TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Tonight is/was the first *sleepover* for Chewlee for the week.  That's what Chewlee calls them at least.  She still gets excited about sleeping over at Grandma's.  I hope that never ends.  I found out something else that makes her happy.  It's when I tell her that I am going to go lay down with her WHEN SHE GOES TO BED!!!!  She had to run and relay that to the Beast who told her she had to be wrong because he thinks *I* never go to bed.    The thing was that I was tired and looked forward to laying down with her and even grabbing a couple hours of sleep, too.

Chewlee and I both were asleep when the Princess got here to drop off the green top that Chewlee had to wear to school tomorrow.  It's a field trip day and her class has to wear green.  Chewlee told me what colors each class that was going had to wear.  When I asked her what they were going to do on her field trip (I already knew), she wrinkled up her face and said, *We're going to hear music!*.  I told her that she just might be surprised at how much she liked the music.  But the whole idea of a field trip with her teacher and her friends was still exciting.

When we went to bed, Chewlee couldn't decide on how she wanted to sleep next to me.  She turned this way and that.  Had her arm over my neck, then my shoulder and then my waist.  She turned over and slid her butt back so we were butt-to-butt.  She *spooned* (sort-of) with me.  Then she turned on her side (I was laying on my back), snuggled up to my shoulder and put her arm across my chest.  That was the way we went to sleep.  Oh, we could have turned in our sleep but it was just so sweet and that's what I want to remember.

I slept for four hours then woke up when I had to use the bathroom.  I decided to do my blog then head back to sleep with my sweet little one.  We have to get up around 5 or 5:30am at the latest since the bus will probably be here early.

Love you all.  I wish everyone to have someone special in their heart to cuddle up with from time-to-time.  Even if it's just an irresistible little pup or kitten.  Be good ya'll. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Today, after church, Chewlee came home with the Beast instead of going to Birdie's house to play with her kids.  Birdie and her husband had a special event to attend and kids weren't allowed.  So Birdie's dad watched her kids and Birdie said she would come by when they were done to pick up Chewlee.  They only expected to be there for about two hours so that gave Chewlee time to change her clothes and have some lunch.

When she walked into my room, the first thing she said to me wasn't *Hi, Grandma!*.  It was *Tomorrow is my sleepover, Grandma.  Don't forget!*    She is now calling the guest room *her* bedroom without hesitation.  She knows which drawer I keep her clothes in and expects to be part of the selection process.  Most days when she has to change, she says *No jeans, Grandma.*  For some reason, she doesn't like most of her jeans.  She does have two pair that she likes and I think one of them is because I told her the jeans really looked good on her.  She turned to me and said, *I know* with a smug little smile on her face.  But the end result is she asked to wear them again because *she didn't get them dirty*.  ROFLMAO!

It rained here all damn day.  Very depressing.  The poor dog was standing at the door, looking out at the rain with his back legs crossed.  He really had to pee (don't we all first thing in the morning?).  He held it as long as he could then finally went out back, hugging the house so the eaves partially protected him and peed on the rain barrel.  (No, he didn't contaminate anything but the grass).  He then ran back up the stairs to the deck.  I had stood there with the back door open slightly so he could run right into the house.  He stood there while I dried him off.  He really didn't get all that wet since the rain was more a mist when he went out.  That changed about 10 minutes later when the sky opened up and it POURED!

Chewlee is afraid of boomers (thunder).  I think that's because of the tornado that she and her mom experienced at her friend's apartment three years back.  All the windows blew in (they were all behind the couch and the chairs) and there was lots of wind and glass flying around.  I think all Chewlee remembers is the thunder (which was awful).  But I asked her what she was afraid of and she told me she was worried about the lights going off.  So I gave her one of my flashlights I keep in my bookcase here.  I told her to keep it close so she could turn it on if the lights went out.  That made her totally happy and she stopped cringing every time it thundered.

When Birdie got here, Chewlee was totally ready to go with her and her play date with her kids.  She also spends some time with the kids going over Bible stories with the three kids.  Chewlee enjoys that and I can almost imagine all her questions.  She comes home and asks me questions, too, and I really believe she is doing it to compare our answers and make sure they match.  Really!  That's how her mind works.  She takes nothing on surface value, which is a good thing.

She took her bath as usual and even let me put a small braid (mostly to keep her bangs out of her eyes) in her hair.  I had let her play on her NickJr. games for two hours before her bath and then let her play for another half hour once she was dry and redressed.  It was getting close to the time her mother would be picking her up so I had her put her socks and boots on and she grabbed my Nook as soon as I told her it was okay to read her books on it.  She knows how to turn it on and get to her own little library.  When the Princess got here, Chewlee jumped up and hugged her mom around the waist and said, *Mommy, I am SO tired.  And I want a glass of warm milk to help me sleep.*  The Princess, who is always worried about Chewlee wetting the bed if she's overtired, just said, *We'll see.*  I made sure to give the Princess the dress Chewlee had on for church (it's her favorite she said....she has two or three of those...LOL).

Me?  I clicked out of NickJr and went to MY games and played for a bit before I did the previous blog about weather in general.  I had been talking with my son, Mustachio.  He went to Target to buy Buttmunch a new bike.  It ended up costing about as much as the repair of the old bike would have been.  Arc welding is NOT cheap and why do it to an old bike?  Plus a new rim...well, if you've priced them, you know how expensive THEY are.  It was a 26 inch wide tire rim like the old bikes were.  The new bike is a ladies mountain bike in light blue that blends into a green.  Really cool looking.  Buttmunch couldn't believe it when he came in with it.  But now they can be on their way (again) to Amish country in South Kentucky.  The weather for the next few days is supposed to be fairly mild and borderline warm.  I wish them lots of luck on their way.  They've had a miserable honeymoon, that's for sure.

Tara dropped off a chicken and noodle casserole that was a bit different.  I had some and it was delicious.  She is a lot like me in that she seems to always be cooking for a crowd so we get leftovers that she and Kevin just can't manage to eat.  The Beast and I have been eating salads a lot and some of those freezer meals for two or three (mostly Chinese and Italian).  That's kind of why we included salads because you never know how really nutritious some of those meals are.  The Beast bought some Bleu cheese dressing that really sucks.  No nice chunks of bleu cheese.  I told him either throw the damn stuff away OR buy a chunk of bleu cheese and we can crumble it in the dressing in the hope of salvaging it.  It's still in the fridge so I guess he's thinking about buying some bleu cheese.  We shall see.

The Beast has his pre-op testing tomorrow in preparation for his surgery on Wednesday.  Then he has to look at the transmission in my Buick because it was slipping really bad last night and he couldn't get over 35mph on his way back to the house from just a few blocks away, thankfully.  Not a great week.  Replacing the transmission will possibly cost us as much as the car is worth.  It's a 2005 and I don't really think it was abused.  I'm kind of hoping it might be something simple.  It's been kicking into second gear occasionally and slipping a tiny bit once in a great while.  We're at a loss and I refuse to go without my own car any more.  I shall let you know what happens.

Love you all.  Please be careful in all this crazy weather.  Especially driving or shoveling snow. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Today, Mother Nature produced a winter storm for the SE part of the United States.  Not snow but rain and tornadoes.  We got the rain but Mississippi got the tornadoes and some were due to form in the SW part of Alabama.  I haven't had the weather channel on for almost two hours but I have seen pictures of the tornado that hit in MS.  My sister got some of them from people living there (on twitter) and the tornado looked MEAN and very big.  Having been through one very bad tornado that ripped the roof off over our heads and another that skirted around us in almost a circle, they make me shudder for anyone in the path of one.  They are incredible in their destructive powers.  They scare the hell out of me.  Yet the house we live in is fragile as a trailer because of the crawl space underneath us.  We could easily be lofted and that's scary as hell.

I've watched a tornado tear a house apart (on TV...I watch Storm Chasers) like it was a tinker toy.  I've seen one that lifted up a train engine...and those are very heavy being made of steel!    I've seen the aftermath of the tornado that hit here in Tuscaloosa and damn near destroyed the whole town.  I've also seen the death tolls from many tornadoes that have hit all over the country.  We don't really have a safe place to go if one is in our area.  All of the houses around us are as fragile as ours is.  The safest place we have is not our bathroom (the tub isn't heavy...it's fiberglas) but our master bedroom walk-in closet.  **Insert a squiggly face here**  Someone said to crawl under our house in the crawl space.  Oh sure!  They haven't been under there...it's always wet and icky.  No thanks!

I've decided that we need to find out if there's a designated shelter around here somewhere.  I know it's mainly meant for people living in mobile homes but I'm not proud.  But we have so damn many tornadoes that hit around us (our town has been hit badly twice since we lived here and you can still see the scars) I told the Beast that I feel like we live in tornado alley!

We lived in Florida for many years and experienced many hurricanes, some quite bad.  I've even had water lapping at my back doors because the lake behind our house was filled up with the rain from one (Hugo).  But I will take a hurricane any time.  You have lots of warning and can get the hell out of the area if you don't feel secure in your home.  Luckily, ours were cement blocks and I've seen how they are constructed.  All the destruction from Hurricane Andrew happened because they started building homes made of lathe and plaster.  Those are NOT meant to endure the winds alone from a hurricane.  I hate to say it but some hurricanes also had tornadoes in them.  When that happens, you can track the destruction from the air.  That's what happened down in Homestead.  I will STILL take a hurricane over a tornado any day of the week.

Sigh!  But that's not really the point of this blog.  It's the weird weather we've had all over the United States.  Some opinions from scientists are that this stuff is going to become normal for us.  That we will have to get used to it and live with it.  Global warming they say.  The idea of what it could cause is scary when you start to pay attention.  Have you seen the glaciers that are falling apart and into the Atlantic?  If the water temperature takes a dump of just a few degrees, it's going to affect the Gulf Stream and that could be really bad.  It's affecting the fish already....a major food source.  If we have too much or too little rain (like we did last year), it affects our crops that we grow here.  I know it affected the corn crop and the wheat crop.  And it's not just the United States.  It's the whole damn world that is seeing new weather patterns that are not good for us.  Too much snow and rain in the winter that lead to major flooding all over the country.  Again, not good.  There are homes that are lost, animals that drown, land that can't be used to grow food.  Tragic things that are happening.

It's a scary time we live in.  I am doing a lot of praying lately and hoping that someone up there hears me.  I would like people to pay more attention to the things they do that affect our ecology.  Don't think that YOU can't do anything.  Every little thing we do from recycling to our buying cars that use less gasoline and are producing less noxious fumes into the air is important.  We are EACH an important cog in the wheel of life.  Every person that pays attention and CARES can produce a domino effect.  Let's pay attention to what we are doing to Mother Nature and all the life on this earth.  It's the only one we have. 

PS:  Say a prayer for all the people under tornado warnings and those already affected by them.  They will need it.

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

First the good news....I want to thank everyone that said a prayer or two for her because this has to be a small miracle due to prayer.  The doctor was going to do the biopsy on her lung but they did a scan of it first to make sure of placement.  AND THE SPOT WAS GONE!  That was so unexpected that she almost jumped off the exam table.  Even the doctor was shocked.  Gone, gone, gone!  She deserves something good happening to her.  She's been so good to her hubby and our baby sister.  God blessed her, I'm sure thanks to you and your prayers.  Thank you all so much.

My brother, Dee, also got good news.  Even without the biopsy results, the doctor said he does NOT have his cancer back but he does want him to continue seeing them every three months to keep an eye on the area.  Like the Beast, it's kind of a normal followup time in order to catch any cancer that might start back for at least five years, I believe.  A small price to pay.  Again, thank you all for your prayers.

Tara stopped by for a while today.  Her tax customers from last year have all returned (good news) and the bad news is...so have all her relatives.    She doesn't have to do a tax return for us this year since all we have coming in now is our Social Security and we haven't earned more than $25. interest on any other money.  Sucks to be us right now.  We DO have some money out in limbo but won't see that for several months at best.  That will be coming from a house we sold on contract and that's all I'm going to say on the matter.  I already put the kabosh on the Beast's talking about buying a different car (a hybrid).  I told him ENOUGH!!!  We've owned more new cars in the last five years than many people own in a lifetime.  We will buy NO MORE NEW CARS.

Tara had met with the Princess and Chewlee at DQ for lunch and to let Chewlee and Chance play in their nice indoor playground for a while.  No, it's not the *ice cream* that Chewlee was promised (they didn't even have any).  That's was for later with another friend of the Princess's that Chewlee just loves.

We had Chewlee here for about an hour and a half or so while the Princess went to the gym.  Chewlee didn't want to go.  She can eat and watch cartoons here (and she did).  She was happy to be off with her mom when she came to pick Chewlee up.  This is a day they spend together usually.

The Beast picked us up a big thermos/dispenser that can hold a couple pots of coffee.  It's supposed to keep the coffee (or any hot liquid) hot for 24 hours.  We'll see.  I'm always tongue-in-cheek about those kind of claims.  But it's something more to take up counter space and I don't have a hell of a lot of it.  I need a kitchen expander so I can stretch my walls out and put more cabinets and counters in it.  Anyone got one, cheap?

It was shirt-sleeve weather here today.  We were kind of in-and-out and the Beast took Baron for a run on the scooter with just a short sleeve shirt on.  He's not a cold weather fan so you know it was fairly decent out.  It just made me sadder for those poor people up in the NE suffering under Nemo.  I don't get how it actually got the name but the storm is awful.  I hope no one suffers too much from it.

We hit the halfway mark of winter yesterday (thank you, David Letterman!).  Just in case you didn't know that.  It's been awful in so many areas of the country but we've been very fortunate that way so far.  **Waiting for the other shoe to drop**

Love you all.  Stay warm.  Drive carefully if you are affected by any of the bad weather going around.  Tell those you love them that you do....as often as you can.  I must tell that to Bratfink five or six times each day because we chat online every day.  It's very easy.  Just say....love you! 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

CHEWLEE GOT A SMILEY FACE FOR ONE WHOLE WEEK AT SCHOOL!!  Her teacher let her pick two items from the Treasure Chest (to encourage her, I'm sure).  But listen to what the little stinker did......

When she got off the bus, she started to run to the porch but saw me standing there so she slowed down.  She was dragging her back pack at her side and she did NOT have a happy face on her.  She came in, passed me right by as I asked her if she had a great day.  Her voice was kind of low and she said to me, *I didn't have a very good day.*  I had images of a squiggly face or even a sad face and asked her what happened as I was opening up her back pack and removing the folder.  She came over to me and said, *I don't know.  (Boys name here) beat me up!)  That stopped me cold and I said to her, *Why did he do that?*  Her reply was *Because he wanted to*.  I asked her to tell me what happened and opened the folder to find a happy face (HURRAH!) and an S+ for the week.  I looked at it, surprised and Chewlee started to laugh because she fooled me.  Stinker. 

So Chewlee will get her ice cream treat and her fish (although the Princess is reluctant on that, I know).  There was a note from the teacher about Chewlee and her behavior so far for the year.  I admit I read it.  There's a kind of survey the Princess has to fill out and so is the teacher.  What really pissed me off was a special advisor is going to review the two surveys and make observations and recommendations to the Princess INCLUDING A POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION FOR CHEWLEE'S DOCTOR!  Those god-damn psychologists always seem to think every kid has a problem that can be solved with a pill.  I'm sure they think Chewlee has that ADD (attention deficit disorder).  I'm pretty sure her problem is boredom.  She is NOT challenged in school.  I do more to challenge her here at home.  I'm beginning to understand why a lot of people home school their kids.  You can move your child's lessons along at a faster pace if that's what is needed and keep them challenged.  You are teaching them at whatever level they need instead of the level of the slowest learner in the class.

Chewlee was so excited about going to a big kids school on a bus (her words and perception).  But I watched her get blase' about it because she was doing *baby* things and not learning like she thought she would.  She knew so much more than other kids her age and she was motivated to learn to read.  It's taken the school half the year before they are finally working on sight recognition of words and two word sentences.  I've watched Chewlee read here (and encouraged her to sound out unknown words).  She read her own bedtime story to herself just a few days ago. 

I think I am going to start using the books I've got on Nook (Barnes & Noble special) that I've downloaded for her and start working with her on reading things more challenging than she's been working with at school.  I don't want her to get lazy minded and disinterested in school.  That would be tragic.

Just a couple more days here of bad weather while that awful storm is hitting the NE part of the States.  Say a little prayer for all those people, especially the ones without electricity.  I'm praying that there are no deaths related to it also.

Love you all.  Be good.  Stay warm. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

The good news is......tada!.....Chewlee has gotten four smiley faces so far this week.  If she makes five...and that's a big IF....she gets a special treat from the teacher (the wonderful Treasure Chest), a special ice cream treat with her mother and a friend that Chewlee loves, PLUS she gets to take her fish home!!  Chewlee said she would get a smiley face like it was not a problem.  I especially loved the pixie grin she got when she told me that. 

She's also done her special homework every day and gotten a signature on each days homework so she gets a special Dougie Dollar tomorrow, too.  It will be a great day for her...IF she makes it and I pray she does.

Tomorrow starts the epic journey of Buttmunch and her hubby to the Amish village where her hubby has been hired to assist with the animals.  Buttmunch will have to wait to find out where they will assign her to work until she gets there.  Hopefully, they will give her a few choices so she will feel like she has some kind of control over what she will be doing.  The only real information we have is that it's located near Boonesville, KY.  I'm going to be praying for them until they get where they are going since they are bicycling there and there are crazy drivers on the roads.  She's going to call her brother, Mustachio, when she gets there and he will let me know.

The Beast's surgery is scheduled for next week, Wednesday around 11am.  They are also going to remove his prostate since it's the source of all the blood he's had due to it's enlarging and causing surface veins to burst like varicose veins can.  In case I didn't mention it, his blood test for free cancer cells has dropped one point.  The cancer in his bladder is just two small spots so it's been caught early this time.  All-in-all, hopeful signs there.  He's taking some kind of medication to help shrink the prostate to make removal easier.  I imagine he will have to take some kind of testosterone medication afterward since the prostate is responsible for that.  I would hate to have him suddenly acquire a high voice at this stage of his life.  He will be 70 this July.    I know!!!  I can't believe I'm married to such an old man. 

The weather was nice today although the sun was short-lived.  The Beast's best friend (a darn near fully-tattooed former drug user turned minister) was having what he thought was heart pains.  Turns out that many years back, when he was a drug user, he was actually shot by another druggie who was out to steal his drugs.  The guy used a rifle with bad ammunition so it really spread out buckshot around and into his chest muscles.  A few of those pellets were not removable without causing serious injury to important nerves so the doctors left them in.  Turns out, they have been moving around and, when the doctors went in surgically to remove some of them, they found infection that needed to be treated before any more could be removed.  That sounded kind of weird to me but, hey!  Life is strange, don't you think?  So, the Beast's friend is on some strong antibiotics and they will finish removing the pellets after the infection is gone.  Turns out some of those pellets moved from the front chest around to the back. 

I didn't have any idea about the tattoos until he was showing them to the Beast and I walked into the kitchen and saw them.  I was surprised that black men get tattoos, too.  I thought they would be hard to see but they aren't.  It explained to me why he always wears long sleeved shirts, winter AND summer.  His arms are covered as well as his chest and back.  With his shirt collar open, you can see some of them on his neck, too.  He showed us his ear lobes.  They used to hold those big rings like some of those Africans you see on TV.  They've gotten smaller now but I'll bet they looked weird when he found God and removed those since HE wasn't an African.  He just didn't feel that it celebrated God in HIS ministry.  It surprised me because he is one of the nicest men I have ever met.  He has a lovely wife and several adorable kids that seem truly unspoiled and very sweet.  Not your typical druggie type (and I've known a few over the years).

Love you all.  Gotta get this posted.  I'm late.....AGAIN.  Sorry. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

It seems like it was just yesterday that I was talking about the Beast and his damn non-stop consumerism.  Oh wait!  I think it WAS just yesterday (or the day before).  That was the coffee grinder.  Today it's a new coffee maker just for the coffee that he grinds for a great, special pot of coffee.  I kid you not.

I have no idea what he paid for it.  He smuggled it into the house so it was a fait accompli by the time *I* saw it.  Believe it or not, he bought a very special Mr Coffee coffee maker.  It has the looks of being an effort by said company to delve into a more expensive line of coffee makers.  It's actually a very nice looking coffee maker.  It has a permanent coffee filter in it that allows the coffee to drain through the sides of it unlike our Bunn, which can only drain through a hole in the bottom of the filter holder.  Which is a good thing since the grind he makes seems to congregate up along the sides of the basket filter.  It also has a carafe that is a much better one than our Bunn coffee maker has.  It seals up tight after you pour your coffee and release the button that allows the coffee to pour out of it.  Unfortunately, it is smaller in the amount it holds.  It says it holds 10 cups (but I think it's only 8 cups) versus our Bunn which holds 12 cups.  I feel like banging my head on a wall but feel it should be HIS head that's banged.  So now we have two coffee makers taking up space on my limited counter tops.

He's bought a couple bags of the Dunkin Donuts coffee beans plus another brands Arabica (Columbian) coffee beans.  Oh, and lets not forget that I also have the electric coffee bean grinder taking up counter space, too.  <<bang, bang, bang>>  AND, to top it all, *I* am the one that loves my coffee.  He will have two or three cups over the course of the day while I go through several POTS of coffee myself.  I love the Walmart brand Columbian coffee and my Bunn works just fine with it.  I use an insulated cup that holds the equivalent of a large cup of coffee you can buy at any decent gas station or fast food place (I bought the cup two years ago and love it, especially when we travel).  It has a central hole in the top of it's carafe and I have learned to put a teaspoon over it along with one of our kitchen *rags* to help keep the coffee hotter for longer.  I wouldn't mind a carafe like the new coffee maker has that worked for my Bunn but you can't have everything.  Oh, now wait....that's MY feelings, not the Beast's.  It sure seems like that is what he's trying for.

The Beast went to his urologist's today for his appointment.  He has two small spots in his bladder because it's been caught early.  The reason it's been caught early is the bleeding is coming from his prostate.  It's enlarging and the veins supplying blood to it are like varicose veins that start leaking because the prostate is enlarging is how the doctor explained it.  His surgery will probably also include removing the prostate.  The Beast told the doctor, *Get rid of it.  It's not like I'm using it any more.*  He's not kidding on that part.  It's been a long time since it's function has been a part of OUR life.

We won't know when the Beast will have his surgery until the doctor is able to check his surgical schedule and call us back.  I imagine we will hear from him tomorrow some time since I believe he normally schedules his hospital procedures on Thursdays.  I'll let you know when I find out but I imagine it will be soon.  The doctor gave him a prescription to help start reducing the size of the prostate.  The good news is that the blood test for free cancer cells has gone down one full number.  I really have no idea if that's really good news or just hopeful because of catching the cancer in the bladder early.  I'll find out when I have a chance to talk to the doctor when the Beast has his surgery because we were told his TYPE of bladder cancer was aggressive and virulent.  He was also told there wasn't a cure for it other than removing his bladder entirely and the Beast will NEVER allow that.  He doesn't have the kind of personality that would allow him to have to drag around a pee bag and not be able to control when it's released.  I've seen young people that have those (bless their hearts!) and they can be held at many unobtrusive areas these days unlike when my great-grandfather had to carry around a glass jar that was very, very visible.  That was back in the 50's and much has changed nowadays.

We are having a spate of good, warmer weather here in the SE part of the US of A.  Even Mustachio says his area of KY is having the same.  He's hoping Buttmunch and her new hubby take advantage of the next few days and get on the road to the Amish village.  If they left tomorrow, they could get to it by some time on Saturday and before the rain and cold move back in.  But Buttmunch is talking about not leaving until Friday, which means they would have to suffer through rain and cold (in their tent somewhere) before they ever made it. But, that's their choice.  I'm just saying....which would be smarter?  Oh well.

Time to get this posted.  I fell asleep due to being afraid of OVERsleeping and up most of the night.  I DID wake Chewlee so she could watch the Orangutan program but I looked over at her and she was sound asleep in my recliner.  It made me laugh.  I let her sleep for that 45 minutes until she HAD to wake up.  I did it slowly and in a fun way.  She was laughing because I was doing slow and gentle tickles.  She woke up laughing.  She got dressed and watched a little bit of cartoons on Papa's TV then shut it off and joined me on the front porch to wait for the bus.  It had rained and was just a little chilly outside.  I was sitting on the stairs with my coffee.  She sat with me then ran down the driveway and attempted to wheel our (emptied) garbage can back from the end of the driveway to it's space by the garage.  She made it halfway because she couldn't quite master tilting it towards her so that only the wheels remained on the ground and it is easier to push.  We'll work on that so she can feel useful.  That kind of stuff makes her happy.

Love you all.  Hope you live in an area that's going to get a spate of good weather for a bit.  Winter is far from over regardless of what Phil the groundhog had to say. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Newest addition to our small and useless appliances?  An electric coffee grinder.  I kid you not.  It arrived today.  That's when the Beast pulled out his surprise.  A bag of Dunkin Donuts coffee beans.  I just rolled my eyes.  Those shelves out in the garage are gonna collapse one day soon, wait and see.  His first priority was to make us a fresh pot of fresh ground Dunkin Donuts coffee.  I'll admit, it was very good but...c'mon!  It's just another thing we did NOT need.

Chewlee got another BIG smiley face today from her teacher.  She was very lackadaisical about the whole thing.  Today the class apparently drew pictures of themselves and each of their classmates (individually) and wrote a sentence about them being a friend.  Then they signed their names.  The teacher (poor thing) collated it all and stapled them together.  Chewlee had to show me and make sure I looked at each page.

It was a normal sleepover day with school tomorrow with one exception.  Tonight Chewlee read herself her bedtime story without me sitting next to her.  It was totally cute.

BTW, a month or so back I mentioned that the Beast had bought a Marie Callender eggplant parmesan entree.  I thought it was kind of dumb of him because I am not really an eggplant person.  Today we made it not wanting it to go bad or get freezer burnt for the heck of it.  We figured that we had other things to eat if we didn't like it.  I have to tell you this...it was excellent!  I was surprised more than anything else.  Like I said, I'm not an eggplant fan but I really liked this.  It was very tasty and filling, too.  Try it if you get a chance.

The Beast isn't feeling well so he went to bed early...even before Chewlee.  Chewlee had gone into the main bedroom and here's what she told me.  *Grandma, I went in your room and papa has the bathroom door closed.  I put my ear by it and I heard him going Uhn..oh Uhn...  I asked him, Papa, are you all right? And he told me, No, I'm not!*

Knowing the Beast and the noises he makes, I told her he was probably going potty because he makes noises like that sometimes.  She didn't think so (or so she said but she went back in to check).  She came back and told me that he was going to bed so I figured either he had diarrhea or was bleeding again from his dangle down.  Either way, I'm glad he's going in early to the doctor's.

Love you all.  I need to get to bed early tonight.  We overslept today and the bus went by and woke up the Beast who then had to dress to take Chewlee to school.  Chewlee was not totally awake but I got her dressed and gave her a bit of cereal just in case she missed out on breakfast at school (she didn't).  She was mad at me because she missed seeing *her* orangutan show.  I had to promise her to be sure to wake her tomorrow morning.  I promised her so you know what that means.

Love you all.  Hope your week is going well. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I called to verify the Beast's doctors appointment for Friday this morning.  After speaking to the nurse (who is rough but cute, as the Beast says), she pushed up the appointment to Wednesday morning.  That made the Beast happy because, if he will need surgery (and he will...it's the nature of the type of cancer), he wants to get it taken care of as soon as possible.  All well and fine, right?

I was standing next to him and pouring myself some coffee and I kept hearing this weird noise.  It suddenly dawned on me that it was the Beast I was hearing...and what I was hearing was a wheeze.  It actually seems like it comes AFTER he's exhaled.  A kind of echo wheeze, for sake of a better description.  I was shocked and said, *OMG!  Is that wheeze I hear coming from YOU?*  When he said, *Yes, it is.*  I shook my head and said, *Somehow, I don't think the anesthesiologist is going to consider you a good risk.*

That bothers me.  All surgery is risky but he's never before had breathing problems.  This wheezing of his he really thought might be athsma starting up.  He went to our general doctor and got a prescription for something to use in an emergency if he can't catch his breath.  I believe that's what he told me.  He's usually reticent on anything said to him and will paraphrase it rather than go into real details.  That makes me crazy at times like these.

I know they will catch it at his pretesting.  His surgeries usually involve removal of the tumorous material and he can go home once he urinates (day surgery).  Then he spends a week peeing blood and moaning and groaning like he's the only one in the world who feels pain and everyone should feel sorry for him and take care of his every wish....yadda, yadda, yadda.  Sickening.  Last time I discovered that he had only peed some blood the first day after surgery but he sure had me and everyone else that would listen believing he was STILL peeing blood four and five days later.  In reality, all he was getting was a drop or two of blood in his underwear because he probably opened up a bit of healing area when he shook it after he peed.  I was really pissed off at him and told him not to come whining and crying to me again unless he was pouring out blood and it wouldn't stop.  (I really didn't mean it but I was angry enough that I figured he wouldn't pull that crap again).  But, with him?  Who knows?

Chewlee came home today with a homework assignment for every night this week except Friday (for obvious reasons).  It's a list of 9 words for each day that they have to say three times each.  I mixed them up and didn't help.  She did just fine.  Then a parent (or me, since I was the only one here) has to sign it.  Chewlee told me she gets *something* each day she brings it back signed and then gets a school *dollar* at the end of the week if it's complete.  She knows every single word on the page and she wanted to do them all at once but I told her that was not the way she had to do it for school.  However, I did let her say all the words on the page and we ^5'd it.

She's in bed, asleep for now but will probably wake up if she reaches for me and I'm not in bed with her.  Then she will come into my room and tell me she's *lonely*.  But I plan on being there a little later.  She will fall into a deep sleep once she knows I'm there and I will wake up later when my bladder tells me I need to get the hell out of bed and into the bathroom.    I may or may not crawl back into bed with her depending on what time it is.  I promised to get her up early enough to watch the Orangutan's so much will depend on what time my bladder awakens me.  Some of you out there know what I mean.  My bladder rules! 

Weather is supposed to warm up by Wednesday and continue warming for a few days.  That's something to look forward to in many areas.  Buttmunch and her hubby are at Mustachio's and will be leaving (via bike) on Wednesday to head for the Amish village where the hubby has been promised work.  Buttmunch will be put to work there, too, since she has no children that require her attention at home.  No idle hands in an Amish village.  But she should enjoy herself.  For the most part, I've found the Amish to be a happy people and that's always nice to be around.

Love you all.  Hope your week goes well for one and all. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Now that football season has ended with the Super Bowl, the Beast is depressed.  I told him that he, at least, had a great Super Bowl game to end the season.  It doesn't make him happy, though.  He had picked the wrong team to win (yet again!).   But it was a nice, close game and not a runaway one so it was exciting right to the end.  Just in case you didn't watch it.

I didn't get to watch the real game.  I had to catch all the after talk and the showing of the most exciting parts and the mistakes, etc.  I had Chewlee here and I had to keep her entertained.  She did some of the usual things BUT...I did catch a break because Birdie took her home for lunch after church and to play with her kids for a couple hours.  The Beast ran over to pick her up before the game started (of course) and that meant my TV selection was limited.  I will admit that if the shows are new ones and not ones I've seen a few dozen times, I don't mind the cartoons.  Lately, Chewlee has come to realize that sharing with me is better for her than hogging everything.  For example, if she wants to play her games on my computer, she gives up watching her cartoons, too.  She gets games, I get TV.  However, she usually asks me what cartoons are coming up and if her favorites are upcoming, she lets me play on my computer and THEN, when a cartoon program comes on that she can care less about watching, she will take over my computer and let me watch MY programs as she calls them.  It works for us most of the time.  It just didn't today and I missed seeing the commercials (which are the real highlight as far as I'm concerned).

So this is late because I HAD to find the commercials as they were being posted on various sites (thank you, Bratfink, for finding them so quickly and sharing).  I just loved the Budweiser commercial showing the guys raising the little Clydesdale to adulthood and then it going to Budweiser.  I cried at the end.  The Doritos goat commercial was also one that cracked me up.  There were a lot I enjoyed but those two are the most memorable.  All-in-all, there were 50 commercials.  You can MISS the Go Daddy commercials.  They both sucked.  Just saying.

Chewlee took her bath and then it was time for her to paint my nails and put (her) makeup on me.  She even did my hair (don't ask!) at her Beauty Parlor.  Her mother got her just as she was finishing up with me and that gave the Princess a big laugh (brat!).  Chewlee left all her beauty supplies with me so she could have them for tomorrow when she gets here.  That begins her two nights of staying overnight so she will be blessing me with more Beauty makeovers (lord knows I need them!).

I sent her home all freshly bathed and shampooed and in her footsie pajamas so the Princess could see that she will soon outgrow them.  It's mainly the feet that are getting on the tight side.  Guess Chewlee will be blessed with big feet like others in the family.  Well, bigger than some, I should say. 

Gotta get this posted.  Some of my overseas readers are checking in and missing this.  Love you all.  Have a fantastic week.  Go Ravens!