she gets a talking to from me, sometimes from the Beast and then goes home to another *discussion* from her mommy (and sometimes her daddy).  She's gotten really creative about her excuses she tries on us but we're wise to that.  It's just hard not to laugh out loud at some of them.  The Beast actually had to walk out of the room and damn near out in the garage before he burst out laughing.  There are times she's just so SINCERE about how her brain doesn't let her be good and she really, really wants to be.  It's so pathetic and so funny at the same time.

But she is doing well on her math and the sounding out words.  I discovered that she knows more words than she thinks she does.  Whenever she asks me what a word says, I always take the time to tell her and she will sound out the word the way she learns in school.  Sometimes, she will point at a word and tell me what it says.  This isn't on her school papers but words she sees on my computer screen.  She just needs a bit more confidence in herself and she will be doing just fine.

Today she was in an *eat the fridge clean* mood.  She had milk, toast, pickle, tangarine, hot dog, another pickle, a couple forkfuls of ramen noodles, another pickle (I limit her to two a day, max but the Beast gave her one after her bath).  She discovered we had egg nog and had to have some of that.  She calls it *noodlin' egg*.  I made her say egg nog three times but a little later, she asked for more noodlin' egg.  We'll have to work on that. 

The Beast got a package today and it had that bubble wrap that isn't the small bubbles but the ones that are like little pillows.  There were four strips in the box and he told Chewlee she could have it when she asked him if she could pop the bubbles.  He was being a bit of a stinker because she was trying to pop it with her fingers.  I showed her how to put it on the floor and step on them.  She had a ball doing that until she got them all popped.  She laughed and laughed because of how they sounded.  Some were really loud and sounded like a shot; others sounded (pardon the expression) like loud farts.  She pointed out the difference to me between laughs.  She laughed at the pops; I laughed at her being so tickled over something so simple.  She made sure they were all popped then gathered the four strips up and threw them in the garbage.  She said to me, *We have to get Papa to buy more stuff, Grandma, so we (notice the *we*) can pop more of those!*

I'm going to miss the warm weather we've been having.  It's supposed to disappear some time next week.  **Sigh**  But, it IS December and I suppose it's time for colder weather to hit us, too.  Just as long as we don't get snow...not yet.

The Beast has been under the weather and his cough has returned.  The cough was why he stopped smoking a year ago.  Only this time the cough also has a wheeze to it and his chest feels like he's got congestion that he can't cough up.  He checked on his symptoms and thinks he might actually have developed asthma.   He has an appointment with our doctor next Wednesday but, because he feels so bad, he went to talk to the pharmacist and get something to help out in the meantime.  I told him our doctor would probably send him to a pulmonary doctor and he just shrugged.  I don't know why but he thought he could just go to the pharmacy and buy an inhaler.  When I told him he had to have a prescription for those, he was sure I was wrong.  I was the one that told him to talk to the pharmacist.  He found out that I was, indeed, correct and he needed a prescription from a doctor for an inhaler.  He was told there are a lot of different types of medications in those inhalers and he needs a doctor so that he gets the right one for his problem IF he actually needs it. 

The pharmacist directed him to an OTC liquid medication that he said should help him and it has.  It just hasn't made the Beast feel *normal*.  He says that his breathing is better but he still feels like shit.  He is awfully pale and that is usually a sign that he doesn't feel well.  I told him to try getting as much rest as he can until he sees the doctor.  We can always call the pulmonary doctor as soon as he finishes up with our doctor and get him in as soon as possible.  He agreed with that because you can't always leave it up to the nurses setting those appointments up.  They get busy and you sometimes fall through the cracks.  We don't actually need a referral to see a pulmonary doctor but there's always the possibility that his symptoms are not for asthma but something different.  Who knows?

Love you all.  Have a great weekend and try not to shop yourself into a deep pit of debt, okay?  Try to be a little bit sensible about your holiday gifts.

Oh, and I want to say HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY to Mustachio and my niece, Bee Jr.  They share the same birthday (but she's a bit younger).  I was torn about mentioning it to my son but, since he turned 42, I thought he might not like being reminded he was MIDDLE AGE now.    But, hell, I am now in OLD AGE and I'm not happy about that either. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I am hearing from the adult part of the family now about all the *stuff* going on.  It seems Mustachio didn't even realize that his brother *unfriended* him on Facebook a year ago after a fight between them (alcohol may or may not have been involved).  When he cooled down, he sent his brother a *friend* request that was never answered.  My son doesn't know if it's even valid now but is going to try sending him another friend request.  Marcus claims he hasn't ignored any phone calls from his brother unless he called when he was in a meeting.  However, there IS another possibility that I discovered today.  Mustachio may have called a number that is no longer his brother's like *I* did tonight.  I had the correct number but it wasn't listed as his Home number, which is not his brother's number any more.  I was so embarrassed!

So, to make sure THAT is resolved, I suggest that Mustachio sends his brother a friend request so that ONE of the requests will get where it needs to be.  Oh, and make sure you answer it!

Buttmunch was out applying for work and ran across the owner of one restaurant that encouraged her greatly.  He liked speaking with her and discussed her experience.  He liked that she could do service AND bartend, too.  He couldn't hire her now but held out the carrot that he would in the Spring when he usually *cleans out* his help.  But, since she needs work NOW, he referred her to two of his friends that might need her now.  I guess in Louisville, even more than most places, having a local refer you is GOLD.  So she was very encouraged.  I'm hoping something works out for her soon because even she admitted to me that she and her brother are like oil and water.  She loves him but..... 

At least he's been good to her.  He's keeping her in food, cigarettes, liquor and mixers.  He also loves her but he knows they don't make good roommates.  Sheesh.  Why should it be any different than when they were kids?    Now, only time will tell what is going to go on.  Mustachio....if you want to double-check that you have the right number that you are calling, just call ME.  Love you all. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I say almost because I refused to make the wrappers ever again.  I did it once back when we lived in Glen Ellyn and learned that they were really the worst part of making them.  It's tough to get them thin enough.  So the Beast bought the wrappers, bless his heart.  Besides, they are much thinner and more consistent.  I found a video about how to wrap them correctly and sent it to the Beast (hint, hint!).  I knew how to do it already.  Once you do a bunch of them for a dinner party, you don't soon forget. 

So the Beast and I spent well over an hour chopping up and dicing the bean sprouts, green onions, cabbage, garlic, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and carrots.  We beat the eggs, added the soy sauce, salt, sugar and even some msg.  That doesn't go on until the cabbage, onion, garlic, shrooms, green onions, bean sprouts and carrots gets sauteed in peanut oil.  You do it in small portions.  Then it all goes back into the pot with the shredded bamboo shoots and the eggs, etc. go over that in a very thin stream so you can evenly distribute it.  After it cools down a bit, I rolled it up and the Beast cooked them in peanut oil.  It was delish! 

I haven't really given you the whole recipe or even all the ingredients but you can find a bunch of different ones on the internet.  We made ours with shrimp, chopped up, but they are usually made with a combination of pork and chicken.  You can even add shrimp to the mix.  It all depends on what you personally like.  YouTube even has step-by-step instructions (using pork and chicken) that I found was very informative.

The one thing that was mind-blowing about the recipe the Beast decided he wanted to try was the mushrooms.  He bought them dried and we had to rehydrate them for a half hour or so.  It didn't look like much but holy cow!  I had used a small bowl to soak them in water and they blossomed to these HUGE really wavy and curly mushrooms.  The dried ones made me wonder if we would get a whole cup of the chopped up results.  Instead, just two of them gave me more than a cup and there were still four left!   

The results were really great!  The egg rolls were crisp and very tasty.  We could have cooked the filling just a little less and cooked the whole egg roll to a little darker color but that's our personal thoughts.  We did cook the ones AFTER our initial ones that we ate until they were very golden in color and that was perfect.  I was worried about the carrots not being cooked much so that was why we cooked the filling more than we should have.  We didn't consider that their deep frying would cook the filling, too.  Oh well.  Live and learn.  It's been a while for me.....a LONG while since I made them.

Oh, Chewlee went with the Beast to Walmart today and returned the Chapstick to the manager and told him she was really, really sorry but she forgot she had to pay.  He told her he was glad she had returned it and he hoped she learned something from this all.  She became mute at that time and just shook her head yes.  When she came back to the house, she was her usual happy self.  She got a BIG smiley face today because she not only aced her math test but she did it faster than anyone else in the class.  She also did great on her reading.  The teacher let her pick a prize out of the Treasure Chest so she was very, very cheerful over that.

I need to get this posted.  Love you all and I hope your week has been great.  Be happy! 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

My granddaughter, Sheepie, read my blog and came up with the mistaken idea that it was all about HER.  I didn't make myself as clear as I should have in HER estimation so I was obvious *ignorant* (her words to me) about it all.  It's a minor thing.  Mustachio got her a phone when she was still living with her father.  But, when he ran into financial trouble a few months later, it was turned off.  It was NOT just before she moved in and it was NOT the reason Mustachio got thrown out of his sister's.  Are we clear on that now?  Turn off the drama, Sheepie.  People get really tired of it.

Today the Beast actually took Baron up to Huntsville to the dog park there.  Baron has needed some interaction with other dogs and it's a beautiful park.  While Baron was running around, playing, the Beast decided he was going to go back to the car and check on the Garmin for the nearest Chinese grocery.  He wanted to buy some supplies for making our own egg rolls.  He walked out of the dog park, shut the gate and opened the car door...  Baron came galloping to the gate like his butt was on fire and produced the most incredible sad howl the Beast had ever heard.  He thought the Beast was leaving without him, poor baby.  The Beast was still laughing about it when he got home later. 

He went to one of the three Chinese groceries in Huntsville and picked up some odds and ends.  He also picked up the Chinese egg roll wrappers and we are going to make the filling and deep fry them ourselves.  I haven't made them in years.  He picked up the cabbage, the bean sprouts, the carrots and the special mushrooms.  He even got a bag of MSG.  The stuff that's so bad for you they say but sure helps the taste of a lot of foods.  He already had peanut oil here, which is the oil of choice for frying.  However, he forgot to pick up the shrimp for them.  No problem.  He'll run down tomorrow to get some.

He also, for some ungodly reason, wants to make donuts!  Both kinds.  He even ordered a donut maker which is the appliance you pour the cake-like mix into and press down to drop a shaped donut into the hot oil.  I hope you've seen them because that's all I have to say about THAT!  He bought a small deep fryer since we can't find the one we had.  I guess it got tired of not being used and left us.  The Beast does this kind of stuff all the time.  He gets a wild hair up his butt and off he goes!!!  He also bought a donut cutter for the yeast type donuts.  Me?  I don't eat much of that stuff but I am going to have him get a big jar of jelly so that I can make some filled ones.

And here I was ready to make some rice pudding.  Hell, I'll make it anyway.  Another thing to add to my list is half and half or some whipping cream.  I only need a quart.  Makes for great rice pudding when I am done. 

It's all going to start tomorrow.  Egg rolls first, I think.  Donuts on Friday or Saturday.  I'm just so excited.....NOT!  But Chewlee will be.

Oh, speaking of Chewlee.  She got a smiley face at school today but she didn't get one at home.  She went to Walmart with the Beast and she took a tube of Chapstick.  She knew it was wrong because she hid it.  She didn't ask the Beast if he would buy it for her.  Her excuse was that it was for ME.  She was very unhappy that the Beast caught it.  He's taking her back to the store tomorrow and making her return it and apologize for taking it.  Sometimes our lessons are hard.  She's got to learn.

Well, enjoy this spate of warm weather most of us are having because it will be gone next week.  Love the cool nights and warmer days.  Hope you do, too. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I've tried hard not to talk about family problems other than the ones between me and the Beast.  Sometimes those are funny.  Other times, they give me a headache.  But there is one problem that's been going on for way too long and it's getting worse by the minute.  It involves Buttmunch, Mustachio and, more recently, Marcus Aurelius.

I try not to take sides in things between the siblings.  However, Buttmunch needs a real reality check and so does Marcus.  It goes back to when my daughter took my son in when he was basically homeless.  He appreciated it and was giving her money every week to help out with the rent.  He figured she would keep some out for herself, like maybe $20. or so but she kept it all and let her boyfriend think her brother was a deadbeat.  That's not all.  She also told this same thing to family members.  That I know because she told this same story to ME directly.  I will tell you later how I found out she lied to us all.

Then, when Sheepie moved in with her, he knew that Circle (the boyfriend) hadn't worked much and rent was due.  He put out $475. to go towards rent and then spent $200. to get Sheepie a cell phone so she could stay in contact with her friends.  He also was paying the bill for that phone every month for quite a while.  Sheepie got a job and started paying for her own.  I remember this well.  Then, the very next day, Buttmunch threw all Mustachio's clothes and things out into the street and told him to get OUT!  Luckily, HE had a place to stay but I was horrified over her treatment of him.  Use him and abuse him but I kept my mouth shut.  SHE herself told me that the money he gave them for rent was going to save their ass that month since Circle hadn't worked much.  But she presented it like it was *really* just a tiny drop in the bucket for his living with them for so long and not paying a dime.  I'll tell you why this was not true a little later.  Don't be impatient.

I am really amazed that they even talked to each other after that but they eventually did.  Mustachio even moved into the same apartment complex when he got his present job since it was a very good job and paid well.  He even dropped her a few bucks here and there for herself when he knew things were tough for Circle. 

Let's jump forward a bit to when my great-nephew Kevin died.  My kids all traveled down here to be with their cousin, Tara (Kevin's mother).  Mustachio drove down and Buttmunch came with him.  They all seemed to be getting along well but it wasn't so.  Buttmunch spent a lot of time sniping at her brother in front of him (where he could overhear it).  She even made references to his being a deadbeat and that was too much for him.  He started to remind her of all he gave out to her in cash money while he lived with her and she, apparently, panicked.  She couldn't have everyone hear that he had NOT been a deadbeat after all she had said so she started a fight with him that ended up in MY computer room.  He followed her in here because he was furious that she would say that about him.  So, what happens?  First, she is yelling that she is tired of him constantly telling her about all the money he gave her.  He ate...he had a place to live... and I KNEW then that my son HAD been giving her money all along.  He starts to say something about what she had been telling others and SHE attacks him!  I kid you not.  She came out of my recliner like she was shot out of a cannon.  That couldn't be heard by me so she attacked him.  My son went flying backwards (he ended up smashing my dvd holder..a cheapie, which I've replaced with something much better now) but he, bless him, never retaliated.  I had to keep my daughter from attacking him again by pushing her down into my recliner and told my son to leave the room. 

When he did, I told my daughter I was ashamed of her.  She had no right to attack her brother.  I do NOT believe in violence and SHE should have learned something from that crap from her father when she was a kid.  But I guess she thought it was okay to be violent instead.  I don't think my daughter realized all she revealed to me while she was so angry and afraid.  She was suddenly afraid, I think, that Mustachio would reveal that to Circle and that couldn't happen.  It was after that trip here that she broke it off with Circle and they parted ways.  I truly believe it had more to do with being revealed as a thief and liar than any real unhappiness.

Now, what is making me so angry is that Mustachio has stopped talking to his brother.  Mustachio believes that his brother attacked his sister.  My niece, Tara, heard that being said and was shocked.  Rightly so.  It's not his nature.  Neither of my sons would do such a thing.  Trust me, if Mustachio was so inclined, he had a sadistic girlfriend that would have driven him to it long before he finally left her.  Why Mustachio would believe it of his brother is beyond me.  When I first found out about it, I was going to call Marcus and tell him the truth ... seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears ... but Mustachio told me not to do it.  At the time, he believed that he and his brother would straighten it out between them.  He didn't think that Marcus would swallow all he was being fed hook, line and sinker....but I guess he did.

I wrote about her attacking Mustachio a few weeks back and him pushing her away, harder than he thought he had, and she ended up with two fractured ribs from hitting the sofa.  He probably apologized a hundred times for how hard he pushed her.  We have no idea what she told her brother, Marcus, but now he's not answering any of Mustachio's phone calls and he unfriended him on facebook, I gather.  She has constantly fought with Mustachio over his putting on his music or wanting to watch his TV programs when he comes home from working 12 hours or more.  I mean, who's house is she living in??  Hell, he put himself in debt to take care of her dental problem she had when she moved in with him.  But, besides her being in constant pain, she couldn't get out and look for work if her teeth were bothering her.  She had to find work so she could get out on her own and let him have HIS life back, right?  I'm not recounting how they ended up living together because I still don't really understand it but all she's done is play her Starfleet game online all day.  She's never gone out to apply for a job in all the time she's lived there.  BUT...she acts like she's boss and if he tries to listen to music she doesn't like, it's a fight.  AND, the kicker is, she believes that whomever screams the loudest, wins.  It almost got him kicked out of his apartment.

In fact, the landlord HAS given him notice (since he found out just WHO his sister is and came to talk to him about the complaints from the neighbors about her screaming).  He has given two weeks notice that Buttmunch has to be out of there or else HE has to move.  I gather that Buttmunch, not realizing that sometimes not doing things right can come back to bite you in the ass, did not leave the complex on a good note.  Somehow or other, due to her previous record on this, she will make her brother the bad guy.  AGAIN.

I am just FURIOUS over this.  At first, I really figured that what was making her so irrational was her going through early menopause.  It's happened with women in our family.  In fact, two of my sisters went through that so it wasn't far-fetched.  But what makes it worse is that she is digging a soon-to-be unrepairable rift in our family.  We aren't talking teenagers here.  Every single one involved is in their 40's and should have better judgment and life experience.  I'm so furious over this whole scenario that it's made me bring this out in the open when I didn't want to do it. 

I'm starting to feel like our family will end up like the Beast's.  They get pissed and never speak to each other for YEARS.  Sometimes, they've died without ever making peace with each other, which is not a good thing in my eyes.  If I hadn't pushed him, the Beast might never have made up with HIS father before he died.  He was glad afterward.  But I never, ever expected that to happen to US.  We've been close for most of our lives.  We are huggers and kissers.  How in the hell did this happen?  Could just Buttmunch...alone...have planted this bad seed amongst us?  I don't know and I really don't care but it had better STOP or our family trust is going to be revoked and we will be a lot less generous with what we do with our property and any money left when we die.  I mean that with all my heart.  I will NOT leave anything to anyone who doesn't care about getting off their ass and even TRYING to work and get out on their own.  I will also not leave anything to anyone who is NOT talking to anyone else in this family.  If they can't start acting like good Christian people and act like a family...well, then they aren't part of MY family, are they?

Sorry to vent like this but I am just so ANGRY.  [[taking deep breaths]]...love you all.  Thanks for listening. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Chewlee declared to her mother today that SHE prefers the BIG tank and not the round one.  Her mother, of course, loved the smaller, round tank.  She said she had never seen anything like it before (neither had I).  She made Chewlee come over to the round tank and look at her fish.  When Chewlee saw her fish, she decided that they needed to add the other fish to that tank and she would be happy.

The Beast wants the big tank for himself AND the fish that are in it.  He told Chewlee that a week with five happy faces would mean he would take her to the pet store and she could pick out any fish she likes to add to her tank.  She wisely switched which tank she wanted to the round one but it won't take five fish in it.  Besides, she can't put a goldfish in it.  They eat Siamese fighting fish.  He'll research it and then show her the fish she CAN put in with her fish and let her chose from those.  Besides, she thinks the goldfish is ugly. 

The Princess took pictures on her phone of both bowls.  She wanted to take a picture of the goldfish and she ended up with the most amazing picture of the goldfish looking straight at her like it knew it was having it's picture taken.  Too funny.  The picture seems a bit small to me but...oh well.  I'll see what I can do

Okay...top picture is of the goldfish.  Kind of creepy how it is looking directly at the camera.  Second picture is of the female betta.  Last one is of the male betta, which is actually a Siamese fighting fish.

I wanted to add the round tank and the other little fish in the big tank but they need some work with photo shop before I can even try to put them on here for you to see.  This site won't upload them for some reason so I'll work on them tomorrow and see if I can charge up my camera and find my cable to transfer them to my computer.

Chewlee wanted to feed her fish and damn near succeeded.  She actually found where the Beast had kind of hidden the food but she got caught as she came down the step stool with the box in her hand.  Later on, she tried to tell the Beast that her fish were really hungry.  When the Beast told her that they only get fed once a day and sometimes only once every two days (when fed fresh or frozen insects), she came in with her arms wrapped around her, a kind of mad/sad look on her face and said, *It's just not FAIR!  Papa fed MY fish and I really wanted to.*

Then, when I was out in the kitchen getting her some milk to drink and freshening up my coffee, I heard her say in this sweet little voice, *Papa, where is the fish net?*  He laughed and said, *You don't take your fish out of their tank to look at them, Chewlee.  That's only for when you are going to clean their tank and their tank is clean.*  She thought she was going to trick him.  She DOES want to take her fish out so she can really look at them closely.  He's of the opinion that we might have to keep the bettas here and let her start out with cheap fish until she learns you can't PLAY with fish.

Chewlee had a good time with her other grandfather she told me.  He took her shopping and bought her a cup of her own for brushing her teeth, some fresh toothpaste that tastes like bubblegum and...best of all....a battery operated toothbrush!  He bought her a stuffed animal and two other toys that I can't recall what they are at this moment.  I thought...oh, thank goodness he didn't go nuts this time!  She stayed at his hotel with him and called it *camping out* for some reason.  Perhaps because of the way she sleeps.  He might have made her a bed on the floor (she loves that for some reason) and, with her vivid imagination, she considered it camping out.  She told me she also has a ring box.  Maybe he bought her a jewelry box and some trinket type rings because she said he stepped on her butterfly ring and broke it. 

Love you all.  It's late but actually not too cool outside.  Weatherbug tells me it's 57 degrees out, which in December is warm.  Can you believe this weather we are all having?  Very strange to be this warm in December.  C'est la vie!  Be safe.  Drive carefully. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I'm sure you've heard of them.  People who can have one small, easy task and they turn it into an all day job?  That was the Beast today.  He had decided that WE need a fish tank but a smaller one.  So off he goes to the more upscale Walmart in the next town and he buys this tall, round fish tank.  It has changeable colored lights beneath it.  I thought it a waste since you put small rocks on the bottom and it would cover that part, right?  Well, it has this plastic column in the center of the tank that is actually the filter/aerator and THAT carries the color so that you can see it due to the varied surfaces the bubbling water provides.  It's very pretty when it's put together. 

He bought us a betta of our own.  I kept calling it pink because it looks pink and dark pink to me but the Beast keeps calling it our RED one.  He only spent an hour or so putting it together then he looked over at the one he bought yesterday and decided he should clean it.  He made a mistake and just poured the stone and rock in it without rinsing it first so the water was cloudy.  He felt it had to be bad for the betta fish he bought for Chewlee so he sets out to drain it.  He remembers he's got a pump out in the barn so he goes out to get that.  When he gets into the house, he decides he needs new tubing for it.  That means a trip to the store.  Well, that takes him over an hour because he has to look around the fish department, decide on some plants for the tanks and lord only knows what else he got.  I don't even want to know.  He gets home and takes the fish out of the tank he wants to clean, puts it in the smaller tank and starts working on draining the water out of the big tank so he can clean it. 

A little later, he sits down to have some coffee and is looking for Chewlee's fish.  It's down on the bottom of the tank.  Not hiding.   Our red is up around the top of the tank but it takes a bit to realize it's dead.  You can tell by the damage.  I say to myself, *Ut oh!  I KNEW it!  These are betta splendens....Siamese fighting fish!*  I google them and, sure enough!  He put two males (the females are not so splendid or so vividly colored) in the same tank.  Looks like Chewlee's fish kicked the red one's butt.  I really loved the looks of that one, too.  The red was really dark and the pink, on those feathery fins, just beautiful. 

So off goes the Beast (again) to get another fish.  This time he comes back with what looks to be a female betta splendens.  He said he checked online for what to look for before he left and I figured (from what I read and the pictures I saw) that he had picked one out correctly.  Plop!  He puts the bag into the tank to let the temperature equalize before he lets the fish out of the bag.  Personally, I think he was too eager but you can't tell him anything so I don't even try. 

At this point, he's managed to fritter away more than five hours and he's still not cleaned the big tank out.  He's managed to violate pretty much all the things they tell you to do....like let the water sit overnight after you've treated it and corrected the pH.  He's just too anxious to get the fish into the tank.  But what do I and the people that put the instructions out know about it?  Right?  Now it's time for a nap for him.

After about an hour, Baron wakes the Beast to be let out.  I have no idea why he woke the Beast since I was up and my door was open.  I guess Baron thought he's napped long enough.    I feed him right away so he can get on with his *chore* and clear up all his crap from my kitchen.

He gets on with it, finally.  He cleans the tank (and remembers no soaps, just clean, warm water).  Then he starts on getting it in place, spreading the rocks around, adds the plants he bought for that tank and puts the NEW filter he bought for it (the new/old one was too noisy) on then starts the filling process.  For that, he needs to involve me now.  I have to plug in the pump when he's ready and holding the tubing in place.  It takes three different buckets full before THAT is done.

He tries to tell me there is absolutely no noise from the new filter and gets really upset when I tell him I can hear it but it's not bad at all.  He swears I am hearing the bubbler from the other tank and has to go unplug it and say, *See?*  When I tell him I can hear it, he gets this disgusted look on his face and I tell him, *Beast, I hear different noise levels than you do as we can tell by how loud you have your volume on your TV so you can hear it.  It's a hum but it's there.*  I walk away and into my room where I close the door and shake my head in disbelief.

About an hour passes and by this time, it's 9pm and he's wasted the whole day.  He comes in to tell me that the pH tablets really DO act like Alka-Seltzers and fizz.  I told him, *That's why they are named Fizz tablets!*  Duh!  Sheesh.  I find out he's put the female betta into the tank with our male betta and she's hiding in the coral.  He hasn't attacked it/her so she might just be very cautious. 

What cracks me up is the Beast is acting all exhausted now, like he worked a hard day's work.    Let him have his pretension of hard work.  He forgets I was here watching how much he slaved over the fish and fish bowls.

It's cooled down from our high of 58.  Weatherbug keeps putting out updates because it can't make up it's mind what is going on from damn near hour-to-hour.  If it stays this bad, I may just get rid of it.  It's starting to bug the hell out of me and I haven't even quit smoking!  Anyway, they are saying it's only supposed to go down to about mid-40's tonight which isn't TOO bad.  I've kept my bedroom nice and comfortably warmed (I like to feel I can breathe but not have frosty breath).  With my light quilt on, I should be okay.  If it gets colder than that, there's my comforter folded at my feet.

I hope you all manage to stay warm and comfortable.  Love you all and have a great Sunday. 

PS:  Chewlee's fish and the new one are laying on the bottom of the tank, side-by-side.  A romance brewing?