TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Well, Chewlee got a smiley face yesterday but really blew it big time today.  The teacher had to include a note to tell the Princess just how badly disruptive Chewlee was.  Part of it I actually understood.  She obviously finally learned how to do a cartwheel and that was part of what she was doing…cartwheeling all over the place.  **Sigh**  I told her how disappointed I was in her and how much she must have hurt her teacher’s feelings when she wouldn’t listen.  She couldn’t believe it would hurt her feelings and she felt bad about that part.

Unfortunately, Chewlee is actually an exceptional child and she should be in a school that caters to the brighter students so that they are always busy with stuff to do and things that challenge them.  I’ll give you an example of what I mean. 

Tonight she is going to bible study with the Beast.  She was putting on her shoes and socks to go with him and she asked me this question:  Grandma, how did you find out that there was a god?  The Beast jumped in (he’d overheard the question) and said that God had made men write the Bible so everyone could know.  Chewlee watched him walk away and said to me, *Grandma, I want to know how YOU knew so we will talk about this again.* 

She doesn’t talk like a regular 5-1/2 yr old either.  She asked the Beast if she could sit by Birdie at the bible study and he said if he let her it was gonna cost her.  She looked at him and said, *That’s not fair!  You know I don’t have any money.*  I looked at her and said he was teasing her.  He told her she didn’t have a sense of humor.  I told him that a sense of humor comes with a few more years of learning than she has.  He just makes a face like *I* am an idiot but I ignore that.

Now, I don’t know about you but, as well as I know her, it still floored me that she asked the question and wasn’t satisfied with the Beast’s answer.  It’s kind of scary to know that you could either help or hinder her with your answer.  She wants to know the answer from ME because she knows I’ve never lied to her or teased her the way the Beast does.  He does it in a way that confuses her.  Like the paying him so she could sit by Birdie.

Chewlee will not forget to ask me the question.  That’s the scary part.  I just hope she does it when we have the time for me to do it right.  It’s not something you can explain to a child quickly.  Not a child with Chewlee capacity to think about it and come up with more questions.  She’s very bright and I think that’s half her problem at school.  School is where you sit and wait for the teacher to give you something to do.  Chewlee wants to be doing something all the time.  If she’s not challenged mentally, she starts needing to be physical because she gets frustrated.

I don’t think they have a school here locally that is for students like Chewlee.  I wish there were because I am afraid she will become bored with school in the very near future and will just stop feeling like school is something she needs or wants.  I’ve seen it happen but, other than putting her in a private school (and I don’t think we have any of those either), what the hell can you do?

Oh well.  It’s down in the low 40′s and will go down into the 30′s later.  Tomorrows high is supposed to be around 45 degrees.  Brrr.  More weather like today’s was.  **Sigh**  Love you all and I hope you are having good weather wherever you are. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Today was a truly nasty weather day.  I woke up to temperatures in the 70′s.    I know!  That was at 6am.  I actually stood outside in my pj’s, waiting for Chewlee’s bus.  Chewlee was inside, dressed and ready, watching cartoons.  Then she turned off the TV and came outside with me.  We sat on the stairs and waited.  The temperature was nice but it was very windy.  It had rained earlier and Chewlee noticed a little puddle near my feet.  She pulled my knees a little closer to her so I *wouldn’t step in the puddle*.  She looked around and said, *I don’t think this is going to be a nice day*.  Quite an understatement. 

She gave me the fastest hug you’ve ever seen when the bus pulled up.  I sat on the steps and waved at her as the bus left.  I saw her wave at me, too.  When I went into the house, I flipped off the porch light and headed back to bed.  I was exhausted because I really hadn’t slept much at all.  In fact, Chewlee woke me up and crawled into bed with me when my alarm went off.  We watched the orangutans and fell back to sleep for about a half hour.  I woke up with a start and jumped up.  I had to rush Chewlee into her school clothes.  I told her if she didn’t hurry, she couldn’t watch cartoons at all before the bus came.  I tried to get her to eat some cereal but she told me she got breakfast at school and waved me off on that one with a *No, but thank you, Grandma*. 

I had opened my window a bit so that I could hear the tornado sirens if they went off.  This house is damn near soundproof with all the doors andd windows closed.  I had been watching the clouds and they were circling.  That made me nervous since the storm chasers look for that rotation when they are following a big storm.  I didn’t get the feeling we would be hit…at least not this part of the storm.  I’ve been through a lot of storms where tornadoes hit.  However, depending on how soundly I slept, I might not see if the storm got more intense.  BUT….if the sirens went off, I knew that would jolt me awake.

The Beast woke me up around noon with some of his tuna casserole.  It was delish and I was starving.  He was washing the linens since we had missed doing it on Sunday.  We did the making of the beds with clean linens together and folded up the heavy comforters for the foot of both beds since the nights won’t be too cold for the next couple of days.  If that changes, as we know it can, they can easily be put over us even when we are half asleep.

I spent a couple hours gathering up dirty clothes, rags, towel and getting those washed so I could fold them and get them put away.  Then my lack of sleep hit me again and I laid down, thinking it would be a quick nap but…..oh no….I woke up about six hours later!  I guess I was more tired than I thought.  Now I am in trouble because I will be up for hours.  Oh well!  At least we didn’t get any tornadoes close to us.  I woke up too late to get our local news (out of Huntsville) which would have covered our area, too.

I know everyone wants to know if Chewlee got another smiley face today or not but I woke up too late to call the Princess to find out.  I’ll call her in the morning and put up a short little note to let you know what happened and if she got a smiley face or not.  I like having her get off the bus and can usually tell if it’s been a good day or not by the way she is either happy to hand me her backpack or not.  But today is one of the days I don’t get her.  Her mother picks her up after gymnastics and she and Chewlee get to do things together.  I apologize for being a sloth and missing out on finding out about the smiley face.  We’re all hoping she gets a full week of them so she can take her fish home. 

It’s raining a gentle rain right now and it’s down to 40 degrees.  That’s supposed to be our low for the night so I am leaving my window open.  I like the fresh air, don’t you?  Love you all and thanks for dropping by.    Be careful and have a laugh or two today.

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

DAY TWO:  Chewlee gets a second smiley face.  She really was cute this morning.  She was bright-eyed and bushy tailed and full of fun after I woke her and got her dressed for school.  She was so happy that I had picked out *soft* pants for her.  She told me she really didn’t like blue jeans because they were too stiff.  She ate and then we moved into the living room where I had the porch light on to let the bus driver know we were up.  She watched TV for a while and then she shut off the TV to come stand at the door with me.  She shushed me and put her ear to the window on the outside door.  When I asked her what she was doing, she said she was listening for the bus.  She did that in a very quiet whisper.  I laughed and told her that we could just step outside and take a look to see if it was ready to turn down our street.  So she pushed the door open and said, *Let’s wait outside* and she started to put on her back pack.  Just then, guess what stopped at the end of our driveway?  You got it!  The bus.  Chewlee gave my leg a quick hug and then ran down the stairs and over to the bus.  I waved as the driver closed the door and turned off the porch light.  Somehow, I knew she would have a good day.

When she got home after school, she had her usual after school snack and then came over to my computer to play her games on the NickJr site.  She stopped long enough to eat then back to her games until bath time.  When that was over and she had her jammies on, we played one game of Clue (hidden objects game) on Pogo and then it was bedtime.

Chewlee always has to have a story read to her but tonight we did something different.  We shared reading.  I only read the words she didn’t know.  Know what?  She knew a hell of a lot more words than I think anyone knows about.  I was amazed and tickled pink.  I gave her a big hug and we did a high 5 over that when we finished the story.  When I tucked her in, she told me she wanted to get up to watch the Orangutan Island program.  BUT….she snuck out of bed and into the living room with her blankey and the stuffed robin that was given to her a few days ago.  I had to paddle her little bottom because she went and hid in the bathroom when the Beast realized she was there and came to tell me.  I told her that if she didn’t go to sleep, I would close the door to that bedroom and there would be NO Orangutan Island in the morning.  She said to me, *But I was lonely…*  Yeah, like her mother would put up with that at home.  I told her that she knew I would be coming in to sleep with her later on and, with the door opened, she knew we were here so lonely didn’t cut it.

She cried, of course, but it was because she didn’t have her blankey and robin.  When she went to hide, she forgot to grab them off the love seat.  The incredible part is that she fell fast asleep in less than 10 minutes after being put back to bed and retucked in for the night.

We heard from Sheepie today.  She wants the Beast (actually Teach’s mom does) to take some pictures of the grandbaby for Teach’s mother.  The problem was his mind is in a totally different area right now and he’s worried about having a good background.  Since it’s winter here, the outdoors is OUT.  But he told her to give him a day or two to think about it (he has to psych himself up for working with his camera again).  I know he misses it because I saw him working on some pictures last week with his Photo Shop just to keep his hand in. 

It was nice hearing her voice.  I heard she’s not working right now.  I just wish she could drive and we might get to see her sometime.  But I think they are sharing one vehicle at Teach’s so that has to be tough.

Our weather is supposed to be deteriorating over the next couple of days and there’s the possibility of tornadoes, too.  Sucks.  I sure hope you all have better weather than ours is going to be.  Whatever Mother Nature throws at you, be safe.  Stay warm. Drive carefully.  The life you save may be your own! 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Chewlee’s teacher was so happy about the way things went with her today that she texted the Princess to tell her.  She said it was the absolute best day she had ever had with Chewlee.  Chewlee, although happy she got a smiley face, was really kind of blase’ about her day.  She smiled and we did a ^5 about her day but then she was just apologizing to me about her pink nail polish being dried up and she was sorry because she knew I liked pink.  I told her it was okay, I liked purple, too.

Later, when she was chattering away, she told me she had helped someone (she told me the name but I forget…she talks about so many of her classmates in a rush) with their work and someone else that was being bullied.  She wanted to know why some kids are bullies and I asked her why SHE thought they might be.  She sure came up with some interesting (and possibly correct) ideas.  Like they are just looking for attention, they are just mean, they might be bullied by someone else and getting even ’cause they are mad….there were others.  Made my jaw drop with how her mind was working. 

She came home with this little book that they had put together.  It has five pages with just a couple short sentences, one on each page.  She read them to me without the aid of anything visual (you had to turn the page over to get that).  She raced through it but got every word right.  It reminded me a bit of what she’s going to be reading when they hit the *Dick and Jane* books or whatever they are using now as primers.

She then asked if it was okay for her to use my Nook and she went to *her* library section and picked out a book to be read to her.  First, I had to explain to her what the different tabs were (Read and Record, Read to Me, Read by Myself).  They are each a different color so she knows which one is which now.  I told her that when she can read ALL the words to any of the stories, we will use the Read and Record one so that then the book can read in HER voice.  She thought I was kidding her but I told her it could do that and I meant it.  I figured it was just another little bit of motivation for her to read.

Today begins her two nights staying with us.  I don’t sleep much when she’s here mainly because I am afraid of oversleeping the time I need to get her up and ready for the bus.  It’s been many years since I had to worry about that kind of thing.  Worse for me tomorrow is the fact that I have to go to Huntsville for my appointment with my retinal doctor.  I know I am going to have to have more surgery on the left eye but I would like to wait on that for a while if I can.  I am lucky my bladder wakes me up every few hours and I check the time to find out if I need to stay up or not.  My bladder is like my own personal alarm clock. 

But tomorrow morning, after the bus picks up Chewlee, I will wake up the Beast if he wants to come with me.  Otherwise, I’ll just get dressed and leave out of here by 8am to make my appointment.  On the way home, I’ll stop at Publix up there to pick up some good lunch meats and great bread.  I think I’ll pick up a couple kaiser rolls for sandwiches and a box of my artificial sweetener, too.  Their generic is as good as what I normally buy and about half the price.  The Beast never thinks about that for me.  To him, it’s not a big deal.  But look at all the sweets he makes.  I just never eat them but he doesn’t  pay attention to that either.  He eats almost all of it and then complains because he’s outgrowing the new pants he bought a couple months ago. 

Chewlee spent the evening playing NickJr games on the Beast’s computer.  She keeps doing dumb things because she doesn’t stop to think before she clicks on different things.  I told her if she keeps doing the same thing over and over, I am going to bar her from playing on NickJr for a full week.  That way, maybe she will do better about remembering.

Bath time for Chewlee so I am going to get this posted.  Strange weather around the country tomorrow.  Our area is going to have temps in the 70′s.    I know!  But then very cold weather after that weather passes.  I just hope we don’t get any tornadoes since there IS a chance.  Worse, it would be during the evening to late night hours that they might hit us.  Guess I will have to get out the weather radio and turn it on in case.  I hate the warning sound but it’s there to wake you up if you are sleeping.

Love you all.  Be cautious if you are in the snow areas.  Stay warm and drive carefully if you must drive in it.  If you are in an area threatened by the possibility of a tornado, please, please stay alert and careful.  Be safe everyone. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Chewlee loves to help me fold clothes.  Especially the rags we use for general wipe ups and cleaning.  We use a lot of them because I hate to use them for more than a day because of germs.  Even though we use a disinfectant spray for wiping the counters and sinks out, I’ve seen the Beast drop down on the floor and wipe up an area and then just put it back in the sink.  That’s just gross to my way of thinking but what can you expect from a man who ruined many a good dish towel with grease and oil?  Worse, he never understood why I couldn’t just wash it and use it for my dishes after that. 

Anyway, as I was folding other stuff, Chewlee was folding the rags for me.  She did her usual nice job and had them piled up to the point I thought they would fall over but they didn’t.  Then she helped me put them in the drawer in the kitchen and was just so proud and happy she had helped me.  I really get a kick out of that.  She was disappointed that there weren’t any more things to be folded but I told her I would have more for her on Tuesday, maybe even tomorrow.  She liked that and encouraged me to make it tomorrow.

She sat with my Nook today for about an hour and *read* a couple books I’ve got downloaded for her.  The Nook reads her the story she picks out and she has a couple she enjoys to hear over and over.  Today she discovered I had a couple new ones I had downloaded for her so it was a real treat.  I end up turning off the TV and the sound on my computer when she does that because I want to hear what she is listening to.  I found out that she is sounding out the words and is actually following the reading with her finger.  I really DO have to go and get her the Learn to Read books by Leap Frog.  They should be restocked by now after the Christmas rush.

I was talking earlier today with an old friend that I haven’t spoken to for a while.  Turns out we both have been recuperating from some major surgeries.  She had an emergency appendectomy and they also took out her gall bladder since that was on the schedule in just a few more days.  She talked about joking with the doctors and the anesthesiologist and we laughed because that is something we have in common.  I joke with my doctors, too.  She told me she loved to talk to me because I always made her laugh.  I thought that funny because that’s how I feel about HER.  That’s when we really laughed.  But laughter is healing.  No, really.  It is.  Ask nurses.  They find that patients that have families that laugh with them and make jokes recuperate much better than families that are always serious. 

Me?  I think laughter IS healing.  I know it makes a difference to me, which is why I joke with my doctors.  I was undergoing surgery (while I was awake but shielded from watching).  Stents were being put into place across my lower abdominal area and at the bypass area that I had done earlier in the year and my doctor told me more than once to stop making him laugh.  The nurses kept giggling.  For the life of me, I can’t tell you exactly what I was saying.  Maybe it was because I was VERY relaxed with whatever they had in that IV but we were all laughing and a few times we laughed hard enough the doctor had to stop what he was doing.  He told me I was playing hell with his statistics (time for surgery to be performed) but the nurses all told me that I was up and about much quicker than the doctor even expected.  He told me he had just learned from the earlier surgeries that I was a great patient and he suspected it had a lot to do with laughter in my life.  ((HA!  He should know the Beast.))

My friend and I agree that it is probably the laughter that we’ve shared, more than the heartbreak, that has kept our friendship alive for over 50 years now.  We know how to make each other laugh and that is such a wonderful thing.  Why?  Because we all need to have a laugh that comes from deep in our bellies every once in a while.  Chewlee gets hiccups when she has that kind of laugh but I just love to hear it from her.  What a joyous thing to hear from a child, let alone an adult.  You recognize it when you hear it or experience it.  I’ve had it happen to me in movie theaters (coming from ME…LOL) or someone in the crowd.  If it’s someone else, it always makes me smile.  Some people get annoyed but not me.  I love the sound of laughter….real laughter.  Try it sometime.  Let yourself go and let it out!  Don’t be embarrassed.  It’s GOOD for you….truly.

Love you all.  Have a fantastic week…or at least try to. 
 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Buttmunch’s hubby got news tonight that either his mother or grandmother died today.  Mustachio wasn’t really sure which one because he hadn’t been listening closely.  So Buttmunch and hubby are now on a bus on their way back to Indiana.  Poor Mustachio now has, besides all of her crap that is packed up in boxes, two bikes and their traveling gear cluttering up what WAS a nice apartment for one.  He’s going to hire a couple guys to help him pack up a rented van and move it all back into storage so he can reclaim his space.  He just feels bad that they are going back to Indiana for a funeral.  Not really part of a great honeymoon, is it?  Say a little prayer for them, won’t you?

I really wanted to clean up this room and get some washing done but I woke up feeling really nasty.  I think it’s this cold breaking up, finally.  I’m feeling better right now, thankfully.  I threw in a load of wash now and I’ll dry it in the morning.  I also have to wash some blankets that I found in my closet that need it.  They’ve been in there for probably two years and nothing smells good after that long.

Baron got a bath today in our bathtub and I was stunned at the amount of hair that went down the drain.  For a short-hair dog, it’s amazing how much he sheds.  He’s definitely not meant to be an outside dog.  He’d die in this kind of weird weather.  I know he suffers with the cold and it’s one thing the vet tells you.  He needs both his body and his feet protected if he’s outside in the cold and snow for any length of time.  I really should try to find him something for keeping his body warm.  Boots I can buy him.  I should have bought them a couple years ago when I first found them online.  Or Bratfink found them, I forget who did.  If it was you, Bratfink, forgive me for forgetting.  It’s Oldtimers. 

Our weather was damn near balmy today.  Lots of sun and temperatures that hit the lower 60′s.    I know!  And here we are, on the way down in temperature to around 30 degrees.  I swear, everyone’s weather is getting really strange.

Be careful if you are dealing with a snowstorm area.  Stay warm and off the roads if you can.  Love you all. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

We didn’t get Chewlee this morning like I thought we were supposed to but I have a feeling that Johnnycakes must have been up and kept her at home to meet up with the bus.  I didn’t get a chance to ask the Princess because she was in a rush when she got here.  She’s become very conscientious about going to the gym for her workouts and she didn’t want to be late.

Chewlee wasn’t really happy that her mother came so early for her even though I told her she was.  But, when she heard her mother’s plans, she hurried up and got her shoes and socks on and was out the door with barely a hug for me.  Stinker.  She DID get a smiley face today so she was happy and so was I.

Today was nasty outside.  Drab, gray skies.  Temps up to 52 but going down again to around 30 degrees.  But it was nice and warm inside and no problems.  I read my email, watched TV, did a few household chores at a relaxed pace and then had Chewlee here all of 30 minutes.  She DID manage to paint my nails before she left and was really upset at her mother only because she didn’t get a chance to finish HERS.   

Baron was good and didn’t seem to have any intestinal problems like he did last night.  The Beast was very calm and didn’t have any big projects going for a change.  It was beyond peaceful here. 

I happened to have caught an episode of the program *Doomsday Preppers* and all I could think of was that anyone that took a GOOD look around our garage would assume we were on of those people.  We have several large containers with a month’s worth of dried food and MRE’s in them.  We also have shelves of canned food and other items that make it look like we are afraid of starvation at some point in the future.  Then, they would also notice the boxes and boxes of different caliber bullets stored on our shelves.  With the rifles we have, they meet the caliber required for each.  We have more in the gun safe along with black powder and bullets for the black powder guns and rifles.

There was a time, not so long ago, when the Beast was totally convinced our society was going to break down into chaos.  That is when he started stockpiling everything.  It was a real nightmare for me as he drained our savings.  Not totally but enough to make a sane person go into semi-shock.    <–me (sane person)

Come to think of it, that was shortly before he got religion.  Maybe his reasoning wasn’t just fear of death but, hopefully, help man the rifles when it does come down to that.  Hmm. 

Anyway, some of these doomsday preppers have really gone above and beyond on what they have done.  It’s incredible.  If you think I’m kidding, try catching the show a time or two.  It’s amazing.  I hate to think of being lumped in with them but we sure come close, except he hasn’t stockpiled toilet paper yet.  I assure you, that MUST be done. 

Love you all.  Gonna grab a nap and then see what I want to do after that.  Another drab day ahead of us but at least Chewlee will be home with her mother and her toys.  The weather won’t matter to her.  Me?  I have to vacuum in here and take down my curtains to be washed.  They don’t look lilac any more.    Be good.  Stay warm. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Tonight the Beast went to church and, as usual, Chewlee decided she wanted to go with him.  We had to go through a whole routine about what clothes she was going to wear.  She finally picked a cute little pink dress and some blue legging pants.  She even let me fix her hair since it was a real mess…..all over her face even though her mother had put part of it like a loose pony tail behind her head.  I brushed and refixed it.  I’m not as clever as the Princess in securing her hair but I can do a regular pony tail with the best of them.  She had hair UP and hair DOWN so she was happy.

I wanted to give her some soup before they left but Chewlee acted like Baron.  No, no…she wasn’t hungry and she didn’t want the Beast to go without her  if she was eating.  We both told her there was plenty of time but she wouldn’t listen and hung around the Beast to make sure he didn’t leave without her.  When the Princess came to pick her up later, I told her about it and said she might be hungry and the Princess said she would give Chewlee something to eat before she went to bed.  **Insert sigh of relief here*  I hate the thought of any child going to bed hungry. 

The Beast shared something with me that had to do with our friends that have a custom RV and have been traveling all over the U.S. and Canada for the past three years.  It seems that Dennis wants to build one of those *green* houses that use styrofoam for insulation.  He sent the Beast the floor plans he’s designed and asked him questions about heat loads and a few other things.  Well, the Beast knows a man from his church that does up floor plans and such for architectural firms and is very knowledgeable about *green* homes.  The Beast gave Dennis the mans phone number and told him to give him a call and he could probably help out in some of the problem areas.

Dennis finally called the guy and sent him his plans and asked his questions.  He called the Beast this morning and was really happy that the Beast had referred him.  The guy helped Dennis solve a serious problem he’d come up against.  But….he asked the guy how he knew the Beast and was totally shocked when he said that they went to the same church.  Dennis about fell off his chair and he told the Beast he was still having a hard time wrapping his head around the idea that the Beast was going to any church!  I thought it funny because I know just WHY Dennis can’t believe it of the Beast.  He’ll figure it out sooner or later. 

They have already delayed the opening of school tomorrow for three hours so I will have Chewlee dropped off early here tomorrow to await the bus’s arrival.  It seems we are going to have a drastic drop in temperature and rain.  That will make our streets treacherous until the day warms up.  Chewlee and I will have to start hanging out on the porch from about 9am until the bus shows up.  Sheesh.  I need more mudslide. 

Love you all.  I wish you good weather.  Stay warm and please be careful if you are living in one of the areas hit by heavy snows. 
 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

…but that is exactly what Chewlee did.  She came with her soft blanket tucked under her arm and told me she was lonely.  I scooted over to make room for her and she crawled under the covers with me.  About a half hour later, my TV came on and woke me up again but it was because Chewlee had told me she wanted to watch this one particular program.  I figured it was just a half hour or so before I would usually wake her to feed her and dress her for school, so I put the timer on.  I figured if she was too tired, she could just continue to sleep until I got her up later.  BUT…when she heard it was on, she got up immediately.  I was glad I often watch the program because she had a ton of questions about the various orangutans and I was able to give her answers.  I have no idea why the sudden interest except she is now telling me that she needs to watch more programs like that so she can get to know all the information about animals.  She says when she gets older, she is going to travel and see all these different animals where they really live.  Don’t I think that’s a cool idea?    I told her that I hope she DOES get to see all those animals in the wild.  I told her the program we were watching was about a woman who had saved over 200 baby orangutans because the places they lived were being stripped of all the trees where they normally lived.  She was teaching them many of the things they would need to know in order to be released into a protected wild area when they had finally learned enough.

I was shocked to find out that most babies stayed with their mothers for 8 years before they left their mothers and went off on their own.  No wonder the population doesn’t replace itself fast enough regardless of the destruction of their habitat.  The mothers don’t mate until shortly before their child leaves the nest, so-to-speak.  However, THESE orangutans were learning how to live in a different type of society.  They were learning to live together, not as nomads.  She’s succeeded beyond her own expectations.  It’s also been interesting to see how the alpha male comes to rule the new society.  Not by brute strength but by how he protects them from bullying by others in the community.   I’ve found the program very interesting but, hey, that’s me. 

Today the Beast got disgusted by how fast the algae has grown in his tanks even with good filters in them.  Of course, I’ve been telling him for weeks that he needs cleaner fish and he only just got two that he put in the round tank I talked about a couple days ago.  Today, he had to empty the big tank again BUT…he bought a new 10 gallon tank for just $12.00.  This one won’t look so empty now.    We had to empty the old tank … well, ALMOST empty it…so that we could take it down from on top of the bookcase.  We kept some of the water to refill it for the poor fish until the new tank was ready.  We used the water the Beast bought the other day since it was already the same temperature that the fish were in.  The Beast put the bag of cleaner fish he’d bought into a bucket of water to help get the fish used to the temperature slowly.  It really only takes an hour or so….he’d bought two for the big tank and one for the little fish bowl.

After he got the tank up on the bookcase and filled with the artificial fauna and flora he’d bought, we got the cleaner fish ready to put into it.  The bag was really full of water and the Beast scooped out two of the fish with the net and got them into the big tank.  He came up with the big idea of emptying some of the water out in the sink but started emptying it without doing it through the net.  Result?  The last cleaner fish is now enjoying life in our septic tank.  Yeah, he dumped the poor thing down the drain with his first pour.  Guess it came up top to see what was going on and oops!  Fell into this deep, dark tunnel.  I ran water down after we found out that was what happened to make sure the fish got washed out of the pipes.  Adios, amigo!  Now the Beast has to go buy another one for Chewlee’s fish bowl.

Somehow, I think the fish like this new setup.  I know Goldie sure does.  S/he loves to follow us around the tank.  If you stop in front of it, Goldie just stares at you.  Funny.

When the Princess stopped by the house to pick up Chewlee’s stuff, she had picked Chewlee up from gymnastics after school.  When they pulled in the driveway, Chewlee said to her, *Mommy, can you go get my stuff by yourself?  I’m just gonna take a little nap.*  I guess her getting up just that little bit earlier had caught up with her.  The Princess told me I won’t have Chewlee as late as normal on Friday because she doesn’t work due to a seminar she has to attend for school.  She didn’t want me to let Chewlee think she would be staying late because it always makes Chewlee mad at her mother for some reason.  I told her I would be sure to tell Chewlee she was going home early. 

Buttmunch and her new hubby didn’t start off on their journey today.  It was waaaaay too cold.  KY was hit with a cold snap (part of that Arctic air) and it was only 20 degrees out with a wind chill factor below zero.  They will stay until Friday and start off early Saturday when the weather is expected to warm up.  Guess my wish for warmer weather for them has been delayed.  Oh well!

Love you all.  Be good.  Be careful and stay warm. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

The Princess came by after class last night.  The campus she attends for two evenings a week is quite a drive.  It takes her an hour and a half to two hours each way, depending on traffic.  She kind of ran in and ran out so she could get some sleep.  Chewlee had been asleep for a couple hours by then (which is why we keep her overnight on Mondays and Tuesdays).  Anyway, what she was dropping off was a spiral notebook that Chewlee has to give her teacher along with the apology note.  Nice touch because Chewlee will just hate giving up that notebook.  I’ll get her to talk about it when she gets back here tomorrow…..and, of course, I’ll let you know what she had to say.    Love you all.