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Concrete and Grass

I didn’t sleep much last night because we had to get up early to get back up to Denton when the kids checked out of their hotel. Breakfast wasn’t quite as good this morning either, and I didn’t feel super for most of the morning. Most of the day ended up being just waiting around anyway, because the kids wanted to watch other bands until they finished at one in the afternoon.

Summer and I got their bags and then went to South Lakes Park with Muad’Dib for a while. We walked some around the mostly grassy “park,” then sat at a picnic table for a while, and finally walked through a wooded path before heading back to the university. When we got there, we found a swinging bench and hung out right outside the performing arts center until the kids came out.

By the time we got them, the kids were hungry. I found a place called Hawaiian Bros Island Grill that everyone liked, so we went there and ate outside. The food was great, and super filling. Then we went to Buc-ee’s to charge. Everyone wanted to wait in the car, so I walked around with Muad’Dib for several minutes before we finally made it back to the hotel.

Eli and Summer napped for a bit while Eaddie and I doom-scrolled and watched TV. Then as the sun went down, we loaded up to head to Medieval times for dinner and a show.

We arrived a while after the doors opened, which was fine. We weren’t looking to spend a lot of time in the gift shop. We had our picture taken and found our seats, then enjoyed a two hour show of poorly choreographed fighting in narrow seats with greasy hands. I checked in on the cabin camera frequently to see how Muad’Dib was handling three hours in the car, and he seemed to be okay in his bed. He was really happy when we finally made it back though.

We got to the hotel, Summer and I walked around with him for a moment, and finally made it up to the room for bed.

I’ve had it with this noise floor.

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Downtown Dallas

We slept in a little bit and then went downstairs for a late breakfast since they didn’t shut down until nearly lunch time. They had eggs a few ways, waffles, and the other usual suspects, and it was all pretty good. It took us a while to get around to much after that. I ended up taking a work call at one while Summer looked for things to do. Then we headed downtown.

We stopped to supercharge since the hotel charger cost more per kWh, and made a loop around the shopping area with Muad’Dib while we waited. Then we went to Mutt’s Cantina downtown to see what that was about. It was a cute little dog park with several dogs, but upon further inspection, you had to pay for a day pass on top of having other food and drinks available. We ended up leaving and just walked around looking for something to eat.

A few blocks later, we found a place called Malai Kitchen with a patio, and were seated with the most incredible server. We had a couple drinks and some really good food in the perfect weather. On the way back to the car, Summer wanted to stop at the Capital One Cafe that we saw, and ended up getting a free cappuccino for having a Capital One card.

From there, we headed straight back to the hotel. We thought we’d have a swim in the pool, but it was cold in spite of being indoors. We went back to the room and watched the Marvel marathon on FX until bed.

Eggs for days.

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Road Dog

We got up fairly early this morning and got ready for our long drive to Dallas. I did all my packing and we got on the road right about when we wanted. Our first stop was Alma for a charge and some early lunch at Sonic. As soon as we walked up, one of the carhops offered us a pup cup of some whipped cream, which Muad’Dib loved. It was probably the busiest either of us had ever seen a Sonic, so the food was hot and fresh.

We continued on to our next two charge stops at Henryetta and Denison before finally making it to our hotel in Dallas. We barely had time to get changed before we had to head up to Denton, stopping one more time at the nearby Buccee’s for some more charge and a quick dinner. Summer said Muad’Dib found and killed a baby rabbit while I was inside getting food, which was particularly frustrating because she had his e-collar ready to go.

We arrived at the Murchison Performing Arts Center just in time to find Eli’s family and then got our pick of seats. I figured Tech was the last band to play after a long day of music, and there were still quite a few people there, but there were a lot of empty seats. We just happened to sit behind a composer of one of the pieces they played, and I convinced the girls to get their programs signed between sets.

After the show, there was a brief reception with some hors d’oeuvres. The kids eventually came out and we chatted for a little bit, but then Summer and I had to get back to Dallas. Luckily traffic was much more manageable at night. We got up to the room and crashed.

King size!

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PackItShipItCleanItUseIt

I really had one main goal at work today, and I got that done. An insurance adjuster also came out to look at my car. Just before lunch, I had a really ignorant support call, and then I met Summer at Chopsticks. The afternoon went by relatively quickly after that, and we got home to get ready for our trip.

Summer got home shortly after we did, and we cleaned out her car. Then I gave Muad’Dib a really good bath, cleaned up a little more, and ended up running him to my parents’ house to see Dad kind of late. I could tell Muad’Dib really needed the run, because he took off in front of me and nearly made it to the end of the street by the time I got out of the driveway.

We never actually packed up, so it’ll be an early morning of that before we go.

FlipItReverseIt

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Motions

I forgot it was Tuesday until mid-morning, and then I got excited for Ortega’s. It was a really quiet day otherwise, and I just tried to pick a project and focus so I could get a project done before the end of my week. Summer didn’t stop by to eat with me, so I just had a couple big plates by myself in the corner before finishing up the afternoon. I did get a call from David’s insurance company, and they got a minimal amount of information from me at the end of the day.

On the way home, Summer asked me to stop and get her some Zaxby’s for dinner. That was pretty quick, and then she ate in front of the TV while I cleaned up a little bit. I laid down on the couch with her for just a little bit, but I wasn’t interested in her NCIS, and she wasn’t getting up to do anything else. I did get a call from an insurance adjuster to schedule a meet tomorrow, and then I started a big load of laundry that I struggled to finish before bed.

They’re gonna burn it down.

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Carpal Tunnel Vision

We got out a little bit earlier today after a lot of sleep, redeemed a free burrito at Burger King, and got to work to focus on HubSpot product updates. My hand hurt all day from zipping through spreadsheets and manually moving and combining data to make it fit HubSpot’s limited search capabilities.

I forgot Muad’Dib’s food at home, and ended up taking lunch about an hour late myself. I just went for a quick Big Mac, and then grabbed some cheese sticks from Sonic on the way back to share with Muad’Dib in the car.

The afternoon was short after that, but I got a break in the middle of that when my car alarm went off. I peeked at the sentry cameras and saw David’s truck nearby. It wasn’t long after that he came upstairs and said he accidentally bumped me with his trailer hitch. We went downstairs to check it out, and the hole we saw was really just the tow bolt cover that had popped off. The plastics and a lower running light were also damaged though, so he said he would get with his insurance company to take care of it.

Summer had been home cleaning all day, and was still at it when we got home. I had plans to go help Neal with a computer that was given to him, so I changed clothes, had a quick bite, and then headed over. It took a couple hours, but we got it going. The whole time I was working on the computer, he was flipping through his phone and showing me pictures of his family, friends, and things that he had collected over the years. I also learned that my old boss, Adam, had passed away. Neal has always been an interesting friend.

The kids were getting ready for their band trip while Summer was finishing up a bunch of laundry. I don’t know what I was busy doing, but I never sat down for long. The night flew by, and then it was time for bed.

Mindful Mondays

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Waffle Music Time

I woke up fairly hungry, so I decided to make some waffles. Summer got up and left for the gym just as I was messing up the recipe, so I had to figure out how to adjust and correct. We didn’t have much milk, but I substituted eggnog, heavy cream, and water, and they turned out great. Eaddie got up and we ate some chicken wings with them before Summer got home.

Eaddie had a concert in the afternoon, so she left early to rehearse. Summer got home and we didn’t waste much time cleaning up to go. We picked Dad up and left Muad’Dib in the car for what ended up being about two hours. I felt bad for him, but I guess it was good practice for our Denton trip.

Afterward, we dropped Dad back off and then tried to figure out dinner. We thought we’d try Buffalo Wild Wings because it was nice out, but by the time we walked out the door, it had already gotten cold. We ended up at Point Remove instead, and played Battleship over a couple of beers, then ate more chicken wings and a pizza. Muad’Dib got lots of pets from curious patrons, and we had a good time before coming home for an early night to bed.

Crunch!

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Fast/Slow Saturday

Summer and I slept in a bit today, so by the time we got around, it was nearly time for lunch. Nobody sounded very excited about breakfast anyway, so Summer and I had leftover steak and baked potatoes for lunch. My morning coffee with a bit of eggnog didn’t sit well, so the rest of my afternoon was mostly shot. Summer didn’t feel great either, so she had a bath and I got the monitor replaced so she could watch TV. A little later in the evening, I took a long bath as well.

Eaddie wanted to bring Eli and Ceci over for some games after dark, so they brought some Little Caesar’s for dinner, and then we all sat in front of the TV for some Drawful and then a couple other Jackbox games. It was quite a bit of fun, and the Steam Deck worked great for us to have a quick game without much fuss.

The girls went out at some point to make some slime, which was a fad we thought was long gone. Otherwise it was a quiet evening and then we got to bed a bit late.

In Search of Chargers

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Intune with Feelings

I tried to make today another super focused day, and it went better than average. It started out a little slow, but I eventually wiped a laptop a couple more times and built out a couple more policies with some better experience. I really needed to work on product imports for HubSpot, but I just dread that.

I brought my other Five Guys burger for lunch, so we didn’t leave the office again. Scott brought Maple, so she and Muad’Dib almost got to playing around together a bit. I thought I’d ask if I could take them both outside for a bit, but I missed them somehow. I just walked Muad’Dib around a little bit and then we came back inside to finish up the afternoon. It was super quiet upstairs all afternoon after Janice left early. I had an anxiety attack at some point.

Summer had a meeting in Rogers first thing in the morning, so she was home and lifeless on the couch when I got there. We went to my parents’ house for red envelopes since Eaddie would be out all evening. We let Muad’Dib run outside the car on the way, I ate some leftover noodles they had out, and then we drove him back in the dark.

We watched Rental Family, which I thought was really good. Then Summer went to bed. I stayed up quite a while longer and then noticed we caught a small rat in the trap in the kitchen, so I asked Eaddie if they could go release it when they got home. Then I went to bed.

One at a time.

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The Little Guy

We stopped by Chick-fil-A for a free chicken biscuit this morning, and then on a whim grabbed something from Hardee’s as well since I didn’t expect the Chick-fil-A biscuit to be any good. To my surprise, it was actually nice and moist and flaky, so I just saved the Hardee’s for later.

I had a relatively good day for focusing on Autopilot. I didn’t complete the entire setup, but I felt like I had a better understanding of a lot of the pieces I had been missing. I brought half of a burger from Five Guys for lunch, so we just worked straight through all day, and I felt pretty good for it.

Casey’s had 50-cent wings, so I grabbed a bunch of those when we got back into town after work. As we drove home, I saw Gary parking at Point Remove, so I ate with Summer and then took Muad’Dib out to have a beer. The place was packed for stein night, so we were practically shouting at each other. It was a good time.

When we got back home, I could swear I heard a rat jumping around in my bucket trap, so I went outside to check it out. I had something, but when I finally made it out to Washburn park to release it, it ended up being a little mouse.

It was a quick night to bed after that, because I was exhausted in the morning after some strange, bad dreams.

Sixteen chickens.