Tag: family

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What’s Cookin’

Summer got up and made breakfast this morning. I got super stiff last night in bed, which I felt the numerous times I got up in the middle of the night. It really made it hard to move around for a while, but I never got up to much of anything anyway. We did finally play UNO Flip, which was a great twist on the classic game. Then we watched The Princess Bride while Eaddie did something else.

Eventually dinner time came around and Summer wanted to cook up some stir fry with the leftovers we had. She dug out some frozen veggies and cut some extras up, and then I threw in the leftover steak and sausage, filling up the wok nearly to the top, once the rice and everything else was in it.

Eaddie really approved of dinner, and then Summer made some pumpkin bread for dessert. We made Eaddie play a game of UNO Flip with us, and then everyone filtered off to bed.

I just want you to feel you’re doing well. I hate for people to die embarrassed.

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Buddy Thing

I didn’t let myself sleep in today, and got up to finish the leftover chicken tacos from weeks ago. Summer got the girls up and around, and eventually we left for a day in Conway. We went to Kohl’s first so Summer could look for some clothes. As we finished up, I wanted to run through the guy’s clearance, and that’s where I ran into Kyle and Terri. It was great getting to catch up with him for a bit, because it’s been ages since I’ve seen them since they moved to Conway.

As they had to run, the girls rushed me out so we could find some food. We landed on Golden Corral since we had over an hour to kill before the movie. I stuffed myself pretty silly and paid the price in various cramps during the show. Venom wasn’t even playing in 3D at all back home, so we settled for a smaller screen in Conway again.

The movie was relatively forgettable, much like the first. It was mostly a buddy film, with not much of a story, especially for an iconic villain. I was glad to see them fold the cinematic universes together at the end, though It was a bit jarring how they did it. The whole thing felt super forced, so hopefully the final result isn’t awful. I think we’re going to be going off the rails from here on out though.

When we made it back home, the girls got ready for bed. Eaddie and I stayed up for a couple episodes of House, where we got to a less procedural episode. I like it when they try different things like that in long-running shows.

Disappointment is anger for wimps.

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Pessimist in Denial

I mistakenly told Summer not to let me sleep in too late today, so she got me out of bed way earlier than I was ready. I ached from the lack of sleep all day long. I had some leftovers for breakfast and eventually made it home to clean up. The grill cover I had to buy from a scalper off of eBay showed up, so I got the new grill moved outside. Eventually I got a shower and Summer showed up so we could go help Dad cover the pool.

When we got there, he said Uncle Rick tested positive for COVID, so he was trying to be careful while we were there. We covered the pool and then took off for Lowe’s.

We only needed to pick up the air filters I ordered for her, but Summer and I walked around the store for a while first. They had some nice bathroom vanity displays up, so we spent a while back there before making it through some more of the store. Then we picked up the filters on the way out.

We were both a little hungry by then, and she wanted seafood, so I took her down the road to Sam’s. We ordered the big fish, shrimp, and crab cakes platter I usually get, along with a smaller one with some chicken and shrimp to share. I wish I had just gotten the gumbo instead, because it made me feel like crap the rest of the night.

As we left, Summer expressed how she often visualizes worst-case scenarios in her mind. It finally dawned on me that she has really just been a pessimist all along and didn’t realize it. Every example I could come up with lead to her thinking of the most negative outcome. With that insight, I figure I’m an optimist in denial.

I wanted to clean up the house when we got back, but I barely picked at anything. It got hot outside with the sun shining directly into the garage, and I was already feeling sleepy. Summer went home and I tried to pick at a couple more things before following after her.

Autumn came home as we were watching Modern Family, and it was quickly off to bed for her. We didn’t stay up very late either. Hopefully I can make some use of tomorrow.

Spit Fire

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Half Day

I slept pretty hard last night, and Summer let me sleep until about 11. We got up and had some leftovers for lunch. Then she got busy cleaning up around the house while I sat around like a spoiled brat. Autumn had gone to work, but she got Eaddie up around noon to help clean up a bit. When she eventually left for the gym, Eaddie and I watched some House.

Autumn got home from work first, and then Summer came home from the gym. We sat around a bit longer until Mom called us over for some phở. Autumn wanted to stay behind and finish up her chores, so the three of us went across town to eat.

Julie showed up after the rest of us had sat down to eat, so we finished up and moved out of the way one by one. We didn’t stick around for very long since Eaddie still had a bit of project work to do as well.

Summer and Autumn both went to bed pretty quickly. Eaddie took a shower late, and then watched an episode of House with me before we both went to bed, less than 12 hours after waking up.

Welcome to the wide world of grate lifters.

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Around the House

Summer kept begging for some Ridgewood Brothers BBQ this morning, so I took a shower and we went downtown to pick up a bunch to bring back home to Eaddie. Autumn was at a Quiz Bowl event, so the three of us ate and then I went home to start some laundry while Summer went to the gym.

After a while, Summer dropped Eaddie off at the fair to hang out with some of her friends, and came to my house. She wasn’t there very long before Autumn called and wanted her to take them out to eat at Chili’s. There was some guise of wanting to talk, but I never heard anything more and assumed it was a con.

When they finished eating, I met Summer at Walmart for a walkabout. I didn’t find anything interesting, but Summer picked up a few things and we headed out. She went to get Eaddie while I took everything up to her house and waited for them to get back.

Autumn went to bed as soon as I got there. I made some leftover tacos, and then graded the newly written apology letters that Autumn left for me. She still had some errors, so I marked them up and left them on the table. When Summer got home with Eaddie, she brought out the ice cream cake we bought and sliced it up for us. No sooner had she put the rest of the cake back in the freezer than she screamed at me for taking her slice. Only I didn’t. She left it on the counter and blamed me for absolutely no reason at all. Now she owes an apology letter too.

We finished the night with a couple episodes of House, which put Summer in a funk about therapy, and made Eaddie sleepy enough to go on to bed. I was bored and restless, but couldn’t do much else. Eventually I made it to bed.

I need help. I want to get better.

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What kind of overalls does Mario wear?

I took the car to work today on a whim, and out of nowhere we had a downpour in the afternoon. It wouldn’t have mattered though, since it only rained briefly while I was inside, and everything was basically dry by the time I left.

Jacob spent some time asking questions in my office first thing in the morning, which lasted for much longer than I expected. It went on for so long that my calendar alert went off and reminded me of the CPPC meeting I had completely forgotten about. I ran across the street not really knowing what to expect, but the meeting went pretty well. Judy was mostly running the show again, and had the second draft of the salary schedule ready for us to review. We went through all the columns, or at least by department, and discussed what changes were made and why. I got the impression that almost everyone felt like they were getting a good raise, but it surely won’t be that way. I just don’t know who all is being cut.

The meeting carried on until just before lunch time, and I took Gary and Zach to BFD where we all got the same Lizard Lunch. Evidently I was charged double for the addition of fajita vegetables, which highlights the glaring inconsistency we get there since I never see the owner any more.

The afternoon went by more slowly as I struggled with Autodesk some more. I hardly saw anyone else the rest of the day, except for a brief moment when Thomas came back to ask for help. I was excited to flex my knowledge for him until I realized he just wanted help moving furniture. Kelsea got a new desk delivered from Burris, which must have cost a fortune because we bought it from Burris.

I left a bit late to go home and change. I had to chase Bác Vân down to find a package that was delivered and then scooped up by her and Doug. Then I went to my parents’ house to help vacuum the pool. It was so humid that I was juste absolutely drenched in sweat through the whole process. Mom continued to direct my work while I did my best to ignore her through my earbuds. It was all just sediment that never got stirred up, so I think the new pump just needs to be turned up higher.

After I finished the pool, we went in to clean up some leftovers. Then I got the pump running again and added some shock to the water before heading home. I thought it was going to be a quick night to bed, but Old Navy had me trying on pants and shopping for more deals before I could sleep. The problem with buying all of your jeans at the same time is that they all wear out at the same time.

Denim denim denim!

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The Grill of My Dreams

I got up this morning and had some more leftovers for breakfast. I thought we might get out to teach Eaddie to ride the Grom after learning that Arkansas raised the engine size limit for 14-15 year old riders, but she didn’t want to get out of bed. Summer and I ended up going to town to do a little deal and grocery shopping for dinner.

I’d been seeing seasonal deals on grills and outdoor stuff, so I really wanted to look around for a new grill. Summer’s propane grill has seen better days, and Mom and Dad have one like my old one that’s missing the right table side of it. We ended up finding a dual-fuel propane/charcoal one with a griddle insert for $150. Then Summer ran into a couple guys she knew from Autozone that marked one down to $100 for us since it was missing the charcoal door handle. I figured I couldn’t beat that, so we took a price tag, picked up our groceries, and checked out. All that was left was to find someone with a truck to haul it home for me.

I dropped Summer off at her house and then went home to clean up. Brody said he could help me with the grill, so I waited around for him to get back with me. I didn’t realize he was out of town, but eventually he came through. When I got back to Walmart, they had closed the garden center door, so I had to find an employee to help me walk the grill through the store and out the front door. Brody got there just after we got outside, so timing was just about perfect. When we got to my house, he took the turn into my street just a bit too fast and tipped the grill over on its front side, but it didn’t look like there was any damage. We got it down and into the garage, and then I was off to Summer’s for dinner.

Summer made chicken and dumplings, and it turned out really great. I ate way too much though, and the heartburn ate away at me the rest of the night. We watched a couple episodes of Modern Family, and then she went to bed and Eaddie and I watched an episode of House to finish up the fifth season. She still can’t believe the show is still so good this many seasons in, and I keep telling her it gets better. It’s one of the few shows I think they did an excellent job of ending without fizzling out.

After that, I headed back home for the evening to rearrange in the garage a bit. I made just enough room to squeeze past the grill until I can find a cover for it to put it under the porch. I guess now I’ll have to find a way to get my old one to my parents’ house, but that shouldn’t be too bad. The new one is huge though. I can’t wait to try it.

Went looking for a hot deal on a grill, and found a grate one. Job well-done.

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Baby Let’s Cruise

I didn’t sleep too late today, and got up to have some leftovers out of the fridge. Autumn was already off to work, so I just hung out until Summer was ready to go to the gym. I went home and finally opened up a bunch of boxes of paper towels and toilet paper that were still in the garage, and then organized a bit inside the house. I’ve been holding on to a lot of cardboard boxes, but I think I’ll actually get rid of some of the oversized ones because they won’t be as useful as I suspect they will be.

The girls all wanted to go to the movies with friends, but of course the two wanted to go to different ones. Autumn’s friends ended up bailing after Summer convinced Noah to go with them, so we sent all the kids to see Free Guy again since Noah hadn’t seen it. At least Eaddie’s boyfriend made it. Since they were all together with Noah, Summer and I split off to watch Jungle Cruise.

The first part of the movie really bored me, I think just because it was very much a kid’s movie with silly physical comedy that I just wasn’t at all into. Eventually the story picked up, but I just couldn’t get into any of the characters. I did like that they made a bunch of corny jokes like the skippers do on the ride at Disney.

After the movie, we all went back to Summer’s for the evening to play some Uno with Noah. Then he and Autumn played a couple infinite rounds of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate before he left. I even squeezed in for a quick round, but it all felt pretty meaningless without any score or time limit.

Once the other two were off to bed, Eaddie and I watched some more House until she got sleepy again. Then it was off to bed.

Reward Juggler

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Wild Bus Chase

Today was a little bit weird. I spent all morning chasing my tail trying to fix something that appeared to not be an issue. I tried to go light for the day, so I had half a Soylent for breakfast and then the half grilled chicken salad at Brangus for lunch. My only saving grace was the pile of peanuts I ate, but then I spent all afternoon smelling like an elephant.

I made it back to Oakland for a bit before school let out and closed up what I could. Then they chased me out as they got ready for dismissal. The shop cleared out really fast, and I left to get some gas into the Shadow. I was never certain, but I was pretty sure the main tank died on me as I pulled into Brangus, and I didn’t want to risk running out.

When I got home, I dug out all of the old pairs of jeans I could find since the ones I’ve been wearing had all worn out and started to critically fail. None of the stiff ones I just received fit even a little bit, so they’ll probably all go back.

Eventually I made it up to Summer’s for the evening. They got home just after I got there, and then I sat and ate a bowl of roast by myself because they were all preoccupied. Afterward, Summer and Autumn went to bed and Eaddie and I watched several episodes of House. Rewatching the whole series, it’s uncanny how I let it shape my late 20s.

Saving lives is just collateral damage.

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Excessage

I don’t think I slept great this weekend, because I kept getting up out of bed last night as well. I didn’t want to let myself sleep in too late, but I just felt so tired. I cleaned up the last of the taco meat that Summer had, and then took Eaddie home with me as soon as she was ready.

She was supposed to go ride her bike to her friend’s house to work on some homework together, but she didn’t leave for a couple hours. I picked up a little bit in the other bedroom, then took a shower once she did leave. By the time I got out, Summer and Autumn had gotten what they needed from the grocery store and I met them at my parents’ house.

What was supposed to be some super simple grilled sausages for dinner ended up being pretty frustrating. First, about half of the zucchini I brought over fell right through the grill because Mom cut too much meat out of the middle of them and they slipped right through the grates. Then the new jalapeño cheddar sausages I wanted to try from Sam’s were super greasy and caught the whole grill on fire. Everything else was pretty burned after that. All the while, I had to hear Autumn in the background continue to be generally obtuse and uncooperative.

Summer got in the pool for a little bit on her own, but I was busy sweating over the fire. I didn’t get to swim until after we all ate outside. I think I’m learning that I simply don’t care for eating around round tables. With several exceptions, I tend to also become frustrated by having too much other stuff on the table when we’re eating. The sausages had way too much cheddar inside of them, and the cheese overpowered the rest of the flavor. By the time it was all over, I just wanted to make a lap in the pool to cool off. I just felt increasingly tired and aggravated all day long.

The girls went home to get ready for school. I stuck around for just a little bit before going home myself. I was sleepy enough to just go to bed, so I didn’t even risk staying up any later. I only got out for a couple minutes when Bác Vân called me over to get some egg rolls.

-Cap’n Crankypants