Category: Uncategorised

Uncategorised

🍑

Summer took Eaddie to the gym this morning while I got ready for work. Then they picked up Autumn and left just as I was leaving for work. It was a beautiful day out, so I knew I’d be coming home for the bike at lunch time.

I got to sit with a teacher for a while first thing, and actually helped him create some filters and learn how to take advantage of some of Gmail’s more advanced features. It felt really good to make such a difference for him, but sometimes I still don’t understand how more people don’t already know about these things, or take the time to figure them out themselves.

The day went by pretty quickly from there. I ended up taking a late lunch and ate the beef stew Julie gave me the other day. I still felt a little off from the morning, but I pulled myself together and rode back in to work. Overall it was a really quiet day, and I didn’t hear much from anyone else, though I guess that’s pretty typical these days.

After work, I changed clothes and went to get the girls for dinner. We stopped at the Neighborhood Market for some super cheap peaches. I got two big bags for just over three bucks. Then we went to my parents’ house for some more chow mein. Summer met us there as soon as she could get out of work. Then we all went home separately.

I had to run next door to help Bác Vân with a DVD when I got home. Then I spent the rest of the evening cleaning up my email and getting ready for bed.

It looks like a butt.

Uncategorised

Beginning Batman

I got up this morning and picked up some Hardee’s for breakfast. Eaddie had some more school work to do, so she got on that while Summer and I poked around at her car’s tail light. I got to use my electronic probe after a quick reading of the manual, and it’s looking like there really is something breaking continuity inside the housing.

Eventually they left for the gym and to clean up at their house. I went next door to help reteach Bác Vân and Doug how to switch inputs to their VCR and Blu-ray player, and then again to hook up another VCR in the den. When I got back in, I did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. Then I took a shower before the girls got back for the evening.

Summer brought some chicken, broccoli, and cauliflower to grill, so I threw that together while she and Eaddie went out to ride bikes. Nick dropped Autumn off shortly after the others got back, and just as dinner was finishing up on the grill. The chicken was a bit frozen when I started cooking it, so I think that made it a bit rubbery. Otherwise it was pretty good.

We started the Dark Knight trilogy while we ate, and everyone seemed to really like it. I still think they’re the best DC movies ever made. The trick is going to be finishing the rest of the trilogy in a timely manner.

You see, girls, it’s a time-honored tradition to kiss a boy for no reason and then leave him hanging.

Uncategorised

Are You Shedding Me?

The three of us got up and went to Denny’s for breakfast as a treat. We had what was probably the best service we’d ever had there, but then ran into an awkwardly slow checkout experience. None of the other customers seemed very happy about it, but I don’t know why they were all so surly.

On the way home we rescued a box turtle. Summer didn’t feel well for most of the day, and spent most of it on the couch. I hung the hammocks in case Eaddie wanted to do some school work outside. Then I cleaned out the shed where some animals evidently got in and shredded a bunch of cardboard boxes I had in there. Once it was cleaned out enough, Summer helped me move the kayaks out of the garage, so I’m just a little bit closer to being able to park in there again.

We came back inside to cool down in front of the TV, and when dinner time rolled around, we all agreed on pizza. I had some Papa John’s reward money expiring soon, so I picked that up for dinner and we watched some Glee. Then Eaddie and I ran to Julie’s house because she made some beef stew for us to try. Mom and Dad were there, but we didn’t stay long since Summer was still home on the couch. We watched a bit more TV, and then for some reason everyone went to bed really early.

How do I love thee?

Uncategorised

Dibs

We found out during our morning meeting that Heather resigned at like 7:30 this morning. I immediately called dibs on the junior high campus, about 30% joking. I kind of like my new office, but I miss so much about the junior high. Moving back, I would miss my mile drive to work. There are so many tradeoffs that there’s no real winning for me unless I get an official pay raise.

I stuck around the shop all morning just picking at what work orders and emails I could do remotely. Gary upgraded SCCM, which I thought was going to be much more involved, but it was literally an in-app auto update. I kind of mistakenly suggested Daddy’s Smackin’ Wings for lunch, and five of us ended up walking across the street there for lunch.

The afternoon was quiet, even with taking a trip to the high school to take care of a couple things. I had to get back at the end of the school day to help swap a touch panel at the junior high. We had four people for that though, so I ended up leaving to visit with the library for a minute. Allen let me drive his car back to the shop, which was awesome. I would’ve liked to get on the gas a little more, but I wanted to be respectful of how he drives.

I stopped to visit Summer on the way home, and ended up hanging out there a bit longer than I intended. She was having a pretty exhausting day, and I know she’s ready to be over this week of bad luck. The weekend couldn’t get here fast enough for her.

I spent much of the early evening chatting with Sprint to figure out why my bill went up 26% on a line that I don’t even use. I’ve basically been an idiot for three years and continued to overpay just to keep the first cell phone number I ever had. Autumn went to spend the weekend with her father, so Eaddie came over with Summer for the evening and they watched some TV while I threw together a quick, late dinner before bed.

“…as you are not only a customer but a family member as well.”
– Ella L, Sprint Chat Rep

Uncategorised

Trump Town

I got a bit sidetracked today, but that’s not out of the ordinary. I still felt alright about what I accomplished, but it also kind of feels like there’s never any way out. Summer took the girls to work with her, but none of them would respond to me all morning, so I took a late lunch and went home to eat a burrito by myself.

After lunch, I discovered that Summer had lost her phone. I was mostly concerned that someone had stolen it, and tracked it down to a specific house just south of Scottsville. It took me a while to get an answer out of anyone, but Summer realized she dropped it in a customer’s car and just didn’t feel the urgency of getting it back.

When I left work, I dropped by the shop to see them, then rode on up through Dover to retrieve it. It was a really nice ride, apart from all the bugs. Trump flags were out in full force, and someone had placed a hay bale on top of another and painted it to look like old Donnie. It was actually kind of cute. The “neighborhood” was actually really cute, and I was surprised at how many houses were out there along that road. Luckily I found an old lady outside, and I guess it was her family across the street that had the phone.

With that relief, I headed back to town and delivered Summer’s phone to her at Planet Fitness. Then I met them all at my parents’ house after the girls finished karate. Mom made chow mein, and we even got Autumn to eat some. We didn’t stick around too long since Summer was exhausted from her chaotic week. At least she managed to get her stitches out today. Next week has got to be better.

That’s 2020 for you.

Uncategorised

Kinder Class

This morning was super quiet at the high school, but Zach asked Josh and me to help deploy laptops at Oakland after lunch. I met them at the shop for lunch, and since Linhs was closed, we went to Smackin’ Wings and Things for the first time in months. The menu looked a bit more finished, but I couldn’t decide what to eat, so I had the waitress surprise me. She did well, with some wings and one of their fry dishes.

After lunch, Ben and Kyle joined us for the deployment party at Oakland. I really didn’t do that many myself, because I kept getting stuck fixing dumb things, or helping others. It was incredibly humid wearing my mask the whole time too, which made it pretty miserable. It was fun getting to see a lot of those people again though, and I had forgotten how much fun it is to walk into a chaotic kindergarten room with kids running and screaming everywhere. Tracy’s room is always a hoot anyway, and she had stories as usual.

We finished up right around the time that school let out, and went back to the shop. Zach got permission for us to leave work early, but I ended up sticking around and chatting with Ben until closer to quitting time. Then I ran by Sonic for a drink on the way to see Summer and Eaddie at the shop.

They wanted to come over and ride bikes, so I came home and cleaned up a bit first. Then when they got there, Summer took Autumn to get some food and face wash while I took Eaddie on a bike ride. It got dark fast, so we didn’t get to stay out very long. We all got back home at almost exactly the same time, so the girls came in and watched The Simpsons while I caught up on some email. Then it was off to bed.

They never quite know what to do when the strange adult starts copying their crying.

Uncategorised

Talk About Feeling

It was pretty brisk getting home this morning, but I did it. Work was really quiet, and I just spent most of the morning trying to catch myself back up mentally. I took a moment to do my wellness questionnaire, and made an appointment for my wellness visit the same day as Summer’s dentist appointment.

I took a late lunch and brought Summer a Baconator since I knew she could really use a lunch break after returning to work. Then I went by the shop for a little while, but Ben wasn’t there to chat. I went back to the high school to wrap up, and the afternoon went by really quickly.

The girls had karate, so I ran home to change and to take a peek at the Grom to see what kind of damage we were looking at. The handlebars seem a smidge off, and the headlight leans left a bit now. The right handlebar stop seems not to work, but I couldn’t tell why. Hopefully the damage isn’t too bad, but maybe I’ll feel more confident working on a tiny, cheap bike that isn’t also my main ride.

After getting the girls to karate, I went by my parents’ house for some fish soup. They had already eaten, so I just ate on my own. Dad had some comments for me that required some thought, so after eating and heading back home, I decided to go back up to Summer’s for the evening.

The girls were all winding down, but Summer brought them in to chat, and we kind of just made sure everyone was happy. Maybe there are assumed guidelines to the whole step-thing that I don’t adhere to, or maybe it’s a lack of anyone else seeing the interactions of my family in their own home. Maybe they’ve underestimated how long we’ve all been around each other in such close quarters. At the end of the day, the Captain’s got to go with his gut.

No complaints from the crew tonight.

Uncategorised

You Must Restore Your Qi

I got up this morning and made some more egg sandwiches, only this time I added some sliced American cheese for the extra melty texture. The girls got around shortly after I did, and started on schoolwork. Summer was feeling a bit better, but still sore from the wreck. She made an appointment at the dentist to check out her chipped teeth, and tried to proactively schedule an appointment with the doctor to remove her stitches.

It was overall a pretty quiet morning, otherwise. Ben evidently had to spend some time at the high school, so he took care of a few work orders for me. I took Summer to her dentist appointment in the afternoon, and we filled out paperwork in the car until they called us in. The weather was perfectly cool and sunny for that, so we just relaxed with the windows down.

The exam didn’t really take long at all, since they just checked out the damage and scheduled a visit for the end of next week. It’s a bit of a bummer that she’ll have to wait that long, but at least she’s not experiencing any real pain with her teeth. She was super hungry afterward, and craving Chinese, so we stopped by New China only to find out they were still not open for dine-in.

We stopped by the house and got Eaddie, then went to Mulan’s for dinner. Autumn had eaten a snack earlier, and had to get ready for an Explorers meeting, so we left her at home to get ready. After dinner, I dropped Summer off, and Eaddie went with me to drop Autumn off at Bona Dea.

Eaddie and I drove across the street and walked along the bank of the lake for a bit. I tried to get artsy with my Pixel’s camera and a low sun, but the best pictures didn’t happen until later. We drove up and around Washburn Park before finally ending up at the main entrance of Bona Dea for a walk around the Rabbit Run. She really wanted to do the “obstacle” course, so we walked around as the sun went down. Autumn’s crew eventually jogged past us, but still had plenty of lecturing to do before they would be done.

When we finished the trail, I could see the sunset was giving off some pretty good color, so we went back across the street and took some more photos that came out pretty well. Then we went back to get Autumn, and stopped at Subway to get her dinner on the way home.

Summer was already in bed, and the girls weren’t up much longer either. Summer’s going back to work in the morning, so hopefully she won’t be in too much pain for it.

Now just do a high kick over your head!

Uncategorised

Sunday, Recovery Sunday

I got up and made egg sandwiches for Summer and myself this morning. Autumn got around, and asked to go to their father’s house for the day, which was only a minor inconvenience to our plans. Summer let them go until Noah had to go to work at five. The rest of us watched some Cobra Kai, then the first couple episodes of Jericho on a whim.

I helped Summer get cleaned up a bit, and even got her outside a couple times to stretch out her limbs. She was definitely feeling the ache in her muscles today. It was bright and sunny, but cool and quiet. I wished we could have been out enjoying it more, but it just wasn’t in the cards.

The girls showed back up at the agreed-upon time, and Summer and I took Noah to work on the way to my parents’ house. They grilled pork chops and shrimp to go with noodles. We didn’t get quite the backlash either of us expected for Summer’s condition, but it was a good evening.

We stopped by my house so I could take care of a couple chores quickly before heading back to her house for the night. The girls appeared to be doing the schoolwork we required of them. Summer went straight to bed, and I chatted with the girls for a while until they went to their rooms. Tomorrow will start to tell us how Summer’s week will go.

Why do all of my late night conversations with you make it sound like we’re stoners?

Uncategorised

What a Wreck

Autumn got up this morning ahead of everyone else, and actually wanted to take the others out to do something. Once everyone else was up, we sent the three of them to get breakfast from Burger King. When they got back, Eaddie said she had slipped in some gravel and had a little wreck, breaking the bottle holder off of her bike. Fortunately I had about a dozen more, so I had her fixed up with a replacement in no time.

They took off again to go exploring on their bikes, so Summer went to the gym while I took a shower and started some laundry. She and the kids all got back home around the same time, and they came in to rest while I went outside with Summer so she could practice riding the Grom around the neighborhood.

I was in and out with laundry since she seemed to be doing really well. That’s when I heard someone beating on the door. The neighbor came over and said he thought someone hit her in the road. I ran outside, and she was standing on the sidewalk at the end of the road with a couple stopped cars and a bunch of people.

Luckly she hadn’t actually been hit, but she had a low-speed crash after what I guessed was a failed downshift in the middle of turning onto our street. As far as crashes go, it couldn’t have happened in a more convenient place. She was able to walk to the house, and I got the Grom started up and rode it home. It wasn’t until we got there that I realized how bad the gash in her chin was.

We dropped Noah off at work, then tried to go by MedExpress. They came out to check on her, then politely suggested the emergency room just in case it was something more serious. We really should have insisted on getting stitches there, because it took over four hours at Saint Mary’s to get three stitches in her chin. The staff there was overall much less friendly and helpful, and I’m sure it’ll be more expensive. We were running with an abundance of caution though, and didn’t have the gift of hindsight.

Julie was nice enough to pick up Noah from work while we were stuck at the hospital. When we did finally make it back to the house, I had Noah take her home while I finished up my laundry. Then I ran to get her a Baconator for dinner before Wendy’s closed, since we never did eat after breakfast. I picked the girls up from my house, then headed up to theirs for the evening. Summer was obviously exhausted after an afternoon of road rash, a laceration on her chin, and at least one chipped tooth, but didn’t seem as defeated as she had been the rest of the evening. She made it up into bed for some of her kids baking show until she fell asleep. I struggled to get my laptop running long enough to get this blog post up, and then crashed myself.

See what I did there?