Tag: boarding

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Double Dog Dare

Summer texted when I got to work that Muad’Dib walked over the fallen fence to play with Nova nextdoor. The neighbor called someone to come quote a repair, but he was cool with the dogs playing together, and Summer said they were having a great time, so I didn’t sweat it. Then Johnny called and said Bitec had an “urgent” listing for the job I had previously interviewed for, so I replied back to an old email and then did a quick refresh on my résumé before applying through Indeed.

The rest of the morning was spent going through DNS again in preparation for turning on scavenging in the afternoon. Otherwise it was pretty quiet. Howard bought us pizza for a vendor call, and we sat through a presentation by Decept10 before the U.S. Pizza Co. arrived. I had another anxiety attack at some point, and then the rest of the afternoon was relatively lazy and short.

Randy said we could leave just a hair early for our three-day weekend, so I headed out and grabbed a bottle of rum in Morrilton. I opened a bunch of packages from Vine when I got home before Summer. She didn’t feel well when she got there, so she took a bath while I ran Muad’Dib. We took an extended run to Ridgewood where we met a new girl named Cindy who talked to me for a bit about riding her Onewheel on trails. Then we continued to Casey’s to try for a slush, but the machine was out. On the way out, a kid that had asked to pet Muad’Dib asked if he could try the board, so I helped him out. Then we rode back across town.

Dad met us in the road, and then I went in to eat some roast beef while he played with Muad’Dib. Then we got home just after dark. The kids had left for something, and Summer was laying on the couch half dead. I put her to bed, and quickly wound down.

I hate this so much.

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Run Like Yell

We got up early for Summer’s run in Dardanelle this morning. We wanted to take Muad’Dib, but Summer wasn’t very proactive when we were trying to load things up to go, so I ended up forgetting my OneWheel. We got downtown and I started to just hang out with her, but I decided I’d try to run home and get it quickly so I could be back in time to watch the race. Unfortunately I got back over the bridge just in time to be stuck in traffic as they closed the road. I had no idea they would be running the race in that direction.

Once I got back downtown, I took Muad’Dib from Brian and a bunch of kids who had been babysitting him. Evidently Summer told them his name was Paul, because when I called him back to me, Brian said something along the lines of, “ah, now ‘Paul’ makes sense.” We raced after the runners and I felt really bad for being so late. We did encounter Summer after she was already on her way back from the turnaround, but we kept going. Most everyone seemed excited to see us, but I think I did get some glares, and one lady made the comment that I shouldn’t be doing that during a race.

On the way back, the same lady made another comment, and then immediately after that, Muad’Dib went rogue and brushed up against the back of another lady’s legs, who freaked out while she was running at full speed. I ended up moving to the next block to get back downtown, since I didn’t want any more grief or to cause any more trouble. I guess next time we’ll just bum around in other areas.

Summer finished the race before we made it back, and then I took Muad’Dib down to the river to try and clean up from the mud puddle he used to cool down. Summer made third in her age division, so she got another little pin, and then we headed home.

We had plans to go out for breakfast, but Summer didn’t feel well and had to soak in the tub for a while. Once she made it out, we ended up going to New China for lunch instead. Then we came home and started to doze off on the couch for a while. I woke up gasping for air multiple times, but didn’t make myself get up until much later, which hurt a bit.

Summer wanted to go to the Tech graduation for some of her employees, so I ran Muad’Dib over to my parents’ house to see if Mom wanted me to grill steaks for Mother’s Day. Then Summer and I went to graduation while Eaddie and Eli went out for cap and gown pictures with Dad. Summer got lots of pictures, and then we found the graduates outside once they were done.

The drive home was a little tense because for some reason Summer didn’t expect that I’d still be having a pretty hard time in general. She pouted, but I pushed through a trip to the Neighborhood Market anyway, to get everything we needed for grilling. The kids were watching TV when we got home, so we went to the bedroom and watched Neal Brennan: Crazy Good, a stand-up special until she crashed from her long day.

Normally I prefer my cookies to be a little less ambiguous.

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Pieman, Pieman

I got out a bit late this morning, but it didn’t matter. I spent the whole day poking around with my task sequences. I also started my escitalopram, I suggested a place called “It’s Time to Eat” for lunch, but was basically shot down. I thought I might skip, but then Randy wandered back toward my area and asked if I wanted to go to Taco Bell. Maggie overheard and wanted to go, so we all loaded up. As Randy was pulling out of the parking lot, he proposed Shotgun Dan’s. Nobody objected, so we met Kyle there.

The salad and pizza were both good. I’m always astounded at how much they mound the toppings on their pizza. Their lunch special for a seven-inch pizza and a small salad is easily one of the best deals you can get in Little Rock for lunch.

The afternoon was relatively quiet and short. I stopped at the liquor store in Morrilton, and then again in Blackwell because they didn’t have any larger bottles of pure grain alcohol, which is the cheapest way to wherever you’re going. I got home with a stomach ache that took some time to resolve, and then Summer got home from work and hung out while I took Muad’Dib out for a run.

We headed toward Casey’s for a free slush and ran into Mom at a stop sign on Phoenix. Then we stopped at Ridgewood Brothers where we ran into Grant while he was taking a smoke break out back. He ran in to get some meat for Muad’Dib, which he promptly gobbled down. Then we got to Casey’s and I got my slush. I set it down on top of the propane tank cage while I unhooked Muad’Dib, and forgot to pick it back up when we left, so we had to circle around to retrieve it.

We came back a slightly different way, but encountered the same group of people taking photos at the tiny tennis court by the bike trail. Muad’Dib took a bath in the basin creek, and then we stopped to visit with Dad for a while before we made it home.

Summer was on the couch, so I laid with her for a bit as she cried a bit about how nervous she was for her biopsy. I hate that I made any of this time any more stressful, but I guess the alternative could have been even more messy. We talked for a bit before Eaddie got home, and Summer went to bed while I went out back to chat with Eaddie and Muad’Dib for a while. Summer had another race in the morning, so I made myself a Dark and Stormy and got to bed as quickly as I could.

happy anniversary

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Chasing Lightning

It was a bit rainy on the way to work, but the drive wasn’t too bad. Lightning rippled through the clouds a few times, creating a fishing net of light cast across the sky. I arrived fairly early and Randy was already hard at work with the domain controllers. I mostly sat back so we didn’t have too many hands in the cookie jar, and instead fought an issue for our Cenergistic guy who couldn’t figure out how to remote into the system I set up for him. He eventually came by the office so I could take a look at his laptop, and it looked like he just couldn’t save the connection because of rotating credentials.

Randy and I met Jay, Charles, Kyle, and Hunter at Cotham’s for lunch, and I think my burger was even bigger than usual. It was great, and I tried to impart as much wisdom onto Jay as I could. I was feeling a little frisky, so I almost approached a girl for him, who he was eyeing, but I figured that would be best saved for another time.

Randy left for the day after dropping me off, and with Maggie out all day, things were quiet at the office. Time got away from me a bit, and then it was an aggravatingly slow drive home through traffic. The kids had just finished eating some leftovers when I got there, so I took Muad’Dib out for a run.

We went all the way out to Casey’s so I could redeem a free slush. We encountered an old lady walking a rather unruly dog, and she pointed at us saying it was bad because her dog didn’t like it. Muad’Dib stayed right by my side with hardly a look, and waited patiently outside while I got my slush. Tracy saw me walking out and said hello, and I thought the number of call center throwbacks has been wild this year. Muad’Dib and I rode down the sidewalk and crossed over without any trouble, and I decided to swing through the Ridgewood Brothers to see if anyone was home.

Failing there, we continued past Kroger, across town, through the basin for a dip, and down to see Dad for a while before we made it home. Seven and a half miles, and he loved every bit of it. The kids were gone, but Summer got home shortly after we did. She ate some leftovers, and then we wound down pretty quickly. Eaddie tried on her graduation gown when she got home, and it was off to bed before the Toad Suck race in the morning.

’cause the love that you lost wasn’t worth what it cost

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I Wanna Go Home, I Wanna Go Home

I woke up early today so I could accompany Summer to her 5k in Dover. The weather was really nice, so it would be a good day to take Muad’Dib and the Onewheel, which would help me pass the time. She met up with Kell, one of her employees from Splash, for his first race. I took Muad’Dib around the building on a leash before testing him without, and I think getting some energy burned off helped because he stuck by my side the rest of the day without any trouble. I ran into Amber while we were there, which was crazy after talking about her just weeks ago. I guess she’s the president of the River Valley Runners group since James has seemingly made it his sole purpose in life to run. We caught up for a little bit, and then Muad’Dib and I started to ride the course to find Summer.

Being able to ride around with Muad’Dib made the experience awesome, but I wasn’t sure how the runners or organizers might have felt about me riding around even if I kept some distance. It seemed like a positive experience for him though, so hopefully we can keep doing that in the future. He got to meet a bunch of people who were really excited to pet him.

Kell finished in first place for his age division and Summer made second in hers, but they only awarded first place. They took some pictures and then Summer and I headed home to drop Muad’Dib off before going to Stoby’s for breakfast. We shared a short stack of pancakes as an appetizer, and then she got her eggs benedict while I forced down a disappointing “Blast” that seemed poorly seasoned and dry.

After breakfast, we made an Amazon return at The UPS Store and then went to wash and vacuum out my car before our trip to Twin Groves for Alarie’s wedding. We still had time to kill, so we headed back home where Summer assembled the guitar stand I got from Vine. I started a load of laundry, but didn’t quite get it out of the dryer before we had to leave.

The wedding was at Hillbrook Farms, which was a simple slab with a big building on top of it, right by a small overlook. It was a fantastic day for an outdoor wedding, which seemed particularly lucky since we got rain later in the evening. Summer was excited to catch up with some old coworkers while I mostly stood by and counted knots in the wooden structure. I was happy to go, and Alarie has always been friendly and greeted me by name whenever we’ve seen each other, but I just didn’t know anyone else there. The ceremony itself was short and sweet, and Moe’s catered the reception, so there was a ton of good food.

On the way home, Summer asked me about my favorite part of the event, and she didn’t like any of my answers. Then she said she didn’t understand how I could be so in-touch with my emotions and respond the way that I did. I didn’t mean anything negative in what I said, but I told her I was just an extra in that scene. I didn’t know anyone. I was there to support her and her friends. That escalated talk took us most of the way home, but triggered my anxiety and was a perfect illustration of why our communication is always so exhausting. I think we at least found ourselves in the same book by the time we got home, but by then I just needed a break with Muad’Dib.

It was starting to get dark, so the air was nice and cool and Muad’Dib wore his little headlamp. It was a good, slightly shortened run so we could visit Dad before dark. Then we made it back home for a much better evening. The good days shouldn’t be so hard, but maybe this time we’ll find someone that can help us translate. If not, at least now she has considered trying to make friends through her races.

Everything. Everywhere. All at once.

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Husky Nights and Melancholie Days

Summer had to open one of her stores today, so I just met her at Saint Mary’s for her mammogram and ultrasound. I walked in and saw Allen sitting there waiting to go back, so I sat next to him to chat until seats cleared up and we could all sit together. He was there getting X-rayed, and stayed to chat with me while Summer went back. She wasn’t in there long though, and came out looking really upset. I may have misread her based on our conversations the rest of the day, but they referred her to get an MRI in Conway instead of taking a biopsy, so I’m hopeful that it’s just nothing.

She had to go back to work, so I ran to McDonald’s to grab her some breakfast before meeting Allen at Price Break. Wednesday was apparently dollar day, and the place was absolutely packed. He didn’t stay long, but I grabbed a Christmas ornament of Rocket Raccoon and a case of some soda or energy drink stuff to try. He had another doctor appointment after that, so I headed toward home but stopped at Ridgewood Brothers just to say, “hello.” Grant accidentally messed up his macaroni sauce somehow, so I got out of the way and went home just long enough for Allen to text that he was done.

We met at Panda Express for some lunch and chatted for quite a while. I thought he’d come see the new house, but he changed his mind at the last minute and I headed home to run Muad’Dib. We went to the basin and saw that Dad was at the old house, so I thought we’d run across town to see him. He was mowing the lawns, so we rode on down to Allen’s house and got to play with Davis, his new dachshund. Davis ran circles around Muad’Dib in the back yard for a bit, and then we continued on down to the airport to visit Kevin for a little while.

Summer mentioned us coming to see her, so we headed back to the old house for a break before making our way to Superfast. Everyone there loved him, but Muad’Dib was tired. He had some popcorn, and then we continued home, stopping at the little paved pad with bike tools and a picnic table to rest and enjoy the shady breeze for a while. We got through the basin, visited Dad at home, and finally made it home where he laid down on the porch for a snooze.

Shawna called and we caught up for a little bit while I sat out on the porch with Muad’Dib. Eaddie got home from band solo and ensemble, and played with him for a little bit before coming in to eat. I cleaned up some of my own leftovers from work lunch, and then Summer got home and I made her a bowl of meatballs she made last night. We had a nice chat for a while until she went to bed, and then it was a slow wind-down for me.

Perfect.

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Hair Combs the Groom

I went to bed late and got up early so I could take Summer to her mammogram this morning. That went way faster than I expected, so we decided to get some breakfast before she went to work. I had to wait a little bit longer after taking my iron pill before we left, so we went home first and then drove separately across town to the new Hardee’s. It was a cute building with not enough parking and a tiny lobby for dining in. I was glad to see familiar faces behind the counter, since those old ladies did a pretty good job of running the old place. We saw a couple people from the school district while we were there, but didn’t really chat much with either.

After we ate, we had to squeeze out of the parking lot and Summer went to work while I went home to change so I could take the dog out for a run. We ran straight over to Ridgewood Brothers and I gave Robert the convex mirror I got from Vine. I didn’t really get much out of it in the garage since I remembered how I used to park without scraping the bottom of my car. It was a beautiful morning, so I decided we’d make the trek across town to see Summer at Superfast. She was super excited to see us, and then we headed back toward home, stopping to see my parents first. Mom gave Muad’Dib a couple Ritz crackers, which was a big turning point for her.

I didn’t have a ton of time to kill after that because Eaddie and I were going to take Muad’Dib to meet Summer at PetSmart for his grooming appointment. They disappeared him into the back, so we didn’t get to watch anything. We went to Walmart to do a little bit of shopping, then went back by to see if they had an ETA. Eaddie left at that point to meet some friends at Old Post, and they hadn’t even started on Muad’Dib yet, so Summer and I went to La Huerta to share some nachos as a bit of a snack.

As we finished up, I got a call from our groomer saying Muad’Dib started freaking out, so she had to stop after shampooing him. She didn’t even get to rinse him off at all, so I was worried about what we’d be bringing back home. We left the restaurant and went home to get a tarp, then traded cars with Eaddie at Old Post before we made it to PetSmart. They didn’t charge me at all, and Muad’Dib was pretty dry by then, but just looked extra fluffy. He didn’t feel gross or soapy, so the tarp wasn’t really necessary.

We took him home to take a break for a little while and let everyone calm down. Julie called and talked to me for a little while, and then we took Muad’Dib to the Liberty dog wash to finish the job ourselves. He didn’t like the wash, but he did reasonably well with both of us there. He did try to nip at me a little bit, but never to harm me, and he was always pretty gentle. Considering it only cost like $15 to do it ourselves, we may not even go back to have him groomed. It just took some extra time brushing him once we got home, and he looked and felt much better.

We let him inside for much longer after that. Eaddie eventually made it back home and we played with him in the living room for a bit. He spent some time exploring the house and sniffed everything. Then he got confused when I played back some video of him on the TV. I still didn’t want him staying inside unsupervised, so I put him out when everyone went to bed. I finally booked a room for the Cavalcade, but it looks like it’ll be mostly rainy. I don’t know if we’ll take Muad’Dib since Eaddie doesn’t want to go, but hopefully we’ll have enough time in the morning to figure everything out.

Booked!

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Spring Paws

I had a bunch of dreams last night, but none of them were notable enough to remember halfway through the day. I had trouble getting to work because the first two onramps I tried were closed, so I ended up driving all the way across town to the last onramp. Fortunately there was hardly any traffic due to spring break, so it was smooth sailing after that. I was late, but still walked in just as Randy was pulling into the parking lot. He wouldn’t have cared either way, because the old men were playing games or watching videos all day and he just quietly pointed it out to me and laughed.

Several of us went to Black Bear Diner for lunch and I tried the fish and chips, and I’m no longer thrilled about their all-you-can-eat fish on Fridays. It wasn’t bad, but it was just frozen, fried cod. The afternoon was even quieter, and Randy let us go about half an hour early.

I stopped to charge up to 80% to take advantage of my last few days of free Supercharging, and then made it home to run the dog. I was thrilled that Eaddie wanted to go ride her bike with us, so the three of us rode down past Kroger and over to Casey’s where I redeemed a free drink for us. Then we crossed back over to Oakland Heights before turning toward home. We stopped to see my parents and had just gotten back home when Eaddie realized she left her phone at their house. Muad’Dib and I rode back to get it, and after running for the entirety of our first outing, he walked nearly the entire time for our second. All total, we did 8.4 miles in almost exactly one hour with a top speed of about 17 miles per hour. He did great crossing traffic, and I only held the leash when we crossed to Casey’s without a light.

Summer was home by then, so we went to Peg Leg’s for some burgers. We were the only three souls in the restaurant, but we were pleased to see another table of four come in after us, and at least one person come through the drive-through. The food was good, but the cheese dip wasn’t warmed through. The flavors have always been great, but for the price, there wasn’t really any excuse for anything to be underprepared, especially if it’s basically just microwaved.

I unboxed just a couple new things when we got home, and then everyone was off to bed early.

Happy little locomotive.

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Double Quatro

I woke up super early this morning with a stomach ache, but I was able to get back to sleep for just a little bit longer. I didn’t sleep in too late though, and got up a little while before Summer. It was her birthday, so I made her some fresh ground coffee and gave her some gifts I had been holding back. After a little while, she went to the gym and I took a shower and ran the dog. We had a good run and swim in the creek, then circled by my parents’ house a couple times but nobody was home.

We thought we’d be going out for dinner with both of the girls, but when Eaddie wasn’t hungry when she finally got home from her overnight trip to Oklahoma City. Summer and I just went to New China by ourselves, and stuffed ourselves of some pretty mediocre food. Some of it was nice and fresh, but others were problematic. The rangoons tasted super stale like the wonton wrappers or oil were really old. Some of the other food was cold even though it looked hot and fresh on the bar.

Summer had an upset stomach herself when we got home, so I took Muad’Dib out for another run. We went straight to visit my parents that time, then he ran the rest of our route backwards until he was too tired to run and we just lollygagged back home for the night.

Ready, break!

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Three Wheels, Four Legs, and a Smokehouse

I didn’t want to sleep too late today, so I got up and fed Muad’Dib, then started getting ready so we could take him out on an early run. Eaddie left for Oklahoma City with a friend overnight, so we had the whole day to ourselves. Summer and I had talked about going to Ridgewood, so once I got showered, she got out a bicycle and I took my Onewheel, and the three of us rode straight over once they were open for lunch.

We had a good run, and the restaurant was busy. There was another group of people with a dog or two at the other picnic table outside, but they didn’t want to let them socialize because they were service dogs in training. I tied Muad’Dib up and went in to get food, and Robert gave me a handful of pulled pork for him along with my own rack of ribs and Summer’s mac and cheese bowl. The weather was nice while we ate, and Muad’Dib did pretty well under the table. He gets excited sometimes, but once he’s settled down, he’s always super chill and gentle.

Once we ate, we headed on back toward my parents’ house to visit before eventually making it home. We were both pretty tired by then, and Summer started to feel a little sick to the stomach. She took a bath while I put together a big plant stand.

The afternoon went by pretty quickly, and we eventually got a little hungry again. Summer didn’t want to leave the house, so I picked up some Panda Express to share, and I ate some more of the mushy rice she made a couple weeks ago. Muad’Dib came inside to sit with us, and I gave him some of his pulled pork while we ate. He behaved so well by the table.

After we ate, I put on Moana 2, which should have been a straight-to-VHS movie. It started awful, and it just never got any better. It seemed like fan service for children so they could sell more stuffed animals. I got super sleepy watching it, and eventually had to turn it off and just go to sleep.

Heavy