Tag: food

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Jumbo Gumbo

I was sleeping pretty hard when my alarm went off this morning, but I managed to get to work before anyone else. It was another slow day for me, just kind of riding out my new meds. I wouldn’t have expected such a difference for such a small dose of basically the same combination I’d started with before. I took my amlodipine and lisinopril a couple hours apart today to see if I could minimize my afternoon reaction, and it seemed to help a little bit, though I still felt a bit dizzy for a little while.

I was on my own for lunch, so I decided to pick up some gumbo from the Louisiana Fried Chicken place just down the road. The fact that they even have a website is wild to me, because the place looks so rough, is in such a rough area, and is basically empty every time I drive by. The guy was super nice though, and I really liked the gumbo.

Jim, Charles, Randy, and Maggie were there in the afternoon gossiping about some local drama. Evidently my superintendent nemesis in town is negotiating an exit from her contract by the end of this year as well. I’m really just standing by to see if I die from whatever ails me, so it’s hard to get me excited about much right now.

I ran the dogs hard when I got home from work, and they had a great time. Dad met us at the end of their driveway, and we hit over 20 miles an hour. He was making taco soup, so we went home and I fed the dogs, then unboxed a ton of Vine stuff before going back over there to eat. Summer got home late from work and wasn’t hungry, and Eaddie was out with a friend.

After dinner, I had to take out the trash and recycling. They hadn’t picked up recycling in a couple weeks, so with all the Vine stuff I’ve been getting, I could have nearly filled up two whole dumpsters. I accidentally spilled an entire box of miscellaneous recycling, and was picking it all up by flashlight when the UPS driver stopped to hand me one more package for the day. I lost count of how many were delivered today, but it’s clear I’ve got a problem.

The girls were up for a while talking about everything Eaddie has going on. I cleaned up the best I could and made a mad dash for bed.

Retail therapy gets me a 1099-NEC this year.

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Well?

I forgot to kill my alarm for today, so I was buzzed awake at 4:20 and went back to sleep until Summer got up for work. She had to go in for a little while due to staffing issues, and would just meet me at the clinic for our appointments. Dad had a funeral, so I also had to let the restoration guys into the house, but they were quite a bit later than I was expecting, and I missed the call while I was in the shower. They didn’t have to wait terribly long, and I made it to my appointment and got seated just as Summer pulled up.

We both really like Crystal, and they were able to have both of us seen at the same time without any trouble. I got half the dosage of lisinopril to start up again, and also asked for something to knock out my bronchitis instead of living with it for the next few weeks. Summer got herself established as a new patient as well, and we both had blood drawn, then went to Walgreens to pick up our meds.

I guess the stores were handling it, because Summer actually took the time to go to lunch with me after that. We met at New China and took our time eating because the food was super hot and fresh. I had a pretty bad anxiety attack while I was eating some honeydew, and it took me a moment to shake that off. Then Summer went back to work for a bit, and I ran by Clear View to schedule my tint job. While I was there, I noticed a missed call from the restoration guys. I guess they locked themselves out for lunch, so I called to make sure they still needed in. Then I went by to grab a couple boxes of stuff to take home while they were back to work.

I tried to wash my car on the way home, but the quarter wash was still closed for fear of freezing temperatures. I had some time when I got home, so I finally installed the threshold protective panels on the passenger side, along with the back covers for the rear seats. I’ve just about got the entire inside of the car encapsulated.

Summer got home just as I finished up, and then Eaddie and Eli came home shortly after that. I took the dogs out for the most dry run we’ve had in a few days. I tried to route them some extra blocks since we were still avoiding some other icy areas, and they did fairly well. I spent the rest of the evening trying to clean up a bit since Summer started feeling pretty bad with a headache and who knows what else. She went to bed really early, and the kids stayed up late doing homework.

I got a load of laundry going, and got a call from Jessica at the clinic. She said I was severely anemic, and that iron supplements wouldn’t be enough, so they were going to refer me to a hematologist. I thought it might all be due to some heavy blood loss through hemorrhoids last week and sent a message back to Crystal, but she said my iron reserves still shouldn’t be this low, so I guess I’m going to see a specialist. I’m really glad I bumped up my insurance coverage for this year.

That’s not ironic.

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Dishpite

Summer said last night that Eaddie wanted to go to Conway with her today to shop for some pants, but Eaddie was still in bed when I woke up. She didn’t get up for a while, but was disappointed when Summer didn’t wake her. I figured it was because I expressed frustration that Eaddie never wants to shop for things when I tell her they’re on sale, but I still expected them to go.

I spent a while cleaning up the kitchen, frustrated that the girls were seemingly making as big of a mess as possible on purpose. With very little thought, all of the dirty dishes could be stacked neatly and cleanly to the left of the sink, but instead they had dirty dishes on every single flat surface in the kitchen and dining area. Summer fessed up to doing it out of her own frustration and spite, which just upset me further because they’re always calling me the mean one.

The girls ended up going out to shop locally, so I cleaned up and took the dogs for a run, which soaked my legs in sandy slush again. I either need to get myself a fender for the Onewheel, or tell Summer exactly which one I want so she can gift it to me, since she’s so adamant about wanting to gift things. It was a relatively short walk, though, and we cut through the basin trail where there were still a bunch of kids playing in the show in the distant field. We visited with Dad briefly before making it home, and Stilgar just kept wanting to go back out and play in the snow. I guess he had already trampled most of it in the backyard, and he still wanted to play in the fluff.

I cleaned up a bit and tinkered with some things around the house. The girls got home and did some laundry, and I was eventually hungry for dinner by myself since they had a late lunch together when they went shopping. I ended up driving around a little bit because I couldn’t decide on what to eat. Taco Villa was closed, so I ended up at Wendy’s. The service wasn’t great, but the food was all actually really good. I guess that’s what really mattered in the end.

Everyone wound down pretty quickly, and I tried not to mess up my sleep schedule too much. Eaddie has school tomorrow, but North Little Rock will be closed again. Essential staff are expected to work after a late start, but Summer and I both have doctor appointments tomorrow morning. I hate missing a short day, but whaddya do?

Tax Man Cometh

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Slush Puppies

It was still snowing when we got up this morning, and we had over a foot of snow on the ground. The dogs were loving it, so we knew we had to get outside with them. Summer made waffles, and then we got bundled up to take the dogs out for a walk.

It actually wasn’t that cold outside, and I started sweating pretty quickly. I felt more comfortable with just a short sleeve shirt on, and definitely didn’t need all the heated gear I loaded up with. When we first got out of the fence, I made the mistake of letting the dogs run off without their leash. I thought they’d be good, but then they heard children playing down the street and had to run and tackle them. We got them back and tied them up, then made the walk to my parents’ house to visit.

Dad brought out his camera and took a bunch of pictures of everyone. I was constantly having to pull the dogs back during our walk, so I got tired of wrangling them and just wanted to sit down for a bit. We got back home and the girls started building a snowman in the driveway. I ended up putting the dogs away, and then Eaddie announced that she had lost her phone. The most frustrating part about that was the utter lack of urgency she had about it. I started to head in, and then we all came in and I made Eaddie get online to try and find her phone with her iCloud account. That actually worked, and luckily she found it at the end of the driveway.

Summer started making tomato soup, and we had that and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. Afterward, Eaddie went to her room and Summer and I watched Superman: The Movie. After that was over, I flipped through the TV for a bit and landed on The Flash, which I think was more fun as a casual movie at home than a serious movie in the theater. We got nearly halfway through when Summer went to bed, so I started wrapping things up myself.

Rest

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Breakfats

I was even earlier to work today, and was craving food. Randy and Maggie showed up feeling similarly, so Maggie ordered us some pancakes from BJ’s and I went to pick it up. I gave her some of my pancake, but then she gave me her biscuit and gravy, and a bunch of grits, so I was stuffed after that. Lunch time came around and Kyle and Javier actually wanted to eat, so we all went to Sweet Poppa’s with Jim and I just tried to find something small to eat so I could be social.

Just after we got seated, some guy came in waving a dollar bill asking if anyone had a couple more bucks so he could get some food. I don’t know what made me bite, but I ended up going to the counter and ordering him some food. After I sat back down, he came over and asked for some extra cash, but I wasn’t as quick to oblige on account of paying more for his food than my own.

I charged the car after work using one of the new no-name chargers I got from Amazon Vine. It seemed to work great. The cable just wasn’t long enough for me to use it at home. We still don’t have a 14-50 outlet out there, so I couldn’t try the other charger I brought.

The afternoon dragged on forever, but we got the news that they were closing school for the remainder of the week and Randy said to bring our laptops home just in case, but not to do any work. I finally left and stopped in Conway to Supercharge, then visited with Summer at the wash briefly before heading home.

The dogs needed a walk, but I felt sick to the stomach, so I didn’t get to take them out until after sundown. We made it quick as the temperature dropped, stopping briefly to see Dad before making it home. Summer was there when we got back, and she got ready for bed while I opened up some Vine stuff. I laid down with her for a while after that because I wasn’t feeling great, and I started to fall asleep. I felt a little more sick, and I was exhausted, so I tried to wrap things up for bed.

Eaddie got home kind of late, but we sent her back out for some milk. She’ll be out of school for the rest of the week as well, so I wanted to finally be able to make some waffles for us.

Like Minnie Black Pearl

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FOMO Anxiety

I burned up all of my Vine orders pretty quickly yesterday on accident, so when a very specific Model 3 accessory just happened to become available after I had been pining after one, I was unable to order it. I don’t know how much of my anxiety that caused last night, but I couldn’t sleep at all. I ended up waking up right around two when the counter reset, and of course it was gone.

My alarm eventually went off and I got going for work. It was cold out, but the car had been preconditioning for a little while and was nice and toasty. I assume it was the crosswinds that caused it to howl down the interstate, because I don’t remember that happening at all the day we got it. It was a very eerie sound, especially to my groggy, sleep-deprived ears. I got to work in plenty of time, passing Randy just before we got to the exit. There was less fanfare than I expected when I got there. It almost seemed to mirror my own experience, but that was fine.

The morning went by pretty quickly, but not much how I expected it to. Things were quieter, possibly because kids weren’t back yet, though we’re several miles from the nearest campus with actual students. I got a text from Cici’s that they were doing their early week deal, and we actually had several takers. Maggie and I met Randy, Kyle, and Jim there. Jim said it wasn’t really pizza, but I countered that for $5, it didn’t have to be as long as it was the right shape.

I actually kept kind of busy in the afternoon, and of the three of us in the office, I was the first one out at the end of the day. I stopped to supercharge more than I needed to make the trip, since the electricity was free. There was a guy there that appeared to be working on the equipment, which I assumed was why it was quite a bit slower than it should have been.

Summer was making some kind of stuffed peppers for dinner when I got home. I took the dogs for a quick run before it got dark, and then Eaddie and Eli came to eat. I messed with some more accessories for both cars, got Summer’s tires aired up again, and then tried to start settling down quickly. I’d felt high-anxiety all day, and was ready for some sleep.

Find Calm

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Too Early; Too Late

I didn’t sleep in very late today, but I meant to get moving a little bit earlier in preparation for going back to work. Summer was up with some coffee. I had some turkey soup and got sucked into Vine shopping. Eaddie eventually got up around noon and went to church, then brought Eli back home with her.

I took a shower, and after a while, Summer said she was feeling so bad that she was concerned and wanted to go to the doctor. I got her loaded up and we went to the Conway Regional clinic to see the evening nurse. Mondalisa was there to give us a hard time, but we got in and out reasonably quickly. Summer had an inner ear infection, so we ran to Walgreens to fill her prescription before heading home.

I took the dogs out for a run in the cold before it got too dark. Stilgar didn’t seem to mind, and still wanted to sit in the pond water. We did a couple loops and made it to my parents’ house to see if they still had roast beef going for dinner. I made it home, then Summer and I went over to eat relatively quickly so we could get back home and wind down for bed.

Summer had been doing laundry all day, so I finally got to start a load myself as I finished up the rest of my evening chores. I wanted to go to bed about an hour earlier, but I didn’t make bad time. Hopefully I sleep well and have an easy start in the morning.

Bummer, lost pick.

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Hot Drinks and Pie

Summer was hurting pretty bad today, but she got up and spent the day on the couch. I had more energy, but my back was hurting pretty bad all day. Eaddie left around noon to go practice with her quintet in Fort Smith. I made Summer some Theraflu and hot tea throughout the day, and spent some more time cleaning things up out of the fridge. I got a Lectron level 1 charger in, and was able to get my car charging within minutes, unlike the “Very Van” brand one I tried yesterday.

The day went by quickly, and it was cloudy and cold all day, so I had to make it a point to take the dogs out. We had a pretty good run, visited my parents, and I played with them a little more than I’ve been able to all week. When we got back to the house, some door-knocking kid from Brightspeed came by and talked to me. He had a lot to share about his skateboard injury, but he wanted to try the Onewheel. He couldn’t sell me on a new ISP, but the price does seem to be getting more competitive. I wouldn’t mind having a proper public IP, but I really haven’t needed one for anything I’ve had time to do lately.

Once I got back inside, I ordered a pizza from Little Caesar’s, then went to get it. The new Model 3 still feels a little surreal because of the timing and how I went about ordering it. I bought it on much more of a whim than the last one, but I guess I need to settle in on it. It hasn’t helped that I just haven’t felt good enough to take it out on a drive anywhere. This next week of commuting to work again will get me back into that routine.

Eaddie got home just as we finished eating, and had some pizza herself. Then everyone started to settle in to bed. I was up late with a bit of a belly ache, but hopefully I’ll feel a little more motivated when I get back into work and get my routine going again.

Too much pie.

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Buffalo Weak Wings

I was starving for some hot, good food this morning, so I announced that to Eaddie when she finally left her room, and we got out of the house to find something to eat. I was between Chinese or Mexican. She chose Mexican. The new place I drove to was closed, so we ended up going in to Buffalo Wild Wings. I hadn’t even realized they were open again, but the parking lot was full and the music inside was turned up to eleven.

The service was pretty poor. Our server only came by the table once after bringing our food, and that was to drop off some napkins and waters. The cheese curds were good, but the chicken was overcooked with dark, dry breading, and very little sauce. The chicken was really small, too. Overall, the whole meal left us feeling very dry in the mouth. The atmosphere was also terrible. The audio for the TV channel kept cutting out constantly, so the constant barrage of advertisements we were forced to hear at maximum volume was even more jarring than it would be otherwise. We did not want a club atmosphere for lunch on a Wednesday.

After we ate, we headed back to the house and I got the garage cleaned up so I could park the new Model 3 inside. Eaddie helped me deliver the Shadow and the R1 to Kevin’s hangar. On our second trip, we spotted Julie at their big hangar, so I stopped in to see her briefly before going back home.

Eaddie left to go to the park, and I took the dogs on a quick run before moving the last of the stuff out of the garage. I finished just in time to park inside before Summer made it home. She was visibly beat from her day, so she took a bath and went to bed. Eaddie wasn’t out much past dark, and I was still feeling pretty awful, so I made it to bed super early.

Accessorize

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Rainy Review Day

I got out of bed with Summer this morning instead of letting myself sleep all day. It was rainy out, so we played with the dogs on the porch for a little bit. I got a few more things from Vine later in the day, so I spent some time catching up on reviews. The girls both left for a while and I took a shower in the afternoon. Dad invited us over for egg rolls again, so Summer and I went to eat dinner with them in the evening.

When we got back home, I spent some time messing with more Model 3 accessories. I got all of my puddle lights installed, and swapped out some console trays. The hardest thing I did was attach some rear seat vent covers in both cars. They just didn’t want to snap in on the Model Y. The ones I got for the Model 3 didn’t actually fit at all, but laid in place in a way that seemed mostly secure, so I left them.

Summer had been working on embroidery and cross stitching all day in front of the TV. Eaddie brought her some more when she got home, and we all eventually made our way to bed pretty late.

Productivity Pit