Tag: family

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All in Time

I woke up hungry this morning, so I made more ham, egg, and cheese biscuits for everyone while they were in bed. When the girls got around, we sat down to watch Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Then I went home to clean up so we could go see The Dial of Destiny at UEC in the afternoon. Meanwhile, the girls got out and picked up stuff to make fish tacos for dinner. Summer was still prepping stuff when I got back to their house, so we ended up going to a showtime an hour later than we planned.

I thought the movie was pretty good, or at least better than the last one. I still felt sleepy through parts of it though, which made me believe I’m just not as interested in those types of movies. I kept wanting to fall asleep through every single one of them, and being in a theater was no exception.

We made it back to the house and I grilled some tilapia for the tacos. Then we went downtown to watch the fireworks. People were parked all over the place on the north side of the tracks, so we parked at Laws’ and just walked to the corner to sit by the Burris Memorial Plaza. The girls went first while I played on my Steam Deck. Eaddie’s friend Eli met them there. When I finally came out to join them, Marcia and her family were sat right next to them and called out to me as I walked by. We briefly caught up before I sat down next to Summer, and we watched the show. The girls enjoyed it, but without music and with relatively low mortar fire, I was super underwhelmed. It felt like a big residential show more than something a city would put on.

The girls went to bed pretty quickly after we got back to the house. I finished up as fast as I could, since I’d have to go back to work for the first time in over a week. Three days until the weekend, and I already feel like I need the break.

Shut Down

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Undriven

I slept reasonably well last night, but didn’t let myself sleep in too late. Summer went to work and I got up to make a couple ham, egg, and cheese biscuits for Eaddie and myself. I became more and more aggravated as I continued to dig through the refrigerator, unearthing things forgotten and uneaten. I eventually left to shower so I could take Eaddie out to practice driving.

I stopped for a car wash on the way back to get Eaddie, and it seemed like I either got a new chip in the windshield, or the filler popped out of an old chip that had been previously repaired. It was super noticeable because the cracks caught the sunlight, which made me think it was a new crack. I haven’t had very good luck with windshields over the past couple years.

I took Eaddie to the high school so she could drive around. I figured the best way to practice was to have her drive from lot to lot, park, and then walk all the way around the car to see how she did. Doing this repeatedly in different parking spaces would help her learn some spatial awareness, and timing how many times she could park in the hour got her a little more focused on driving instead of parking and talking.

When we finished, I tried to get her to drive us to the DMV so we could upgrade her learner’s license. She got to the Hickey parking lot and then froze, refusing to get into traffic on the main road. That aggravated me because I had just purchased insurance for her, but by then we were in a bit of a rush to complete a task before the DMV closed. We switched positions and I got us there. I figured we should be proactive and get her a “Real ID” which required additional documentation. We raced to Superfast to get Summer, then to the house to get her Social Security card, birth certificate, and a couple utility bills for proof of residency. Then we made it back to the DMV, but we had switched vehicles and I had to run back to Superfast to get Eaddie’s current license.

When I got back to the DMV, Eaddie said they didn’t need any of that documentation because they just got a regular license instead. It didn’t cost any more, and we already had the documentation in hand, so I couldn’t understand why they agreed to get a regular license. The entire race across town was for absolutely nothing, and I felt again like I was the only one doing the thinking for everyone involved. We dropped Summer off back at work, and then Eaddie and I continued on to get some gas before ending up back at their house.

Eaddie was hangry, so she ate a few bites of some leftovers before deciding she didn’t like cold noodles. I finished them, but we ended up not getting back out to practice more driving. We tried dipping more cake pops, but she ended up having to use some new white chocolate, since the milk chocolate froze up on us. When Summer got home, I grilled the last of a couple frozen burgers for them. They ate, and then we watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I wanted to watch Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but they refused and went to bed. It was late by the time I got everything else cleaned up and wound down anyway, so I just did my best to make it to bed before midnight.

He chose… poorly.

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Too Soupy

I couldn’t get anyone out of bed this morning, so I went to my parents’ house by myself to bid everyone goodbye. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mom was busy making too much food for lunch. Bác Trân was slicing pork for two different kinds of soup. Bác Loan and Mom weren’t even going to eat, but Dad joined us for a couple tiny bowls of rice and soup. They didn’t have very long before they had to leave for their flight back to Houston, so it was a bit of a mad dash to get everyone out the door. I stayed behind to put all of the food away.

Afterward, I went home to shower and then pretty immediately headed back up to Summer’s house. The girls had been up for a little while cleaning the house. Eaddie had been wanting to watch the Indiana Jones movies before we watch the new one. We watched Raiders of the Lost Ark and then took a break to try and dip some cake pops into chocolate. That went pretty poorly, so she gave up and we watched The Temple of Doom. I had trouble staying awake through both movies, and I don’t think I’d ever actually seen either one from start to finish.

After the second movie, we went to my parents’ house for dinner. We didn’t stick around for very long afterward, and went by my house to pick up Summer’s new phone case since she broke her last one. Then it was back to their house for the evening. Everyone was pretty tired, so it was off to bed pretty early. I laid down for a little while, then got up to finish my nightly routine before going to sleep.

It’s not the years, honey. It’s the mileage.

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All of the Thinking

We didn’t get up too early this morning, but as soon as I did, Mom called and wanted me to come shake salt on the steaks for dinner. I tried making the case that it could be done later, but she insisted that I was the only one, and that I should drive across town to do it immediately. I did that and then promptly left so I could complete my own prep work for dinner.

I stopped by the cemetery on the way home to get the tripods that Dad forgot to grab when he got the flower pots last night. Then I went home to shower. Summer had gone to the gym and mentioned possibly going to Walmart by herself to get the things we needed. I suggested we should go together, but then she took the initiative.

When I got to her house, she had a few potatoes soaking in the sink, but not nearly enough for all the people that were coming to dinner. I immediately ran out the door and raced to Walmart to get a bag of potatoes rather than hand picking loose ones, and also got some extra butter just in case. When I got back to the house to start cleaning them, my aggravations were compounded by the fact that she was watching some loud, competitive cooking show on her phone while she was making broccoli salad. I shoved my earbuds in and got to work.

We left the house nearly an hour later than I wanted, because I kept getting pushed back. Eaddie’s friend Eli was at the house and would be joining us for dinner and a swim. I tried my best to rush everyone out the door, and we got to my parents’ house just after everyone else had already arrived. Luckily Dad already had some charcoal started, and the heat of the day got the chimney burning in short order.

My parents bounced around the kitchen as though they had never hosted a large gathering ever before in their lives. Dishes I had probably only ever seen once or twice in my life came out of the cabinets, only to be put back up in favor of disposable ones. Places were set, but then scavenged so everyone could serve themselves buffet-style. It was a cluster that I was almost happy to avoid by sweating in front of a hot grill outside in the humidity.

The one thing we got right was that steaks were the only thing Mom had for me to grill. The charcoal burned out quickly, but I finished the steaks. I got them inside after Dad broiled my twice-baked potatoes, and everyone ate their dinner. Fortunately it wasn’t miserably hot outside, so I joined Summer and the kids by the pool. Then I joined them for a swim after we ate.

Summer was the first one to get out of the pool, followed by Eaddie and then me. Eli was down to float around a little longer, but we did eventually have to get him home, and Eaddie wanted her dessert. We cleaned up outside and then went in for some banana pudding and pumpkin bread. Bác Trân had Radford on the phone when my parents walked out, so he passed the phone to me. I was really happy to catch up with him for a little bit, since I’ve never once had an adult conversation with him in my life. Years of maturity and perspective make all the difference, and it was great getting to share a moment with him. Eventually my parents came back in and took the call. The girls took Eli home while I was on the phone, so they were ready to leave by then.

We wrapped things up and said some partial goodbyes. I planned to be back in the morning before their flight back to Houston. Summer went straight to bed when we got to the house. Eaddie went to her room, and I sat on the couch for a while. I’ll be happy to see next week when my parents can stop overdoing absolutely everything.

Outta the way!

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Grave Mistakes

I slept in a little bit today after sleeping pretty hard last night. I didn’t even hear Eaddie get home, but apparently she was just dropped off and Noah didn’t come back to stay another night. I let her sleep in when I left, and went to Arby’s to pick up a classic 5 for 5 deal to take to Summer. She was at a therapy session when I got to Superfast, so I waited around for a while. Then I inadvertently made her mad with a joke and ended up going home to eat by myself.

After cleaning up, I took the Murano for a wash and then went to get Eaddie. We thought she might get out to practice driving a bit, but we ended up starting her cake pops instead. She had baked the cake a few days ago and it was still in the oven, so she crumbled it up with some icing and made little balls while I cut skewers. Then we stuck them in the fridge to cool off while we went to my parents’ house to visit.

Lelan and Steven were there when we arrived, and everyone was outside talking while Mom was watering plants. We went inside and I warmed up some food for Eaddie and myself since everyone else had already eaten. All the adults gathered around the dinner table while Lelan expressively discussed some issues and kicked around some thoughts about what Bác Vân left behind.

Once they got to a stopping point and Eaddie and I had eaten, they wanted to go visit the gravesite before dark. Eaddie asked whether I wanted to go, and then said she wanted to go too, so we followed along. It was still hot outside, but it wasn’t nearly as humid. They had piled all of the cut flowers on top of the burial plot the day before, so it was easy to find. They cleaned out a couple flower pots that were left, and I pulled flowers out of the three tripod arrangements. We looked around at some neighboring plots, cleaned up a couple of spots very minimally, and then started to leave. Eaddie wanted to see the mausoleum my parents bought, so we all drove to the back of the cemetery as Lelan and Steve left. I thought my parents, Bác Trân, and Bác Loan would get out, but they just kept driving. Eaddie and I parked and walked to the structure, which happened to be right next to a couple of large sarcophagi for some Duffields. They had a bench as a part of their plot, so we sat down to talk for a little bit as the sun set.

When we left, we drove by to see if the ice cream truck was open. Failing that, we stopped at a very busy Dairy Queen on the way back home. We almost went back to the grave because they forgot the flower pots there, but Dad went instead. When we got home, Summer was already in bed, but we went in to come up with a plan for the next day. Eaddie wanted to grill food at their house and invite everyone over. I checked with Mom, and she said she had the same idea for their house, so we planned dinner for there instead.

Foreshadowing

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Sayonara

I had to give myself until seven this morning, but then I got out of bed to meet up with the family before people started leaving. Eaddie said she really wanted to go again, and convinced Noah to go as well, so Summer woke them up on her way out to work, and then the three of us headed straight to my parents’ house. I forgot to swap vehicles for the Model 3 so I could give Uncle Mai a ride, so as soon as we got there, we had to head back to my house to get it.

We didn’t head back right away, and instead stopped by the airport where Kevin had taken Dan for a flight, and Dad was watching Julie practice some patterns. When I mentioned Kevin’s name to Noah, he asked if it was red-headed, big-bearded Kevin. Evidently Noah’s father had known Kevin for several years. When we found them by the hangar, Dan was already back on the ground. Kevin brought out his Onewheel and let Noah and Dan try riding it around. We didn’t stick around long enough to see Julie take her first solo flight because Mom also sent us to pick up bread and bananas for everyone back home.

We stopped by Kroger and then headed back to the house. I gave Uncle Mai a ride up and around the mountain without even a moment of silence, and then set him up to try his magic trick on the kids. We socialized for a while longer while Mom continued prepping things in the kitchen. Dan eventually showed back up for a little while, but they ended up having to leave in a hurry as their flight time kept changing around.

After a while, I took Eaddie and Noah back home to shower and rest, since they had barely gotten any sleep. As I headed home, Lelan texted to ask if I wanted any flowers from the funeral. I headed straight to Humphrey to meet her, but then Randall called to see if I knew of a key to let them in to deliver some food to Doug. I just told them to meet us at the funeral home so I could take it to him.

I was the first to arrive, followed by Randall and Danielle. Lelan showed up as we were moving cars around to the back of the building, and then they divvied up all of the plants. I had one in every seat of the car, so I dropped them off at my parents’ house before going home to shower. I figured the kids fell asleep after that, because I didn’t hear from them for a while.

I ended up going back to my parents’ house where Lelan, Randall, and Danielle had all eventually met up. It looked like they were taking turns rolling egg rolls. After a little while, I took Randall and Danielle on a ride in the Model 3. Dad called while we were out and had us stop at Kroger to pick up some more lettuce. Then I let Randall drive us back to the house.

I was there for the rest of the evening to chat. Steven showed up after work, but Lelan had gotten on the phone with Bobby. I decided to take him for a ride as well, but since Summer had just showed up for some dinner, we took the Model Y for a little extra leg room. Of course once we got back, we had to do the comparison ride with the Model 3. Lelan wanted a ride as soon as we got back, and I think she decided she wanted one.

Lelan and Steven loaded up to leave, and shortly thereafter I loaded up the rest of the flowers to take up to Summer’s. I got there and unloaded, but then had to run the Model 3 home for the night. When I got back, she was in bed and the kids were gone, having been bowling, and then out to the Dover Lights for Eaddie’s 16th birthday. I was pretty tired from all the heat and sweat, so I tried to get to sleep at a reasonable hour.

What a miserable place to live.

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YouTubed Traditions

I went home for a shower, then picked the girls up for Bác Vân’s funeral early this morning. Most of the family was already there for the private viewing, and then the service opened to the public a couple hours later. Bác Tran, Dad, and Dan all got up to share some words, and I learned some things from Dan about my family that I don’t think any of us ever knew. It was hard, and the service seemed to carry on forever since we had gotten there so early, but we finally made it across town to the cemetery for the burial.

It was high noon on a day with a heat advisory. The family kept having to research traditions that they wanted to keep alive, while choosing which others to let slip into the past. They had incense and a bowl of rice and egg. I was just happy to see the job through. Serving as a pallbearer wasn’t as bad as I had imagined, but having some extra muscle helped.

Afterward, I took the girls to my house to change and then we headed out to Centerville to visit Steven and Chris’s farmhouse. It was a different farmhouse than we’d visited before. Apparently the other had gone to the kids as a playhouse. It was hot outside even covered on the porch. Randall had a couple deep fryers going for eggrolls, and Julie had picked up the Pasta Grill they had catered.

It wasn’t long before Lelan started calling for fish sauce, which Mom hadn’t had time to make. Danielle also wanted some mint for mojitos, so I took Mom back to Russellville. She picked some fresh mint while I found the dried stuff inside, where Doug and his son Mike were waiting for a call from their insurance company. That whole thing felt a bit odd, but I eventually got out and took Mom home to make the fish sauce.

It took us way too long to complete everything, but we made it back to the farm and had some eggrolls that had gotten soggy by then. It was mostly hot and miserable, so everyone crammed inside where Uncle Mai was loudly attempting his magic trick again. We rode it out until everyone started to file out, and then the girls and I headed home.

Summer had to work the next day, so she went to bed. I was hot and sticky from sweating so much, so I talked Eaddie into going swimming with me. We headed to my parents’ house and chatted inside for just a bit before going out back. The tree frogs came out after dark, and I played with them a bit. One started croaking while sitting on my finger, which was really cool. For some reason, Eaddie was absolutely terrified to touch them.

We swam, looked at stars, sang at frogs, and eventually made it inside to munch on a few leftovers while we visited with the family. Eaddie seemed to genuinely enjoy meeting everyone, and even wanted to go back early the next morning before people started leaving.

We eventually made it back home, where Noah pulled into the driveway just before us. Eaddie stayed up watching a scary movie with him, and I did my best to get to bed for a few hours of sleep before her 16th birthday.

This year just won’t slow down.

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Let’s Get Nuts

I woke Eaddie up on my way out this morning, and she got right up and got ready to go. I was so happy that she spent the whole day with me, and we had a pretty good time. She’s been such an incredible support for me the past few days. I went home and took a shower, and came back to get her for a movie. I brought some Taco John’s and an order of cheese curds from Freddy’s, and we ate before we left. We made it to UEC a little later than I wanted because I got caught up responding to a work email, but fortunately The Flash was showing in two different auditoriums, and the showing on the larger screen didn’t start until half an hour later, which gave us plenty of time to find a seat. We just shared a kid’s snack box since we had just eaten lunch.

I thought the movie was pretty decent. It definitely wasn’t as epic as some of the trailers made it look, but it was a reasonably good movie for the DC Universe. The CG really was pretty awful, like a direct-to-DVD movie, but the story was decent. It didn’t tie meaningfully into the other DC movies much, other than for some cameos, but it was a fun watch nonetheless.

Afterward, we stopped by Superfast to check on Summer, who was just leaving for the gym. Justin topped off my washer fluid, and then I took Eaddie home for a little bit to relax before we left again to go to Walmart for an air filter for their air conditioner. Then we stopped by Walgreens to pick up an online order I placed last night for some sodas, and finally made it to my parents’ house.

Uncle Mai had arrived with “Connie” and Daniel, so we got to meet them for the first time since I was a baby. Uncle Mai tried showing us a card trick that didn’t quite work out, and then I showed him my magic “car” trick. Summer met us there and I warmed up leftovers for both of the girls and then myself while everyone visited. Julie and Kevin came over briefly, but then left to go fly over the house to wave at everyone. Uncle Mai was excited by the pair of Teslas in the driveway, so I had Summer pick him up and take his picture with us.

Uncle Giao, Erica, and Nova showed up late, after everyone had left to visit Bác Vân’s house. I left to find clothes for the funeral, and then made it up to Summer’s for the evening where both of the girls were already in bed. Eaddie even had the lights out, which was unusual. I trimmed the washable air filter I purchased, and swapped it for the super gross one in the air handler. Then I chatted with Johnny for a little bit since he had called me while we were at the movies, before finally making it to bed.

They’re a reminder of your history.

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And the Fog Rolls In

I woke up exhausted this morning and sleepily made it home, through the shower, and then in to work. The air was thick with fog the entire way to work, so traffic was slow. I struggled to really get into anything all day with nobody there. I did at least complete the purchases I needed to make before the end of the month, and I made a handful of key fobs for some contractors. If I’m around long enough, I’ll have to go through and do a badge audit to wipe out what I’m sure are dozens of open badges that shouldn’t have access any longer.

I snacked on some carrots the lunch ladies left me, and whatever else I had in my desk. It was really quiet in the afternoon, and I ended up leaving just a few minutes early because I was tired and my parents were getting back into town after picking up Bác Tran and Bác Loan from the airport and taking them through the cemetery in Pine Bluff. I stopped for a car wash on the way home, and then headed up to get the girls.

Summer was home a little early, so she and Eaddie changed and we headed to my parents’ house for dinner. They ended up needing some lettuce for salad, and then realized their French bread was moldy when we got back, so Summer and I went back out. Dinner took a while, but we eventually all sat down for spaghetti and chatted about how I look like Leonardo DiCaprio.

Summer had to work the next day, so I took the girls home and everyone got settled in. I was exhausted but still didn’t get to bed right away. Hopefully I can sleep in a little tomorrow.

Order of Operations

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Roll Party

I got up and made bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits for breakfast this morning. Julie said everyone was supposed to meet at my parents’ house around noon, so the girls and I went to my house to get towels and my suit, and we headed over to go swimming and socialize.

We were the first ones there. Dad and I took the grill apart to fix the saggy charcoal tray. Then the girls swam while I got it started and grilled the pork chops and shrimp. Julie and Kevin eventually showed up and joined us in the pool. Lelan, Stephen, Randall, and Danielle eventually showed up, but weren’t hungry. The girls and I made noodle bowls and ate outside with Julie and Kevin. I could tell I was going to be a bit burned, so Eaddie gave me her towel to cover my back from the sun while we ate.

We swam a bit more after we ate, but then the storm clouds started to roll in and we packed everything back up and went inside. Mom was being particular about her egg rolls, which wasn’t really conducive to receiving any help from anyone else. Doug brought over the wonton wrappers, but then mostly stood by himself until he eventually disappeared without saying a word to anyone.

Julie played a couple rounds of Heads Up! with us on the couch, Eaddie fell asleep in the chair, and everyone more or less sat around bored until Randall and Danielle headed back home. I ended up taking the girls home and then running to my house to put some digital photos onto a flash drive for Lelan to take to the funeral home. I also had to go next door to get the physical photos from Doug.

As I started to leave to head back, it started to storm pretty hard and I saw some near-dime-sized hale hit the ground outside my garage. The rain was coming in sideways, so I had to close the door and wait it out before I could drive back to my parents’ house.

When I got there, Lelan and Steve were just getting ready to leave. I took the photos out for them, and then went back inside to make a double noodle bowl for Eaddie to eat while Summer and I are away at work. I eventually made it back to Summer’s for the evening, and Eaddie gave me a big hug. Summer was already in bed, and I tried not to delay too long myself.

“special”