Tag: family

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Daylight’s Burning

We slept in a bit today, and Summer took Autumn out to take care of something at the shop and get some milk for breakfast. Eaddie and I played the Switch while we waited for them to get back, and then we all had some cereal.

I wanted to get home to take care of some things, so I left and waited for the girls to come over. Uncle Giao and the rest of the family came by, so I went outside and talked to them for a while before eventually coming back in to shower.

The girls didn’t show up until the sun was going down, and I had to start the fire pit to cook brats for dinner, so I got absolutely nothing done that I wanted. Summer left before the fire was ready, and took Autumn to the haunted house again. Then we ate when she got back.

By the time we were finishing up, Autumn called for an early ride back home, so Summer picked her up and we all came in to watch Glee. Autumn went to bed really early, and it was a good thing because she missed a really bad Christmas episode. I don’t know what the writers were thinking.

It’s my money, and I want it now!

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On the Subject of Curing Teeth, Calculating Warranties, and Haunting Barns

I took the day off of work so I could get my wellness exam done first thing this morning. Summer came out with me to test my battery, and it predictably tested bad and then failed to start my car, so she had to pull around to jump me. I went home to clean up, then made it to my appointment with plenty of time to spare. Of course I didn’t even leave the waiting room until after my appointment time. I didn’t notice Lori was there until she came back out, and we caught up briefly.

I had a new nurse today. This makes three different people in the last three visits. I liked her quite a bit better just based on brevity alone. I got a new low score on my diastolic blood pressure, so she told me to quit taking my morning amlodipine. Now I’ve got to watch my blood pressure closely again for the next month, but maybe at least I won’t keep getting lightheaded every time I stand up.

The car struggled to start again, but I made it to the shop to pick up Summer, and we went to AutoZone to try and fight for a battery replacement. She went straight to the store manager, and he said he would take care of it, and then said my battery was out of warranty because it was a warranty replacement itself. That made enough sense to me at first, but after some more thought, I don’t think having a prorated warranty discount on this battery should invalidate its own warranty period. He said the original battery was purchased in 2014, and then replaced in 2017 with a prorated discount of $35. I still paid $114 to get a new battery at that point, and the receipt spells out the terms that the battery comes with a 5 year warranty from the date on the receipt. I’ve got another month to fight it, so I’m gonna get my battery.

I took Summer back to work for a while, but then had to jump the car again so I could pick up some breakfast for myself. I didn’t even realize McDonald’s would make a triple McGriddle, but they do, and it was glorious. I barely finished it in the parking lot before it was time to take Summer to her dentist appointment.

The filling of her two chipped teeth barely took any time, and I was surprised that they couldn’t have just taken the time to do it when we originally came in. Maybe it was just in case something else went wrong that would extend the procedure, but it was a pretty painless, quick in and out. The teeth were completely cured and ready for eating as we walked out.

The car wouldn’t start again when we tried to leave, so I called Dad and had him come jump us. Then I dropped Summer off at work and headed home to put the car on the charger. I moved the couch around a bit and did a little cleaning underneath it. I vacuumed out a bunch of spider egg sacks, but I couldn’t tell if they were new or old. It still made me feel better, and I never actually saw any spiders, so I assumed they were old.

I didn’t do a whole lot more before Mom got home from work and wanted to go out to eat, so I picked Summer up after work, then got the girls, and met my parents at New China for their COVID re-opening week. Their buffet was set up a lot less elegant than Mulan’s, but it could have been how many people were there. It just seemed like there was always a mob of people up at the bar, and there weren’t clear directions for people to enter or exit a certain direction. We missed the food though, so it was nice getting to have that brand of Chinese again.

Autumn volunteered for an Explorer’s event in Dardanelle that had her working a haunted house, so we left dinner and went to drop her off. There was no clear entrance or anything, so she and Summer wandered around the property to try and find an adult. It was set up in a barn at the Yell County fairgrounds complex, which was small anyway.

After dropping Autumn off, we went to get gas for both of our cars, then went to our respective homes until Autumn was finished late in the evening. I went to get her, and we got back to their house well after everyone had settled in to bed. At least all the battery charging seemed to help.

Pancake, cheese, sausage, cheese, sausage, bacon, egg, pancake.

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Batman in the Middle

Today was another really quiet day at work. I got down to around 15 work orders, so I really need to be putting some time into some of my older, harder, more complicated ones. I took a break for lunch and came home to make a burrito. I rode the bike back to work, and the afternoon was mostly more of the same. I got a lot of steps in, running around to collect and redistribute microphones.

After work, I came home and waited for the girls to get here. Then we ate a mix of leftovers before Eaddie and I ran to Sonic for half price Blasts. When we got back, I put on The Dark Knight for the evening. I think this was my third watch, and I finally put all of it together in my head. I don’t know why I found it so confusing before, but it just felt so disjointed for some reason. It was a long movie with a lot of plot points, so I guess I shouldn’t feel too bad.

See, I’m not a monster. I’m just ahead of the curve.

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🍑

Summer took Eaddie to the gym this morning while I got ready for work. Then they picked up Autumn and left just as I was leaving for work. It was a beautiful day out, so I knew I’d be coming home for the bike at lunch time.

I got to sit with a teacher for a while first thing, and actually helped him create some filters and learn how to take advantage of some of Gmail’s more advanced features. It felt really good to make such a difference for him, but sometimes I still don’t understand how more people don’t already know about these things, or take the time to figure them out themselves.

The day went by pretty quickly from there. I ended up taking a late lunch and ate the beef stew Julie gave me the other day. I still felt a little off from the morning, but I pulled myself together and rode back in to work. Overall it was a really quiet day, and I didn’t hear much from anyone else, though I guess that’s pretty typical these days.

After work, I changed clothes and went to get the girls for dinner. We stopped at the Neighborhood Market for some super cheap peaches. I got two big bags for just over three bucks. Then we went to my parents’ house for some more chow mein. Summer met us there as soon as she could get out of work. Then we all went home separately.

I had to run next door to help Bác Vân with a DVD when I got home. Then I spent the rest of the evening cleaning up my email and getting ready for bed.

It looks like a butt.

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Beginning Batman

I got up this morning and picked up some Hardee’s for breakfast. Eaddie had some more school work to do, so she got on that while Summer and I poked around at her car’s tail light. I got to use my electronic probe after a quick reading of the manual, and it’s looking like there really is something breaking continuity inside the housing.

Eventually they left for the gym and to clean up at their house. I went next door to help reteach Bác Vân and Doug how to switch inputs to their VCR and Blu-ray player, and then again to hook up another VCR in the den. When I got back in, I did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. Then I took a shower before the girls got back for the evening.

Summer brought some chicken, broccoli, and cauliflower to grill, so I threw that together while she and Eaddie went out to ride bikes. Nick dropped Autumn off shortly after the others got back, and just as dinner was finishing up on the grill. The chicken was a bit frozen when I started cooking it, so I think that made it a bit rubbery. Otherwise it was pretty good.

We started the Dark Knight trilogy while we ate, and everyone seemed to really like it. I still think they’re the best DC movies ever made. The trick is going to be finishing the rest of the trilogy in a timely manner.

You see, girls, it’s a time-honored tradition to kiss a boy for no reason and then leave him hanging.

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Are You Shedding Me?

The three of us got up and went to Denny’s for breakfast as a treat. We had what was probably the best service we’d ever had there, but then ran into an awkwardly slow checkout experience. None of the other customers seemed very happy about it, but I don’t know why they were all so surly.

On the way home we rescued a box turtle. Summer didn’t feel well for most of the day, and spent most of it on the couch. I hung the hammocks in case Eaddie wanted to do some school work outside. Then I cleaned out the shed where some animals evidently got in and shredded a bunch of cardboard boxes I had in there. Once it was cleaned out enough, Summer helped me move the kayaks out of the garage, so I’m just a little bit closer to being able to park in there again.

We came back inside to cool down in front of the TV, and when dinner time rolled around, we all agreed on pizza. I had some Papa John’s reward money expiring soon, so I picked that up for dinner and we watched some Glee. Then Eaddie and I ran to Julie’s house because she made some beef stew for us to try. Mom and Dad were there, but we didn’t stay long since Summer was still home on the couch. We watched a bit more TV, and then for some reason everyone went to bed really early.

How do I love thee?

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Talk About Feeling

It was pretty brisk getting home this morning, but I did it. Work was really quiet, and I just spent most of the morning trying to catch myself back up mentally. I took a moment to do my wellness questionnaire, and made an appointment for my wellness visit the same day as Summer’s dentist appointment.

I took a late lunch and brought Summer a Baconator since I knew she could really use a lunch break after returning to work. Then I went by the shop for a little while, but Ben wasn’t there to chat. I went back to the high school to wrap up, and the afternoon went by really quickly.

The girls had karate, so I ran home to change and to take a peek at the Grom to see what kind of damage we were looking at. The handlebars seem a smidge off, and the headlight leans left a bit now. The right handlebar stop seems not to work, but I couldn’t tell why. Hopefully the damage isn’t too bad, but maybe I’ll feel more confident working on a tiny, cheap bike that isn’t also my main ride.

After getting the girls to karate, I went by my parents’ house for some fish soup. They had already eaten, so I just ate on my own. Dad had some comments for me that required some thought, so after eating and heading back home, I decided to go back up to Summer’s for the evening.

The girls were all winding down, but Summer brought them in to chat, and we kind of just made sure everyone was happy. Maybe there are assumed guidelines to the whole step-thing that I don’t adhere to, or maybe it’s a lack of anyone else seeing the interactions of my family in their own home. Maybe they’ve underestimated how long we’ve all been around each other in such close quarters. At the end of the day, the Captain’s got to go with his gut.

No complaints from the crew tonight.

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You Must Restore Your Qi

I got up this morning and made some more egg sandwiches, only this time I added some sliced American cheese for the extra melty texture. The girls got around shortly after I did, and started on schoolwork. Summer was feeling a bit better, but still sore from the wreck. She made an appointment at the dentist to check out her chipped teeth, and tried to proactively schedule an appointment with the doctor to remove her stitches.

It was overall a pretty quiet morning, otherwise. Ben evidently had to spend some time at the high school, so he took care of a few work orders for me. I took Summer to her dentist appointment in the afternoon, and we filled out paperwork in the car until they called us in. The weather was perfectly cool and sunny for that, so we just relaxed with the windows down.

The exam didn’t really take long at all, since they just checked out the damage and scheduled a visit for the end of next week. It’s a bit of a bummer that she’ll have to wait that long, but at least she’s not experiencing any real pain with her teeth. She was super hungry afterward, and craving Chinese, so we stopped by New China only to find out they were still not open for dine-in.

We stopped by the house and got Eaddie, then went to Mulan’s for dinner. Autumn had eaten a snack earlier, and had to get ready for an Explorers meeting, so we left her at home to get ready. After dinner, I dropped Summer off, and Eaddie went with me to drop Autumn off at Bona Dea.

Eaddie and I drove across the street and walked along the bank of the lake for a bit. I tried to get artsy with my Pixel’s camera and a low sun, but the best pictures didn’t happen until later. We drove up and around Washburn Park before finally ending up at the main entrance of Bona Dea for a walk around the Rabbit Run. She really wanted to do the “obstacle” course, so we walked around as the sun went down. Autumn’s crew eventually jogged past us, but still had plenty of lecturing to do before they would be done.

When we finished the trail, I could see the sunset was giving off some pretty good color, so we went back across the street and took some more photos that came out pretty well. Then we went back to get Autumn, and stopped at Subway to get her dinner on the way home.

Summer was already in bed, and the girls weren’t up much longer either. Summer’s going back to work in the morning, so hopefully she won’t be in too much pain for it.

Now just do a high kick over your head!

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Sunday, Recovery Sunday

I got up and made egg sandwiches for Summer and myself this morning. Autumn got around, and asked to go to their father’s house for the day, which was only a minor inconvenience to our plans. Summer let them go until Noah had to go to work at five. The rest of us watched some Cobra Kai, then the first couple episodes of Jericho on a whim.

I helped Summer get cleaned up a bit, and even got her outside a couple times to stretch out her limbs. She was definitely feeling the ache in her muscles today. It was bright and sunny, but cool and quiet. I wished we could have been out enjoying it more, but it just wasn’t in the cards.

The girls showed back up at the agreed-upon time, and Summer and I took Noah to work on the way to my parents’ house. They grilled pork chops and shrimp to go with noodles. We didn’t get quite the backlash either of us expected for Summer’s condition, but it was a good evening.

We stopped by my house so I could take care of a couple chores quickly before heading back to her house for the night. The girls appeared to be doing the schoolwork we required of them. Summer went straight to bed, and I chatted with the girls for a while until they went to their rooms. Tomorrow will start to tell us how Summer’s week will go.

Why do all of my late night conversations with you make it sound like we’re stoners?

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What a Wreck

Autumn got up this morning ahead of everyone else, and actually wanted to take the others out to do something. Once everyone else was up, we sent the three of them to get breakfast from Burger King. When they got back, Eaddie said she had slipped in some gravel and had a little wreck, breaking the bottle holder off of her bike. Fortunately I had about a dozen more, so I had her fixed up with a replacement in no time.

They took off again to go exploring on their bikes, so Summer went to the gym while I took a shower and started some laundry. She and the kids all got back home around the same time, and they came in to rest while I went outside with Summer so she could practice riding the Grom around the neighborhood.

I was in and out with laundry since she seemed to be doing really well. That’s when I heard someone beating on the door. The neighbor came over and said he thought someone hit her in the road. I ran outside, and she was standing on the sidewalk at the end of the road with a couple stopped cars and a bunch of people.

Luckly she hadn’t actually been hit, but she had a low-speed crash after what I guessed was a failed downshift in the middle of turning onto our street. As far as crashes go, it couldn’t have happened in a more convenient place. She was able to walk to the house, and I got the Grom started up and rode it home. It wasn’t until we got there that I realized how bad the gash in her chin was.

We dropped Noah off at work, then tried to go by MedExpress. They came out to check on her, then politely suggested the emergency room just in case it was something more serious. We really should have insisted on getting stitches there, because it took over four hours at Saint Mary’s to get three stitches in her chin. The staff there was overall much less friendly and helpful, and I’m sure it’ll be more expensive. We were running with an abundance of caution though, and didn’t have the gift of hindsight.

Julie was nice enough to pick up Noah from work while we were stuck at the hospital. When we did finally make it back to the house, I had Noah take her home while I finished up my laundry. Then I ran to get her a Baconator for dinner before Wendy’s closed, since we never did eat after breakfast. I picked the girls up from my house, then headed up to theirs for the evening. Summer was obviously exhausted after an afternoon of road rash, a laceration on her chin, and at least one chipped tooth, but didn’t seem as defeated as she had been the rest of the evening. She made it up into bed for some of her kids baking show until she fell asleep. I struggled to get my laptop running long enough to get this blog post up, and then crashed myself.

See what I did there?