Tag: family

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Back to Pants

It was freezy this morning, and my ice scraper was insufficient to remove all of the ice from my windshield. I’ll need to get the chip filled sooner than later so it doesn’t crack the whole windshield.

I ran way behind this morning, but still somehow managed to squeeze in the door on time. I got settled with all the new goodies I brought from home, poured myself some coffee that stayed hot all day long thanks to the Ember mug Summer got me, and then spent all day tucked away in my office.

Evidently it flooded during all of the rain last week, and though most of the stuff in my office was safe, I did have one casualty. The esports poster that Jessica and Ronda made of my newspaper article got wet, because the lamination was trimmed too close to the poster board, which wicked water up into the middle of the poster. Hopefully it will dry out without looking gross.

I had to update a bunch more Chromebooks for Oakland, but never delivered them. Zach, Gary, and Thomas came back to fetch me for La Chiquita for lunch, where Greg met us. Then the afternoon was relatively quiet until quitting time. I left and went by the shop to find Summer in the pit. She was stuck there, so I went home for a bit until she got off.

The girls already ate, so I went by Wind Taste to get some lo mein for Summer, then went to their house for the evening. I developed a bit of a headache and spent most of the evening with some earbuds in. Summer went to bed early, and I finished up on the computer. As I was getting ready to go to bed, Eaddie came out and chatted with me for about an hour and a half before I ran her off to shower and go to sleep.

Two is better than one when less is more.

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Errand Boy

I tried not to sleep too late this morning. I got Summer up, and Autumn was already in the living room when we came out. I rolled Eaddie out of bed, and could tell pretty quickly she was going to be in a pretty good mood. Summer wanted to take them to Shoe Carnival because Eaddie was in dire need of new shoes. I left to meet them after they ran home to change, but Shoe Carnival wouldn’t be open for another hour or two.

We ended up at Walmart instead, since I needed to look for a new TV to replace Doug’s. Since the girls all seemed to be pretty easy going, we perused the clearance aisle for a while, and then walked around slowly through the rest of the store. Then out of nowhere, we were discussing how many new laundry baskets we needed to buy, and Eaddie made an offhand comment that absolutely triggered Autumn. She went 0 to 100 faster than I’ve ever seen, and even got in Eaddie’s face. I almost had to choke her out just to calm her down.

We let her walk it off, and the rest of us just stared at each other wide-eyed trying to figure out what the hell happened. We continued around the store for a while, then circled back around so I could talk to Autumn alone before checking out. We went to Hardee’s because I thought we were going to eat a late breakfast, but everyone else wanted lunch food. Fortunately I had loads of coupons ready to go.

After lunch, the girls went to Shoe Carnival while I went to Lowe’s to look for some gas line tape. Then I headed to my parents’ house to help Dad replace their water heater. It was super cold outside, but the garage was bearable. It took us a bit to trim the metal exhaust tube, and we ended up running back to Lowe’s for some replacement tubing to go from the wall to the heater, but we got it going again.

I stuck around to eat a bowl of soup, and then took an old TV from there to Bác Vân’s. My parents never used it, and it made more sense to give that one to them, since Walmart didn’t have any TVs at all that had a center stand. I’ll have to go back tomorrow once they have a board wide enough to support the new TV and its corner-mounted stands sitting on top of the old console TV.

I prepped a little bit to get things ready to go back to work, then headed up to Summer’s for the evening. The girls were all in good moods again. Autumn was cleaning her room while Summer did Eaddie’s nails as Eaddie had laundry going. I tinkered a bit, warmed up a bit of food, and eventually everyone made it to bed.

Talk about cramming it all in on the last day!

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Amazing!

I woke up pretty early today after an early new year’s eve. Summer got up and went home to meet up with the girls, who were home a day early from their father’s. Eaddie really wanted to come watch the Andrew Garfield The Amazing Spider-Man movies, so I picked up around the house until they came over with a bucket of chicken for dinner.

Just as we sat down to eat, Doug called from next door with a TV issue that I thought was going to be a de-synced remote again, but this time it seemed the volume on the TV was being constantly turned down. I couldn’t resolve it with a stuck button, so I told them it would just have to be replaced. I’ll have to go pick a new one up for them tomorrow.

I ate, and then we started the first movie. I had forgotten how good the 3D was in those movies, because it was actually properly shot in 3D by someone that actually took advantage of the technology and knew how to use it. We took a dessert break between movies, and then I made some popcorn for the second one. They were both pretty emotional movies that I just adored. I think even with the new MCU version of Spider-Man, Garfield was my favorite of all.

Eaddie and I stayed up a little later watching some YouTube, until she was ready for bed. I had to negotiate some space in the bed for her from Autumn, but they settled in pretty quickly. Summer had long been asleep, so I wrapped things up quietly before bed.

Gotta get back into the swing of things…

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Fill the Box

I woke up shortly after Summer left for work this morning. I felt hungry, so I thawed out a bagel, then started poking around the house to see what I could store in my new garage cabinet. Autumn eventually came to take Eaddie home, to get her mandated locker at school, and then out for an evening with her friends.

About mid afternoon, I went to my parents’ house to chat for a while. We scheduled a day to talk to their financial advisor about his retirement, and hopefully that will be the last of that, but I’m not so sure. As Summer finished up at work and went to the gym, I made my way up to her house for the evening.

The kids showed up after Eaddie’s night out with friends, but then left for their father’s once Eaddie packed some things. Then it was an early night to bed.

Rolls on rolls on rolls.

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Vacation in Spirit

I went to bed super early last night, and then woke up early this morning after many hours of sleep. I found a charge on my Discover card from Disney, but didn’t go with the rest of my family a couple weeks ago. After some digging, we discovered that Dad had somehow been signed into my account and charged a couple things to my card. I was just glad I didn’t have to cancel my card and get a new number.

Summer had to do some shopping for work, so she came to get me and we went to Walmart, Harbor Freight, AutoZone, and then Sumo for lunch. Afterward, she dropped me off at my house so I could do some things there.

It was nice outside, so I took the opportunity to clean out a corner of the garage and put together the last part of my new metal cabinet. It was a bit of a struggle to get everything to align properly, and I’m still not super happy with the door, but it works. Now I just have to figure out what to store in it.

After a quick shower, Summer finished at work and took me back to her house. Eaddie had been deep cleaning her room all day, which she had needed to start for a while. I stayed there and played some Don’t Starve while Summer went to the gym.

For dinner, I took Eaddie to pick up Summer at the gym, and went to my parents’ house for egg roll salads. Mom seemed to function pretty well as long as I could get her to whatever corner of the kitchen had what she needed. We ate, told Dad jokes, and then I took Summer back to her car and met her at my house.

Eaddie and I had been wanting to watch Hawkeye for a while, so we finally started it. I felt like it started super slow, and didn’t have a very interesting plot or memorable soundtrack. I was also pretty disappointed with the surround sound in general, and I had some strange artifacting in the picture. I couldn’t tell if it was from Disney+ or possibly something with my Chromecast.

Once we finished the first two episodes, Summer went to bed and I started the first episode of What If…?. Eaddie didn’t stick around for much of it, but I was at least appeased with the level of action and the pacing of the episode. By then, I was pretty tired, so I finished up my chores and went to bed.

Have some Upper 10. It’s more than 7 Up!

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Highking Trails

Summer picked up fast food breakfast this morning, and then everyone got up to go to Magazine Mountain. We stopped at a couple overlooks and then the visitor’s center, then made a couple loops around the top of the mountain before parking at the lodge to hike up to the top. Eaddie would never admit it, but she was sweet and walked with me while Summer and Autumn walked way ahead.

After the hike, we stopped at my house and cleaned up the back yard after last night’s fire. Then Eaddie rode her bike to my parents’ house while we drove Autumn home to get her car. We all met back at my parents’ house for some leftovers. I rolled around in Mom’s wheelchair for a bit. Eventually Autumn left for her father’s for the week, and the girls and I went home so Eaddie could clean her room and do some laundry.

Summer had to return to work for the week and went to bed, so I stayed up and played some Don’t Starve while Eaddie completed her chores.

Finally made it to winter…

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Need a Little Christmas

Summer jumped out of bed early this morning and ruined the secret of Santa Claus for me. I couldn’t sleep in much and was a little hungry after having a complicated relationship with food last night, so I got up. Summer made us some scrambled eggs, and we eventually got both kids up enough to dump out their stockings. Eaddie was in an immediate mood, throwing an absolute tantrum at everything. I was very near slapping it out of her, and both girls just kept picking at one another.

We got Eaddie up and around to some chores, and eventually got everyone through the shower so we could make our way to my parents’ house. Summer made all of our contribution to lunch, and we were off.

Bác Vân and Doug beat us there. I think Julie made most of the food and was about two hours late. Eaddie took a nap in my bedroom until the food was ready, and came out in much better form. We ate, did our quickest round of presents ever, and then left so I could clean up house a bit for some friends.

I had messaged Diana happy birthday earlier in the day, and she said they were in town along with Josue and wanted to get together. They agreed on a fire at my place and we all met up for a nice quiet evening outside. It was really nice seeing them all again, and the kids enjoyed some roasted marshmallows.

Josue stuck around for a little while and chatted with me after the others left. The girls all went to sleep, and eventually we packed everything up and he headed out. By then, I was ready for bed too.

Hasn’t snowed a single flurry, but Santa dear we’re in a hurry!

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Hot Coffee Mod

I slept in pretty late today, and felt great for it. I remember waking up in an anxiety attack briefly, but it didn’t last long or keep me from falling right back to sleep. I ate a leftover smoked sausage for lunch, and eventually got cleaned up to go to Summer’s for the evening.

Amanda asked me to stop by and bring a package in for her, so I did that, then grabbed a free 2-liter from Casey’s, and finally made it up to Summer’s where she and all three kids were playing Mario Party. It was pretty loud while everyone was screaming at one another, and it made me a little woozy.

Presents didn’t take long to open, because it was a pretty lowkey Christmas. Summer went overboard and got me an Ember mug, which I looked at on a whim after seeing them on sale at Costco. I made some loose leaf tea in the Manatea infuser she also got me, and the cup really made all the differnce. After hours, even the very last little sip was as hot as the first.

We tried having the kids put together the gingerbread houses, but I don’t think they cared much about it. Eaddie had some fun with it, but Autumn didn’t participate at all, and Noah mostly just made a mess. After they got the walls up, they finished their game. Noah left, and the girls went to their rooms. Summer went to bed pretty early, which left me up late, sippin’ hot tea.

Tropical Christmas

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Alright, Bud

I woke up feeling pretty sick this morning after last night. I made it through my shower and to work, but it didn’t get better for quite a while, and I never quite made it back to 100%. Thomas was at work, but Zach and Gary were out. The others got together and split up into groups to close old work orders, and I went to Oakland to swap out old Chromebooks.

Brody called and said they were going to Fat Daddy’s downtown for lunch, so I went back to the shop and picked a group of them up. After we ordered, our server told us they were slammed with a short staff, and it showed when it took an hour to get our food. That would have made more sense if the food was actually hotter or fresher. They never cease to disappoint me, this time with a tough, dry tortilla, lukewarm filling, and dry, tough brisket. All of that was $17, and of course the server stands over you while you pay on their handheld device that everyone else has touched, making tipping accurately very awkward. I was out the door for just under 22 bucks, which absolutely disgusted me.

I spent the afternoon with more of the same, not quite finishing what I had started. I should be able to finish tomorrow for our half day though. As I finished, I started a support chat with Google because my Pixel Buds have been giving me trouble with battery life. My right bud constantly dies very early, after only two hours of playback. The battery percentage always reports with some disparity, but the right one has consistently been giving me less than half of the life it should have.

After work, I went home to change and then went to my eye appointment. I nearly fell asleep in the exam room waiting for the new doctor. She was kind, but I don’t think I got great news. It’s odd, because my vision doesn’t seem worse, but she seemed to indicate sub-optimal results. I guess we’ll see in 2023, because I dropped vision insurance for next year.

I went back home and waited for my UPS package, and then went up to Summer’s for the evening. Eaddie and I watched an episode of House while Summer and Autumn watched TV in the living room. Then everyone went to bed pretty early.

Just turn down your muchness.

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HAM on Ham

I went to bed pretty late last night, and then didn’t sleep in very long. I think I already knew I wasn’t going to get much done, and it didn’t feel great. When I got up, I picked at things in the fridge and eventually went home to clean up.

Summer had her store’s Christmas party, and made deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, and a ham. I was just a bystander, running late. I got my shower and came back to pick up Eaddie and the ham, then made it to the shop at a fair time considering when others were strolling in. It wasn’t a full turnout, which I considered disappointing.

We ate, cleaned up, and then went back up to their house.l I didn’t stick around too long, and came back home to do some chores. I started a load of laundry, and then had another annoying argument with Julie over nothing. I never know how these things start. It’s as though her existence breeds conflict. Dad mentioned that Julie didn’t appreciate the “Miss” prefix that Summer often casually attaches to people when she addresses them.

It’s really just not worth the effort to try any more, and I’m done with the excuses and the blame game. I finished my laundry, had a bunch to drink, watched some YouTube, and went to bed.

The backlash to the backlash to the thing that’s just begun.