Tag: family

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Path of Logical Hoarding

I woke up this morning and jumped right into organizing again. It was a cool, sunny day out, which was perfect for rummaging in the garage. While I was out there, I saw Uncle Giao, Erica, and Nova pull up at Bác Vân’s, and he brought out a couple old helmets for me. The girls showed up just after that, and we decided to go out for lunch to Linh’s with them.

The service was spacy, slow, and just generally bad. I keep thinking there must be something she can do to improve the experience, but it’s just always bad now. The food was fine, except for two very obvious black hairs entwined both in Summer’s shrimp fried rice and my phở. Things weren’t going well enough for us to really feel comfortable sending anything back though.

Steven and Ronda stopped by the restaurant to drop some wine off for Summer. Then Summer had to take off early to hold an interview at the shop. When we all finally left, I stopped by the house and picked up some old brake fluid, and took it to Summer.

The afternoon was more cleaning and organizing while Summer and Eaddie went for a bike ride and Autumn went to hang out with Harry. She’s been constantly asking to go to church with this kid, and I’d be alright with it if it was actually making her a better person instead of just trying to manipulate us into letting her do what she wants to do.

When Summer and Eaddie got back, they headed home and I went to Arby’s for a quick dinner. Then I wrapped up outside and came in to archive Summer’s skydive media. Time really accelerated after that, and before I knew it, it was well past bedtime.

Let’s build a new structure, dedicated to this hobby of collecting things!

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Skydove

Summer had an appointment to go skydiving early this afternoon, so I got up and headed home to clean up. The girls were all waiting outside for me when I got back to pick them up, and we made our way to the Clarksville airport. We hadn’t been there very long before a group came down for a landing, and one of the pros that had been doing the filming for that jump came down super hard and broke his leg. They called an ambulance, but the guy ended up taking the bed of a truck instead. After seeing my nonsensical COVID bills, I don’t blame him.

It took us a while to get started on account of the injury, but Summer wasn’t phased. Another group of kids came in for a jump as well, but Summer was up next since she had an actual appointment. The plane ride didn’t take too long, but we couldn’t actually see them leave the plane because of some large clouds. I did get a bit of video as they approached the field for their landing, but she paid the extra $150 for a premium body and external cam footage anyway.

Autumn wanted to go to their father’s restaurant afterward, but he had already closed. We settled on El Molcajete instead, but as we parked, we realized that not a single soul other than myself had brought a mask. That irritated me enough on account of my hunger, but then Autumn started in on an attitude when she should have known better than to leave the house without her mask after more than a year of this.

I drove us straight home instead, where we picked at some leftovers for an early dinner. Then I sunk a bunch of time into Photoshopping an explosion behind Summer and her tandem partner in a photo I took of them walking back from the airfield. Frustrated from the loss of daylight and everyone else taking naps, I left for home and spent the evening poking around the garage.

You never look back at the explosion!

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Bike Day

Eaddie and I got up this morning and rode the Shadow to the Ridgewood Brothers for lunch. I called Dad and had him meet us there too, and Grant was so excited to see all of us. I finally got to try the cheddar jalapeño sausage, and it was fantastic. I had the bronco sandwich, which had a link on it, and got an extra one to go as well. Felix was feeling some attitude today, but overall came through in taking care of us.

After we ate, we ran by the shop to share some banana pudding with Summer. Then Eaddie and I took a long motorcycle ride around town. We went around the marina, peeping at houses along the way. Then we took a slow cruise through the park before continuing up the mountain and back down to Old Post. She wanted to get off and play around in the park a bit, so we goofed around a bit and had some swing time. Sheri spotted me and came by to ask if I would be applying for Ben’s job. I appreciated that she at least said I would be good at it.

Once Eaddie got tired of the park, we went back up the mountain and finished the Skyline loop before making it back home. We watched a couple episodes of House, and then she took off on her bicycle while I poked around the garage some more. It was just the smallest amount of organizational progress, but at least it was something. Eventually I needed a break and took the R1 across town to deliver the CPL sticker I had forgotten to bring Grant earlier in the morning. We chatted for a little while more before I headed home.

Eaddie met me there, and we drove back up to Summer’s for the evening. Autumn was feeling moody, I suppose, and secluded herself as usual. Eaddie convinced Summer to watch a couple episodes of Glee, which finally got us started on the final season. At this point I’m just ready to be done with the show. It’s so far beyond everything that I used to love about it, so I’m ready to move on to the next thing.

Riding around town was more fun than the long highway ride to the rally, and the barbecue was leagues better too.

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Like the Snake?

When I got up and around, Autumn was already fussing about being hungry and not liking whatever I could possibly come up with. She tried convincing Eaddie to ride their bikes to Arby’s for lunch so they could take some to Summer at work. I told her it was raining, but she insisted she could just wear a hoodie until we opened the garage and she saw the deluge with her own eyes.

I had my shower, then took them on home for the day. It wasn’t long until Mark responded, and I went to his office to do some more printer finagling. When I finished up, I still had a little time to kill before the kids had to be at karate, so I ran across the street to see if either of the Bros. were there.

That’s when I met Nate. Nate seemed pretty cool; a younger guy, a professor at Tech. We chatted for a little bit until Grant showed back up. We had a couple laughs before Summer got off work. Then she took the girls to karate and met me at Brown’s for dinner. I still had my birthday coupon, after all.

It must have been RSD past and present night, because I saw Denise, Tammy, Josh, and Kristin all scattered throughout the dining room. I couldn’t blame them, because the food was delicious. I ate too much, but the fact that I couldn’t burp from my root beer that really hurt me.

Summer headed on home while I got the girls. I had to drop Autumn off at her grandparents’ house for the night, then took Eaddie home to shower and get a change of clothes before coming home for the night. Summer was already in bed when we got there, so Eaddie and I watched some House until bedtime.

Go for the fish. Stay for the chicken.

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Homing In

I slept in pretty late today, forgetting that Summer still had to work. It’s been a busy spring break so far, and today was no exception. As soon as I got up, the girls started asking when we’d leave for my house. I told them to get things cleaned up, and then we could go any time. They dawdled around, mostly forgetting to actually do anything, until I forced them.

Autumn wanted me to drop her off with Summer so she could help out at the shop before and after therapy. I took Eaddie on home, but as soon as we got there, she took off on her bike. I spent the whole time outside, slowly poking through the garage. I felt pretty good about the little bit of organization I did, but there’s still so much to do.

A little while after Eaddie got back, I decided to take a break and take her out on a motorcycle ride. We stopped by the shop to see when Summer would be off, then took the scenic route to my parents’ house. I chatted with Dad for a little bit about the renovation, and then we headed back home once Summer was off work.

She wanted chicken, so we settled on Slim Chickens for a whopping forty five dollars. I recognized the little girl that took our order from school, and we noticed the crew in the back mouthing her for fussing at them while she was running all over the restaurant cleaning everything in sight. I told Summer she needed to hire her, so we did a little headhunting. Summer needed some practice being smooth, so I had to get her name to get the conversation started. Then Summer started probing about her job and invited her down for an interview.

Arms full of that delicious strawberry lemonade, we headed back home for the evening. Still unsatisfied, Summer sent Eaddie and me out on a Blizzard quest. Then Eaddie and I sat in the living room: her on her phone and me on mostly YouTube until she went to bed.

Take inventory, itemize, and make it happen.

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That’s a Surprise

I slept in super hard this morning, but got up and around for an early lunch. We cleaned up some leftovers, then tried to keep the kids motivated to clean the house in preparation for the evening. Eventually it came time for me to leave for my shower, so it was up to all the girls to get things rolling.

While I was gone, Melinda picked Summer up for their pedicures. I arrived back at the house shortly thereafter with a fresh bag of ice and the hamburgers, and we did our last little bit of prep work before the guests started to arrive. Ronda, Steven, and Maleea showed up first, but were quickly followed by Suzanne, John and Melissa, Noah, and my parents. We had a house full of relative strangers to each other, and I was busy slicing vegetables and running the grill. Had I known the nail salon was running behind, I would have slowed way down, but for all I knew, I had about half an hour to get things rolling.

Around 6:40, Melinda showed up with Summer and we did our level best to surprise her. Ronda had the great idea to have all the friends stand back, so the kids and my parents jumped out first with a couple big confetti poppers. Then as she came further into the house, everyone else jumped out and surrounded her for a second surprise. It was hugs all around, except for Eaddie, who got totally got skipped.

Summer had a blast and was so excited to see everyone. The food turned out pretty well after Steven helped me keep the grill from going up in flames. The decorations Melissa brought were just the right touch, and Suzanne’s cake was amazing. I almost couldn’t believe we pulled it off. I did forget to toast the buns with butter on the griddle, but I suppose there’s always next time for the gourmet experience.

John and Melissa had to take off pretty quickly to get their kids. Dalia was going to show up late after closing at work, but she actually arrived at a pretty decent time since the pedicures took an extra hour to complete. As everyone eventually filtered out, the kids did a quick sweep up to get the house livable again. I ran across town to deliver some cake to John, then went home to trade my contacts for glasses.

Everyone was ready for bed by the time I got back, so I tinkered around for a little while, and eventually went off to bed.

Fool me once, shame on… shame on you. You fool me, you can’t get fooled again.

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With a Bow

Summer had to work today, so I stayed in and eventually got the girls up and out of the house. We went to Walmart for some things for lunch, and I made a big Everything Loaf sandwich to take to Summer. Afterward, I took the girls home so they could clean up the house. We took my electric mower up there since we couldn’t get Summer’s gas powered one running.

Autumn went to the gym with Harry while Eaddie mowed the lawn. I tried to help clean up a little bit. Summer got home, so I made spaghetti for dinner. We didn’t have any sauce or noodles though, so I had to run back to Walmart to get them. I ended up getting an armful of things, and somewhere along the way I set down the noodles and never picked them back up. When I got back to the house, we decided the bowtie pasta we had in the cabinet would be good enough.

We were all pretty tired after all the running around, so Autumn and Summer went to bed. Eaddie and I watched an episode of House, and then she stayed up late playing Fortnite.

Don’t keep your ice cream next to the hot dogs, or it won’t stay cold enough.

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Now That’s How You Wedding

Summer made an assortment of foods for breakfast this morning. My leftover Popeye’s biscuit with sausage, egg, and cheese didn’t need any of the hollandaise sauce she made, but was equally delicious. I left shortly after that to take a shower and make it to Mark’s to work on some printer configurations. I was a bit surprised when I received a negative test page that was covered in toner and white text.

I had to cut that short after some gossip in order to get back home and ready for a wedding. Summer’s employee Justin was getting married, and I still had to tie an eldredge knot. I made it up the hill to pick up Summer and Autumn, and we ran to Lamar for the wedding.

We arrived at the Bacchus Family Adventure Farm, and were pretty charmed by what they had laid out. The weather was just perfect. There was a covered, open air pavilion for the ceremony, and then a petting zoo just up a little hill. The ceremony wasn’t quite the shortest I had ever seen, but it also wasn’t held in a cold, windy gazebo at the park in the dark of night. It really was perfect. The petting zoo had a surprising assortment of critters willing to eat some Fruit Loops. Then the reception area was really nicely done as well.

The surprise of the trip was the number of people I knew. Kelli was a bridesmaid. Carl, who I hadn’t seen in years, works with the bride. Being awkward as ever, I waved him and his friend(?) over to sit with us. It was a really great time catching up. I hope every wedding I ever have to attend for the rest of my life is more like this.

When we got back to town, I dropped the girls off to pack, then headed home. When they got there, we watched the first episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I thought it was fantastic how such different types of stories all fit so perfectly in the same universe. Summer thought it was stressful. She went on to bed afterward, and Eaddie and I watched some YouTube, then an episode of House before she passed out in my lap.

Yes, the carnivorous arctic fox you see here in Arkansas just loves carrots.

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Never Trust the Banker

Summer felt well enough to go to work today, and left me to fetch the girls from their friends’ house. Autumn ended up getting a ride from another Explorers friend to their meeting at Old Post, so I just had to get Eaddie. We stopped by Hardee’s for a little lunch to take to Summer. Then we went to my house so she could ride her bike.

Summer got busy and forgot to get Autumn, so I headed across town. Just as I got there, Autumn called to tell me she passed me in someone else’s truck. I mentally scolded her as I turned around and headed back home. Then I pushed some leaves around in the yard and did a bit of rearranging in the garage while Eaddie spent the entire afternoon at her grandparents’ house. I finally had to call her back home so we could go eat dinner.

We arrived back at the house just before Summer, so it worked out well. Autumn had cleaned the house as she was supposed to. Summer and I ate some leftovers while Eaddie went out to try and mow the lawn. She couldn’t get the mower started though, furthering my hatred for simple combustion engines.

Autumn wanted to play some Monopoly, so Summer and I finished the evening with that. They decided to gang up on me to prevent any possibility of winning, even after overcoming the already incredibly bad odds, so I took matters into my own hands just to see if Summer would notice. Stacks of money later, my allergies got the best of me and I decided it was time for bed.

One for you, and one for me. Two for you, and one, two for me. Three for you, and one, two, three for me. Nyah.

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A Lot

I got the Shadow out again today, but as soon as I hit the street I realized how frigid the air was. Fortunately I was only going to the high school, so it was a quick trip and I thawed out quickly. There, I dropped off a bunch of patch cables and helped Mike with a couple work orders in the office. Then I made it back to my office for the rest of the day.

Zach and Gary wanted Linh’s, which sounded great to me. The service was actually really good, but my noodles were either overcooked or under dried and I had to finish with a spoon. The weather for the ride back was much nicer, but it had still been cloudy for most of the day as far as I could tell.

I kept pretty busy with a couple short term projects that would help later down the road, and even worked a bit late since the girls got a ride to karate. When I finally left, I went by the shop to see Summer and drove past Kevin on the way, who eyeballed me pretty hard on the different bike.

I went to my parents’ house for some leftovers and then had a pretty good talk with them about all things past, present, and future. Then I headed back across town, deciding to swing by Kevin’s place on the way home. He had just gotten home from mountain biking and was in the driveway putting his bike away, so we chatted for a long time outside.

He caught me up on a ton of stuff I’ve missed since we’re horrible at keeping up with each other. I’ve missed being around him and the rest of the crew even though I was only around for a couple months before I left for the school district. I let him take the Shadow around the block. A little while later, Mayra rolled around the corner only just getting home from work. She jumped out and chatted with us for a bit with her own relationship drama as we each wrapped up to go home.

Isn’t that the kind of thing they run marathons for?