Tag: food

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Quit Your Mowning

I got up early again to get the kids out mowing the lawn. Autumn refused, so I let Eaddie take the cooler early shift. Autumn wanted to go to church with her grandmother, and allegedly made plans to help her in the yard. We made her come right back home after church to mow in the heat before she could go and spend the night.

Summer left for the gym and I went home to clean up. A little while later she and Eaddie were headed to my house when her car started pouring coolant. I picked them up and brought them home to finish the last couple episodes of Glee. Then we went to Bocadillos for dinner and ice cream.

When we got back home, we watched a couple episodes of House before Summer was ready for bed. Then Eaddie started Loki while Summer and I chatted. I caught the tail end of the episode, but then I was ready to pass out.

Just a little bit hazy.

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Early to Rise, Early to Bed

I got up at five in the morning to pull Eaddie out of bed. After sitting around the house all week and barely accomplishing anything we asked of her, I wanted her to get out and mow the lawn miserably early so it would be cooler outside. I went back to bed, and woke up later to a decently cut front lawn.

Summer got up and made a big pancake breakfast, and everyone was in a better mood. Autumn fussed about being achy, but we blamed that on her diet and sedentary lifestyle. We’ve all got to get back into cooking healthier food at home.

After we ate, I made Eaddie start mowing the back yard. Summer needed a ratcheting wrench to work on her gas mower, so we went to my house for that, stopping briefly at the shop so she could top off her coolant. Her car is still just as smooth as we could have hoped. Unfortunately she never could get the mower started, so we’ll probably dump the fuel next.

Eventually we gathered everyone up and headed to my parents’ house for a swim. The sun was just overhead, so everyone got plenty of sun. Eaddie was understandably tired, which made her super resistant to going out, but I forced her into a suit, and she begrudgingly waded into the water. She kept asking to leave, but as I suspected, at the end of it all she was the last one out of the pool.

Mom made curry, fried rice, and had Dad fry up some egg rolls, so we all stuffed ourselves for dinner. Then we headed back home where everyone was in bed by 7:30.

Makes a kid quiet, compliant, and kind.

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Maximum Saturation

Autumn and I got up this morning and went to McAlister’s for free cup day. They gave out 20 free tumblers to the first people in the store, and if I had known how few people would show up, we would have arrived 15 minutes before open rather than an hour and a half. The sun was intense, but the humidity made it hard to breathe. From that moment on, I basically stayed wet the entire day.

After an early lunch, Autumn left and I went home to contemplate working. I ended up just taking the whole day off since I had to burn three days before the end of the school year. I went to visit Summer at work to see if she wanted some lunch. Then I headed towards my parents’ house to see if Dad wanted to look for some tile. There was a bunch of construction along the way, which got me off-route. I made a split-second decision to stop in and see Grant, and then continued on to Dad.

I didn’t stay there long, because I had to get Summer some lunch at 1:30, so I ran all the way across town for some Hardee’s chicken strips. Then Dad picked me up from the shop and we went to Georgia Carpet Mills. I left the Murano with Summer to get an alignment next door at Hindsman’s.

The warehouse was super humid and stagnant, so I was sweating profusely the entire time we were there. We looked at a bunch of tile, got directed to some laminate for a while, and then ended up with five tile samples to take home. I figured at the end of the day, I would be pretty happy with just about anything.

Dad dropped me back off at the shop, and I still had to wait a while to get the car back. The girls failed to complete an appropriate amount of chores at home, so I went home to wait for Summer to get her gym time in, and then we went to Chili’s for dinner.

Why do people insist on living in places that are terrible a large percentage of the time?

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Feltnerds Water-Burger

We continued with inventory this morning, with most of us going to the junior high to split up. I walked the building with Kyle and covered most everything. It even ate into lunch by a few minutes just because we lost rack of time. I ran across town to meet the others at Morelos.

When we got back, Zach had me go to the middle school with him to pack up some sample devices to take to The UPS Store to get a quote. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon at the shop just sort of piddling on things.

A little while after work, I met up with Gary and Mitch again at Whatta-Burger. They beat me there by several minutes, and then it took them a really long time to get our food out to us. It really didn’t make sense that it took so long. We had great conversation though, which was good because we may not have any more for a while again.

When we finished up, I headed up to Summer’s where we watched an episode of Glee before Summer went to bed. Then Eaddie and I stayed up and watched some House until I was ready to pass out.

Fun résumé is going to be the talk of the town.

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#ForTheGraham

We had a pretty small crew this morning, so we all just did our own things until lunch time. Gary made it back to the office, and the two of us went to Colton’s for some steak. Then Gary had us all back at the high school to continue hanging wireless access points for the rest of the day. At the very end of it all, he, Kyle, and I wrapped up by finishing up some inventory in all the out buildings.

I loaded up an armful of old stuff to bring home from my old office, and waited there until dinner time. Mitch came to town and crashed on Gary’s couch for a couple days so he could train on how to manage a mattress store. He evidently doesn’t own a car, so Gary’s having to chauffeur him around. They decided on Daddy’s Smackin’ Wings for dinner, so I met them and Grant there after dropping a few things off at my office.

We had a great time catching up, and waxed poetic about the old days of video games. Robert picked the wrong time to get his tonsils out, so all I could do was send him a picture. Hopefully we’ll have a couple more days to get together before Mitch leaves again.

When I finally got back home for the evening, I spent a while cleaning up email. I constantly feel like I’m forgetting something important these days. I need to pay the bills I have, and then make a real effort to clean up and unsubscribe from unimportant, attention-seeking companies.

Correct.

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Pinch of Spice

We slept in a bit today, and I woke up with some pretty bad pain on my ear and in my back. The ear got better quickly enough, but my back seemed to get worse all day long no matter what I did to try and alleviate the pain. Summer got up and improvised a mashed potato and fried buffalo and teriyaki cauliflower lunch bowl. The girls liked it well enough, but there was no mistaking the cauliflower bits.

I watched The Boondock Saints until the girls were ready to leave the house. Summer took Autumn to the gym, and I took Eaddie home with me so she could ride her bike while I showered. Her ride got rained out after a bit though, and my back was bad enough after the shower that I couldn’t move very well. We were going to go to Walmart for a few more things to make burritos, but let the other two go instead.

When we all got back to the house, Summer and I whipped up dinner really quickly. Then everyone wandered off to their rooms pretty quickly. I went to bed super early, hoping to sleep off the back pain.

And shepherds we shall be.

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Mostly Waisted

I slept in pretty late today after a pretty rough night of sleep. I just tossed and turned for the first hour or two, and then spent the rest of the night bouncing between several really weird dreams. When I did get up, I took a shower while Summer went to the gym. Then we got everyone up to go to Mulan’s for a late lunch.

Dad wanted to uncover the pool, so we went to their house after we ate. The girls took turns vacuuming the pool, and then we came back to the house.

Everyone was pretty exhausted for various reasons. Mine was because I ate waaaaaay too much. I kept trying to doze off in Summer’s lap while she tinkered on her phone. Eventually I got up and we watched Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary, which got Summer in the mood to watch the actual film. We watched it after the documentary, and then it was off to bed.

By Grapthar’s hammer…

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Dress Rehearsal

I felt exhausted all day again today, and I still don’t know if I’m just not getting enough sleep, or if it’s some kind of internal clock thing that still hasn’t reverted back to this time zone. Fortunately it was pretty quiet at work. Mike was at the high school all day for the virtual conference they were hosting. I spent all day with Brody hunting for Chromebooks. We’re short nearly half of the lease that needs to go back, and I don’t know what we’re going to do. Hopefully we can return some alternate devices.

We decided to try The Gunslingin’ Burger for lunch. I had been once with Allen a while back, and my opinion didn’t change today. It was a pretty good burger, but not worth near what it cost. It would have stung less if the combo meal at least came with a drink, but the girl said they stopped including a drink when too many people chose to bundle with shakes. I guess it never crossed their minds to simply not allow that, and to only include a fountain drink.

In any case, I’m still creeped out by the life-size cross standing in the dining room. Then the chef seems to miss social cues as he lingers to ask how you enjoyed your meal. In most any other environment I wouldn’t take issue, but in this scenario it just kind of makes everyone feel a little uncomfortable. I think at a cheaper price point I would just accept everything else, but this just feels like a lot.

After lunch, I ended up sitting out of any real group work. I tried to do some sleuthing to find the missing devices in any system at all, but didn’t have any luck. I spent the last bit of the day prepping for my interview first thing tomorrow. I think I’ve just decided to go all-in. I want to believe that the three of us have a fighting chance, but a bigger part of me thinks there’s no way they’ll let it happen, so I feel like I have to really do something to stand out.

After work, I ran by Summer’s shop to try and print a better copy of my “blank” page to my résumé. It turned out really well, but I wanted to see if Staples could go full-bleed. Unfortunately they couldn’t, but I perused clearance while I was there. Then I stopped by Taco Bell for a quick dinner on the way home. They were unbelievably slow, and the food seemed really lean, but it tasted alright.

Mom and Dad stopped in while I was putting together my individual packets for tomorrow. Then I video chatted Summer while I picked out a nice outfit for the morning. I hope it pays off.

I suppose you’re all wondering why I called you here today.

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Tropical Mornings

I got out of bed with Summer this morning so I could go out before the sun came up. It was still plenty bright outside because we’re on the wrong side of everything to see a proper sunrise, but it was still really pretty out. We walked along the breakwater and watched surfers go out to sea. Then we walked down the pier to look at the boats. We ran into a couple roosters by a swing in a tree, and then a friendly cat. We even spotted a boat for sale for a cool half million.

Eventually we were hungry enough for breakfast, so we went to CJ’s again to see if they could open on time. They made it pretty close, and the food and service both ended up being pretty good. This week has been pretty successful as far as food goes.

When we got back to the room, we took Dad out to try the pool, which was way too cold in the shade for being on a tropical island. We eventually moved from there to the saltwater lagoon, which was still too cold for Summer. Dad went to rent a stand-up paddleboard while Summer laid in the grass. I just shuffled around the lagoon letting fish nibble at my feet.

Julie eventually made it out with Mom as well, and they had a lad carry out a couple beach chairs and dig a hole for an umbrella. I eventually had my fair share of sun and went in to clean up. I made a sandwich for lunch to clean up some of the food we have left, and then went with Dad and Summer to do some souvenir shopping. I hate gift shopping, and wasn’t terribly impressed with much of anything. At least Summer loaded up for all of her people.

We rested for a bit after shopping, then dressed up for dinner upstairs at Fresco Italian. I was pleasantly surprised by the food, and it was nice to be seated right next to an open window, where outside they were hosting a luau. We split up after dinner and Summer and I walked around a bit more before coming back to the room. I stayed up a bit late to pack as much as I could before bed.

Tropical evenings

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Rubbah Flippahs

I tried to get out early again to get some pictures on Summer’s run, but got there after she had finished. We walked around the harbor a bit and took some pictures of crabs and fish along the dock, and then came back up to get ready for the day. Dad made breakfast this time since Julie didn’t wake up until much later. Mom stayed up all night, wired on coffee ice cream.

Dad and Summer picked up snorkeling gear, and eventually we got everyone downstairs for Susan to take us to the Makai Research Pier. She stopped in a few scenic places along the way and showed us around, and even took some pictures for us. Dad took a spill at one of them and scraped up his knees pretty badly, but Susan came to the rescue again and patched him right up.

The research center itself was closed to the public, but there was a pretty good beach with lots of live coral for snorkeling. Julie was upset that there were clouds out for part of the day, and didn’t feel like the snorkeling was as good, but I felt like it was quite a bit better than Hanauma Bay and the skeleton of its reef. I don’t remember seeing tons of great fish there – mostly giant parrot fish, which I guess was interesting too, but this time I felt more like we were in a real ecosystem. We also didn’t have to camp out tickets at 7 in the morning, and there were WAY fewer people there.

Dad, Summer, and I spent the most time out in the water, and we kept getting spread out. Dad and Julie saw a sea turtle at one point, but I never did. I spotted a seahorse and showed Summer, and we think Dad saw the same one just a little earlier based on where we saw it. It was super hard not to just touch the little guy. He was bright yellow, and had hitched himself to some seaweed relatively near the shore.

Mom never even got in the water, and stood in the shade to play on her phone the whole time. Julie tanned for a while, then made us sandwiches for lunch. When we were finally ready to leave, Susan had to send her boyfriend, Kevin, over to get us since she was on the opposite end of the island. He was pretty cool too, though.

On the way back, we stopped and picked up a bunch of fresh donuts from a Leonard’s Bakery truck. Both Susan and Kevin kept telling us about it, and we figured we wouldn’t have a better chance to pull off the road to get some. Kevin insisted that we eat in the car, but I was the only one that did. I kind of regretted it because they were pretty messy, but they were also way better fresh than when we got back to the room.

After cleaning up and resting a bit, Dad, Summer, and I went to return the snorkeling gear. Just as we got there, Susan said she could take us out to eat, so we hustled back and met Mom and Julie out front. We went to Nico’s Pier 38 after Susan’s suggestion earlier in the week, and after a bit of a wait, we got a table. The food was pretty great, but my mojito hit me super hard and I felt like I had a midget sitting on my shoulders the rest of the night.

Kevin was the one to take us back to the room after dinner, and from there it was straight to bed for us.

See horse?