Short Sunday

The time shift didn’t do much for us today. I tried not to sleep in too much so I could go to sleep in the evening. Summer got up to some coffee and I ate my leftover chicken strip, and then the brisket with the beans and chips from our trip. With the refrigerator mostly empty, I wanted to go shopping and cook a nice dinner.

Summer went to the gym with Eaddie and I got ready for a late start to the day. When they got back, Eaddie showered and left, and then Summer decided she wanted Chinese. All planning out the window, we eventually went to New China where they appeared to still have a steady stream of Hispanics coming in from church services throughout the day. The food was hot and fresh, and I managed to fill up on a few different kinds of broccoli.

After that, we wanted to take Muad’Dib for a walk around Bona Dea. Summer immediately had to stop at the trailhead, so I walked around the short ring with Muad’Dib, and then Summer just wanted to go on home. With her not feeling well, Muad’Dib and I just laid in bed to rest for a bit. I felt like I could take a nap, but didn’t actually fall asleep.

Dad wanted us to bring the Model Y over so their neighbor could check it out. He seemed to have done enough research that I don’t know why they didn’t just go test drive one at the factory, but I talked to him for a little while about it, then gave him a quick test ride. Muad’Dib had run over ahead of me, so I let him run back home as well. Then he and Summer went to bed pretty early. Eaddie was home for a moment, but left. I tried to pay our toll fees from our trip, but failed, so I’ll try again during the week.

Fine, I’ll do it myself.

Talko Boosday

I felt pretty terrible this morning, but we managed to get to work before eight. It was a super slow recovery until lunch time at Ortega’s. I think I had an anxiety attack somewhere along the line. Later in the afternoon, one of the guys called for help with HubSpot, and of course I knew nothing. At least tech support couldn’t help either.

We left a little early to get to therapy, though we’ve been starting late enough that I think I can leave at my regular time and still make it. Summer was busy until just after five, and even then we had to wait for Dwayne to come let us in.

We ended up sitting outside with Muad’Dib and his little dog, Lucy. They played more than we talked, and I was a little surprised at Summer’s recollection of the weekend. I haven’t been very happy with our sessions so far, so I don’t know how much longer I’ll be interested in going.

Summer had a meeting, so I went to the house and cleaned up a little. Eaddie was in the shower when I got there, but left shortly thereafter. Summer eventually came home and seemed continually troubled, but didn’t know why. She went to bed pretty quickly, and I followed soon after.

Uninteresting

Decompresso

I just barely crawled out of bed this morning from the exhaustion I felt after this weekend. We managed to get to work, but only after I saw a notification that McDonald’s had $1 Egg McMuffins . We soldiered on, and made a little bit of progress all day.

It was nice out, so we went to Sonic for lunch and just enjoyed some time outside. The afternoon went by fairly quickly after that. We stopped by the old house to pick up a couple of things, and talked to David from next door for quite a while. He seemed excited just to see a neighbor. Then we made it home to an empty house.

Summer was at the gym for a while after a trying day. Eaddie had eaten my leftovers, so I had some drinks while I cleaned up in the dining room. It was a quiet evening until bedtime.

I have not been myself for most of my life.

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.

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

Tostaguac

I skipped the Soylent this morning and just had some coffee instead. Charles and his crew got the TV mounted, but still hadn’t run power to it, which was fine since I still hadn’t really made any content to put up on a digital sign anyway. Every time I get into a content management system, something about it frustrates me to the point of looking for something new.

I had an anxiety attack in the morning, then met Summer at Ortega’s for lunch. I found another great combination with the tostaguac, and we filled up and headed back to work. The afternoon went by fairly quickly, and I left just a few minutes early to get back to town for therapy.

Summer was working at the lube, and then we walked over and took Muad’Dib inside with us this time. I don’t think anybody really felt like the session did any good this time, and probably did more to irritate us. This was a pity, since otherwise we had been feeling really good. Summer even mentioned at lunch that she finally felt like she wasn’t enjoying her job any more, but of course that didn’t come up when we were with the therapist. It really felt like we just burned our 45 minutes.

We left for home and I had a few packages to go through. Then I only got distracted into one big project while trying to clean up the kitchen table. I did get a monitor set up by the bathtub for Summer, so that pleased her. Unfortunately the monitor may not be any good, but we’ll test it out some more.

Summer went to bed and Eaddie had Eli come over late for some leftovers. I cleaned up a bit more and then rushed to bed.

I guess we’re wingin’ it again!

Lazy Valentine

We started lounging on the couch early this morning. Summer had some coffee, and then I warmed up some leftover waffles and a pancake for breakfast. After a while, we sent the dog to get Eaddie out of bed, and then she eventually had Eli come over for the day. They talked about making pizza or chicken, and then both, and then ended up only making pizzas for dinner. Summer and I hardly left the couch. I had an anxiety attack at some point, but I got our room booked for Eaddie’s trip. Then we mostly watched YouTube while it rained all day. I guess we could’ve done worse.

Rats

Big Catch

I felt much better today, but found it much harder to focus. I basically just tinkered all day between projects or other break/fix stuff. Summer had a meeting in Little Rock, so she met us for lunch at Ortega’s. Our server was slow, which saved me an extra plate. We ran into Teisha and her husband on the way out, and he was rocking a solid cast on his leg.

The afternoon went by just as slowly as the morning, but it could have been worse. Then we stopped by the old house on the way home so I could get a five gallon bucket to use as a rat trap. Summer was doing her cross stitch in front of the TV, and Eaddie was on her way out the door.

I set the rat trap and had some leftover split pea soup, then sat in front of the TV with Summer briefly before she went to bed. Just then, I heard some commotion downstairs and went out to find I had caught a small opossum. It wasn’t too toothy, but refused to come out, so I had to set the bucket on its side and then just wait.

I eventually re-set the trap, and then it was off to bed on time.

Old CDs

Lemme Cook

We got up this morning and I decided to make pancakes and waffles, so Summer and I went to the Neighborhood Market for some milk, and browsed for something to cook for dinner as well. We ended up with a whole bunch of New York strip steaks, sweet potatoes, and Brussels sprouts. The girls went back later for some russets though, because I really wanted a classic baked potato.

I was disappointed in my breakfast, which we ended up eating right around noon, because both the pancakes and waffles didn’t really fill in, and had holes or jagged bits after they were flipped. I did get to use up a bunch of blueberries and bananas that had been sitting around for a while though. At least everything tasted good.

The kids had to go to a recital in the evening, so we planned to have dinner early. I tried to clean up a bit, and got the kitchen taken care of, but before I knew it, we had to start on dinner. I had gotten a fire started in the fireplace that we never really got to enjoy before I had to get up and start the smoker. I wanted to smoke and then sear the steaks I got, but time dictated that they could not smoke for long before they needed to be ready.

By the end of it all, we had everything ready and it was only Eaddie that ate. Eli didn’t come over, and Summer and I weren’t really hungry enough for dinner quite yet. Eaddie had also brought some ribs and chicken wings that she just picked up from her father in Clarksville. She ate and then left, so Summer and I cleaned up a bit more before sitting down to eat a small dinner ourselves.

We cleaned up a bit more before relaxing a bit. Then as the evening came to a close, the fire roared up in the fireplace again, so we sat together to watch that for a while before bed.

Speedrun Sundays

The Cat’s Outta the Fence

I felt a little better this morning, and stayed fairly physically busy all morning trying to make a patch cable out of some crappy, old wire. I went through a couple sets of ends before I gave up in favor of a different option. We went to Arby’s for lunch, and then I called to reserve a room for the Cavalcade of Magic when we got back to the office.

We were parked and sitting in the car, and Muad’Dib and I watched as a cat stalked through the grass on the other side of the fence that divides our property from the Interstate. I was still wrapping up my call when he started whimpering. The cat was out of sight and I thought Muad’Dib had given up, but as soon as I let him out, he ran out the front gate and leapt over a part of the fence that was leaned over. I wasn’t even sure he would be able to get back across due to the way the fence was leaning and how far he jumped. Luckily the cat ran back toward me instead of toward the highway.

They ran toward the building, and then the cat got into the drainage pipe that goes under the road, so luckily Muad’Dib didn’t fit. I got hold of him and gave him a good kick to the rear, then dragged him back to the car to get collared. We went inside and it wasn’t long before we were called down for cake to celebrate Elizabeth’s upcoming wedding.

We surprised her in the breakroom, had cake, and visited briefly before finishing up the afternoon. I got a text that counseling could be in-person tomorrow, so I got permission to leave at lunch time and finish the day from home. We got to the house a little while after Summer, though she was still sitting in her car when we got there. She bathed and I ate some leftovers, and then we watched YouTube as she passed out on the couch.

After she went to bed, I finished the evening filling out a bunch of intake paperwork for tomorrow. For now, it’s more of the same.

At least one of us has laser-focus.