Tag: dog

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Fire and Ice

It was a little harder to get up this morning, and I just wanted to stay in bed a little longer. Summer took Muad’Dib out into the snow again, and I made some breakfast for us, which ended up being our only meal for the day. I fried some potatoes, shallots, and garlic with any spices that spoke to me from the cabinet. I fried the eggs before I remembered there was bacon, so that was a little late. everything was really good though.

Summer sat cross stitching again for nearly the entire day. I had trouble keeping a roaring fire going for her, and bounced around trying to clean up some more. I had an anxiety attack sometime in the afternoon, but otherwise I just tried to keep things a little lighter than they have been.

Eaddie never came home again, so Summer didn’t make her tomato soup. I went outside and tried to use my show thrower, but the ice was a bit too hard for it to work super well. It wasn’t bad, but I also wasn’t dressed for the work.

We ended the evening with a big bowl of popcorn and Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3. Things seemed better by the end of it, but all I can do is continue to put in the work to clean up what we have.

Fire Poker

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On Top of Spaghetti

We got up fairly early today. Eaddie spent the night with Maristella, so Summer and I ate some leftovers for an early lunch. I got a fire going for Summer while she cross stitched all day, and got a load of laundry done. We walked up the cul-de-sac with Muad’Dib to let him get out a little bit, but Summer didn’t want to go any further than that. We could tell the streets were going to be sheets of ice after a day or two of refreezing, because they were already packed down hard.

Later in the afternoon, we started making the spaghetti to let it simmer a while. I thought it was going to be really liquidy, so I left the lid cocked just a little bit. That ended up being a bad idea, because it dried out and burned on the bottom. Fortunately, even as blackened as it was, it didn’t ruin the whole pot. We added some more pasta sauce we found in the pantry, and I added some water, and later some pasta water to help it out.

Summer had been struggling all day, and wanted to eat on the couch. I didn’t want to make a mess, and had cleaned the dining table for us to eat, so I ate out there by myself. The food was great though, in spite of me trying to burn the place down.

Eaddie never made it back home, even by foot as they had discussed yesterday. The ice continued, so we’ll see how it looks tomorrow.

Connect, dammit!

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And the North Wind Blew South

I didn’t sleep well last night, as expected. I woke up a few hours early and barely dozed. We left the house a little bit late because I took some extra time to talk to Summer as we were leaving. I talked to Joel when we got to work, and he seemed kind and understanding about my situation. I felt good most of the day though, and stayed really productive with a few different projects.

We picked up Sonic for lunch and then drove around looking for a place to hide while we ate. I ended up just getting into the Harp’s parking lot in case I wanted to go in for anything after I ate. The Smasher and onion rings were really good though.

I considered getting some more food on the way back just because of how cold it would be, but we finally just went back to work. The afternoon was more productivity, but then my mood crashed on the way home. We went by the Tampa house to check that the cabinets and closets were open for warmth to get to the outside walls where pipes ran. Then we came back up to the wash to finish up closing with Summer.

I felt a bit better after that, and we picked up Wingstop on the way back to the house. It took them a while, and they didn’t call my name out the window like they said they would, but we made it back without incident. Summer was bathed and in front of the TV when we got there, so I took the food to the living room and watched TV with her.

We had a fairly good evening as I laid by her side while she cross-stitched. Eaddie came home with a new phone she got from her flute professor, and I had a bit of an inner meltdown as they discussed Eaddie’s band trip next month.

I eventually regained a little bit of focus and tried to clean up a little more. Then I returned to the couch with Summer for a bit, and got to relax a while before bed. There was no precipitation yet, but doom had been assured.

Put in the time.

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hIlO

Yesterday was pretty sad all during the day. We dropped into Sonic for a super cheap meal, and then I decided to go to Harp’s just to check out what they had. The deli chicken actually looked pretty good, though they didn’t have a huge selection. It’d still be a decent option to switch things up, because there’s not really a good chicken place. I picked up some beer and cheap chicken leg quarters to share with Muad’Dib.

I was super down for the drive back, but Julie called to touch base just as we got into town. She really tried to stick up for me after Mom said I couldn’t go back to the old house. Then when we finally got back to the new house, Summer came out and told me about all of the shopping prep she did so we could have nice, hot meals when we get iced in this weekend.

Summer and I talked briefly and I started to feel a little better. My buddy Kevin also called to check in on me, and he was super positive as well. I wanted to stay home and talk to Summer a bit more, but Gary and I had been talking about meeting up, so I took Muad’Dib to get him and we went to Point Remove for some wings and beer. We had a pretty good time catching up, and then Summer texted me just as we were finishing up.

Things were up and down after that, but I crashed a bit early with a little bit of hopefulness that carried into this morning. Summer had to open the lube, but we talked briefly before she left. Muad’Dib and I got out of the house early enough that we stopped to get her some Burger King for breakfast on the way out of town. Then I made the last-second decision to get some Hardee’s for us as well, just before we hit the Interstate.

I was feeling pretty good about the day after that, and tried to stay relatively focused. We went to McDonald’s for lunch, then ran around in the parking lot for a bit when we got back to the office. The afternoon felt a little bit shorter because we ate late, and then Summer wanted to meet at Colton’s again for dinner.

I had time to change, but Muad’Dib and I still beat her to the restaurant, so I let him run around for a bit. After that, things kind of slowly went downhill again. I listened as she talked about work, but then we didn’t get to anything hearty and meaningful for our situation. All of my food was pretty awful, from a gristly New York strip, to a seemingly microwaved potato. Her salad even had an ice cube in it.

I took the long way back to the house, then brought in some firewood to let it stay warm and dry for the weekend. It was tough to get motivated again after that.

Up on Melancholy Hill sits a manatee, just looking for the day when you’re close to me.

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Apart

I left work when I saw Summer was home early. We got back to town just as she and Eaddie were leaving the house, but they pulled over at Kroger so I could talk to them.

I ended up at Ridgewood to see if Grant was there. I knew he was safe. I called, and he wasn’t there, but he came in from home and just hugged me. We came back to the house and talked for a long time. I realized I forgot my eyeglasses there, so he called someone to have them put them in the office for me.

The girls got home and I talked to Summer briefly. Grant left to have his family time, and I went with Summer to her vein appointment. Then we went to Bona Dea to walk with Muad’dib. Then we went to the house to get a coupon to go to Colton’s for a late lunch.

Neither of us ate much of our food. We boxed up the rest and came back to the house where she bathed for a while and I moved things out of the kitchen. We eventually talked for a bit, but it was for nothing.

Now we unravel the knot with haste and move along.

Decades.

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Death Spiral

I got up reasonably early again today, expecting to do some more cleaning and furniture assembly, but boy was I wrong. I felt pretty ignored all day. The girls went to the gym together, so I finished the leftover turkey bean soup and took a bath. Summer barely approached me when they got back, and didn’t acknowledge my response when she asked what was wrong, so I knew something was up.

She warmed up some pasta, but I didn’t end up eating with them. Mom had said she was making phở at some point, so I had been holding out for that. Eaddie left and I finally pinned Summer down to figure out what was going on. She acknowledged the same death spiral I had been feeling for the past few years. We talked for a bit, but it was mostly emotionless by that point.

I took Muad’Dib for a brisk walk to my parents’ house where Dad and Nova were already halfway through their soup. Mom made mine and I ate, and then we walked back to the house. I felt like our conversation after that was a little less doom and gloom, but we still don’t have anything actionable.

The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math.

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Flat Packed

Summer had a lot of trouble sleeping last night and I found her on the couch in the middle of the night. I got up fairly early and took Muad’Dib with me to Hardee’s to pick up some breakfast since they owed me a sandwich from the day before. A little later, Summer had to take care of some stuff for work, so I took her to Lowe’s where I hung outside with Muad’Dib while she went in to pick up an order. Then we stopped by the wash and I vacuumed my car while she took care of a personnel issue.

I got a fire started again when we got back, and started putting together a piece of furniture I got from Vine. Mom made bún thang, but Summer didn’t feel well and wasn’t hungry, so I went over by myself to eat. I finished up the furniture when I made it back, and then had a late shower before Summer eventually started making a seafood Alfredo dinner.

The kids got home and we ate, then played some Phase 10 Tiles before they wanted to move to the living room to watch Breaking Bad. I put together another piece of furniture that felt super cheap, and they ultimately took up more space than the boxes they came in, but it felt good to get something done and ready to be put to use, or even sold off if we decided not to keep it.

You can’t break some eggs without making an omelet.

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Bummer Breakfast Biscuit

I finally got out early enough to go to Hardee’s for breakfast this morning, but they gave me the wrong item and I ended up getting a bit of a stomach ache from it. After that, it was pretty hard to focus all day long.

Joel brought Dexter today, and Muad’Dib immediately tried to go steal his toys one at a time. Then he got snippy with me when I tried to return them, and I had to make him sit in the floor next to me as punishment.

I went to Wendys for lunch a bit earlier than I’ve been going all week, and that made for a super long afternoon that I thought would never end. Charles had texted me while I was eating because they had computer trouble in the mix room, so I met him up there when I got back. I don’t know who does what with each computer up there, so all I could do was reset the password to get them in again.

When quitting time finally showed up, we headed to the house and I chopped some more wood for another fire. Summer got there and went for a bath before we ate some leftover bean soup. Then I put on Tomorrowland for about fifteen minutes before she walked away. I finished the night flipping through YouTube and finally went to bed late.

Bummer everything.

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Shop Chop

I really wanted to stop for breakfast this morning, but we got out late after I couldn’t find Muad’Dib’s collar. I later learned that Eaddie took it off of him in the night because he kept shaking with it on, and I guess it bothered her. We squeezed in and I got right to work on email signatures. I spent a lot of time formatting and organizing staff photos, but CodeTwo made it as easy as possible. I didn’t love working in Affinity for photo editing, but I’m sure it’d be great with some experience.

When lunch time came around, I queued up a few places depending on the weather. It ended up being pretty cold and windy, so we went to Wendy’s for a burger that was twice the price for something easily twice as good. I had an anxiety attack right in the middle of it, but it came and went without too much of a daze afterward.

The afternoon was more of the same, to the point that my mouse hand ached from all the repetition. I finally sent an email to the sales folks with instructions on how to remove their own device-set signatures, and then got everyone that was still in the office fixed up before I left.

When we got to the house, the kids were in the living room while Summer was having a bath. I took Muad’Dib for a walk, and he seems to know that we always go straight to my parents’ house when I’m on foot. Mom was in the middle of making bánh u̕ớt, so we stayed for dinner before walking back to the house. He took me down Ridgewood this time, and then we laid down with Summer as she fell asleep to WandaVision.

I still had to enable my work email signatures, and Jon apparently didn’t like the photo that was in the favorites folder, so I had to edit that as well. It didn’t take too long, and then I went to bed early.

Affinity for carpal tunnel.

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Signed, Sealed, Delivered

We had a staff meeting this morning and somebody had mentioned Muad’Dib last time, so I thought I’d give him a shot at hanging out today. He did not like the golden bust statue of Bruce, and barked at it a few times before everyone settled into the meeting room. I had to hang onto his collar for a while because he kept wanting to wander and see everyone, but he eventually settled down a bit. Evidently we had a pretty serious injury in the plant, but they said he’d probably be back in a couple of days. Then Shane pressed me about the email signatures, so I knew I had to focus on that today. I didn’t feel great about the little I had to share for my part, but after the meeting I got to work.

I knew there were some caveats about inserting the signature in the mail flow rules, so I investigated a trial for CodeTwo. They had some extra features, and Shane didn’t even blink when I said it was like $1.50 per user, so I spent most of my time cleaning up the directory and cropping portraits. Time got away from me a little bit and we went to lunch late. I had my one perfect round of items at Ortega’s and then headed back to work.

The afternoon got away from me as well, but by the end of it I had a working demo for a signature. I’ll have the sales team done tomorrow. We walked out a couple minutes late and made it home where Summer was cleaning up after her second procedure this afternoon. I guess someone told her she didn’t have to keep her leg wrapped this time, so she took both of them off without a second thought. She didn’t even like the compression leggings I had gotten her, so she was just hanging out.

Muad’Dib and I went on an acoustic walk in the dark, visited my parents, and then I let him lead me back to the house. We didn’t do all of our normal route, but we got quite a bit done. I cleaned up a little and then laid down on the couch to watch some YouTube with Summer before bed.

A different kind of reimage.