TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Yes, I'm late again.  Sorry.  Just got distracted and time slipped away from me.  I was startled to find out that this Sunday is the day we turn our clocks ahead.  Did you know that?  It seems kind of early to me but I'm not going to complain.  It will be nice on the days I have to get Chewlee up for school that it will be light out when she gets up.  She always complains because it's *still dark out*!

I really am feeling like a vampire lately.  I fall asleep after Chewlee is picked up by her mother and sleep for about five or six hours.  Then I am up for the rest of the night.  I have a lot of energy but because the Beast is sleeping, I'm really stuck because I can't do many of the things I want to do....like vacuuming my room or doing wash.  It's just too noisy.  So I do things like make up the guest bed since only Chewlee uses it on Monday and Tuesday nights.  Lately she's also been staying overnight on Saturday because she goes to church with the Beast so early.  Then she has her play date a little later in the day at Birdie's house.

I got distracted tonight with straightening out my room again.  Chewlee spends all her time in here with me and she really makes a mess with her crayons, coloring book, markers and papers for drawings.  Tonight she was teaching her imaginary class and I could hear everything she was saying to them.  It was really cute.  She has a vivid imagination and she had them making pictures for me.  She was going to select the best ones to hang up on the wall we use for that.  She took down the old pictures and I have five more picture.  Some look typical of Chewlee's style of drawing but she has two students she calls *challenged* that she is *trying to encourage*.  It makes me believe she has a couple in her real class.

She usually keeps her Leap Pad here since she's here most of the time but she takes them home when she knows she won't be here the next day.  That's what happened today because I don't have her on Saturday except for the time her mother goes to the gym.  She drops her off her for an hour and a half.  I'm glad because Chewlee forgot her charger for her Leap Pad AND she wants to take her Tag *Learn to read* system home so her mother can install it on her laptop, too, and see how it works.  I told the Princess I'll give her some money to pick up one of the books for the system while she's out shopping since this is her shopping day and I haven't gotten one for Chewlee yet.  I'm still pissed that the company couldn't include one for the price they charge.  It's highway robbery for what you get.  Sheesh.

Oh, just for everyone's information that follows Bratfink's blogs or tweets.  She's going to be missing in action for a month or so.  It's a long story but it's not mine to tell.  Suffice it to say that she will be back and she doesn't want anyone to worry about her.  'Nuff said.

Our weather today was just incredible.  It got up almost to 70  and Baron drove us nuts with going in and out just to jog around the fence and stop to talk to the dogs next door.  It was almost funny except he wouldn't just STAY outside for a while.  I swear he only kept coming back in to check and make sure the Beast didn't go anywhere without him.   He gets very upset when that happens.  The Beast is known to sneak away when Baron is outside so I can't say I blame him. 

It's supposed to be in the lower 70's on Sunday so I intend to start clearing out our garden.  It desperately needs it since the Beast didn't pull out the tomato plants or any of the vine-type plants that we had.  We're going to have to add dirt to the planters so we need to have a good idea of how many bags we will need.  It's much easier to figure when they are cleared.  I figure I can get quite a bit done while the Beast and Chewlee are at church.  I'll have to take my stool out there with me so I can sit down.  I don't have a lot of endurance to be bent over and standing.  I can do a lot of it sitting and just make a pile out of the debris that we can then stuff into garbage bags.

Love you all.  Hope you get a little bit of nice weather in the next few days or even next week.  It's almost Spring now.  Although I have to admit, with this global warming situation, I have no idea what our weather is really going to be like.  Do you? 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I found out today that Chewlee had two BAD days in a row.  Yeah, she got squiggly faces.  It seems one of the things she can't seem to stop doing is playing in the bathroom.  Just how she's playing is never said but I imagine it's washing her hands for ages and singing.  That doesn't seem so bad except that she's missing her work in her class.  She's also bothering other kids during work time and playing when she should be doing her work.  It made me wonder....is her work done already by any chance?  Is this the first stages of boredom that we've feared? 

When she got here, she knew that meant no cartoons and no NickJr. games.  She never even asked or tried to cajole me.  She's learning.  She tried to assure me that she would have all smiley faces next week.  I said...what's wrong with a smiley tomorrow??  She just looked at me like I wasn't speaking English.

She was tired today and decided she wasn't going to go to Bible study with the Beast tonight.  She told me it was *boring*.  Since it would have been a chance for her to sit by Birdie, that surprised me until I realized she was just tired and didn't feel like getting dressed up.  I almost had to force her into the tub.  She said she was too tired to take a bath.  But I got her in and washed her hair.  Once she was in her pajamas, she went on my recliner and fell asleep.  She was asleep when the Princess got here but it won't be a problem putting her to bed.   

I told you about my sleeping all day yesterday.  I slept all night, too, but woke up around 9:30am today and felt great.  So great that I have been up ALL DAY LONG.  Not even a short nap.  I'm starting to fade a bit now so I will probably go to bed early so that I have a fairly normal day tomorrow.  I hate sleeping all day but I sure as hell wasn't well.  My tummy is still touchy but I DID eat some solid food.

It's that time of year again and the kids are bringing home all kinds of things to raise money for their schools or for field trips.  I bought all Chewlee's tickets towards her taking a field trip in May to the Birmingham Zoo.  It's chances towards a $100 Walmart card but, get this, all of the chances count towards the $20. for the field trip.  If a child sells just $5. worth of the chances, then their owed amount for the field trip drops down to $15., if they sell $10 worth, it's $10. due.  Go figure.   She's also selling what is either cookie dough or cookies, coffee cake and fudge brownies.  I truthfully can tell you some of it comes frozen and you can thaw and serve it but I think some of it you get to bake yourself.  It's expensive though.  $16 for whatever you order...and there are some tasty looking items....but the amount of them that you get makes it very pricey.  I have to think about it before I decide if I am going to order any but I admit there are two items that appeal to me.  But I don't need either the calories OR the sugar really.  I just know that the Beast would go apeshit over one of the items since they have macadamia nuts in them.  Oh well.  Just warning you all. 

Love you all.  Hope you had a decent day.  Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday and the official end of the work week for many of you.  Have a wonderful day and an even better weekend.  

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I know I have mentioned this before....when I am sick, I sleep to help allow my body to heal.  I usually wake up to pee, get a drink of water but I don't usually eat anything unless it is something light.  Then it's back to bed to sleep again.  I really tried to stay up today and managed to stay awake from around 4-4:30am until around 9am.  I got Chewlee off to school and stayed awake until my eyelids were drooping so badly, I couldn't see well.  My body was telling me to sleep....sleep...sleep.  I awoke again in a few hours to use the bathroom and drink some more water.  I had to shut down my computer that I had left up but ended up talking with Bratfink (again that attempt to stay up).  The Beast saw I was up and asked if I wanted to go to Lowe's to get some peat pots since I had mentioned starting a few seeds of plants I can never seem to find as starters.  I was, at first, eager to go but then I threw up (gotta listen to the body!  It can get even with you.) so I went back to bed instead.  This time I slept for hours.  I didn't wake again until 1am Central time.  How do I feel?  Well, I was hungry this time and ate a piece of chicken that I reheated and drank some ice water and then a glass of orange juice.  I don't feel like I *must* go back to bed yet but we shall see.  Somehow, I really think I must have picked up the same thing Chewlee had.  Probably when I went out shopping on Sunday in those crowds of people I mingled with. 

I'm glad I had this day to be *sick* without having to worry about Chewlee.  I think I will be feeling better tomorrow morning after all this sleep.  It allows your body to concentrate on fighting off the bad germs/bacteria/viruses without expending energy on any activities you might be doing if awake.  I'm used to it but it doesn't mean I enjoy it.  When I was very ill, I used to sleep for a couple days.  It was always a shock to awaken and find out two or three days had passed but it did explain why I was famished.    I am hoping that now I can sleep normally and resume regular things tomorrow.  I feel much better than I did earlier but only time will tell.  I have more energy right now that I could do some tasks except for the fact that the Beast is now sleeping and I don't want to disturb him.  He is still not healed from his surgery which is strange in itself.  He usually is well healed by now and yet this surgery was supposed to be much less invasive even with removing the remains of his prostate.  The cancer was supposedly just two small spots.  We are at a loss as to why he is still hurting the way he is.  He has to go into the doctor in another week or so.  I imagine we will find out then how he's done.

The Beast has been having a lot of problems with his breathing and is trying out several things to get relief.  He's increased the amount of humidity in the air and is putting vaporub on his chest at night.  It must be helping him or I'm sure I would be hearing about it since he IS a man, after all.  And the Beast is one of the worst when it comes to exaggerating his aches and pains.  I'm sure he IS in pain but it doesn't require all the theatrics he puts on when he is around me.  If I am in my computer room and he is in his recliner where he thinks I can't hear him, the theatrics stop.  It's a man thing, I'm sure.

Our weather has gotten cooler the past few days.  Right now it's down to 29 degrees and dropping.  If we had any rain falling, it would be snow instead.  It's going to be cooler during the day as well.  The front that came through here was massive from the radar shots I saw (thank you Bratfink) and there's another huge one forming out west.  Looks like this may be the big, final (we hope!) shot of winter to hit us before whatever passes for spring starts.  At least, we can all hope so.

Love you all.  Gonna get this posted and just relax for a while.  I'll meet you all back here later tomorrow. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I got  Chewlee up before 5:30am only because I woke up before the alarm went off and she always tells me she wants to see Orangutan Island.  I carried her into my room and put her down on my recliner where she went right back to sleep.  She woke right up as soon as I turned her cartoons on, especially at 5:30am because it's Blue's Clues.  That's one of her favorites.  After Blue's Clues, she gets dressed for school while Diego is on. While she was getting dressed, she asked me if I was still upset with her and was she going to have to get a new babysitter?  (Both the Princess and I have told her that she has to start listening to me all the time or her mother will get a new babysitter for her and she doesn't want to do that.  Neither do I.)  I told her I wasn't upset because it was a new day and I loved her very much.  And I just knew she was going to be better today, right?  She nodded her head, finished getting dressed and then gave me a hug.

As soon as Diego is over, we go out to the living room and she watches Kai Lan while I keep an eye out for the bus.  This morning, although cool, I stood outside to watch for it while I had a cigarette.  I hadn't even finished it when the bus hit the corner so I opened the door and called Chewlee.  She came out quickly, grabbed her backpack and put it on while she walked to the bus.  As usual, I waved to the bus driver (who was already waving at me) then waved to Chewlee as she took her seat.

Chewlee was hungry when she first got up so she ate a small bowl of cereal and milk.  She will be offered another breakfast at school which includes juices.  I'm sure she will have had some apple juice along with some fruit like a banana.  I don't think she will be eating any cereal at school for a while since she threw up some cereal from her breakfast at school the other night if you recall.  She knew what it was and why her tummy bothered her all day.  She doesn't think that it was because she was already sick, to her it's why she threw up.  That's how kids think.

Chewlee was excited about me seeing that she got a happy face today and she said she finally made her teacher happy.  Her teacher called her *baby* in a good way and was so happy she got 100% on her test.  I guess that made Chewlee's day for her.  She was hungry when she got home so I made her some chicken nuggets and reheated the potato wedges from KFC.  She may have thought she was hungry but she ate a few of the potato wedges and only two chicken nuggets.  Later on, she had some toast (that she didn't finish) and a little bit of soup.  She's still not 100% and I will feel better when she is.  She IS eating more crackers now than she usually does.  She often eats them (Ritz crackers) like they are potato chips.  They are the Beast's favorites since he eats his cheeses on them so he gets irritated at how many she can eat.  He says even he doesn't eat that many but I told him she isn't eating gobs of cheese on hers like he does.

She took her bath and while she was drying off, I asked her if she was tired.  She told me she was and I believed it since her eyes looked like it.  I swear they turn down at the ends when she's tired besides getting dark rings around them.  I tucked her in while she cuddled up with my Indian blanket then gave her some Grandma kisses all over her face and neck.  She went right to sleep.  Definitely tired.

So I am here getting her backpack ready.  She read her homework to me earlier and I signed her page again.  She has to read this paragraph three times every day and then whatever adult is there listening and watching signs the paper.  At the end of the week, she gets a school *dollar* that she can spend getting things out of the Treasure Chest (the BIG one, as she says).

Tomorrow she has gymnastics and her mother will pick her up afterward.  It's my day off and I think I will run naked, with scissors.  Boy, wouldn't that startle the Beast.    Nah!  It's too cold to do that.  And I don't like to show my scars off yet.  Some of them still look very raw.

It was raining earlier and we had a few boomers but no rain now, just a hell of a lot of windy bursts.  They said we could have up to 62mph winds and I believe it.  I had a hard time getting to the garbage bin outside and it was just a short distance.  I wanted to put some mail into the mail box but that was just a bit too far to walk through those gusts.  I'll do it in the morning when this front should have passed.

I hope you all had a good day.  Did you stay warm and dry?  Good enough!  Love you all!  Be happy. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Last night, sometime after midnight, the Beast woke me up because he was having a hard time breathing.  He had a definite wheeze from his chest and he laid back in his recliner hoping that would help him out.  I asked him if he didn't think he should go to emergency but he refused.   I covered him up and went into my room, leaving the door open so I could hear him if things got worse.  He knew I was staying up for him although I was bone deep tired. 

After about a half hour, he came into my room and laid back in my recliner.  I was smoking more than normal due to being tired and trying to stay awake.  The smell was bothering him (hurrah!  He only came in here to moan and groan with an audience...).  I had to get up quickly at one point because I had to barf and I made it in to the sink in the bathroom, thankfully.  I barfed another time or two and then seemed done so I went back to sit in my computer chair.  The Beast finally said the smell of the smoke bothered him so he went back to his own bed and seemed to be feeling better.  He sounded better at least.  I was grateful to be able to go back to sleep on my recliner.  I had gone to sleep earlier that evening before the Beast was ready.  He was watching basketball and had the sound jacked up high so he could hear it.  I left my television on to help drown out the noise.  It actually works...LOL.

I was still feeling under the weather in the morning so I checked my email and even got a cup of coffee that I didn't drink because my stomach was not feeling well.  I guess whatever bug Chewlee had, she gave to me.  Oh well!  It'll pass.  I ended up sleeping a lot...most of the day, actually.  But I do that when I am sick.  It helps me get over it quicker because my body can concentrate on healing if I am asleep and not active.

The Beast?  He lived through the night...(dammit!)...he can be a real pain in the ass.  It's that *man thing*....no one has ever been as sick as THEY are!  Honestly...they need to grow up.  It's so damned annoying.  What's worse is when they are truly ill, like after the Beast's first stroke..the big one...they are suddenly Tarzan and in total denial about their condition.  Go figure!

Chewlee got a smiley.  It was the first thing she wanted me to check.    But after that, her day and mine clashed...a lot!  She was tired and cranky and the crankiness and I did not get along at all.  I gave her the Learn To Read system starter today.  That disappointed me because they only give you this crappy sample booklet to kind of *test* out the tag reader.  If I had known, I could have picked up a book for her from the system.  But later, that didn't matter because, after countless warnings, I had to put it up because she *forgot* that I told her if she didn't stop throwing things down on the floor, she would lose them for a few days (depending on how many times I had told her about that particular item) up to a week.  She lost using the *tag* because it was on the floor.  She also lost her coloring book and a couple of the drawings she had done for Birdie.  She'll get them back eventually but she kept saying, *I was going to pick them up later.*  I told her she shouldn't have thrown them on the floor in the first place.  Some lessons are hard.

I have been telling her she had to stop getting the bathroom floor so wet because eventually she will loosen up the grout and the underfloor will get wet and buckle.  I explained it carefully to her but she only went two days being good about it.  So now she has to take a shower (that starts tomorrow) because she not only got the floor wet today but, after I had wiped it up (I usually make her do it but I was sitting right there at the time...), she went and got it even wetter after that!  I was totally pissed so tomorrow is a shower.  We'll see how she does with that since there's no playing in the shower.

She went to bed without a story, too.  That's because she gave me such a hard time about combing her hair.  She said to me, *Why?  I'm only going to bed!*  Her hair gets knotty if the wind blows, let alone when she's sleeping and doing her tossing and turning.  Sheesh.  Because she fought me when I was trying to do it, I told her no bedtime story.  It was not a good day for either of us that way.

She is still complaining about her tummy and didn't ask for any of her usual things like a pickle or an orange.  I'll just wait and let her heal on her own schedule.  As long as she's not throwing up, it will work out.

Bratfink told me that the weather predictions for the snow coming towards them is awful.  Many, many inches deep so that means they will definitely be housebound since Sheldon is not the best of drivers under good circumstances and road conditions. 

Our weather will be considered warm during the day and night times.  The biggest threat over the next five days is slight chances of rain.  We can live with that.  It's getting to be very normal here these days.  **Sigh**  Hope you all have better outlooks than Bratfink.

Love you all.  Drive carefully, stay warm and dry.  Smile unexpectedly and make the smiles spread. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Today I got a call from Sheepie.  She was happy and asking about when Chewlee and the Beast would be home from church because she and Teach wanted to come over and visit with us for a while.  She got here just as the Beast and Chewlee got home.  They had stopped at KFC to buy us each something to eat (no, not Sheepie and Teach....he had no idea they would be here).  Well, at first Teach had just dropped her off because he needed to go to the library and do a little studying (yes, our library is open on Sundays).  He came later and stood up for a while because the chairs in the library hurt his butt but he soon commandeered the recliner.

Sheepie looks adorable.  She got her hair cut chin length with it all one length and the cut is lower in front and higher in the back.   It's adorable on her.  She got down on the floor and joined Chewlee (briefly) in coloring in the new coloring book I bought her.  When I made my sojourn to Walmart, I bought her the coloring book, a new bedtime story book (Dora), some crayons, some markers and I ended up buying her a new jacket since they were on sale.  I also bought her the Learn To Read system but she doesn't know that yet.  I have it hidden under my desk.  I'll surprise her with it tomorrow.

She played Hide and Seek with Teach.  She hid and Teach was the seeker.  When it was his turn to hide, well.....he hid in plain sight since this wasn't his house.  I have a hunch he plays that game with his nephew (who is about 3 I believe or soon will be).  Chewlee was very happy to see Sheepie since it had been a long time since that had happened.

Sheepie and I had a long talk...about her mother, the Princess and a few other unrelated things.  She told me she had apologized to the Princess for the things she had said and done but she had done it by text and had never gotten a reply.  I told her that, from what the Princess had told me, a truce was fine with her.  So that should be the end of THAT drama, thank goodness.

When she and Teach left to go get something to eat (and Sheepie was dying for a nap...just like I was...LOL), I gave her a couple good hugs and a kiss with a *Love you* as they went out the door.  I also gave Teach a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  I mean it when I say it was really nice to see them both again.

When Chewlee left for her play date with Birdie and her kids, I couldn't wait to lay down on my recliner and take MY nap.  I have to admit my trip to Walmart was tiring for me.  My legs just throbbed for a half hour after I got home but I knew the exercise was good for me.  I didn't lay down OR stay sitting so that I wouldn't end up with charlie horses or those muscle tightening up on me that got the most use.  What IS funny is the nerve endings right where my big toe used to reside went nuts.  That is what give me the phantom toe pain but I know what's doing it and I try to ignore it when I can.  The skin flaps that were folded over to cover the amputation area contain nerves that used to be part of my toe.  That's why I get what feels like pain in my big toe. 

The Beast just left to pick up Chewlee from Birdie's house so I will probably let her play her games after she takes a quick bath.  I'll put her in pajamas so she's ready for bed once the Princess picks her up.  I will probably go to bed after she leaves because my nap was a short one.  I know I will wake up in a few hours because my bladder will insist on it.  I really hate getting old.

Love you all.  Our snow is gone now since the temp got up to 45 degrees.  That made Baron happy and he's been checking the weather out every 15 minutes or so.  Sometimes he doesn't even go down into the yard but just checks things out from the deck.  Weird dog.  I had thought he might have a case of diarrhea but watching him convinced me he didn't.  Thank goodness.

Be good and be sure to stay warm and dry.  Don't drive if you don't have to.  Be safe, not sorry. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I was thinking that it might be a smart thing to have Chewlee spend the night because church is so early in the morning.  It's one of the few days that the Princess doesn't HAVE to be up early and could sleep in but...not if Chewlee is going to be dressed for church in time for the Beast to pick her up.  She would have to be up early enough to eat breakfast, get dressed nicely, have her hair done and Chewlee's own personal touches (her kids eyeshadow which is almost unnoticeable and her lip gloss).  Oh, and let's not forget her necklace, bracelet, hair band and....if I would let her.....her earrings.....too funny!  She wants to look so grownup.  I keep telling her to be a kid for as long as she can.  Being a grownup isn't much fun sometimes.  But, of course, she doesn't believe me.  Sigh.

Anyway, before I can address those thoughts, the Princess calls and says that Johnnycakes wants to go see a movie.  The Beast, ever the comedian, says to her, *For cryin' out loud, Princess, let the poor guy go see a movie if he wants to!*  After they stopped laughing over that, she wanted to know if we would watch her for a couple hours.  The Beast, who apparently had the same idea *I* did, tells the Princess that Chewlee might as well come and spend the night.  I believe it was around 6:30pm or so when Chewlee was dropped off, nice and clean and in her footie pajamas and bearing a big bag of booty.  Actually, it had play clothes, which entailed two pair of pants and several different shirts.  The bad thing is...no jacket.  And I know Chewlee brought one home from school but her mother never thought to include it in the bag.  <<bang, bang, bang>> That's banging my head on the keyboard because it's snowing out right now and cold as hell.  I think I have her leggings in her drawer here and she will be wearing them instead of socks under her dress tomorrow.  But I guess a blanket will have to do to protect her from the cold...at least a bit.  Thank goodness I have one of her napping blankets here.

Chewlee also brought this big red teddy bear that says Happy Valentine's Day on it.  She told me one of her mother's friends gave it to her as a gift but her mother gave it to her.  Oh, and her own toothbrush and toothpaste she proclaimed to me.  She doesn't like the Beast's toothpaste and I only use Polident....LOL.  Definitely not for little ones.

She's definitely feeling better but not quite herself just yet.  How do I know?  She laid down in my recliner in the middle of one of our hidden object games because she was tired.  Too tired to concentrate on the game.  When I told her it was time for bed, there was no argument and she didn't even want to read her Olivia book.  She gave me a goodnight hug while I plied her face and neck with grandma kisses while she laughed and then cuddled up with her bear.  She was asleep in about 5 minutes, no longer than that.  She was THAT tired.  But she had eaten a sandwich, some milk and even a pickle earlier.  I was very cautious about giving it to her because I didn't want her to barf.  She didn't have a fever so that's why she got the milk even.  I just checked on her and she's sleeping peacefully (and no night fever).  So I guess the worst is over for her now.

Like I mentioned earlier, we have snow.  It's been flurrying this evening and that darn Baron can be a real pain if he's forced to go out in it.  He REALLY had to go so out he went but....when he came back in, he stood at the door and barked at the Beast.  When the Beast looked over at him and said, *What????* Baron barked again and raised his front paw up.  The damn dog wanted the Beast to wipe them off for him and his back, too, of course.  I about died laughing.  His message was clear.

When I talked to the Princess about the jacket situation, she said that Chewlee insisted she had a jacket here at the house but that was the jacket Chewlee brought home on Friday and she wore it home that afternoon.  So the Princess said she will try to get here before they leave for church in the morning.  The Beast said he will warm up the car before they leave but that's just a small part of the trip.

Hope everyone is keeping warm and dry.  Looks like most of the country has been hit by cold, snow and sleet.  I sure hope spring shows up soon.  I know it has some of my flowers confused with the weather we HAVE had the past couple of weeks.  I think even the trees are showing signs of budding already and now this happens.  I guess it's funny in a way.  I'm going to try to get some of my plants for the garden started.  I'll see if the Beast will make the trip to Lowe's with me tomorrow after we eat lunch.  I definitely want to get a few bush bean plants started and I plan on some radishes and rose tipped lettuce for this year.  We need more salad added to our meals.  We'll have the usual tomatoes and cucumbers so we should be set.  We might try one of the plats out for some sweet potatoes and even some regular potatoes now that we know the secret to successfully growing them. 

Love you all.  Please be careful driving.  I need all the readers I can keep. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

If Chewlee hadn't barfed this morning after she got up, she might have been allowed to go to school.  She tried to tell her mother she felt better but she still had a fever so she didn't get to go.  It actually upset her.  But she came to stay with Grandma for the day and that worked except I could tell she still wasn't up to snuff.  She didn't want to eat but wanted some ice tea.  I made her some tea and let her stir the sugar in it then put it into a big glass of ice so it would be watered down a lot (it ended up being just half a cup of tea to a big glass of crushed ice).  She had a straw for it (I saved the one from last night) and she was happy.  She sipped on it most of the afternoon.  I tried to get her to eat some soup but she declined.  I gave her some motrin around 2pm since she was feeling very warm to me by then.  The Princess got off work early (4:30pm) and Chewlee was very happy she was ready to go.  I had made her put on her socks and boots about 10 minutes before the Princess got here.

I sent home a bunch of Chewlee's papers that had come from the back of her folder (those are the keep at home ones) so the Princess could see them before throwing away the ones that weren't practice ones that the teacher sent home.  Chewlee was telling me today that she missed our *picnics*.  I told her we could always have one tomorrow but she said to me, *No we can't.  Tomorrow is Saturday and that's me and my mommy's time together.*  I just said, *Oh, you're right!* I was fully aware of this at the time but wanted to see if SHE would remember.  Then I told her we could do it on Sunday but she said it would be dark before she got home because she had her play time with Birdie's kids after church.  When I told her that since it was a pretend picnic, we could pretend it was light out but she had a better idea.  We will do it on Monday because then she can bring her tea set over on Sunday for us to use on Monday (because that's a sleepover day so she won't be going home that night) or Tuesday.  We can have our picnic then when we don't do our tea party!  How about that??? 

Chewlee has become much more aware of what day it is.  Now her big thing is to learn time.  I wonder if they still sell those big toy clocks with the moveable hands that we used to use to teach kids how to tell time years ago?  I'm going to have to take a ride up to Walmart and see if they might have them.  Otherwise, it'll be the internet for shopping...again.  I still haven't gotten her a new book to read before bed and I need that for Monday night as a surprise.  **Grin**

I have gotten so used to being housebound that even the Beast gets this surprised look on his face when I dress up and put my shoes on.  He's going to be surprised tomorrow because if *I* am ready to go before he is, I'm outta here!  I can drive no matter HOW the Beast feels about it.  He is NOT going to make me feel older than I am.  I've already put him on notice about driving up to Chicago this summer and he's not happy about it.  He keeps trying to tell me that missing two summers of driving up there on my own now means I am not able to do it any more.  Bullshit!  I planned this so that I have my stops along the way.  I intend to stop and see my son, Marcus, and at least have lunch with him and his wife (and our youngest granddaughter...who is 13 now but will be 14? soon...omg, I am getting old!).  I'll probably stay overnight at Mustachio's.  Then onward to my sisters house (Bratfink) where I will spend an hour or so before pushing on to my sister-in-law, Kay's, house.  Unless Bratfink and I are having such a good time that I spend the night at a motel nearby and push on in the morning.  I figure I am not going to subject her cats to more of Chewlee's time than necessary since Chewlee will be traveling with me, I hope (and so does she!).

I think Chewlee will be much, much better tomorrow if she's done with barfing.  AND if she's eaten something this evening when she went home with her mom.  It'll be cold here tomorrow (it's 35 degrees outside as we speak so it will be down into the upper 20's by morning.  We're to get some rain and  light snow tomorrow and more snow on Sunday that might just stick.  It's only going to be a high around 39 but that's not a  promise.

Love you all.  Pray for those in New England since they are supposed to get up to 15" of snow in some areas.  Stay warm and dry and TRY to enjoy this weekend, regardless.  Happy Easter, nonetheless.