Tag: family

Uncategorised

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.

Uncategorised

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.

Uncategorised

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.

Uncategorised

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

Uncategorised

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”

Uncategorised

Arrangements

I only slept in a little bit today, relative to when I went to sleep. When I got up, Dad said everyone was meeting at Humphrey Funeral Service, so I got around and went straight over there to meet them. When I arrived, I didn’t recognize any cars, so I waited in mine until my parents snuck around the side and told me to come in. Lelan, Steven, Randall, Danielle, Doug, Uncle Giao, and my parents were all there. Julie and Kevin showed up a little while later after getting back on the ground. The conversations didn’t really seem to necessitate most of us there, but I guess it was good practice.

We had a few small laughs, and Lelan and her closest picked out a casket. Julie made some coffee for a few of us, and they provided information for the obituary. It was basically just business. When we left, Steve took us all to Ridgewood Brothers for lunch. Grant and Robert were both there, and then Kyler brought us a tray of chicken they had smoked for a catering job. We ate and socialized for a bit, and then split up into a couple groups to visit a flower shop and take care of a few other things. I went home to get a shower, and then we all eventually ended up at Bác Vân’s house where we spent the rest of the day.

The family dug through photo albums for pictures to show at the service while the rest of us just kind of socialized a bit. Julie and Kevin ended up leaving to pick up some food from the oriental food store in Little Rock. Later on, I let Randall drive the Model 3, which got his blood pumping. As the evening progressed, a few others stopped in, including Tom and Steven, and Chris and his wife. Julie brought a duck home, which we had for dinner. It was a pretty long and mostly dull day for me, but it was really nice to catch up with Randall.

Eventually everyone headed home and left Doug to unwind in the house by himself. I felt less angry and more empathy for him rattling around in an empty house full of mostly somebody else’s things. I headed straight up to Summer’s, but both girls were long asleep. I was exhausted, but didn’t get to sleep right away. I just felt restless.

“An egg.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.”

Uncategorised

I Wish the Real World Would Just Stop Hassling Me

I woke up early this morning and headed home to get ready for my interview. I casually made it to Morrilton a bit early and went in to talk with Gary for a little bit. He had planned to take a work truck to show me around the plant, but someone else had taken it. We ended up taking a little side-by-side, but fortunately it wasn’t too hot outside. It was really cool getting to see the industrial process, and I even got to see a full truck being dumped at the start of the process.

We made our way through the whole process, from sorting wood chips to water treatment and recycling. Then we headed back to the office so I could meet Ben and Terry. They brought lunch in from somewhere, and Gary let the three of us eat together and get to know each other a bit. It was a really good time, and we had a lot of laughs. Ben actually reminded me a bit of Ryan with his quirkiness and general curiosity about all things. He was much more talkative though. Terry seemed fun and a little quirky as well. I think we all enjoyed sharing stories.

Since the plant manager wasn’t there to meet with me, I left a little early and made it back to town so I could charge before we headed to Rogers. I stopped to wash my car first, and then I passed Dad as I was heading home. I got changed, and he called to say that Doug had called him over because Bác Vân was breathing, but unresponsive.

I made it to Summer’s house unsure of what we were going to do next. I finally got word that she had a brain bleed, and they expected comfort care and hospice. I had become angry from the moment Dad told me he was called instead of 911, and it only got worse from there. Knowing there was nothing I could do, and being afraid of lashing out, Summer and I headed out of town.

Julie texted while we were driving to say that we had one opportunity to go see her while she was “technically alive,” which is the worst form of alive. I chose instead to keep my last memory of her, which was only a brief hug after I had just discovered the tree branch embedded in the roof of my house. Summer said she spoke to her yesterday and gave her a hug when she stopped by to charge her car, so I felt better about that. I just kept getting angrier and angrier.

We made it to Fayetteville and stopped at Longhorn Steakhouse to eat before the concert. I texted Eaddie to update her on the bad news, and just seconds later I got the text from Dad that Bác Vân had passed.

Dinner was pretty good, but our server was slow and seemed not to be very good at his job. The food tasted like they were overcompensating with butter to flavor absolutely everything, which made every bite pretty greasy. We left there and found our way to the second floor of the parking garage where there was another EV charger. It was cheaper than a Supercharger, so we plugged up and headed to the Walmart Amphitheater.

Matt Nathanson opened, and was a bit more unnecessarily vulgar than I expected, especially for the type of music he played. For having the hit that he did, I kind of expected a little more, but I guess that defines a one-hit-wonder. It took a while for the reset, but then Matchbox Twenty came on and put on an incredible show. They had a weird quarter-sphere on stage with a projector that I assume was inside of it and behind it. Of course everyone stood up as soon as they came out, so the second half of the show was spent leaning against the rail.

My mind and feelings were everywhere, but also a bit numbed out after the constant barrage of bullshit I’ve experienced lately. Even Summer said she finally understood wanting to just sail away from it all. Everyone knows that nothing bad ever happens at sea.

When we left, traffic had us stuck in our parking space in the parking garage for a ridiculously long time. Once we did finally start moving, we were gone in no time, but I guess someone had traffic blocked or directed in a stupid direction. It didn’t used to be this bad. We had to stop in Lowell to charge and use the restroom. I picked up what I assumed was an apple fritter and a drink, and we headed home. Summer tried to sleep, but Autopilot was being really stupid and jerking out of lane changes, and throwing a warning and braking once.

Between Alma and Clarksville, we encountered someone from Washington that was hogging the passing lane and kept varying their speed from 65 to 85. At one point I was passing them in the right lane again when someone else ran up on their bumper. I had enough and sped up to pass them, honking for them to move. They took that to mean that they should run up on my bumper and then try to pass me, but that wasn’t going to happen unless I chose to let them. They ran up on someone else, and I finally hit the brakes to let them fly by me and hopefully go away. Then they pulled up next to a semi and slowed down to about 60 to impede traffic. I ended up calling the state police to try and get them pulled over.

We eventually made it home without incident. I took out my contacts, and then we took the Murano to Summer’s for the evening. We were home super late, so Eaddie was long in bed. Summer went to sleep, and I eventually wrapped up.

You absolutely useless muppet.

Uncategorised

ReCharge

I didn’t have much luck sleeping in today. Summer went to work and I laid around for a little longer, but couldn’t really sleep. I got up and made myself a leftover burger for brunch, and then woke Eaddie up when I finally decided to go home and unpack my things. She had a private lesson in the afternoon, so I didn’t spend much time there. I got showered and then headed back to get her.

I just waited in the car while Eaddie had her lesson, and then I took her back home where I tinkered with the emulators on my Steam Deck some more. I got E.V.O.:Search for Eden working and played it for a while. Mom made bún bò Huế for dinner, so Eaddie and I went over there to eat.

The soup wasn’t quite ready when we got there, so Eaddie sat down and thumbed through a bunch of old sheet music they had. Dad had gone out of town for a wedding, but made it back home for dinner. While Mom was getting everyone’s food ready, Dad accidentally dropped a fresh jar of watermelon pickles they had made, and it shattered all over the kitchen floor. They got a little cut up from the glass, but it wasn’t too bad. Somewhere along the way, I picked up a small, but luckily smooth piece of glass between my toes. They got that cleaned up and we ate.

Summer got home from work and didn’t have her house keys, so Eaddie and I left as soon as we finished eating. We stopped by PDQ to see if Noah was working, and retrieved her key from him. Then we continued to their house for the evening. Eaddie had spent most of the day getting ready for band camp. Summer ate and then pretty quickly went to bed. I played my game a while longer, but tried not to stay up too late.

Rumors circulate among the cucumbers.

Uncategorised

Sent Packing

Summer had to work a long day today. I slept in a little bit, but had to get home to do some laundry for our trip. Eaddie slept a couple hours later than I wanted her to, but it sprinkled on and off, so she had to mow in the dry periods. I cleaned up a bunch of leftovers, and once she finished the yard, I headed home.

The day went by relatively quickly. I got my laundry done and took a shower, but then I had to take Eaddie to Pasta Grill to meet some band friends to celebrate Kim’s retirement. I circled around to my parents’ house from there so I could visit before our trip. I ended up having dinner there, and Dad showed me the landscaping they had done.

I left their house to pick up Eaddie, but she decided she wanted to go to the movies instead. I went home and got caught up in deciding which vehicle to take to D.C. The Murano would be really straightforward, but I kept thinking the Autopilot on the Model Y would make the drive so much less exhausting. We’d have to stop a little more frequently and for longer, but driving for three hours at a time seemed like long enough for me anyway.

Summer stopped by after she finally got home from work, and I cleared up some confusion about the hotel. I couldn’t figure out how she booked the one she did, but it was twice the distance from the University of Maryland as the one that was actually advertised on the National History Day website. I booked the correct hotel and cancelled her reservation, and then we went outside to compare vehicles.

She went on home, but then I followed because Eaddie was on the way home from the movies. We needed to make sure her project would fit in the trunk, and it did, so we loaded it up and then I headed back home to charge and pack.

I didn’t get to bed until a couple hours later than I wanted, but I felt fairly confident that I had packed everything I should need for such a long trip. In reality, I was sure that I still overpacked, but travel makes me highly anxious.

It’s easier to unpack and repack than to do the Tesla Shuffle.

Uncategorised

Gators Out of Water

I squeezed into work today, but things were unusually quiet. It wasn’t long before I learned that they sent everyone home because a water main had gone out somewhere up the road, so the school had no water. I tried to stick around for a bit, but eventually went home since I knew it would take me half an hour to get back home to my own bathroom.

Just after I got home, the mail lady came by with my new sun shades for our cars. I tried them out and settled on using the umbrella type for the Model 3, since I didn’t really have anywhere to store the folding one. Then I decided to surprise the guys at Taco John’s for lunch. I tried to see if Allen was going, but from what I could hear over the phone, he was out doing something else.

I stopped to wash my car first so I wouldn’t be too early, but even when I arrived, I had time to eat all of my food before Zach, Greg, and his wife and kid showed up. They didn’t have a whole lot to say, but I did learn that Old South had burned down. Shortly after they got their food, a bunch of the maintenance crew came in, so I moved over to sit with them once Zach and Greg left.

After lunch, I headed up to see if Eaddie wanted to go driving. She was cleaning and doing laundry, so I helped pick through some crap Autumn had left in the floor when she left. Noah left with the promise of coming back to help us move a grill up from my house. I had texted Autumn to see if she wanted to come get some more stuff, but when she came by after DEP for her school records, she said she still hadn’t unpacked anything. She seemed humbled though, and even offered to come back and mow the front lawn so Eaddie wouldn’t have to do it herself.

After a while, I convinced Eaddie to go grocery shopping with me, and we got everything to grill some burgers and took it back to my house to wait for Noah. We ended up waiting for nearly two hours, but he eventually showed up and we successfully moved the grill. Eaddie got to work right away baking a cake, while I started up the grill. The three of them went back out to get some fries while I mixed up the hamburger meat, and then I grilled everything as quickly as I could.

Dinner was awesome. They were some of the best burgers I’d made in quite a while, and it made the girls realize why I scoffed at the $80 it cost for us to eat at Big Orange the other day. Noah had put on The Guardians of the Galaxy while they were waiting to eat, so we finished watching it after we ate, and then everyone was off to bed.

They drained the swamp.