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Phở Real?

More heavy lifting today. This morning we managed to install three touch panels before 10AM. We were on such a roll that we went to CJ’s for lunch on the way back out to drop off four more panels and remove a whole bunch more. We ran out of mounting hardware, which makes the 50 TVs and touch panels in our warehouse completely useless until we get more, which had Dale reeling all afternoon. Removing old setups in the afternoon at least served to let the painters in between hardware to patch up the walls.

After work, Summer and Eaddie came over to go to my parents’ for phở. They both really liked it, and the spaghetti squash salad, and the avocado dessert drink. Eaddie even managed to make it through the whole meal with chopsticks.

We picked Noah up on the way back to my house, and we landed on watching the Get Smart movie remake from 2008. None of them had ever heard of it before, and I had never seen the new movie. I didn’t love it compared to the original, but I also haven’t seen the original since I was a kid. After showing them a compilation of the old show on YouTube, I was proud that Summer at least identified the voice of Inspector Gadget.

Sorry about that, Chief!

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“We’re ready master.” “I’m not ready!”

Back to work. I woke up pleasantly ahead of schedule and made it to work a few minutes early. It was a pretty light day, with just a couple touch panels to install in the morning, and then the afternoon to myself at Oakland. I guess as far as coming back to work, this wasn’t too bad.

After work, I came home and set up my mini fridge. Summer came over to take me to meet Autumn at band camp for dinner, but I ended up not going. As I got the fridge set up to the point that I had to let it cool down, Mom texted for me to come clean up some leftover spring rolls. I ate and ran, coming home to fill the now-cool fridge with drinks. I ended up removing a couple shelves to get things to fit the way I wanted. It’s a silly convenience, but I like the way it looks with how it’s stocked.

Summer and Eaddie got here just as I was finishing up there, and we had some of Dad’s banana bread with ice cream before bed. I feel exhausted for what little I’ve done today.

I miss being away.

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ANT-onio Banderas

I tried not to sleep in too late today so I wouldn’t ruin my first morning back to work tomorrow. I guess it worked, because I’m exhausted now after a day in Conway.

I went to Summer’s to pick everyone up, and we headed to the movie. We picked up some cheap snacks first, and then grabbed our best seats for Ant-Man and the Wasp. I was a little worried at first, because the guy sitting next to me seemed to have negative comments for every single commercial that played before the trailers. He calmed down by the time the lights came down though, so all was well. The movie was great, and it really stoked everyone for the next Infinity War.

After the movie we went to Sam’s Club to try and exchange my succulent that rotted. They didn’t have any more, but they gave me a refund for half of the two plants, which was perfectly fine. We roamed around for a while, and I ended up picking up a super cheap mini fridge like the ones I’ve been eyeing for a while. It was about 25% cheaper than what I’d been watching on sale, so I couldn’t turn away.

We came straight back home where Summer grilled some brats and fried some potatoes for dinner. The Sam’s salsa we picked up was a disappointment, but everything else was awesome. Then we watched a couple episodes of The Office before I had to head home.

Aaron came online shortly after I got home, so we played one round of PUBG before bed. I didn’t die without at least one kill, so I call it a successful return.

You can do it. You can do anything. You’re the world’s greatest grandma.

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Rollin’ with the Stars

I made sausage, eggs, and hashbrowns for breakfast this morning that turned out pretty good. Summer went to pick up the girls and work out while I mostly lazed around the house. When they all came back over, we went to my parents’ house for beef spring rolls. Eaddie seemed to like them pretty well. Autumn met every expectation of not particularly enjoying anything at all. Even the seven layer dip wasn’t too big of a hit with her. Julie eventually came over to eat too, but she was mostly there to eat and run after just returning from Florida.

After we ate, the girls and I went out to swim, and Dad got out his telescope to see what he could find for them. We got a pretty good look at Jupiter and four of his moons. Everyone was pretty tired by the end of it all, and I’m blaming it all on jetlag and time zones. Ant Man tomorrow though.

At least my bed is cold.

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Home, Sweat Home

We woke up this morning and Summer picked up some breakfast. Once I got all of my things sorted, I headed home to start cleaning up around the house. It was pretty rainy all day, so it was a good day to break a sweat indoors catching up on the housework.

I fished out a couple more frogs out of the fishtank to release outside. I decided to put a couple in Bác Vân’s garden, so hopefully they’ll grow up and help with the bugs.

Summer came over after the girls left for her parents’ house and we had some leftovers for dinner. My parents came over to visit for a bit while they were out to go shopping, and then Summer and I got the new sofa in and out of the garage.

I still have the old one in the middle of the living room, but I’ll have to wait for a bulk item pickup day to get it out of here, I think. I guess I could always tear it apart into easily disposable parts. I don’t think it’s in good enough condition for anyone to refurbish.

We ended the evening with some more of The Office before bed. My own, squishy, soft, cuddly bed.

Frog went a-kkkkk-courtin’, and he did ride, kkkkkk-crambone!

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Gettin Spacey

I grabbed a Groupon for a year family membership to the Adler Planetarium, which got us all in for under 80 bucks. We ended up having to park at the stadium parking garage for an extra $25, and it was a pretty long, hot, and humid walk. I’m not sure why the planetarium parking was blocked off, but it was super annoying to see so many empty spaces there. We did, however, get to peek on some pretty expensive boats on the lake, and even saw a Tesla Model X in the parking lot there.

The girls seemed to really enjoy the couple shows we got to watch once we got into the planetarium. One was of the Chicago night sky, and then another was called Planet 9 about the search for Pluto’s replacement as the solar system’s ninth planet. Even better, they seemed to really enjoy the rest of the museum, but we had to leave in order to make it back to dinner with Beth and Bryan at Giordano’s.

The pizza was pretty good, but we ordered about three times more food than what we needed, so it was a chore to get the leftovers to fit into the mini fridge back at the hotel. We stopped at a huge Goodwill on the way back, and the girls picked up some clothes. They had a reel mower that looked to be new in box, but may have been missing some parts. I couldn’t tell, but for 40 bucks, it would have been a great deal if I wanted to start mowing someday. Still on the fence there.

Mom’s a bed hog.

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West Towne

We decided to go to the nearby mall today since we were expecting rain. We started with breakfast downstairs, and then headed to the mall. It was pretty big, and there were quite a few sales going on, seemingly due to the death of retail. We’ll probably be going back again before we leave, to visit the Boston Store that’s going out of business. Yet another store selling the fixtures out from under themselves.

Everyone got hungry for a late lunch, so we had some Chinese from the food court. It was really good, and it kept us all going until we got back to the hotel for more evening snacks and pool time. Overall another light, yet successful day.

I miss Russellville water.

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Pupp Yup?

I only got about three hours of sleep, so I was dragging all day long. We survived the night without any permanent injury or loss. In fact, the shower was tall enough for me to wash my hair without bending over backwards, and it had more pressure than the one at the Red Roof Inn we stayed at the night before, so overall I guess it was a success. I still ended up paying over $15 an hour to sleep, but at least I had power and a shower.

We got up and went to Greenbush Bakery to pick up a bunch of donuts that were donated to Beth’s event. I guess I thought she was running the show, but she was one of several volunteers. We actually beat them there right at 6:30, so I felt good about that. Beth had a bit of a meltdown when she found out where they put her vendor booth, but we eventually got things set up to go. I was too tired to be of much help after that. I had no idea there was such a large community of people with concern for canine cancer awareness. It felt a little silly to me, but I understand it at some level.

We finally wrapped up around 2:00, and Summer and I headed to the AmericInn. It ended up being a pretty great score for us. It had good reviews at a decent rate. The breakfast photos looked quite a bit better than average, and as we walked in we saw a sign that they have a nightly manager’s reception with beer, wine, and appetizers. The room was nice enough, so I think for the first time since we got here, I felt like it could be a good week.

Still exhausted, we walked to the dim sum restaurant in the hotel parking lot for an early dinner. It seemed to be pretty authentic, to the point that the menus were in two languages, one of which was not Spanish. It was a kind of à la carte menu, and we ordered five items to share. I think all but one of them were steamed. The last was fried and seemed more Americanized. Overall it was pretty good.

From there we went back to the room where I took a nap until the manager’s reception. They had nachos, popcorn, two kinds of wings, and lil’ smokies to go with the wine and beer. I couldn’t get into either of the wines, but the Spotted Cow beer was pretty decent.

Any time is a good time for sarcasm if you’re brave enough.

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No-tell Motel

We slept in late today after a pretty rough night of sleep for me at the Red Roof Inn. It took us another nine hours or so to get where we were going after all the extra rest stops. We stopped just before St. Louis for some pretty great barbecue and were waited on by a kid from Hector while we watched competition level cornhole on the television. Several hours later we finally landed in Sun Prairie just after dark, and then went through the arduous process of finding a place to stay.

I don’t know what was happening in town, but virtually every place we went to was booked solid. We did find a $200 hot tub suite, but passed since we only had about five hours to use it before we had to be up to go to Beth’s event. That was also news to me. After both calling and driving all around greater Madison, we ultimately crashed at a tiny motel just a couple blocks from Beth’s place. I just knew we were going to be robbed and murdered. I was wholly reliant on Summer’s intimidating looks and extensive karate training. It was exactly the kind of place you stay when you shave your head and the random girl you’re with dyes her hair in the sink because you’re both on the lam with some kind of government conspiracy-proving evidence. I’m pretty sure Bruce Willis was in an adjacent room.

To add to the disappointment, the front desk clerk was the first person I’d encountered on our entire trip that spoke with any kind of an accent, and it was thick Indian. Apparently Wisconsin forgot it was a northern state and people sound the same here as back home.

THUGS WON’T STOP
TO WAIT FOR A COP
GUNS MAKE SENSE
FOR SELF DEFENSE
BURMA-SHAVE

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You ol’ whippersnapper, you…

I spent all morning cleaning and getting packed. We didn’t actually leave until the middle of the afternoon, but it worked out great because we wanted to go to Whipper Snappers in Branson for dinner. The food seemed better than the first time I went. The restaurant wasn’t nearly as packed. In fact, I’d guess at least half of the tables were open. There was the usual, stereotypical Asian family in the back, all working away on the crab legs. They even asked for a to-go box for the dessert they brought back to their table but didn’t have room to eat. I was too busy working on my own crab and lobster to notice, but it seemed like they stuck around long enough after they were denied to eat the food there.

After dinner, we walked next door to Krispy Kreme for a free hot donut sample. It really was pretty cool to see the donuts work their way down the conveyor belt, and then the end product straight off the line was super delicious. From there, we made it to Springfield for the night. My first hotel choice was blocked off by construction, so we landed at a Red Roof Inn. The room is tiny, but it’ll get the job done. I would have liked to make it a bit farther the first day, but all the hard stuff is done, and we’ve got all day to get there tomorrow.

Who puts a full-size ironing board in a room this small?