Tag: family

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Don’t Break Anything

I got out a little earlier today and had a slower drive in to work to save some battery power. I could have made it home on the charge, but I still ended up supercharging on the way home anyway.

Randy was out at a conference, so it was just Maggie and me all day. She was in better spirits after her friend passed yesterday. Randy emailed us some things to do, but it seemed like those weren’t entirely our job to do. It’s confusing what we’re actually responsible for because the district is so overstaffed. We personally handled much more at both of my previous districts. On top of that, people kept knocking at the door all day, pulling me away from whatever I was avoiding.

I actually didn’t even take a lunch, but Maggie made me eat her leftovers. I can never tell if she’s just worried about me being hungry or if she’s just genuinely not hungry enough to finish her food. It’s a pretty regular occurrence for her to have leftovers, so I try not to feel guilty about eating stuff she gives me. I thought I’d leave a little early because I never left, but I only got out about ten minutes early.

I stopped in Conway to charge a bit just so I wouldn’t have to shuffle cars late at night. Then I got home and ran the dogs to the Ridgewood Brothers to see if I could catch Robert. I actually saw Grant, and he seemed to be doing a little bit better. I think their whole situation has probably just gotten to the point where you throw up and then start to feel a little bit better.

We got rained on a bit as we made our way back across town. Just as it started to sprinkle, we encountered Hannah driving the opposite direction. She stopped to chat and we caught up for a little bit before we continued on to my parents’ house. By then it had started to rain pretty hard, so my leg was soaked by the time we got home. The dogs were good though, so they got hot dogs before dinner.

Someone had brought a bunch of Vine packages in for me, so I sorted all of that before Summer got home. The morning went by fast, the afternoon went by slowly, and then the evening flew by. Summer had a bad day at work, and I think we’re both feeling pretty unsatisfied in general. We chatted for a bit before she went to bed. Eaddie got home late and went straight to her room, and then I crashed as quickly as I could.

You broke it.

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Bummers

Traffic was pretty bad on the way in this morning, but I got there. Randy was early again, and we all sat and chatted for a while in the morning. Maggie was stressing out due to something happening with a friend or family, so she ended up taking the afternoon off. I tried to help Jim with some stuff over the phone and was mostly successful, and Randy was in his executive team meeting all morning.

Lunch came a little late, and I met Kyle, Jim, Randy, and Jay at Brewski’s for their version of Taco Tuesday. I remembered thinking their burger was okay last time, but it was still bar food. I was even less impressed with their tacos, so I’ll never order those again. Everything was incredibly dry. Even the limes fell apart into pulp when we squeezed them. I actually ended up stopping at McDonald’s on the way back to get some fries, which were actually pretty good since I went to the one on McCain this time.

Sometime in the afternoon, Greg stopped by our office and for some reason wanted a tour of our shop area. I had a feeling someone put him up to it, but eventually Randy came back inside and said I couldn’t charge my car in there any more. That’s a pretty big bummer, especially in the winter, and it may be the straw that prompted the camel to update his resumé. It’s all about minimizing my time away from home, and if a few pennies worth of electricity is going to keep me away any longer, then it’s just not going to be sustainable for me.

I got home without any trouble and took the dogs out for a run. They weren’t great, so they didn’t get any treats when we got home, and I cut down their dinner a little as well. Muad’Dib hadn’t been eating some of his meals anyway.

I took care of some large Vine stuff before Summer got home, and she didn’t have a great day at work either. Then I had to fire off a message to the clinic because I was completely out of amlodipine for the next morning. Luckily they phoned it in to Walgreens and I was able to pick it up just a few minutes before they closed.

After I got back home, Dad said Uncle Tuan wasn’t doing great, so it looks like we’ll be going to visit. I don’t really know what happened to him for the past several years, but I know I’ll have a very different memory of him than what we’ll find, and he likely won’t remember me at all.

No Win Tuesday

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“Slow”

Summer had a 10k in Little Rock this morning, and Eaddie had a robotics tournament, followed by a day out with Jenny to watch some band concert out of town. I slept in pretty well and felt better for it. I finished up the leftover pizza for lunch and tried to clean up some clutter as Summer got home.

The day went by quickly. I took a shower and then took the dogs out for a run. They were pretty casual today compared to their usual sprint. We chased some geese down by the pond, then went to visit my parents. Mom made some char siu ribs, so I went back for dinner after the dogs made it home and ate. Summer wasn’t hungry because she had some leftover pasta earlier.

I took some trunk protectors with me and installed them on Summer’s back seats after we ate. By the time I made it back home, Summer was about ready to settle in for bed. Eaddie got home late and went to her room, so I went to bed early as well.

Refresh

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Missed Steaks

Eaddie was at all-region for practice all morning, and Summer misunderstood what time Eaddie would have her concert. I made us some egg and cheese biscuits out of the two leftover biscuits from KFC, and then I got a bunch of Vine stuff delivered.

I should have taken the dogs out for a run earlier in the day, because we were out too late. Eaddie came home for a break before the concert, and said she couldn’t find her wallet. She and Summer looked for a while, but then Eaddie had to go back before her concert. Luckily Summer found it right after she had left.

We went to pick up Dad and caught the last two performing bands. I didn’t care for the percussion ensemble, but Eaddie’s band was good. They played through relatively quickly, since region clinicians don’t spend forever sucking up to the district administration after every band.

We took Dad home, and then Summer and I went to Check-H for dinner. I had a huge, leafy salad with some steak, and then another plate full of steak. I was determined to get my iron back up. We stuffed ourselves and then went to Walmart to do a lap before heading home for the night. Summer’s food didn’t settle too well, so she went to bed. Eaddie was already home and milling about. I kept dawdling for too long, and then remembered I had bills to pay before bed. The neighbor’s dogs were also up barking all night long for some reason. I went out to investigate at one point, but didn’t see anything.

Track ALL THE THINGS!!!

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Jumbo Gumbo

I was sleeping pretty hard when my alarm went off this morning, but I managed to get to work before anyone else. It was another slow day for me, just kind of riding out my new meds. I wouldn’t have expected such a difference for such a small dose of basically the same combination I’d started with before. I took my amlodipine and lisinopril a couple hours apart today to see if I could minimize my afternoon reaction, and it seemed to help a little bit, though I still felt a bit dizzy for a little while.

I was on my own for lunch, so I decided to pick up some gumbo from the Louisiana Fried Chicken place just down the road. The fact that they even have a website is wild to me, because the place looks so rough, is in such a rough area, and is basically empty every time I drive by. The guy was super nice though, and I really liked the gumbo.

Jim, Charles, Randy, and Maggie were there in the afternoon gossiping about some local drama. Evidently my superintendent nemesis in town is negotiating an exit from her contract by the end of this year as well. I’m really just standing by to see if I die from whatever ails me, so it’s hard to get me excited about much right now.

I ran the dogs hard when I got home from work, and they had a great time. Dad met us at the end of their driveway, and we hit over 20 miles an hour. He was making taco soup, so we went home and I fed the dogs, then unboxed a ton of Vine stuff before going back over there to eat. Summer got home late from work and wasn’t hungry, and Eaddie was out with a friend.

After dinner, I had to take out the trash and recycling. They hadn’t picked up recycling in a couple weeks, so with all the Vine stuff I’ve been getting, I could have nearly filled up two whole dumpsters. I accidentally spilled an entire box of miscellaneous recycling, and was picking it all up by flashlight when the UPS driver stopped to hand me one more package for the day. I lost count of how many were delivered today, but it’s clear I’ve got a problem.

The girls were up for a while talking about everything Eaddie has going on. I cleaned up the best I could and made a mad dash for bed.

Retail therapy gets me a 1099-NEC this year.

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Well?

I forgot to kill my alarm for today, so I was buzzed awake at 4:20 and went back to sleep until Summer got up for work. She had to go in for a little while due to staffing issues, and would just meet me at the clinic for our appointments. Dad had a funeral, so I also had to let the restoration guys into the house, but they were quite a bit later than I was expecting, and I missed the call while I was in the shower. They didn’t have to wait terribly long, and I made it to my appointment and got seated just as Summer pulled up.

We both really like Crystal, and they were able to have both of us seen at the same time without any trouble. I got half the dosage of lisinopril to start up again, and also asked for something to knock out my bronchitis instead of living with it for the next few weeks. Summer got herself established as a new patient as well, and we both had blood drawn, then went to Walgreens to pick up our meds.

I guess the stores were handling it, because Summer actually took the time to go to lunch with me after that. We met at New China and took our time eating because the food was super hot and fresh. I had a pretty bad anxiety attack while I was eating some honeydew, and it took me a moment to shake that off. Then Summer went back to work for a bit, and I ran by Clear View to schedule my tint job. While I was there, I noticed a missed call from the restoration guys. I guess they locked themselves out for lunch, so I called to make sure they still needed in. Then I went by to grab a couple boxes of stuff to take home while they were back to work.

I tried to wash my car on the way home, but the quarter wash was still closed for fear of freezing temperatures. I had some time when I got home, so I finally installed the threshold protective panels on the passenger side, along with the back covers for the rear seats. I’ve just about got the entire inside of the car encapsulated.

Summer got home just as I finished up, and then Eaddie and Eli came home shortly after that. I took the dogs out for the most dry run we’ve had in a few days. I tried to route them some extra blocks since we were still avoiding some other icy areas, and they did fairly well. I spent the rest of the evening trying to clean up a bit since Summer started feeling pretty bad with a headache and who knows what else. She went to bed really early, and the kids stayed up late doing homework.

I got a load of laundry going, and got a call from Jessica at the clinic. She said I was severely anemic, and that iron supplements wouldn’t be enough, so they were going to refer me to a hematologist. I thought it might all be due to some heavy blood loss through hemorrhoids last week and sent a message back to Crystal, but she said my iron reserves still shouldn’t be this low, so I guess I’m going to see a specialist. I’m really glad I bumped up my insurance coverage for this year.

That’s not ironic.

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Dishpite

Summer said last night that Eaddie wanted to go to Conway with her today to shop for some pants, but Eaddie was still in bed when I woke up. She didn’t get up for a while, but was disappointed when Summer didn’t wake her. I figured it was because I expressed frustration that Eaddie never wants to shop for things when I tell her they’re on sale, but I still expected them to go.

I spent a while cleaning up the kitchen, frustrated that the girls were seemingly making as big of a mess as possible on purpose. With very little thought, all of the dirty dishes could be stacked neatly and cleanly to the left of the sink, but instead they had dirty dishes on every single flat surface in the kitchen and dining area. Summer fessed up to doing it out of her own frustration and spite, which just upset me further because they’re always calling me the mean one.

The girls ended up going out to shop locally, so I cleaned up and took the dogs for a run, which soaked my legs in sandy slush again. I either need to get myself a fender for the Onewheel, or tell Summer exactly which one I want so she can gift it to me, since she’s so adamant about wanting to gift things. It was a relatively short walk, though, and we cut through the basin trail where there were still a bunch of kids playing in the show in the distant field. We visited with Dad briefly before making it home, and Stilgar just kept wanting to go back out and play in the snow. I guess he had already trampled most of it in the backyard, and he still wanted to play in the fluff.

I cleaned up a bit and tinkered with some things around the house. The girls got home and did some laundry, and I was eventually hungry for dinner by myself since they had a late lunch together when they went shopping. I ended up driving around a little bit because I couldn’t decide on what to eat. Taco Villa was closed, so I ended up at Wendy’s. The service wasn’t great, but the food was all actually really good. I guess that’s what really mattered in the end.

Everyone wound down pretty quickly, and I tried not to mess up my sleep schedule too much. Eaddie has school tomorrow, but North Little Rock will be closed again. Essential staff are expected to work after a late start, but Summer and I both have doctor appointments tomorrow morning. I hate missing a short day, but whaddya do?

Tax Man Cometh

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Hot Cold Fast Slow

Summer had to go shovel snow to open the wash today. I slowly cleaned up more leftovers all day, starting with the last slice of breakfast pizza. The snow was still steadily melting, and I thought I might be able to take the dogs out for a proper run in the afternoon. Eaddie was hiding in her room all day, so I ended up taking a bath. I timed it just about right to get out as Summer got home, and then she bathed while I cleaned up the last of the baked potato, dressing, and all but a couple slices of turkey.

I put on The Flash and we watched the last half of that, which I actually enjoyed quite a bit. It felt really silly with the bad CGI in the theaters, but as a movie on television, I really liked it. I didn’t even really remember the last half of the movie, so it was a nice recap.

After the movie, I decided to get out with the dogs. It wasn’t super cold, but there was still a ton of untouched snow in a lot of places. We made it around to the basin trail, but had to stop and turn around because I didn’t trust myself on the Onewheel over snow. When we got to the roundabout, the sidewalk was completely covered so I took my chances. I was surprised that I did pretty well, and only really found one slick spot. I managed to stay on my feet, and we made it around to my parents’ house.

Stilgar was still enjoying burying his face in the unbothered areas of snow, and would push through it like a worm. We made it home for dinner, and the girls had made even more of a mess in the kitchen. They were watching more serial killer crap on TV, so I went to my room for the night.

Filler

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Slush Puppies

It was still snowing when we got up this morning, and we had over a foot of snow on the ground. The dogs were loving it, so we knew we had to get outside with them. Summer made waffles, and then we got bundled up to take the dogs out for a walk.

It actually wasn’t that cold outside, and I started sweating pretty quickly. I felt more comfortable with just a short sleeve shirt on, and definitely didn’t need all the heated gear I loaded up with. When we first got out of the fence, I made the mistake of letting the dogs run off without their leash. I thought they’d be good, but then they heard children playing down the street and had to run and tackle them. We got them back and tied them up, then made the walk to my parents’ house to visit.

Dad brought out his camera and took a bunch of pictures of everyone. I was constantly having to pull the dogs back during our walk, so I got tired of wrangling them and just wanted to sit down for a bit. We got back home and the girls started building a snowman in the driveway. I ended up putting the dogs away, and then Eaddie announced that she had lost her phone. The most frustrating part about that was the utter lack of urgency she had about it. I started to head in, and then we all came in and I made Eaddie get online to try and find her phone with her iCloud account. That actually worked, and luckily she found it at the end of the driveway.

Summer started making tomato soup, and we had that and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. Afterward, Eaddie went to her room and Summer and I watched Superman: The Movie. After that was over, I flipped through the TV for a bit and landed on The Flash, which I think was more fun as a casual movie at home than a serious movie in the theater. We got nearly halfway through when Summer went to bed, so I started wrapping things up myself.

Rest

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Chilly Dogs

I got up when Summer went to work, but Eaddie and I were both out of school. I finished up some turkey soup and then started to get cleaned up so I could take the dogs out for a run. I ended up having a pretty bad time and had to rest in a bath for a while after Summer got home. Nobody said anything to me, and by the time I got out, there was already snow on the ground, so I couldn’t ride the Onewheel without making a big mess.

I went outside to play with the dogs for a little bit, who seemed to be having a great time in the snow. I had to get their heated water bowl out since their other one froze solid. Hopefully they don’t chew up the power cord.

Michael called me for some help with some cheap drone he was trying to fix by updating firmware. There wasn’t anything I could do for him, but he talked to me for a little while. The girls were both in the living room doing some work on their laptops, so I went to Sonic to get some chili dogs. The roads were already bad enough that I got a little bit sideways in the road, but I made it. The driveway up into the Sonic lot was really bad though, and I was surprised they didn’t do more to clean it up if they were going to stay open for a while.

I got home and we ate, and then we started watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It started out a bit slower than I liked, but I’ve seen so many funny clips and it’s been on my watch list for so long, that I just have to devote some time to consume all of it. After that, I watched the first episode of Creature Commandos and then the first episode of Dune: Prophecy. Summer wanted to watch Nate Bargatze’s new Netflix special, so we watched that, but I started to fall asleep near the end.

Nothing we watched really satisfied me, and I hadn’t felt very good for most of the day. I think getting out earlier with the dogs might have helped, but we’ll have ice for the next several days though. I guess we’re just going to shelter in place, but maybe we’ll get the dogs out for a manual walk tomorrow.

Pressed foods tomorrow.