Tag: family

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Quick Night In

Friday kind of loses meaning when you’ve been home for three weeks. I got up and did a little work, mostly cleaning up more duplicated accounts again. Autumn had been up a while and started chores, and woke Eaddie up shortly after I came out. I took a break after a while and watched an episode of Iron Fist with Eaddie, then went back to work.

The tomato bits I had planted started to sprout on the porch, and within just a couple hours of checking on them throughout the morning I could tell that they were noticeably bigger. I wish I had thought of it sooner, but I started a hyper-lapse video of them on my Pixel 2 XL to see if I could get any movement. A little over an hour later my phone started to go dead and I had about 30 seconds of video. The movement didn’t really start to happen until the last few seconds, but I did get to watch them grow a tiny bit.

Summer brought a bucket of chicken strips home after Autumn called asking for a chicken sandwich. We all ate pretty quickly, and then Eaddie and I went back to watching Iron Fist. Summer went to bed and watched an episode of Cake Wars, but when that was over Eaddie and I joined her to finish the third season of Glee.

With everyone else wound down for bed, Eaddie and I watched a couple more episodes of Iron Fist, then went to bed ourselves.

More routine than usual.

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I Don’t Care About the Cats

Today was just one more day of work from home. I didn’t really get anything good accomplished, but maybe I helped someone else get something done. Most of my morning was babysitting, getting the kids up and active with their own obligations.

Summer queued me up to take Autumn to a physical therapy appointment, so I dropped her off and went home to shower. When I picked her back up, we went by Walmart for a couple things for dinner. Then I stopped by Lowe’s to pick up an online order. That ended up being a little bit of an ordeal, and they were visibly frustrated with how busy they were.

When we got back to Summer’s, I started the ham bone soup for dinner and waited for her to get home from work. She came home saying she was being peer pressured into watching Tiger King on Netflix, so she made me sit down with her to watch the first episode.

I could not have been any less interested. Either the rest of the world just wasn’t already aware that big-cat people are weird, or the quarantine business has gotten them so down and bored that they’ll watch anything. I ended up playing Alto’s Adventure on my phone until even Summer couldn’t take it any more. It just wasn’t interesting, and was completely and predictably stupid. Maybe I was just aware of that particular subculture because Dad was into magic, and I remembered that Siegfried & Roy had a stage show.

Autumn started making chocolate chip cookies, and the rest of us watched an episode of Glee until Summer went to bed. Then Eaddie and I started on a surprisingly addictive first season of Iron Fist. I didn’t think I would like it based on the first episode, but each episode after that kept me hooked on that auto-play feature of Netflix.

The cookies were perfect, but we’ve gotta get off of snacks.

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Tacos de Otoño

I got up this morning to another dip in the stock market that triggered a limit buy I had been waiting on. I lost a couple bucks right off the bat because it just kept dropping, but it was still relatively small change and the market will either correct itself, or we’ll be propelled into another great depression.

Autumn was up and around while Eaddie was still in bed as usual. I had some leftover eggs for breakfast while I got to work, and then eventually got the girls up to start chores and homework. I had to do a bit of hand-holding for someone else working from home, but after a couple hours I think we got her going.

The afternoon went by pretty quickly, and I eventually ran home to clean up there. On the way back, I stopped in to Walmart for a few things so Autumn could make dinner. She wanted to grill some strip steaks for street tacos, so I got some limes and veggies. I didn’t see any masks on at the store, but it was still pretty quiet with just a few people scattered around. It felt a little like a smaller population coming out of hiding after an apocalyptic event, and it was quiet and peaceful. Why move to a smaller town when the virus could bring the smaller town to you?

The tacos turned out great, and it was a decent learning experience for Autumn as long as she’ll keep it up and not just change interests again when this one gets more difficult. She only almost set the house on fire once, and nobody lost any fingers. My refried beans were a big hit after blending them with the immersion blender and adding some more water.

After dinner, Summer and Autumn cuddled up in bed to watch a movie, so Eaddie and I finished up the first season of Luke Cage over some ice cream. Next up is Iron Fist, and I’m feeling like this is going to go downhill a bit more before it gets better.

You’d think Alto would be better than he is. It’s his game, after all.

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Quarantine Away from Home

Eaddie really didn’t want to go to Little Rock with us for Autumn’s appointment, but today she actually behaved really well in spite of her frustration. Summer got up and made eggs and corned beef hash for breakfast, and then we all got ready to leave. My trolling motor came in for the boat, so I stopped by the house to bring it inside, and then we hit the road.

I wasn’t sure what traffic to expect on a Tuesday at lunch time, but it wasn’t awful. There were still lots of cars on the highway, and Waze had my route all kinds of jacked up, but we made it with time to spare. Rather than drag everyone in, I dropped Summer and Autumn off at the entrance, then parked and sat in the car with Eaddie. She spent the whole time on her phone, and I ended up video calling Suzanne to check in. She took me along on her walk around the neighborhood until Autumn was finished.

We didn’t even bother trying to do anything else in Little Rock, and headed back to Conway instead. Eaddie stayed in the car again while the three of us went in to Sam’s for some supplies. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised at the types of people that were there, or the change in behavior. There still wasn’t any toilet paper to be had, but at least it was quiet.

When we left, I ordered a couple pizzas from Old Chicago, and we took them home to eat. I wasn’t really impressed with the pizzas, and the restaurant was eerily quiet. It’s always been a treat to dine in there, but for 30 bucks after a BOGO deal, I would have preferred Pizza Hut.

After we ate, Summer had a little workout while I looked up a manual for her Bowflex. I figured out how to get some more features out of it, so she was happier with her improved workout away from the gym. Then we went to my house and rode bikes to the high school so I could water my plant. The doors were physically locked, so rather than continue looking for another way in after the announcement that one of the staff there tested positive for COVID-19, we headed back home where I continued to clean out the garage while Summer went for a run.

When we got back to her house, she made some pico de gallo and I started some refried beans in the Instant Pot. She went to bed before I even got the pot sealed, but when it was done and I got them mashed up, I got Eaddie out of her room to try them. Then I made us a couple little baby bean burritos before we sat down to a couple episodes of Luke Cage.

So long as nobody got the coronavirus, I’d call today a success.

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No Lessons Learned

I let myself sleep in a little today since I was working from home again. The kids got a pizza delivered from their father, and I had some leftovers while I worked. I made the mistake of replying-all to an email chain of teachers that were confused about how to use a VPN, and got bombarded with direct emails asking for help.

The kids had a bit of trouble getting motivated today since they’ve been used to being out of school for two weeks now. Noah was especially sluggish, and didn’t want to put his phone and headphones down. I wasn’t impressed at all with any of the work that was sent home anyway. Eaddie had one assignment to draw a vertical, horizontal, diagonal, and curvy line in a big box. She is not five. Then she had another assignment to label North American countries, and she couldn’t even tell me what two countries border our own. She may actually be five.

I ended up going home for a while, but didn’t get too much accomplished there. The rain really started coming down, and I eventually made it back up to Summer’s for the evening. Summer had already been in bed for a couple hours, so I picked at leftovers again, played on my phone a bit, and eventually found my way to bed.

What the hell do these kids do all day at school, anyway?

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Divide and Progress

I tried not to sleep in too late today since spring break is officially over. Summer got the kids up, and we picked at leftovers for breakfast. It was a nice day out, so Summer wanted to take the kids out on a hike while I went home to clean up. They went to Long Pool for what looked like a really great time, and I took a long overdue shower.

They got to my house just as I was getting dressed, and then I sent Noah and Eaddie out on bikes while Summer went out for another 5k around the neighborhood. Autumn wanted to lay around watching TV, but I made her go outside with me to eat our sandwiches I made. Summer got back from her run about the time we finished eating, and then I started picking at stuff in the garage. Autumn even helped break down some cardboard for recycling because I wouldn’t let her go back inside to lay down.

It really was a perfect day for cleaning up outside, and the kids enjoyed getting out of the house again. I made two clear paths through the garage, so hopefully soon I’ll have room for parking again. Summer took everyone back to her house, and I trailed along a little later once I was satisfied with my stopping point.

I took Eaddie a Google Home Mini for her room since she worked so hard on cleaning and rearranging it. Summer finally got her Magic Bullet blender, and I warmed up some leftovers for dinner before she, Eaddie, and I snuggled up for some Glee until bedtime.

It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you’re awake.

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Mandatory Fun

Summer got up this morning and made pancakes for breakfast. Then we snuggled up for some Master of None for a little while before Autumn came in and pitched an absolute fit about wanting to go visit her grandparents. I simply couldn’t empathize with her, because I’ve never been that way with anyone. Especially not at her age, and doubly so for being in the middle of a public health emergency. I get being cooped up for two weeks has been different, but it’s been far from difficult. We’ve had everything we could possibly need, and she’s always the one to sit around and do nothing anyway. Even when we did try to get out and actually do something outside of the house, she resisted when everyone else showed nothing but excitement. Realistically, the only thing she’s really missed out on is a bunch of Wendy’s and a “proper” public school education. After a bit of screaming and crying, Summer went and talked to her one-on-one, and then had me join them to talk about her frustrations with me. Who knows if any of it will stick, but at least I’ve made my own motives clear.

After that, she turned around and wanted to make a board game, so she and Summer found the old box from Summer’s digital smart scale and started to paint it. I played and tinkered for most of the day, and got the kids to play a tiny bit of the Switch with me. Most of the day felt kind of like a wasted blur of a day. Summer and Autumn did get together to make a spaghetti and meatball dinner, and then we played a long and complete game of Phase 10 in which I decimated even the Dominant One.

Summer ended the evening in bed with a little TV before going to sleep. Overall it was a good evening, but I wish I had gotten to spend a few hours at home.

And with that, Spring Break 2020 was over.

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If the Wild Bird Could Speak

Sleeping in this morning was pretty typical for how it’s been the past couple weeks. I woke up for a while in the morning and couldn’t sleep, then eventually fell back asleep until close to noon. I got up to make breakfast for the kids that were still asleep and chopped up some bacon for eggs, Rotel, and rice. About the time I finished cracking thirteen eggs into the pan, Autumn came around the corner with a comically large pizza that you only see in cartoons. Their father was supposed to bring that for dinner so Summer and I could have our steak dinner together, but evidently plans changed.

I ate my share of the rice and eggs by myself and played some Overwatch until Noah was ready to go by Western Sizzlin’ to pick up his paycheck. We stopped to see Summer on the way out, then went by my house so I could take care of the usual things. Then it was back up to Summer’s to sit in on the kids until she got home.

Eaddie spent all day cleaning her room while Autumn and Noah sat in front of the TV. Eaddie got out a tiny bow and arrows, and I lost one over the fence. I wandered around through the foliage and down the road to look for it, but couldn’t find it for all the brush. I headed back empty-handed and eventually got to prepping potatoes for baking. Summer and I were going to have our steaks.

When she got home, I started the steaks and asparagus on the grill, and we had a quiet dinner. Eaddie came and sat with us and had some as well, and Autumn and Noah picked at leftovers. Summer went to bed pretty soon after dinner, so I hung out with Eaddie for the rest of the evening. She had pretty much finished cleaning and rearranging her bedroom, but I helped get power to where she needed it. She had a CD player that wouldn’t work, so I took it apart twice to find both places it was assembled incorrectly, and got it to work.

And she knows all the ways of the wind.

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A Healthy Alternative to Netflix and Chips

Summer left for work this morning, and I slept in with the kids. It was nice being at home for a change, though things were frustratingly cluttered. Summer wanted me to take her to the doctor for her leg pain, so I ran by Sonic to get the kids some 99-cent cheese sticks before taking her to Millard Henry. I didn’t want to go inside on account of the pandemic, so instead I sat in the car playing Plague Inc. While I sat there, I saw a couple girls pull up in another car, and the one driving reached down to hide some trash under her car before they got out. I should have honked or something, but instead I spent the next few minutes fantasizing about fetching the trash and sticking it under her windshield wipers. In the end, inaction won and the environment lost.

After a bit over an hour, Summer came out and we ran by Rose Drug before I took her back to work. Next up was figuring out a late lunch or early dinner for the kids. I went to Walmart and loaded my arms up with some hamburger meat and steaks, some lunch meat and cheese, a couple loaves of French bread, and a bin of spring mix for balance. I went home and made an epic sandwich that left everyone relatively healthily fed. Even Summer wanted some, so I took her one before coming back home and getting the bikes out.

Noah and Eaddie were both super excited to get out of the house. Autumn took a little extra convincing as usual, but she ended up having fun. We all rode to the high school and raced through the park and around the campus. Eaddie kept losing her hat in the wind because she refused to wear it backwards. Autumn was predictably sluggish, but the others just kept taking off with all their pent-up energy.

It was pretty hot out, so we all made it back to the house a bit sweaty. I had trouble getting the garage door open, and the girls ended up in the shady back yard for a bit. Eventually we did get in, and the kids went back to The Simpsons. Summer came over after running 5k at the park, then took the girls home. Noah wanted to ride to his friend’s house, so I took the time to clean house a bit before getting a shower and then taking him back up to Summer’s for the evening.

Summer was ready to pass out on the couch, but we watched Ronny Chieng’s Netflix special while I had a salad and a little pasta for dinner. By the time I got to Autumn’s chocolate cake for dessert, she had passed smooth out, so I put her to bed and then watched one of Tom Segura’s specials with Noah until bedtime.

Self quarantining has me biking, planting tomatoes, and eating at home. What a concept.

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Waterlogged

I had trouble sleeping this morning for a while, but eventually went back down until the noon alarms went off. I got out of bed and made a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich for myself. Then Summer came home super early and wanted one as well. Eaddie was forced out of her room, and Noah got out to mow the lawn. Eaddie eventually went out to help with the front yard as well while Autumn put Moana on.

When the movie was done, I went home to clean up for everyone to come over. The weather was super nice and I wanted to try and have a fire for the kids since they’d been cooped up for nearly two weeks. Unfortunately even the coals inside the fire pit were soaking wet, even though there was a tarp over the whole thing. I haven’t quite figured that one out. All the wood in my pile was soaking too, so after spending way too much time trying to get it to light, I gave up and started the grill. Of course hot dogs didn’t take any time at all, so I felt wasteful with the charcoal, but at least everyone got fed.

Summer got really nostalgic for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and made us all sit down to watch it. We only made it about halfway through before she was ready for bed though. I took a shower, and then we stayed up a while longer talking about how awesome my facial hair is. Then when she fell asleep I chatted with Eaddie for a little bit before going to bed myself.

Maybe the heat wave tomorrow will dry it out.