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Quiet Return

I slept straight through the night for the first time in over a week, and felt so much better for it. I made it in to work a couple minutes early, and things were really quiet. Gary came through my office a couple times and had me start making updated flash drives for the high school and junior high, because apparently they are expecting to push some testing up to the start of next week. This is a problem, since hardly any students have updated their devices to the required version of Windows.

Nobody went out for lunch since they’re all doing a weight loss challenge, so I took the opportunity to have a Soylent for the first time in a really long time. I felt pretty good about it, though I did snack a little bit on things I had in my desk as well.

At some point, Gary needed help at Central Office, so we walked a replacement monitor over for Justin, then helped Cindy with her broken printer up front. The rest of the afternoon was super quiet as I continued to fight my slowly-failing laptop.

After work, I went by Superfast for an oil change. They were really busy, but had the staff to keep things rolling, so I waited. Then I went home until Summer was done with work and the gym, and took a bunch of salad stuff over to their house for dinner.

Autumn was asleep the entire time I was there. Summer and Eaddie ate with me though. I just air fried the chicken strips, so they came out kind of dry, but they weren’t bad. I just hated to have to melt the ice before getting to fry them. After we ate, I headed home and got to bed as quickly as I could, still tired from a long week.

I can’t decide whether I’m happy or upset that my news feed didn’t think I’d be interested in Will Smith today.

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Something in the Water

I was up at least every hour last night, much like I have been for the past week or so, and it’s been the absolute pits. On top of feeling like I was wide awake and couldn’t fall back asleep every time I laid back down, we ran into some trouble with the water in our motel. There was a bunch of air in the lines, which I tried to purge by running the bath and sink. The loud glurging sound of course woke the girls, and the water started turning brown with lots of sediment. The tub wouldn’t drain either, and basically started filling up as though I had the plug in it.

We all got up and decided to just check out. My parents still had a good shower across town that I wanted to use, so Autumn and I grabbed a few things from the continental breakfast in the office and made our way out. The lady was super friendly and apologetic about the whole thing, and evidently she discovered a problem with the air pump that feeds their water supply. It might have been fine to go back and shower, but by that time we had already packed up and were ready to go.

The Christ of the Ozarks was just at the end of the road, so we drove through there quickly and got a few pictures at Eaddie’s request. Then as we drove through downtown, the girls decided they wanted to go on and find a coffee shop or something that was open while I went to shower.

Mom was still in bed, but started getting around once I got there. I had a nice shower, then caught up with the girls. I chanced it by parking in front of a broken meter, and walked to a few shops with them. I thought we might spend more time there, but they were over it pretty quickly. Autumn got to see her “working bunnies” and bought a shirt. Summer and I went up some stairs above the park in the middle of it all. We thought we might get lunch with my parents, but Summer, Autumn, and I were the only ones that were very hungry.

Instead, we just decided to stop by McDonald’s on the way out of town. They were super busy and clearly understaffed, so we ended up waiting quite a while for our food. The app also let me order a McRib, which they did not have, so I got a refund for that. The food was otherwise good, and I even got a Mario Kart Happy Meal for Eaddie before we headed out.

The drive back was different for some reason. I just trusted Google to get me home, not particularly caring how. We came through Lamar, then hit the interstate, making fairly good time. Autumn had plenty of time to get ready for her evening shift at Denny’s. Eaddie cleaned up a bit and then fell asleep super early. Summer and I just laid on the couch all evening until we decided to make some ramen and then go to bed. I went home to unpack and clean up, but made a quick night of it.

Collecting ALL the vacations…

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Witchcraft!

We all woke up early to leave for Eureka Springs this morning. I had to stop by Superfast first though, to check my coolant level again. We took a jug of some extra along just in case it got bad later, but I really shouldn’t have, because at the end of the day we found it had leaked all over the trunk.

It was a long and pretty drive, though the trees were all still dead from winter. Eaddie did great in the car, and we didn’t even have to drug her. We got to the Inn of the Ozarks a little before the last lecture let out for lunch, so we picked up Dad, then Mom and went to the top of the hill for lunch at Myrtie Mae’s.

After lunch, we watched the matinée for Dad’s performance. Then the girls had to cut out partway through the closeup show in order to make their zipline appointment. My parents and I got back up to their room just as the girls finished up, so once they walked back across the street, we headed to The Rockin’ Pig Saloon for dinner.

They had a bunch of menu items with Wagyu beef, including an $85 ribeye that made even our server’s eyes go wide. Mom got a non-Wagyu ribeye for less than half that, and the rest of the table got a pretty good mix of things. Somehow Autumn ended up with a pepperoni pizza, and even it was pretty good. I still think the brisket at Ridgewood is more tender though.

We got back to the Inn just in time for the raffle drawings, and then we watched the evening show. It was a good time getting to see everyone again after putting the event off for COVID. As they closed up shop, we left my parents to go find our hotel across town.

The Statue Road Inn was a cute little motel, at least in the dark. There was some confusion with the check-in process, because I was sure that I paid in full online, but I received an email saying I had to make a partial payment at the inn, and the lady at the front desk didn’t have any record of payment at all. She was super friendly though, and unable to find any credit card history, I felt comfortable making the partial payment. After researching some more online, I’m not convinced that I don’t owe the rest of it, but we’ll sort that out later.

The room was kind of cute, but it looked like they had some renovations going on at the other end of the building. This was the second time I’ve had a physical, metal key for a room I’ve stayed in as an adult. Aside from the miserable water pressure that Summer reported, everything seemed to be on the up and up. I guess we won’t know for sure until morning.

Short trip.

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Waiting for Nothing

Though I wanted to sleep in today, I knew that doing so would keep me up way too late tonight. I got around and made a chicken wrap with the leftovers that were successfully kept fresh by the cold weather outside. After a little while, I headed home to decompress and clean up before the refrigerator showed up.

Sandy got a hold of Summer and wanted me to hook up a computer for her, so once Summer showed up after her workout, we headed out of town to meet her. She chatted with Summer for a bit while I poked around under her enormous desk and got her computer replaced. Then we went back to my house to wait for our delivery.

Getting impatient, I called the Lowe’s customer service number as well as the local store number. After about four tries, I got through to someone in a call center that said the order was delayed by a week. This was particularly upsetting because we’d basically built our spring break vacation around this expected delivery schedule.

With the day basically completely wasted, Summer and I decided to go to La Huerta for dinner without the kids. When we got back to the house, she checked the coolant level in the Murano and found it to be low. I had a little bit of fluid at home, but we ended up going to Superfast to fill up with some more. We don’t know how low it really was, but we’ll have to check it again tomorrow before we leave.

Summer continued home while I went back to my house to pack. I caught up on some email and hung out for a while before loading up and heading to their house for the evening. Everyone was in their own rooms, so I wrapped things up and went to sleep as soon as possible.

No plan like dog’s plan.

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Crystal Clear

I was in and out of bed all night, but managed to get up in time for some breakfast with Summer before the girls got up. Then she went down with Autumn while I started getting ready for the day. Eaddie was the last one out of bed, and then we loaded everything up to head home.

Autumn wanted to stop at a crystal shop on the way home, so we went to Miller’s Rock Shop. They had a couple anoles in a sunlit window, and evidently they just hang out loose there, and they put food and water out for them. Autumn picked up a slice of rock, and then we continued to Iron Springs.

The girls were less enthusiastic about the thought of hiking, but Summer coaxed them across the wooden bridge and just off the path to dig in the dirt a little bit. Summer found a decent sized crystal, and then we continued home. She took the girls home as soon as we got to my house, and I got unpacked.

My parents were at Burger King before their trip to Eureka Springs, so I ran around the block to see them. Then I loaded up some leftover chicken strips and went to Walmart for salad to take to the girls.

The chicken lost a lot of its water to ice crystals, which caused some trouble as I tried to split it up into smaller bags and then fry. I ended up having to take the deep fryer outside, and also melt the ice in the toaster oven before frying the chicken. I eventually had a decent system, but it was a huge pain in the ass, and in the end none of the girls were really hungry. I made Summer and myself salads, but was frustrated that they watched me spend a lot of time making a lot of food for everyone, knowing that they didn’t have a refrigerator to keep any leftovers.

After Summer and I ate, they wanted to play a game of Uno Flip. Eaddie gave up after Summer won first place, and then Summer won again finishing Eaddie’s hand before Autumn gave up. Then the girls went to their rooms for the night, but stayed up either tinkering or moving and cleaning up their rooms. Summer went to sleep really quickly, and I was tired enough that I didn’t stay up much longer.

I can’t like anything out loud any more.

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You Make the Rocking World Go Round

I got out early for breakfast this morning and brought it back to the room while I waited for the girls to get around. Once they were up, we went down and I had a second round with some delicious fruit, yogurt, and granola. That was only the beginning though.

Once everyone was cleaned up and ready to go, we went to the mall to do a little shopping. I was not at all prepared for how sad that would be. The girls seemed really happy with shopping for shirts at every store that was left though, so it was a fair enough time. I think about half of the spaces were vacant, and there was hardly anyone there. It is spring break though, so maybe traffic was lighter for that reason. We’re the only ones lame enough to spend our spring break at the mall.

After that bit of shopping, the girls wanted to go eat. We went to Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch, and Summer got herself a big plate of crab legs and a free slice of cheesecake for her birthday. Autumn was somehow unimpressed with her chicken strips, but at least they were relatively cheap. We enjoyed our server and talking with the geese in the lake beside us.

We came back to the hotel to clean up after lunch since it was so close, and then we headed downtown to walk the strip. We didn’t really have any big goals, but I heard Kringles and Kones and Fat Bottomed Girl’s Cupcake Shoppe called out. We never made it to Kringles, but went into a few shops and looked at shirts and crystals, then finished up with a box of cupcakes before heading back to the car.

It was a nice afternoon, but things got chilly quickly back at the hotel. We went downstairs without Eaddie for the happy hour social. We thought we’d play a board game, but ended up playing cornhole in the cold wind outside until the end of the social. Then we came back upstairs and watched the end of Captain America: Civil War. The girls took showers, and were quickly off to bed after a long day.

I ate three much.

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Middling America

We got up early this morning to hit the road toward Hot Springs. I haven’t actually gotten gas since the prices have started going up, so I felt my soul leave my body as I filled my nearly-empty tank. We got the girls, and headed straight down Highway 7 in the rain. The roads were clear, but it was evident they have been doing a lot of work on the scenic highway since the last time we came down. We crossed at least two new bridges, and bumped along several grooves left by new drainage pipes installed across the road. Then as we neared the end of the journey, they had torn down a gas station and installed a giant roundabout in its place.

Once we got into town, we headed straight to the Mid-America Science Museum. They were pretty packed, and the place was crawling with little children. I had hoped there would be more for young teens, but I think both Autumn and Eaddie had really outgrown most of what they had. It was hard to not feel like we paid that much money just to play with wooden blocks.

The Tesla show was pretty neat, though short. They had a planetarium as well, but they were just showing a movie about our cosmic timeline that mostly bored us all. The guy that sat next to me spent the entire show explaining every single thing to his small child, which I begrudgingly endured. We thought we’d get some food at whatever deli they had, but that was shut down and we had to resort to cold sandwiches out of a refrigerator in the gift shop.

We had enough time for an early dinner before check-in time at the hotel, so I routed us to a Mexican restaurant that was apparently shuttered. Our second choice was an Italian place that just happened to be in the same parking lot, so at least that was easy. I didn’t even order an entrée myself, and just ate half of Autumn’s medium pepperoni pizza instead. We still had more than enough to bring a slice and some bread back for a midnight snack.

I took Summer and Eaddie for a tour around the hotel once we got settled, and then we came down for the evening social once it started. The girls didn’t want to stay down though, so they took some food and drinks back to the room while Summer and I relaxed downstairs. We thought we might all swim, but everyone was so tired they just wanted to hang out in the room for the rest of the night. Summer was, of course, in bed before sundown. Autumn took the sleeper sofa. Eaddie found comfort in the floor under the computer desk because she’s weird.

Spring break has officially started.

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Booking

I slept in a little bit today, but not for terribly long. I got a couple packages in early, which was quite a surprise. I spent quite a bit of time researching places to stay in both Eureka Springs and Hot Springs, then booked stays since our condo plans fell through for the week.

The girls were going to come over for the evening, but then it started thunderstorming. Summer said it would just be her, though it didn’t rain for very long. We braved it long enough to get some food from Zaxby’s, then came back home for a dull night. I gave her a “wearable blanket” as an early birthday present while she did stuff for work in front of the TV.

I doped up early on some NyQuil and moonshine since that worked well last night. Hopefully it won’t be much longer with this head cold.

Sleepy chicken?

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The Monster Under the Refrigerator

I woke up a bit early today and sulked in the quiet. The girls would be going to Little Rock with the high school’s JROTC kids for the Run for the Fallen, instead of with me on the way to Hot Springs. I truthfully needed the time to clean up, but it was still aggravating to be working on the assumption that we had plans for the whole week.

I cleaned up around the refrigerator and moved it away from the wall so I could clean behind and under it. It was super nasty, but I didn’t even know what from at that point. It hadn’t really been moved in 18 years. I just vacuumed up what I could, then sprayed a lot of cleaner repeatedly until everything came up. At the end of it all, the linoleum under the fridge looked better than the rest of the kitchen just because it hadn’t faded and worn down.

The girls wanted to go to CiCi’s when they got home, but after my shower I decided against joining them. I just continued cleaning and finished up more leftovers when I got hungry. There’s almost room for some more food in the fridge again.

TOTALLY AWESOME™

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What a Gas

I got a slow start this morning and laid in bed to watch an episode of The IT Crowd. It hasn’t been very good so far, so I’m hoping it gets better, while also not feeling guilty for watching it by myself because I don’t think any of the girls would enjoy it.

The replacement gas cylinder for my Aeron chair came in, so I started to take my chair apart before realizing I was missing parts to the cylinder removal tool. Bác Vân didn’t have a pipe wrench, so I went to my parents’ house to borrow Dad’s. It’s a good thing I took the chair over there, because it took quite a bit of force from the both of us to get the thing loose. In the end we were successful, and I made my way home to reassemble it with the new cylinder.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning up a bit in preparation for the new refrigerator to be delivered. I did some laundry and shuffled some things around a bit. I’m still nervous about getting the thing into the house once, so I think I’m really glad that I decided to have it delivered here rather than to Summer’s, only to bring it back here in the future. It’s going to be a chore getting my old one out and up to her house, but I bought some moving straps that should make it a bit easier.

Summer got word back that our condo time would be cut in half from what she was planning, which was a real bummer. I was skeptical just because we hadn’t received any solid plans yet, and I was doubly nervous leaving town before knowing a real plan. In the end, I figured it would be best to have the girls take the bus to Little Rock for the 5K Run for the Fallen. That would give me an extra day at home to prep for the appliance deliver. In addition to that, my head cold is still making mornings pretty rough, so I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind to try and make last minute accommodations. There will still be plenty of time to do things.

Like sitting on solid air.