TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Chewlee and I got up at 5am so  that she could get dressed, eat something and then be ready for the bus at 6am.  Well, we went and sat outside about 10 minutes before the bus should have been here and guess what?  No bus.  We stayed out there until almost 20 minutes after 6 and STILL no bus so I said the hell with it and we went in the house.  Chewlee immediately laid down and was almost asleep within 5 minutes so, when the Beast got up (looking like hell) and asked if he needed to drive her, I told him  to go back to bed.  This is only Summer Camp, not school.

When I went into my computer room, Chewlee was really and truly just about sound asleep.  But, when I went to sit down beside her on my recliner, she crawled into my lap and laid her head on my shoulder.  That was all I needed.  I laid the chair back and covered us up and we both fell asleep until around 9:30am.  I was surprised because we had gone to bed about 9pm.  We were both very tired.  Part of it was the heat, I guess.

So Chewlee spent her day here and we were in and out of the house all day long.  The A/C window units were on in the house, keeping it cool.  When we got too hot and sweaty, we headed back into the house.  In-out , in-out...we finally had to take naps just from the heat, I think it was.  Di said her thermometer that wasn't out in the sun at all showed an outside temp of 95  degrees.  She wasn't sure how accurate it actually was because Dennis really didn't care.  He just wanted a general idea. 

Di was just miserable today.  For the first time in all the years we've known her, she actually raised her voice to him because he didn't want to turn on the generator (yet) so they could run the AC in their RV.  But he expected her to cook for him.  She told him no damn way was she going to cook for him in the heat inside their RV (it was 105 in there) with no AC and not even a damn fan.......  Coming from her, you have no idea how funny that was to me.

Chewlee's bike threw it's chain today.  Chewlee, of course, ran into the house to ask Papa if he would fix it for her.  He came out and fooled with it for a while but it was weird how it was set up and you couldn't get it onto the back gear due to it having to thread through this strange plastic section of the chain guard.  The Beast finally asked me how expensive a bike like that would be and I gave him my best guess.  He gathered up Chewlee and off they went to Walmart to see what they could find.  Chewlee was so excited about getting a new bike that the Beast actually spent a lot more than he wanted to.  But its a nice 20 inch bike (it goes by tire sizes, Princess...just FYI).  He made her run it up and down one of the aisles in Walmart and then they rolled it down to one of the registers.  Chewlee could hardly wait to ride it and show it off to everyone. 

When her mother came to get her, she had parked it in the garage since THIS bike has a kickstand.  She even mastered coasting brakes within about two seconds.  But this bike will not be left outside like her last one was.  No rusting from rain except for a wild dash home, perhaps.  Now she will be overexcited about getting home tomorrow....just to ride her bike.

What's kind of funny was that half the neighborhood was outside this evening...even before it started cooling down a bit.  We all were fanning ourselves and pulling out our tops and fanning our bodies with them by pulling them out and pushing them back.  We all agreed it was the humidity that was hardest on us.  They say a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms tonight and, as much as we know it will lead to just more heat and humidity, the rain will be cooling and a relief.  Okay, so it's just temporary relief but we are only human, for heaven's sake!  We take what we can get. 

Love you all.  Have a great *hump day*. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Today was kind of a sad day.  Mostly for the Beast's cousin, Butch.  His wife, Lin, died of lung cancer.  She only weighed 68 lbs.  She's to be cremated and her ashes will be spread in her yard that she loved when she was well enough to care for the flowers she had planted once upon a time.

Truth be told, she was ill for most of her life.  She couldn't be operated on because any anesthesia stopped her heart and she died on the table.  She even went to Cleveland Clinic, where they tested a few of their experimental ones that they were developing with the same result.  Instant death on the table for her if they had been used.  They tested them like any allergy is by injecting it under the skin in small amounts, one at a time.  Her reactions were always the same, life threatening.  They were married for many years but I really can't remember just how many at this time.  It didn't seem important when the Beast spoke to his cousin.  He will be driving up to SC this weekend to Butch's mom's house to meet up with his cousin and spend a couple days with him.  They have always been more like brothers than cousins.

Lin and I were close friends at one time but, when they moved almost 300+ miles away from us, we drifted apart.  Isn't it strange how that can happen but I can feel close to Butch's kids (now grown up with grown kids of their own) although they live further away?  Actually, I'm not telling the whole story here but she is now having to answer for the good AND bad things she did during her life.  It's not my job to air what I know to the world now that she has passed.  She was family to the Beast and that's the end of it.

It didn't rain today.....hurrah!  Dennis and Di got their septic tank and septic field in but the guy for the driveway didn't show up.  I don't know if they heard from him because I didn't get to talk to them at all.  I think Dennis must have been getting prices on a metal roof because he had several people that showed up at various times.  In fact, I think he even snagged the guy that was coming to see US about reroofing our house with metal.  But that's okay with us right now since Lin's death.  We'd have to put that off even if we found a good price.

We are still under the 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms.  We got some nasty looking clouds that came through but not a drop of rain.  I was grateful.  The Beast picked some of the big ripe tomatoes before he FINALLY got his drooping and bent tomato plants propped up well.  He also picked some jalapeno peppers that I will probably use in my homemade salsa.  Now I just need to go out and pick more of my green beans and check on my cukes and the Beast's squash.  I think I may have to start doing some early canning with all the damn tomatoes on our plants.  And what we are going to do with all the grapes, I haven't a clue. 

Love you all.  Hope your week started well.  Gotta get to bed early since I must be up at 5am so Chewlee catches her bus at 6am. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

Chewlee was dropped off early today and was in a good mood.  The Beast was gone to his big assembly meeting for his church up in Huntsville.  That made Chewlee happy since it meant she could watch her cartoons on the BIG TV.  The first thing she wanted was a BIG glass of milk that I gave her in her insulated straw glass.  She just loves drinking through a straw like most kids do.  Her next request?  A pickle.  She, like her mother at her age, just loves dill pickles.  You have to forgive her the garlic on her breath but I'm used to it now.

She had me check on when her favorite show was on (Peppa Pig) and I showed her.  She still can't tell time but is getting a bit better at that.  I'm hoping that she will know how by the time she has to go back to school.  She IS getting fairly good at the o'clocks but not the rest....yet.  She's smart but you have to have her full attention.  Or a reward that she really wants.  I'm thinking a watch of her own.  But I haven't offered it to her yet.

When she found out that her *show* wasn't on for over an hour, then we had to go outside while the weather was good.  We've had rain every day for almost a week so it was a real treat for her.  So, I gather up my coffee, my cell phone and a cushion for my tush and head outside.  What do I find her doing?  She's got her kids nail polish (it comes off in water) and she's sitting on the ground painting her nails and toenails.  Then, without the use of a mirror, she puts on her eye shadow and lip gloss.  She is such a girl because then she thinks she is beautiful....like her mommy. 

Then it was bike time for about 15 minutes.  When she asked me what time it was, she was distressed to find out I didn't have my watch on.  So into the house she ran to get it for me.  Then she had to put it on for me.  After that, she was happy because she really didn't want to miss Peppa Pig.  I let Baron out so I could practice using the clicker on him to make him come without having to yell for him.  He actually took to it fast and returned to me when I clicked it twice (as I wanted the return command to be).  Chewlee was dying to try it but had to wait because it was time for her program to come on.

Then, just after I got online with Bratfink, who shows up but Di and Dennis.  Those are the people that are building the house across from us.  They arrived with their RV and automobile (his motorcycle is parked in front of our garage complete with cover on it).  It's still parked there because the contractors that are to put in the driveway and the septic people are coming bright and early in the morning and they want to be there while that is going on to make sure it's done right since both have special requirements.  Don't ask me but Dennis is an engineer with several degrees so I don't even TRY to figure out what's going on with them.  Not my job.

I ended up, after retrieving some things for Dennis out of the barn, keeping Di company.  I don't think I ever mentioned this before but, for a psychiatrist, Di is mostly boring.  Her concerns seem trivial.  At times, she seems like she's half asleep and I KNOW she hates drugs.  She hates those psychiatrists that use drugs on their patients.  The only time she seems interesting is when she talks about some of the things she did to get other doctors patients off their drugs and how well they seemed to do afterward.  She perks up and is more animated than usual. 

When the Beast got home, I made my escape and left them to him.  Di took Chewlee into the motor home and showed it to her.  Chewlee was very impressed by it and thought that was the best way to travel to places.  When the Princess got here, she got to see the inside, too.  I haven't talked to her about how SHE liked it yet but I know she had to like it a whole lot better than the motor home she traveled in when WE had ours.  Ours was much more the average kind.  Their motor home is like a Mercedes in comparison.

So what was the *old foe* that hit me?  My allergies.  Oh yes.  All it took was a couple hours sitting outside and Dennis across the street mowing his lawn and I was in allergy hell.  I tried to lay down and rest but my sinuses began to run down my throat and make me cough and choke.  I was miserable but......I DID have some medication in the bathroom (OTC).  It works for me and, after about an hour, I felt so much better!  I really thought my *season* was over but Dennis's lawn is not so much a lawn as much as it is a collection of various weeds, some of which I am obviously allergic to.

No rain today, which I take as a hopeful sign.  The guys Dennis is expecting tomorrow won't be able to work in the rain so Dennis is saying special prayers and lighting candles and stuff.  LOL  I checked weatherbug and it's saying we have a 30% chance of rain from tomorrow until Thursday when it changes to 50%.  Let's hope the rain misses us like it does so often when it's at 30%. 

Love you all.  Have a great week. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I have no idea what hit me but I was so damn tired after Chewlee left for home that I laid down for a nap and ended up sleeping for seven...count them....7......hours!  It was like I was making up for some of the sleep I lost during my vacation.  I woke up, did the daily special games on Pogo for me and Bratfink then I went back to bed instead of doing my blog.  The Beast woke me up a little bit ago to help him button his collar before he headed off to church.  He'll be home earlier today than he has been the past two days.  I'm hoping we have better weather at least until later this afternoon.  I hate all this rain, day after day, along with the flash floods from the water running down the mountains around us.  The lake is below us in elevation, a saving grace.  When I drove over the causeway the other day, the water level was almost up to it.  I thought it would be exciting to see it cover the roadway.  I wondered how the locals would react to that happening.

I feel good today and I will probably get Chewlee later today.  Johnnycakes had his vacation all week long so he kept Chewlee.  The Beast, ever in control, hadn't even noticed that he wasn't getting Chewlee every day until those times I asked about her.  So much for his awareness.

When I got Chewlee yesterday (I asked for her to be dropped off), she was SO glad to see me that she ran up and gave me a big hug and a kiss!  She showed me her Princess dolls and their horse that she brought to play with and then I showed her what I had for her.  She just loved her chair and the clothes I bought her.  She also loved the outfit with the flip flops that matched.  She played Princess with this one good dress of hers that we have here and, afterward, she wanted to change into one of the outfits that I bought for her.  She had paid attention because she described the pattern on the top she wanted and the pattern of the skinny pants that went with it.  Hell, I didn't even remember that!  LOL 

I opened up the bag of gummie bears and brought out a handful of them for Chewlee and me to share.  I didn't take many because they are so sweet although I was surprised at how many made up a *serving* and the calories involved.  It was more than I thought and less than I thought.  **Shrug**  I don't use that as MY guideline but it's nice to know that mine is less than one of their servings.

Chewlee finally got tired of watching King Kong with me so she went and watched cartoons on the BIG TV in the living room.  I was happy to see that she liked watching her programs on that TV and she was just laying in the Beast's chair like it was her personal lounge chair.  Then she decided to move her little chair that I bought her into the living room.  She asked me if that was okay and I said it was so she just carried it out there and sat down.  She ended up being very upset with Baron who came over to assess the threat the chair presented and blocked her vision to the TV.  It just made me laugh.  There she was, sitting in the little chair with the big blob, Baron, blocking her way to even get up.  She was trying to push him away and was calling my name at the same time to make him move.

She was so cute because she brushed my hair but wouldn't let me touch hers.  She tells me she has a big knot in back of her head and it hurts if you try to brush it.  I told her it wouldn't get any better and promised to brush it very carefully.  At that, she grabbed my new brush and started to brush her own hair.  She noticed that the knot was gone.    I checked her hair with my fingers and only found a small tangle.  She pushed my hand away and brushed in that area with my big brush.  I pronounced her hair acceptable and she grinned then put my brush down.  If she puts on play clothes or pajamas, I have always insisted that she must (or I must) brush her hair.  This went on after she put on the new clothes that I had bought her.

She wanted to go out and play but it rained almost all day.  When Tara came by for some potato salad, Chewlee was upset that she didn't bring all the kids in with her.  Chewlee, as soon as she saw Michelle's car pull in our driveway, shut Baron in my bedroom since Chance is allergic to him.  She was just trying to save some aggravation but it did make me smile that she was trying so hard to help out.

She usually eats her weight in food, I swear, but she slowed down yesterday and just ate a leg's worth of food.  LOL !  She had to have her daily two pickles (the whole ones) but she also had her baloney sandwich and potato chips.  She ate almost a half a bag of potato chips and came in to tell me that only little bits were left.  When I told her to throw the bag away, you would have thought I told her to cut one of her fingers off!  She ran out to the living room and ate all the crumbs out of the bag before she finally threw the bag away.

She was ready when her mother came to pick her up after work and so was I.  That kid has so much energy, it's amazing.  If I could bottle it, I would make a fortune.

Love you all.  Hope you are enjoying your Sunday (and not having all the rain like we are). 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

After talking to Bratfink about HER e-cig, I decided to try a different one for the hell of it.  So, when I went out to Walmart today, I bought one called a FIN.  The bad part is that they only had the nicotine cartridges left but I figured I could take it for a bit.  If I liked them, I could find different *flavored* ones at one of the tobacco stores here.  They are definitely different.  The battery section has a light at the end that lights up blue when you inhale.  It actually almost looks like a cigarette since the battery (lower) section on this brand is white and the cartridge is a kind of frosty brown.  When put together, it looks a bit like a filtered cigarette.  So much so that I actually found myself looking for an ashtray to tap the *ash* that wasn't there.    I also dropped it in my lap and reacted like I had dropped a lit cigarette into it.  It also puts more vapor into your mouth so there's more *smoke* so you feel like you are smoking.  It would be too easy to trade one bad habit for another and keep this up longer than I want to.

Can I drop the day-by-day and just hit the highlights of my vacation?  Thanks.  Kay and I actually ended up going out to dinner twice.  Once with Pete and once without him.  We also ordered Chinese one night which I totally enjoyed since our places here really suck for the most part.  The boys did a great *clean up* on that stuff.  I forgot to order egg drop soup but that's not a big deal since I can make that here on my own.

When my package came from UPS of things that I knew I couldn't fit into my suitcase, I was a bit shocked.  I bought more clothes for myself than I thought I had.  It was nice reminding myself as I went through it all.  I also had a 3# bag of gummie bears in there as well as one of those ear suction guns (I had forgotten I bought that).  But since I seldom spend much money on myself, it was really a lot of fun.  I DID buy a couple little things for Chewlee but not as much as you might think.  A small pillow pet (not the big one that she has already) that includes a night light for keeping here at our house so she doesn't have to keep bringing over her lady bug one.  It's also not as elaborate as that one since it has just one color light.  I DID buy her a cute outfit however.  It has a pair of shorts, an adorable top AND flip flops that match the shorts.  It was only $10 but I think she will love it.

I brought home some nuts from Kay that were from Andes Candies but she and Pete will never eat since they are both dieting (although why Kay would diet, I have no idea).  Maybe just to be supportive to Pete who DOES need to lose a few more pounds than the 30 he's already lost.  Good going, Pete!  Keep it up!

One of the girls from my reunion that didn't make it called me in the airport.  I told her I couldn't hear a word she was saying with all the noise and I finally called her back as I had promised.  We talked about a half hour or so about everything and nothing, like old friends always do.  Now that I have her cell phone number, we can talk more in the future.  We are realizing more and more that we are getting old and should keep our friends close to us.

It was fun and startling to drive through various suburbs that I once knew well and see how they had grown.  That part was shocking to me.  But it was also fun in many ways.  It's a brave new world out there.

I'm tired now so I will just say...love you all and I wish you a great weekend.  We are due for rain on a daily basis for the next week.  *Sigh* 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

....since I didn't take notes and really can't remember what happened when.  Sorry but I'm just a bit too forgetful to do that without notes.

I stopped and had my nails done (acrylic) at a nail salon I had noticed when on my way to the shopping center.  There was one in the center but it was very expensive AND full of customers.  I didn't feel like waiting around for what could be hours.  The place I had them done was busy but had about 10 people working so the owner of the salon (a very nice Vietnamese man) did my nails.  He did them fast and they look wonderful but now I either have to keep them up or go through the  pain of soaking them off.  I just wanted them to look nice for when I saw all my girlfriends.

My family calls them my delinquent girlfriends because we were all sent to this Catholic boarding school by the courts.  Most of us were chronic runaways due to abuse and other problems.  We pretty much came from areas of the city that were either turning criminally bent or were already full of gangs.  We were teenagers with problems but we are all upstanding citizens nowadays.  AND.....we have remained friends now for over 49 years.  We always have fun when we get together.  We talk about things that happened years ago and things going on in our lives now.  We are diverse in our attitudes and nationalities.  We have lost some of our friends to drugs, accidents, heart attacks and one even died in a fire.  **Shudder**  Two recently died due to*natural causes* or old age I guess you could say, although we didn't think of them as old by any means.

Most of us now are non-smokers and we feel that is a big plus.  We also hope it helps us continue to get together for many more years.  I laughed when I realized that I had known a few of the girls for many more years than I knew the Beast (they lived in my neighborhood).  We used to cut school together from time-to-time....LOL.  One friend, Alice, I have known since the fourth grade. 

When we met up together, I had gone to my girlfriend Marilyn's house and we waited for Frankie, another of our friends.  She always, always gets lost and we have to go rescue her.  This time it was because her GPS stopped talking to her.  Marilyn gave her an older GPS that she had kept from her sister but this one worked. 

We were supposed to go out to a restaurant but Jamie decided she needed to save her money because *the kids need college money*.  She means her grandkids and, since she really wants to travel to Europe, we told her that it was a nice thought but...that was the worry of their parents, not hers.  There's grant money and other sources available to the kids when they hit that age.  They are young right now.  The oldest just turned 10.

We are thinking of putting together some kind of deal with a travel agency for a group trip.  So far, there are six of us that want to go.  A couple others might, depending on what kind of trip we can put together and how expensive it is.  We shall see.

So, instead of hitting a restaurant and keeping a couple tables occupied for some poor waiter or waitress for hours, we played a kind of  pot luck.  Jamie had the main course, which turned out to be Italian beef (Yum!).  The rest of us brought cheese trays, fruit trays, chips, dips, crackers and even Italian bread with a dipping oil that was yummy.  We even had potato salad and cole slaw that, although from a store, it was a deli and they were delicious.  Marilyn made two coffee cakes (blueberry and strawberry) but Jamie topped that with her cheese cake.  However, the coffee cakes won't go unappreciated since Jamie has two of her kids plus three grandkids living with her and her husband.

When Frankie and I returned to Marilyn's, we had coffee and a small piece of coffee cake since Marilyn had made one for herself and her hubby.....and any company they had.  We talked about Jamie having rescued 8 cats and how amazing it was that you hardly ever saw any of them.  We only thought she had 3 and her dog.  We were stunned to find out they were supporting 8 cats now and two dogs (one belongs to her son and family who now live with her since he lost his job).  Her daughter, a cop, lives with her since the daughter got a divorce.  I have no idea why since she makes good money and should be able to get her own place but...it's not for me to say.  It might be to keep her son in a good school for now.  Who knows?

We always tell the girls that don't make it that their absence gives us someone to talk about.  All in good fun but we miss them when they can't join us.  Life happens and we know that.  We just enjoyed ourselves and that's all that matters.

I spent a lot of time walking longer distances than I usually do and I really suffered from a lot of pain because of that.  I'm still paying the price so I need to get my legs up for a while.  I will write more about the great food I ate (Thank you, Kay) and a few other things tomorrow.

Love you all and I hope you had a great Fourth of July.  We had crappy weather here so there was no picnic.  The girls are coming by to pick up some potato salad to take home since I made 5# of potatoes worth (along with a dozen eggs...LOL).  But it is soooooo good. 

Have a great Friday and an even better weekend. 

TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

I'm home and glad of it even though I enjoyed myself.  The bad part was my planes both ways ran into bad weather.  One of my flights to Chicago (I had to take two) was so *bumpy* and felt like we were on a wild roller coaster ride that a woman across the aisle from me had to use the barf bag.  She was so embarrassed.  I told her, *Honey, don't be embarrassed.  You will never see any of us after this ride.*  A couple of us women around her handed her some tissues to wipe her mouth.  She smiled as we all moved away to our own paths.

I got my rental car (with an upgrade, of course, so I had a GPS to get around).  Turns out that I finally managed to figure it out (It was called a *Never Lost* GPS, of course) just as I finally got ahold of my ex-sister-in-law, Kay and it turns out I was just a few minutes from her house just from memory....LOL.

It was dark when I finally got to her front door (it was dark when I pulled into the gas station and figured out the GPS...it didn't suddenly go dark during the 10 minutes to Kay's).  I stayed up to unwind and ended up sending my nephew, Ray-Ray, to pick up liquor and mixer.  Now THAT was weird to me since he turned 21 while my back was turned but I was really too damn tired to drive.  I had one drink and that was all it took to send me to dreamland.  So that was the end of Day #1 of my vacation.

Day#2

I woke up totally disoriented and both Kay and Sweet Pea had gone to work.  Sweet Pea left the house around 1:30am.  Kay leaves at 5:30am to catch her train into the city.  Sweet Pea gets home around 3:30pm and Kay gets home around 5:30pm.  The bad part is that Sweet Pea has OCD (I'm pretty sure) so he has to make his rounds of *his* areas before he can lay down and get some sleep.  He usually grabs something to eat before heading for bed even though on THIS day, he knew he didn't have to go to work since he has Friday night and Saturday night off.  If my brain were working right this minute, I might remember if he goes to work until Monday night but I'm really not sure.  He had a double *gig* on Saturday up in Lake Charles with a band he plays with and likes.  That matters to him.  I think I took them out to eat on Friday night.  I forget the name of the restaurant but it was a steak house and the food was wonderful.  My real regret was that the *Surf* part of my meal was overdone.  Damn near rubber but, since they enjoy eating there, I didn't tell them.  My *Turf* was done just perfect I should mention.

I talked to a couple of my girlfriends who I was meeting up with on Sunday and then headed for the shopping mall to pick up a few things for myself.  I needed a bathing suit since I had forgotten mine at home.  And I wanted to pick up some smaller pants since the ones I had at home were getting too big on me.  I also wanted some new summery tops.  I hit the Mall and hit a couple great sales.  I can't tell you what all I got but I did get three new summer sleep sets, two pair of slacks, five tops and a new bra.  I bought a purse at another store along with a belt.  I bought an aloe vera plant that I kept watered then wrapped in two plastic bags for the trip home.  I stopped and had my nails done with acrylic and my nails are already showing signs of needing fills.  **Sigh**  But I wanted them to look good when I met with my girlfriends on Sunday.  I headed back to Kay's around 4:30pm and Sweet Pea wasn't home yet.    Even his son was surprised.  He got home shortly after I got back and before Kay got home.   So we ate dinner later then came home and crashed from being full.

And that was really the end of Day 2.

Love you all.  HAVE A FANTASTIC FOURTH OF JULY!