TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I was shocked today when the Beast came in and handed me two letters from Bratfink.  I really had no idea which to open first but I got it right so I wasn't reading about something that was in the first letter but more explanatory.   Not that she actually writes about anything truly important.  I know she has to be bored out of her mind.  She always signs it from *people living in a cave*. 

She says that Sheldon has gone crazy with cleaning since all this has happened.  He's *sort of* cleaned his room, has cleaned the bathroom to the point of showroom quality, the cat room (must have gotten rid of all that stray cat litter since cats are NOT clean except for their person) and is tackling the deep freeze.  He did a great job on the upright freezer but Bratfink has her doubts about the deep freeze since it's not so easy to clean up.  But, hey, he's CLEANING.  She says he's just waiting for the *all clear* on this one check he has.  Too complicated to explain but it involves insurance and you know how that can go.

They are both drinking a lot of water (healthy) and something Sheldon seldom did before.  Bratfink has her cane with her so if he tries to intrude on HER area, she will just brain him.  She has her own way of doing things and doesn't want the help.  He always manages to lose something important.  Bratfink has to keep him under her eye when he *borrows* something of hers (like the phone charger) or she would never get it back.  It would be lost in his bedroom cave and never seen again.  But you've heard her complain about that for years now so it's not anything really new.

All the cats are still alive.  Loki has decided that anything on a paper plate is HIS.  When Sheldon served Bratfink a pot pie on a paper plate, Loki saw the plate coming from the kitchen and followed Sheldon all the way to Bratfink's desk.  He was so disappointed that it wasn't a can of food for him.  But, Bratfink (even though she knew better...), gave the little cutie some of the chunks of chicken from the pot pie thereby making Loki SURE that paper plates mean food for HIM.   

Chewlee had a good day at school and got a smiley face.  As a reward, Chewlee and the Princess went out to eat.  It must have been at some Mexican food place because she enticed Chewlee with the idea of salsa and chips.  Chewlee loves those. 

I'm just waiting for a small load of clothes to be dried.  We've been kind of cleaning up as we've packed for our road trip tomorrow.  I still have to make some sandwiches for our lunch and get the little cooler packed up.  I told the Beast that I was going to cut up some tomatoes and lettuce in a separate container so the sandwiches don't get soggy.  I may just throw in the dressing he likes on his hoagies as a surprise for him.  Me?  I'm just using my spicy mustard on mine.  That stuff will clear your sinuses. 

Well, gotta go.  I have a few more things to pack and am using a little tote bag that belongs to Chewlee for our various medications that are going along with us.  Oh, and the Beast's 50spf cream for his skin.  He has problems with skin cancer...all over him.  Well, he's never had any on his legs but he always wore long pants while working so they weren't exposed like the rest of him.  I'm looking forward to exposing my skin on a beach.  I always seem to tan easier on the beach than in a backyard.   LOL! 

Love you all.  Hope you have a great next couple of days.  Remember....no post tomorrow but I should be back on Wednesday at a fairly decent time.  We old people hate driving in the dark. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Today the Beast finally got the new 11' umbrella up over the table.  I KNEW it wasn't going to open entirely.  It bumped into the grape arbor but the Beast decided to take the overhead piece off because it hadn't come out the way he wanted and it was warped, too.  Even only partially opened, it DID cover more of the table.  The bad part was that we would have had to bring it down even more due to the fact that any winds would have rubbed along the ribs of the umbrella and eventually worn it in those areas.

We went out to lunch today and I should have figured out what was on the Beast's mind.  He was meeting up with some of the people from the church he attends.  However, the restaurant was full so we weren't at a table amongst the biggest bunch of them.  There was a table behind us with one family and that was it.  Chewlee actually ate well and was cute when she asked the waiter for some water, please.  She remembered her manners.

On the way home, the Beast and I talked about our *road trip* down to Mobile or any of the beaches that are accessible to us.  We can actually hit some of them in the Panhandle in the same amount of time.  Later on, we decided to leave on Tuesday so that our packing things up isn't so rushed.  I need to wash a few things anyway so it's fine with me.  That means Chewlee will be taking the bus home to our house tomorrow and that made her very happy.  She's just not happy about not having a sleepover at our house on Monday and Tuesday nights.  Wait until she finds out that she may not have one the following week when there's no school.  Her mother could come and get her after her classes in Athens NEXT week.  That's the bad part about having classes at two different college campuses.  The Princess has this week off at one, the following week at the second college.  They try to stagger it at the various colleges around the country.  I guess it's the same way here in Alabama.

So tomorrow we pack up as much as we can.  We intend to get up around 6am and leave.  That way we can spend some time on the beach before we try to find a place to stay.  Although, as I told the Beast, we should probably look up a few places tomorrow and make a reservation.  It's not like there are a lot of pet friendly motels around.

The Beast just HAD to get his tomatoes started.  At least he only bought three starters but they are now in the tomato planter with their cages over them.  Next it will be green peppers and cucumbers.  We didn't do well with our eggplant so I told him we can try again but only with one this time.  I want to extend our strawberry patch, which did very well for us last year.  I did get him to agree on only one yellow squash and we may try some acorn squash or spaghetti squash this year.  I'm hoping it doesn't get cold enough to kill off the tomatoes.  He thinks they won't be bothered by a cold snap if they are in the ground.  He's already lost three plants so far because he had them sitting on the ground and not IN it.  More dirt, more *heat* he thinks.  It hasn't been all that hot yet so I just don't want a cold snap, TYVM.

I love this weather we are having and sure hope it continues.  It doesn't have to get hot.  I just want it to stay nice.  We may be getting a bit of rain here tomorrow but I checked the predictions for the Gulf Coast this week and the next few days it looks good.  I just want some sun.  I can start on my tan early.

Love you all.  Hope you have a great week.  I won't be posting Tuesday and Wednesday nights may be late.  It all depends on when we get home.  I'll tell you all about both the good and the bad.  In the meantime, stay warm and dry. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I got a call bright and early from Sheepie who wanted to come over and visit while Teach went golfing since it was looking like another nice day.  So Teach drops her off and Chewlee was ecstatic since she loves Sheepie.  It was kind of fun with Sheepie doing up Chewlee's face to look like the joker (which Chewlee immediately wiped off.  She wants to look like a Princess, not a clown...but it WAS funny).  Then Sheepie did her face up like a Princess even with a touch of a finishing powder with sparkles in it.  Then Sheepie straightened Chewlee's hair and Chewlee was saying, *Look!  Sheepie made my hair longer!*  Doesn't take much when you iron out all those waves and curls.  She then started flipping her hair over her shoulder like a pro. 

We sat outside for a while.  Chewlee wanted to play Hide and Seek and Sheepie was nice enough to play one game with her.  First Chewlee hid her eyes and counted while Sheepie hid, then vice versa.  When Baron wanted outside with us, the game was over.  Baron always gives away the hider.  He doesn't understand the game.

At some point, the Princess called to tell the Beast she was coming to pick up Chewlee.  And, of course, the Beast forgets that we've been keeping her overnight to make it easier on him for going to church in the morning.  So I ended up having to call the Princess to tell her that if she couldn't bring Chewlee back, the Beast would come and get her.  But Johnnycakes (aka *Precious*)...sorry 'bout that Johnnycakes.....said he would bring her.  Chewlee arrived in her pajamas all sparkly clean and announced she had washed her hair all by herself.  She said she took a shower with her mommy. 

Now, as to the Beast acting strangely...this is in regard to ME.  He came home from the store yesterday and brought me a bottle of vodka.  He said he tried to find a bottle of (name brand) which surprised me because it's expensive.    But he got me a different brand (less expensive) and that works for me.  It's not like I'm a drinker any more.  One or three a week is really about all I manage when I have it in the house.  THEN...surprise, surprise...the Princess gets me some Mudslide, which I love because I can add a little bit for taste in my coffee in the evening.  A 2-liter bottle will last me two weeks or more.  It doesn't have a lot of liquor in it.  If I have it here for a Holiday drink, I always add more liquor to it when I blend it and make it more like a slushy.  Otherwise, I just enjoy the taste of it added to my coffee.  No real alcohol buzz from it because there's just not enough liquor in it to do that and still keep my coffee flavor and heat.

But you have to understand the Beast and the vodka issue.  Since he can no longer drink, he acts like those that DO drink are all alcoholics.  He knows I don't get out to have a drink with lunch (I used to go out on occasion with the Princess or Tara) and we don't get out to dinner much these days either.  I'm hoping the Beast and I will really take Monday and Tuesday to make a trip down to Mobile which we haven't seen or been to in over 30 years.  Yet we live so close to it these days. 

We need to break in the Yaris and figured this would meet two needs.  We shall see.  I already told Chewlee we would be gone so she won't get on the bus and *accidentally* end up here when her mother has already told her that she would be picking her up since she (the Princess) is off for Spring Break.

I think Chewlee got tired out today.  She even made a trip to Walmart with the Beast and embarrassed the hell out of him.  She wanted toys and he wouldn't buy her any so she yelled at him (loudly)...well, then I'm going to ask my other Papa and he'll buy them for me.  I love him and now YOU can't see me naked any more, only my other papa.*  She apparently said it several times and the Beast didn't want to even look around and see if people were staring at him.  I could just imagine that and told him he would be lucky if no one followed him out to the parking lot and jotted down his license plate number.  I can almost see the cops showing up at our door.  The funny thing is that Chewlee is always worried about Papa seeing her naked.  She only just today decided that it was actually okay because Papa's changed diapers, too.  He just couldn't stay in the room if she was getting dressed. 

Well, time to go and get this posted.  I'm tired and am going to crawl into bed with Chewlee like I promised her I would.  She went right to sleep so I know she was tired.  We both have to get up at 8:30am so she can get dressed for church and have something to eat.  Be good and, if you have good weather, enjoy it!  If not, stay warm and dry. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I slept the morning away due to my sleeping badly at night but, when I woke up finally, I had a piece of mail from Bratfink.  I sat out on the steps of the deck to read it since it was an amazing 75 degrees outside.    I know!  The weatherman had not even been prepared for that.  He predicted a balmy 64 degrees as our high.  C'est la vie!  Life can be full of surprises.

Bratfink says the worst of their situation is being without the internet.  No news, no emails, no weather...and what she didn't say but I know had to be on her mind was no tweets either.  She says she has been watching DVD's (Sheldon has a couple thousand of them, I think...looks like it anyway) and so far they haven't killed each other or any of the animals either.  She and Sheldon got a couple overdue things taken care of like defrosting the deep freeze since there's nothing in it nor likely to be for a while.  She cleaned out her rolling craft cabinet.  That's one of those things that are easy to put off when you have other things you can be doing that are more fun.

She told me to be sure to keep the Internet going until she gets back so I guess I'll have to add that to my list of things I *must* do.  LOL.  I'm sure you will all join in with me on that.

It's so warm here in my room that I finally opened a window even though the temperature is down to 65 degrees.  There's no breeze so the air flow sucks and I'm not ready to put the fans in my window just yet. 

We'll have Chewlee tomorrow since the Princess and Johnnycakes (aka *Precious*...LOL) are going on a day trip and a hike is involved (no thanks!).  I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that we have another great day and I can keep her involved in helping to finish clearing out the garden areas.  The Beast went and picked up dirt to start filling it up again.  I have to remind him to pick up ant poison since there seems to be an ant nest amongst my strawberry patch.  Can't have that. 

Love you all.  Have a wonderful weekend regardless of the weather.  THAT changes. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Fifteen or more years ago, a couple of our Irish cousins decided to do a family tree of our clan.  They had the advantage of some of the great-aunts and great-uncles still being alive and able to add their memories (and some family pictures) to the growing forest.  These same cousins even took their mother for a trip to Ireland and met some of their mother's cousins that still resided there.  They had an amazing time and took lots of pictures that went into the memory/family line book that was becoming more massive as time went on.  They always brought it to the family reunions and we got to look through the book and share it with our growing children.  The little ones got bored.

Now many of the oldsters have passed on and we found our generation has suddenly become the *oldsters*.  Our children and grandchildren have married, divorced, moved to different states....in other words, they have their own lives they are living apart from us.  But I still think one of the greatest contributions has been this book of ancestry. 

One of the reasons I wanted to bring Chewlee with me to Chicago was for her to meet her cousins, aunts and uncles and also my siblings, who are now the *greats*.  In Irish families, you really don't refer to anyone related to you as *great* this or that.  They are just aunts and uncles.  Cousins, even once or twice removed, are cousins.  Period.  They are *FAMILY*.  When we were young, anyone that was older than we were automatically became an aunt or uncle.  We cleared that part up when we got older.  But if they were around our age, they were *cousins*.  It simplified things and also showed that we felt close as a family should.

Chewlee didn't get to meet as many people as I had hoped of *my* family.  She met Kay (my ex-sister-in-law but sister of my heart) and her boys (who ARE cousins that a divorce can't change).  Other than that, she met more of the Beast's family but none of her cousins on that side of our family.  She hated leaving Kay's house because Kay and Ray-ray both helped her overcome her fears and she learned to swim.  Sort-of.  Kinda.  She used her swimmies alone by the time we left but she was ecstatic over what she had accomplished.  She even got over her fear of her head going under the water by coming down the water slide at Kay's pool.  Kay and Ray-ray were wonderful with her.

Because I had no car (the Beast had to use it to get to his brother's house outside Chicago, not the one in Centralia that was babysitting Baron), I was kind of helpless to get around.  The Beast ended up bringing us to his brother's house where we spent a night and then he dropped us off at my girlfriend Marilyn's house for the trip to Jamie's house for OUR reunion of friends.  We are a group of girls (women) that hung out together in high school and have remained friends ever since. 

We've been meeting every summer and spending the day  together catching up on what has gone on in each other's lives over the past year.  Some of the news we know because we speak by phone or do emails.  Others live close enough to each other to get together once a month or so for lunch or dinner.  We have a lot of fun together and so do any people around us.  Isn't it strange how people love to see other people having genuine fun?  It's how our family reunions were before our kids got their own lives and felt it was a burden to attend.  Wait and see.  They, just like WE did, will one day start up the family reunion again.  You yearn for that closeness to family after a while.  It's the reason I drove or flew up to Chicago every year for over 20 years.  I still go up (I live closer to Chicago nowadays but still not *close*) and only missed once.  That was because it was the Beast's first bladder cancer surgery and I had to be here to take care of him while he was healing.  I made it up last summer (with Chewlee in tow) even though I was still recovering from my vascular surgery.

This year, I am taking the Yaris up...without the Beast but WITH Chewlee.  I will stop and spend part of the day with my son, Markus and then travel on to Mustachio's where we will eat dinner and spend the night.  I will then go on to Bratfink's, rent a motel for the night because I will NOT terrorize her cats with Chewlee, and we will spend a few hours together before we lumber off to bed and then finish the trip up to Chicago.  I hope to be able to stay with Kay again so Chewlee can swim and I am even prepared to bare my wounds to the public eye and get some swimming in both with and without Chewlee.  I'll try to get a my sister, Bee and my brother, Dee, out for a barbeque at Kay's if she and her present hubby are willing to have it there.  I want to find out who is going to have the family ancestry *forest book* so that I can pass the information along to my kids and grandkids.  Then, when they are ready and curious, they will know whom to contact in order to see where they reside amongst all the family history it tells.  It's a legacy worth passing along.  I have a new name to add to it and soon, another.  One of my granddaughter's married and is expecting a new little one.  I'll make sure that my cousins have that information and the dates.

I hope you all have had a great week and an even better weekend.  Our nights remain cold but our days are warming up nicely.  Hope you get some of that early spring weather soon if you haven't yet.  Love you all.  Stay warm and safe. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

It really wasn't!  I had a post all ready to publish and discovered that the page didn't have the publish button for some reason.  I had to finally email Xanga and tell them that.  It took all night before I finally checked and found it had finally been taken care of.  I wonder how many others had the same problem?  Maybe just the servers that handle this area of the country but it's still a pain in the ass.  Worse, there was no way to save my post. 

Oh well.  It was really all about families and family reunions and ancestry....stuff like that.  I'll redo it but it's never the same as when you are kind of *inspired* and the words just flow.  But I wanted to let you know why there was no post last night.  It truly wasn't my fault this time.  Ticked me off because it was all ready to go well before the time I needed to post to show the proper date on it.

Love you all.  Talk at you later. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I've predicted it.  I've made the statement several times over the past two years alone.  Now he's finally done it.  The Beast has managed to spend damn near....and I mean VERY near....all our savings.  How, do you ask?  He bought another new car. 

Now I admit that the Buick very suddenly took a turn for the worst.  The transmission started slipping....badly.  There was even a doubt that it would make it home.  The estimate...ESTIMATE...was just under $4000 to replace it.  I don't think that was even with a new transmission but a rebuilt one with a warranty of some sort.  I was so sick over the ESTIMATE that I missed out on what the warranty was.  The Beast thought about it.  I thought he was going to try calling a few places for better pricing but he decided that it wasn't worth investing that much money in a car that old, no matter how great a shape it was in (too many miles for an American made car anyway).  The gas mileage was crappy (16-19mpg in town).  So he went back to the Toyota dealer in town and looked at one of their smaller cars with great gas mileage.  They had this one (supposedly) 2012 Yaris on the lot.  It had been used as a day lease car for people who brought their cars in for servicing and needed transportation for a day or two.  End result was just 186 miles on it.  Bad news...that meant those miles were all short rides for the most part.  But, of course, that can easily be taken care of with just a ride to Birmingham or even a ride down to Mobile which we could easily do one weekend.  We can take Chewlee with us so there's no sitter problem for her mom if required.  It's just the car is so much smaller than the Buick and Chewlee would have to share the back with Baron...oh yeah!  Good idea.    Baron is HUGE next to Chewlee (Baron..110lbs.  Chewlee...42lbs.

So he bought what was written up as a 2012 Toyota Yaris.  We didn't get as much of a trade-in on the Buick because of the transmission and when I heard the balance, I knew....I KNEW!...that wiped out our savings pretty much.  I was sick to my stomach over that just because I knew he would find a way.  Now we are going to be hurting until we are paid for the house we own in Guntersville...which is supposed to be around the end of June...OR SO.  I want to go to Chicago to see my family and my girlfriends from high school that I hung out with before we all expire.  We get together for a couple days every year and I'll be damned if I am missing it.  They usually plan it for when I can make it since I live the furthest away.  If I have to, I will sell one of the Beast's guns...or put that ad he keeps saying he's going to in the paper to sell the ATV.  He bought it for hunting....HA! HA! HA! HA!  That's been the biggest laugh of all.  If he had to hunt for us to eat, we'd starve to death.  He can't get his ass out of bed that early in the morning, let alone that early on a COLD morning.    I admit *I* can't but I never said I was going to hunt and fill our freezer with deer and wild turkey and antelope and moose and buffalo....only kidding on those last three but you get what I mean, I'm sure. 

My sister, Bratfink, when she lived in Montana, ate a lot of different meats than most of us have.  She's had bear (and even rendered the grease from one), antelope, a couple types of deer and I think she even said she'd eaten moose.  When she stayed with me for several months in Florida, she found out meat assortments available to be on the paltry side.  She missed the variety of meat she could get there.  And her husband at the time WAS a hunter.  In fact, he was a bow and arrow hunter.  He even killed his bear with a bow and arrow (and he had a permit to take one that year). However, actually getting one with a bow and arrow was a real feat...without being killed, I mean, by an angry, wounded but not killed dead bear. 

Anyway, here I am...torn between finding my prediction correct and anger that it WAS correct.  I have a car that was found to actually be a 2013 by the gal at the DMV who discovered that fact when she went to process the Title.  She called it to the Beast's attention that the dealer had made a mistake and it was THEIR mistake because the title showed it was a 2013 and the serial numbers matched that was on the contract and the title.  He had to go back to the dealer because a 2013 car, even with 186 miles on it, was entitled to a 5 year warranty, not a 3 year one.  It turns out that they probably screwed themselves out of about $3000 that they COULD have charged but couldn't go back and change it.

The car has all the goodies, including Blu-tooth, constant gas averaging, tire pressure, cruise control, Sirius radio, etc.  The only fault I find with the car other than the small trunk space is there is no center console.  Or, as we prefer to think of it, arm rest.  But if it really gives good gas mileage, I can find a way to compensate.

Chewlee got a smiley face today.  She has to wear green tomorrow because they are going to celebrate St. Patrick's Day tomorrow with a party.  I think this is the first time the Princess didn't contribute anything to help make up the party unless she dropped something off last Thursday or Friday.  She usually likes to be involved but I've seen that kind of taper off the last few months. 

Time to get this posted and Chewlee in bed.  That alarm going off at 5:30am seems to come earlier and earlier.  At least, that's how it feels to me.  I miss Bratfink being online, don't you?  And it hasn't been all that long.  There are still a minimum of three more weeks before she will return to us.  **Sigh** 

Love you all.  Have a great *Humpday*.  Drive carefully.  Stay safe and warm. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

BECAUSE I AM OLD....there, I said it!  I often have things I want to remember to put in this blog but I forget it until I've already posted it.  By then, I don't really feel it *fits in* so I think *tomorrow I'll add that*.  Ha, ha, ha!  If I can't remember it THEN, what makes me think I'll remember it after another whole day has passed? 

Okay.  Buttmunch.  Buttmunch got hired but not as a waitress!    She's the late night cook at one of the most infamous restaurant's for drunks to go get something to eat.  I almost fell over.  I have no idea how that happened because I can't remember her ever being a cook.  I could be wrong.  I know she's worked at places where she did a LOT of helping the cooks from time-to-time but I hope she has another cook there with her just because of when the drunks hit the place.  It can get hectic.  But, according to Mustachio (who gets calls from her about every other day or so), she seems happy.  He also found out from the groom's family that HE is in Lexington and he's looking for Buttmunch.  Mustachio figures that he may show up at HIS door any time now...if he's stupid (and he is!)  Mustachio sized up the guy and knows he can take him in a fight if it came to that.  I said he might just call and demand to talk to his wife, not realizing that she isn't with Mustachio.  I told him that he could then misdirect him to Florida.  If the guy actually went to Ft. Lauderdale, he could spend years there without hitting the same place twice and never find her even if she WAS there.

His family, although not having met Mustachio, has an inkling that perhaps he is looking forward to a fight.  But, in truth, Mustachio isn't.  He said he might just have to move to avoid the melodrama.  He's tired of melodrama as are we all in this family.  But I did find the news about Buttmunch a good thing.  She needs to rediscover the joy of having money you have earned yourself and with no one but yourself to spend it on.  She is planning on banking most of her checks since her needs are few right now.  I'm just glad she is safe and happy.

The Princess is planning to take Chewlee to the beach during spring break.  It's only a couple hours drive down to the panhandle of Florida and Chewlee's grandfather lives near the beach in a spring break town.  I imagine they can stay there.  Chewlee tells me he has a BIGGGGGGG house.  If not, she (the Princess) has stayed in a condo right on the beach and she may have made plans to stay there again.  I don't know if Johnnycakes is going along or not since it's a bit tougher to get the time off during the most popular times.  I'm sure lots of people at the plant where he works want to be off when their kids are out of school.  In the department that he works in, I think he might be low man on the totem pole but I'm not sure.  It would be nice if they could go as a family but, if not, oh well!  It's not all that long a time before the Princess will be graduating from college.  The time has just flown by so far.  This last bout will go just as fast, I'm sure.

The Beast has STILL not recovered from his surgery.  That's extremely unusual given his other surgeries in the same area.  I have no idea when he has to go back for the doctor to check on him because he never gave me the date to put on my calendar.  I really need to check on that.

In the meantime, I have to reschedule my sonogram on my leg and my appointment with my vascular doctor.  Bad me.  I forgot about both events due to the Beast's surgery.  It was rather hurried and unexpected and the Beast was very anxious about the whole thing.  A wonderful woman from his church both gave him the ride there (I had to take care of Chewlee) and stayed until he came out of the anesthesia.  She brought him home and, believe me, it was rather a long time for her to forsake her own family's needs.  I was very grateful and so was the Beast.  He had figured that I could drive to the hospital (with Chewlee) to pick him up once the surgery was done.  He didn't expect her to stay and wait for him.  The people at his church know that I was a long time recovering from the surgeries I've had this past year and I am still not fully recovered as far as my doctor is concerned.  I think he's afraid I may need more stents but I am guessing on that score.  I really should ask him.  I know he's not entirely happy with the circulation in that leg yet.  To be truthful, neither am I but for practical reasons.  The lower leg still is too *tight*.  There's no pliability in it most of the time.  I KNOW I will ask the right questions when I see him next..

Time to get this posted.  It was colder than hell this morning when Chewlee went to school.  There was frost on the grass so you could see Chewlee's footsteps as she walked across it towards her bus.  I had urged her to run to the bus but she told me she couldn't run with the boots she had on because then they came off her feet.  I had wondered about that so I wasn't totally surprised to hear my suspicions were right.  She has other boots (and cuter ones) but she likes these because she can just slip them on easily.  No wonder.  Duh!

Love you all.  Please stay warm and safe.  I need all the readers I can find. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I had a bad day with my IBS hitting me where it hurts.  I was down and out for much of the day until Chewlee got here....  From the way she practically threw her backpack on my lap (and almost into my gut..which hurt), I knew she had gotten a happy face today.  She had a big grin on her face.  She also had homework, which she called to my attention.  It included homework from last week which her mother missed on Wednesday but I made sure she did it on Thursday.  I guess I could have had her do the one for Wednesday when she was here on Thursday but I wasn't sure if it would be accepted by the teacher.  I won't make that mistake again.

Today she had a whole paragraph to read.  Why they are so dumb, I have no idea but this one really is.  I hope her mother remembers on Wednesday to be sure she reads it (I make her do it at least twice when there are no other instructions) and then signs it on the line provided to show it was done.  I don't get Chewlee on Wednesdays because her mother has off work and picks her up after her gymnastics class.  She also had a little *booklet* of stapled together pages that she had to do.  I discovered she has NO IDEA of how to draw a leaf.  It was just awful but I showed her how to look at the picture given (it was simple) and TRY to follow that shape.  She did do better on her third try but she will never be an artist. 

I let her play on her game site for longer than normal and she took an incredibly short bath for her.  She knew she was going to play clue with me once she was out and in her pajamas.  I had spent my time while she was playing her game mostly in the bathroom.  But, after a bit, I've come to know when I will have some *relief time* from the constant run there trying to beat my bowels from emptying before I get there.  I did just fine today, tyvm. 

However, once Chewlee was in bed and the Beast had replaced all four of the batteries that are in her Lady Bug night light (for the second time, Princess...you owe us 8 AA batteries now), I had a very bad rush of bathroom visits that left me sore and very tired.  I laid down to rest and fell asleep for darn near six hours.  That's why this is late....again.  Like I said, it's been a bad week for me but I think my medicine has kicked in finally and that should get better now.

The weather was great today but I had almost no time to enjoy it.  Chewlee went out with Baron twice and I think she terrorized him.  We almost had to throw him out the second time and yet he had wanted out before Chewlee went outside before he did.  I kid you not.  It was funny.  He rushed back to the door as soon as he could get past her. 

Did I mention that Chewlee is back to her old eating habits?  Yes, whatever was bothering her has now, apparently, gotten out of her system.  She is eating much, much better, including sandwiches (yuk!  salami and baloney) but she eats them so how can I complain?  It may not be MY cups of tea but the Beast likes subs that include those two items so......  He bought some ham, roast beef, swiss cheese and jack cheese for us to make subs from.  Oh, and salami...mustn't forget that!  I sliced up tomatoes and got out the lettuce and sliced it up into strips so he could make something really similar to the subs he likes.  It's just the buns that fall short.  I would KILL for some crusty buns and breads here in the South.  They just don't believe in it, I guess.  **Sigh**

Well, I'm going to close now and lay down again for the few hours left before the alarm goes off and Chewlee will have to get up to get ready for school.  Love you all and I wish you a much better week than I've had so far.  Be good.  Stay safe.  Stay warm and dry. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I swear I have no idea what to do with this man.  He goes to Lowe's for one simple item....a new umbrella.  Our old one was never taken down last fall and it suffered all the abuse that high winds, heavy rains and some snow can do to one.  It was just a normal 6 ft. umbrella.  The Beast, when confronted with choices, always seems to go to extremes.  He decides that an 11 ft. umbrella will give us even better shade.  I don't even know if it will fit in a closed position on our table unless the pole is much longer than the other umbrella.  I'm just sitting here, shaking my head in disbelief at this man.  What the hell is going on in that pea sized brain of his?  We have a LOT of windy weather here.  An 11 ft. umbrella has a lot more surface to cause lift.  I can see it either being mangled by the wind (depending on how securely the Beast fastens it to the deck) or ripped to shreds by winds from close shave tornadoes that come bopping into this general area. 

He SAYS he's going to find a way to provide a quick release for it so he can store it in the cottage on days like I'm concerned about but I have very little faith in that happening.  He's not exactly an engineer.  But he has to learn things the hard way so...c'est la vie!

Chewlee was dropped off early so she could go to an anniversary party his church is having for a couple married 50 years.  I'm still not feeling up to snuff so I stayed home although a few people tried to persuade me otherwise.  I told Chewlee no running and be good for the Beast.  She wanted to know if they were going to have games.  I told her that they would have food and dancing.  She immediately said she was NOT going to dance.  I told her to just wait and see.  She might change her mind.  They will be having line dancing and that appeals to her.  If other kids join in, she just might.

The Beast bought meats, cheeses and buns to make hoagies but I decided to make myself a Cuban sandwich instead.  I've had a craving for one for some time.  I'm just substituting sliced beef for the sliced pork usually used in it.  It WILL be different but ham, beef and swiss cheese pressed and grilled will still be tasty.  Oh, and I almost forgot the pickles.  I had to slice up a spear of dill to use on it instead of the regular round slices but it will work just fine.  I'm starting to prepare it now since they are gone and I am hungry.  The Beast wouldn't even think of bringing me home a plate of food or even some cake.  I always did for him but...hey, that's just ME.  I've had many years to know what to expect and what NOT to expect from him.  But I want the Cuban sandwich more than anything he could bring me anyway.  I also have some cole slaw here and that will be just fine.

The Beast surprised me by remembering to bring home some Greek yogurt the other day.  One is mixed berries and the other is pineapple.  I can't wait to start on them.  I had actually forgotten they were in the fridge until I was getting out the stuff for my Cuban.  The Beast had them behind the pickle jar.  I just love Greek yogurt.  It has more of the texture of sour cream which I love, too.

Chewlee, of course, is spending the night anyway so she can get dressed for church here and her mother can sleep in if that's what she wants.  I will probably go back to bed for a while once they both leave in the morning OR, if I've gotten enough sleep, I'll trek out into the garden and get started there which is what I really want to do.  It shouldn't be more than a couple weeks before the danger of frost is past us and we can get our garden started. 

In the meantime, we can get the additional soil added and it all tilled up and allowed to settle.  I was debating planting some potatoes but the Beast seems reluctant to get us some hay to lay under the plants once they are about six to eight inches tall.  Potatoes must grow in the dark and the hay keeps the sun from hitting the soil.  You ignore them until September and then remove the hay and harvest the potatoes.  It works for both sweet potatoes and white or russet.  I have the starters for them (regular, not sweet potatoes but I may have the seeds for them in our survival seeds.) so I may just go ahead and get them started and then make the trip to the feed store myself.  It's not all that expensive.  I want to get us some of those mesh bags you can hang from the ceiling in your garage for the harvested potatoes once they are picked and the weather is cooler.

My sandwich is almost ready so I will bid you all a great night and an even better Sunday.  Love you all.  Be good.  Try to have a little fun and a laugh or two.