Tag: food

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Dear Journal,

Summer took Autumn to pick up the breakfast pizza I ordered, then took both girls to their all-region band event. She was still feeling sick and came back to nap in the floor while I watched some more renovation YouTube videos. Eventually she had to go take the girls home for lunch and to clean up before their concert.

I cleaned up and took a bath for a while, and eventually left to get stuff for dinner. I stopped by Harbor Freight first to return my broken fireman’s axe that didn’t even make it through one log. Then I went to Walmart for beans and veggies to throw in the InstantPot. Summer wanted a coffee, but Starbucks had a line coiled around the building like a constrictor, so I went back towards McDonald’s instead. She liked the hot mocha just as well, and it probably cost less than half as much.

I started chopping up onions, celery, and carrots to throw in with our old ham bone, then threw it all in the pressure cooker. Clint stopped by while I was prepping, just briefly enough to pick up some network cable and then hit the road again. A couple hours later, we had a pretty decent soup made. I thought it was a bit bland and lacked inspiration, but I was in a little bit of a rush anyway.

Summer, Eaddie, and I binged on several episodes of Glee until we couldn’t take it any more. It was well after all of our bedtimes anyway, and even I felt weepy tired.

Once again, I’ve won!

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Blunt the Knives and Bend the Forks!

I got up this morning and picked up another breakfast pizza from Casey’s for the kids. It was a big hit as expected. The girls had fallen asleep in the middle of The Hobbit last night, so I played the first half of the 1977 cartoon to catch them up. Perhaps it shouldn’t have been a surprise how well they matched up, since they’re both adaptations of the same story. It became obvious which parts of the new movie were embellished and extended. The cartoon sort of just gets straight to the point, and for that reason it worked well to get everyone on the same page.

Noah had to work, so Summer took the kids and left me to spend the day at the house. I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately, and just felt bored and listless for most of it. I didn’t want to do anything, either for fun or to be productive. It stuck with me all weekend, just like the last. The only thing I accomplished was stacking a tower of Soylent that arrived over the past couple days.

Summer made dinner in the evening, so I joined them for some delicious pork chops, zucchini, and potatoes. Then we watched a couple episodes of Glee before bed.

So, carefully, carefully with the plates!

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The Figurer of Things

I had to learn all manner of things today. I felt spread super thin across all kinds of random and artificial fires. Everything was super urgent to everyone, and it was up to me to bring everything back down to an appropriate level. Amber’s been bombarding all of us with things since we came back from Christmas break. I didn’t even get to really touch any of the 1:1 stuff today, which has been their primary concern all week. I did get a fair amount accomplished, but every time I turned around, I had to figure out some new system. I didn’t mind it so much. If anything, it was entertaining.

Ben texted about Popeye’s for lunch, so I met him, Zach, and Allen there. I actually had a pretty good experience with my food being regular sized and not puny, and I even had a coupon. I tried to make a better decision with smaller portions, and the price was right.

Afterward, I spent a while at the shop working in the Google Cloud Directory Sync, which was something I toyed with back when it was GADS instead. With a little help, I resolved another of Amber’s hot ticket items for the day.

I spent the remainder of my day at the arena, trying to figure out why their AV equipment wouldn’t wake up from sleep. I shot off an email to who I thought was our supplier, but it sounds like that was a bad lead. More figuring tomorrow, I guess.

I didn’t get to spend very much time at home before I had to run to Walmart for some dinner. Summer wanted to grill burgers, and had to get the girls late, so I picked up a couple things and headed to the house to start the prep. The girls weren’t feeling up to helping a whole lot, but Summer did manage to help enough to get everything ready at approximately the same time. I grilled a bunch of bacon and made massive hamburgers, and felt a particular pride when even Autumn got up from dinner with a clean plate, especially after I had gotten adventurous with the burger patties.

Summer and I finished the evening with another episode of Glee. I hadn’t forgotten how that show made me have the occasional feeling, so I’m glad to commit to finishing it for once.

And somehow I managed to fit the whole thing into my mouth.

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Soylent Hill

I slept pretty well last night and successfully made it back to work. It was a slow day, and I spent most of the morning at the shop just watching things slowly roll in. Eventually I made it to the high school to look at the sign again, and managed to get it working. I didn’t want to drive around, park, and walk all the way in just to turn around and head back to the shop a few minutes later, so I left and chatted at the office some more.

Ben was surprisingly the only one that wanted to go out for lunch after Zach bailed on me for some other plans. I gave him a few options, and he picked Linh where we had the combination lunch special. We actually made it back in the hour, and then I went straight to the high school to finish the day. I got a rash of emails for reassigned work orders, and it all ended up being from Amber, evidently sick of looking at the 1:1 devices in her queue. I got a little mad, especially with the way she told me it was time to “start adulting.” I stewed on it a bit as I toyed with Web Help Desk, but saved that conversation for later.

Suzanne texted that she was starting school next week, so she decided to come by while I did some chores at the house. She watched shrimp and played with the cat while I did laundry and dishes. As she got hungry and pondered dinner, I got to a stopping point and we decided to go to Linh for dinner. As we drove up, she remembered they were closing soon and didn’t want to rush out, so we ended up at Bocadillos for some tacos. She had never eaten there before, so she tried an assortment of tacos while I tried the torta. It was pretty good, but overall a pass for the future because it was nothing compared to the Cubana from La Plaza.

We finished up with some ice cream and a mangonada, and headed back to my house so she could go home. I folded my dried laundry and headed up to Summer’s for the evening where we watched another episode of Glee. As she went to bed, I stayed up and stockpiled enough Soylent while it was on sale to last us through the year.

Now remember – if the balloon pops, the noise makes the angels cry.

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Chillin About Town

I woke up to an obnoxious cat this morning that came into the bedroom and crawled under the covers to aggressively lick my arm and nibble at any thin spots in my skin, presumably to eat me alive. Rather than allow myself to become a feline lunch, I left for home and cleaned up for some lunch myself. Mom made fish soup, and I needed to get my case of bananas to Dad, so I went across town for a while.

After lunch, I stopped by Julie’s to deliver some dried pork. We talked for a little while before I left for Lowe’s to peruse for some deals. I saw a butane torch listed online for cheap, so that was my primary objective, but the whole store was littered with bright yellow sale tags, and there was nobody with me to groan about my sifting through junk. Julie told me about a refrigerator that had been marked down significantly, but it was marked as sold by the time I found it. I did eventually find my torches, so I grabbed a handful for everyone. I may have to go back for a couple more now that I’ve had some time to play with one.

From there, I stopped by Superfast to see Summer before heading back home. I felt just a dash of inspiration that was quickly overrun with lethargy, so I wasted most of my time there until Summer was to be home. I headed up to pull out the leftovers, and we snacked for dinner. She brought Autumn home, who watched TV while Summer and I started on Glee. Then I watched the better part of The Matrix as she fell asleep.

It means buckle your seat belt, Dorothy because Kansas is going bye bye!

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No One Mourns the Wicked

I slept in a little later than I meant to this morning. I had to wake Eaddie up to get her to her friend’s house, and then I stopped by the post office to return my first Fossil watch on the way home. I had a lunch date with Brandon, so I headed home to shower and then met him at Linh. He had come down to visit after moving again to Seattle, so we had a lot of catching up to do.

As soon as we finished, I headed home to change, then picked Summer up to head to Conway. I had a bunch of Kohl’s Cash to burn, and then we continued to Little Rock to meet Julie and my parents for dinner. They decided on Samantha’s Tap Room, and boy was I unimpressed. It felt like high prices and fine dining portions, but almost everyone’s food was overcooked and dry or tough. Our waitress was nice enough, but nobody wanted to send anything back. Having to pay for sides à la carte just added insult to injury. I felt like they just grabbed bottles of “Asian” sauce and used it wherever they could to seem worldly. I would have had to stop by a Wendy’s afterward if I hadn’t gotten some hunks of steak from Mom and Julie after I finished my lamb “lollipops.”

We all took Mom’s car to the Robinson Center for the show, and made it inside with plenty of time to spare. Julie had gotten us all tickets to see Wicked, which I’d wanted to see several years ago, but with little priority. It was an incredible story, though it was difficult for me to understand well over half of the words being sung. I was familiar enough that it didn’t have a huge impact on my enjoyment, but Mom apparently fell asleep during the first act. The intermission didn’t seem particularly necessary, but seemed nice anyhow. The set changes were awesome to see live, but I wished I had binoculars in spite of our relatively close seating.

After the show, it took us forever to get out of the parking garage. It seemed like they just cleared out everybody in front of us before we could leave. Once back to my car, Summer and I headed home, making one quick stop at the Conway Rally’s for some fries to fill my completely unsatisfied belly.

Like a ship blown from its mooring.

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What Wood You Axe of Me?

Summer left with Eaddie for their hair appointments this morning. I thought they would be gone through the afternoon for a trip to the climbing gym, but they came back and loaded up the rest of the kids instead. Jesica was passing through from Dallas and wanted to get lunch, but I had already eaten some leftover pizza. She fussed that she doesn’t like any of the Chinese places in Fort Smith, so we went to Mulan’s where I just had a bowl of hot and sour soup for two bucks.

Afterward I made her tag along to Harbor Freight so I could pick up an axe to chop some firewood. A couple guys in the aisle spoke up to give me some advice and pointed me towards the axes with synthetic handles, but for the limited use it would see, we decided the big, red, wooden-handled fireman’s axe would be the coolest looking one to have hanging in the garage. We headed back to my house so Jesica could be on her way, and I loaded up as many logs as I could fit into my trunk.

I still had to run by Walmart for some s’mores materials and cilantro, and then it was off to Summer’s to prepare for our guests. I started by trying to chop some wood, and though my aim was true, I struggled to split the logs very evenly due to their age and having been partially eaten and weathered. Summer joined me outside to take out some of her own aggression, and ultimately we split the wooden handle and separated it from the head of the axe. After a bit of deliberation, I decided to run back by Harbor Freight for one of the previously suggested axes. They were closing early, but I was fortunate to have arrived five minutes before they did. Then I stopped by Walmart and ran all around looking for a decent lighter. I settled for a cheapo single pack from the garden center, then made my way back up to the house.

As though I’d found a calling from the wild, I split the remaining logs with the greatest of ease. Hair sprung from my chest and my voice dropped an octave, and we had firewood. Summer made a smorgasbord of pico de gallo, guacamole, ranch dip, deviled eggs, pigs in blankets, and a veggie tray while I took the lazy road with an Instant Pot of cheese dip, and we were ready to party. Ronda, Steven, and Maleea showed up while I was tending the coldest fire I’ve ever made. It didn’t get super hot until it was just coals at the end of the night.

Most everyone stayed inside since the fire wasn’t really hot enough to keep anybody warm. The girls watched some TV and played some Switch. Steven even got in on some Mario Kart with us for a few rounds. They couldn’t make it to midnight though, and left with only 50 minutes to go. Autumn had already gone to bed. Eaddie stayed up watching TV, but as soon as we finished cleaning up, Summer was off to bed.

…AND MY AXE!

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Tending the Dumber Slumbered

We got up this morning and decided on a cheapish Burger King lunch for the horde. Summer left for the gym, and after a bit I took the kids up to her house so they could shed their collective stench. I had gotten a call earlier in the morning that my final(?) pair of trial contacts had come in, so I stopped to get them on the way home. Then I spent the afternoon cleaning house.

I found myself getting bitter over the careless, wasteful, and generally unsanitary nature of the kids, but they’ve grown into their filthy habits without regard for the types of things that matter to me. I shouldn’t have much room to gripe on account of my own lifestyle, but so much of what irks me comes from a lack of consideration or respect. Sometimes I feel like I just have to step around them and ignore what they’ve done as I clean up after them, but ultimately it just makes me want them around less.

Summer eventually brought them all over again, along with a bunch of stuff for dinner. We left them here watching The Simpsons against my better judgement, while Summer and I went to Walmart to pick up groceries for New Year’s Eve. Hopefully it’s a fun time for everyone. We should have plenty of snacks, but I still think I’ll end up getting more vegetables.

We made salads and sloppy joes for dinner, then finished The Lord of the Rings saga with The Return of the King. Overall it was a better night than last. I even put together a shoe rack to bring some order to my entryway.

It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.

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You Don’t Know Jackfruit

I got up and finished some leftovers this morning while the girls were mostly off doing their own things. Summer squirmed with back pain all day, while Autumn was laid out playing the helpless card all day. She assured us she was well enough to go out to McDonald’s with her father, though.

I left to shower, then picked up Noah to go to my parents’ house. They had gotten another jackfruit from Uncle Giao for Christmas, and wanted my help picking it apart. It wasn’t too bad – just tedious, but didn’t taste quite ripe yet in spite of its smell. We only pulled half of it apart before wrapping up the other half for later. The hope was that it would ripen a bit before our next go at it. I had some leftover ham on rolls, and then we headed back to my house to meet up with the girls. Autumn had tipped over backwards coming down the stairs at their house, so they didn’t want to fuss over coming to my parents’ place first.

Noah wanted to get some snacks for everyone while we watched The Two Towers, so I took him by the Neighborhood Market. He said he couldn’t find French onion dip there, so I also took him by Kroger for some of that before finally making it home. The girls were already finishing up a movie there, and then we put on The Lord of the Rings. The extended edition clocked in at just under four hours, but it took us significantly longer to watch with breaks and such. Summer and Autumn were long ready for bed. The other two stayed up and watched TV as I went to bed myself.

That stuff really sticks with you…

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The Baby-Sitter’s Club

We stayed in today. All day long. Summer made a good breakfast, which I turned into a pretty delicious sandwich. The cat jumped into the Christmas tree, knocking it over and breaking some ornaments, so they put that away. I put on Contact until Summer went to work out, and then she returned with some friends to see the girls for a while. They brought tacos and I started making some pinto beans in the Instant Pot, but they left before I even finished putting it all together.

Summer wanted to play Mario Party, and the first round of minigames went okay, but the actually board game always just makes me mad. Eaddie and I watched MKBHD’s Retro Tech: Walkman episode, and then it was back to bed.

Even this rainy December day felt more like spring.