Family Assembled

We slept in a while today after a long day yesterday. Summer got up, and I followed to make breakfast croissants. Then Eaddie got up and they spent the day together cleaning up the porch and assembling planters I had gotten from Amazon Vine. We originally had plans to have Mother’s Day with Eli’s family, but several of them couldn’t come down, so they wanted to try for another time.

The day went by pretty quickly, but it felt good to get so much done. There’s more to clean up, but we have at least a little more space now than before. We wanted to do something with my mom, but they didn’t want to go out to dinner with everyone else in town, so Summer and I went to Popeye’s to pick up some chicken.

Eaddie went to visit her grandparents while we waited in the longest line I’d ever seen at that restaurant. The drive-through was wrapped around the building and there was another line inside, but they did a fantastic job of working through all the orders.

We made it to my parents’ house, and then Julie responded that they had been napping all day, but they’d end up coming to visit. Eaddie showed up late as well, so we didn’t wait for her to eat. It was a good time, and then Eaddie took Summer home. I followed a little later and let Muad’Dib run off some energy before driving him the last couple blocks.

We ended the evening watching some of the Kevin Hart roast on Netflix, but we didn’t start early enough to finish it. I was proud of Summer for staying up as late as she did, but we had to get sleep before work.

Motherhood takes many forms.

Trimming the Bushes

We slept in a little bit today because Muad’Dib was snuggled up in my arms. The girls got up and hung out for a while without me while I cleaned up a bit. I didn’t feel terrible from the ice cream last night, but I didn’t feel great either. Summer eventually went out to mow while I got showered, and then I made egg and summer sausage croissants for brunch. After we ate, I went out afterward to help trim a bunch of growth around the property. We got rid of most of a tree that had been growing at the corner of the shed, and spent a bunch of time trimming the rose bushes.

While we were out there, I must have gotten overheated in the sun or something, because I felt terrible when we came inside. I just had to sit down for a while to recover while Summer showered. It wasn’t even terribly hot out, but I felt sick.

Summer got some laundry going, and Eaddie went with us to my parents’ house for spring rolls for dinner. Summer had to go to work to let the guys at the wash know that they would have a new manager starting with them this week because she was being assigned solely to the lube. Eaddie and I finished eating, then let Muad’Dib run home next to us. He didn’t really want to come inside, so I took him for a quick run around the block on the Onewheel.

Summer got home, then Eaddie left to shop for some yarn. I cleaned up a little more, and then it was time for bed.

I’m pretty sure I need that to live.

Frog Lick Mornings

We had to get up around my usual worktime alarm so we could get to Conway for Summer’s Toadsuck 10k. I actually felt pretty decent, and we got out of the house just in time. She already had her race packet, so we found a nearby parking space and dropped her off at the starting line, and then Muad’Dib and I rode around on the Onewheel for a little over an hour.

I was hungry enough to find some food, so we rolled a few blocks away to a Chick-fil-A. We were basically able to stay on campus streets for almost all of it, so there was no fear of traffic. I placed a curbside delivery to my black Lamborghini golf cart, and then sat at the tables on the patio to eat, once one of the employees unchained the chairs.

We had just a little bit of time to roll around the nearby trail before making it back to the finish line. Summer couldn’t find the showers because we didn’t read the description well enough, but she got changed and then we headed to the original Stoby’s to meet Randy and Russ for breakfast.

The restaurant was packed, but they had space on the patio to seat us almost immediately. The kitchen was backed up though, so it took us forever to get food. Our waitress gave us a 50% discount for waiting, which was awesome since we were just enjoying our time anyway.

After that, Summer and I went a few blocks away to Toadsuck downtown. She decided she wanted to donate blood, so Muad’Dib and I rolled into the crowd to find Ben and his family. Muad’Dib was a little bit excitable, but overall did great. Something caught his attention hard at one point though, and he took off away from me without turning back. I ended up having to zap him, and then he came right back. We got lots of compliments, so it was a good time. Ben’s family caught up to him and they wondered on while I went back to fetch Summer. We went into the mob, but quickly decided it was too much for Muad’Dib, so we made it back to the car and made one last pass through Sam’s Club before heading home.

Dad was having trouble with the lights at the old house, so Muad’Dib and I left Summer to go check things out. Mom was on another push for me to get everything out of the house, so I looked over some stuff. I think the garage will be the worst of it, because I had so much room to store things without parking two cars inside.

I was exhausted and probably dehydrated, so we made it back home for a bit. I started to get really hungry, and then Eaddie came home from her trip to Little Rock to check out the National Guard band. The three of us decided to go to La Huerta for dinner, but their patio was full. We ended up walking next door to the Gogi BBQ House food truck. I had seen a huge mob of people there earlier, so I figured it must be good.

Eaddie got some tacos and Summer and I had different bowls with chicken, pork, rice, and a couple of fresh sides. The kale I had tasted nutty and was delicious. We really liked everything. Afterward, we went to Las Delicias for some ice cream. It looked like they were training a bunch of employees, but they let us bring Muad’Dib inside and we had some pretty good ice cream before heading back home.

The three of us enjoyed some time on the couch together doing some tone deafness tests. Then Summer went to bed and Eaddie wanted me to watch the first episode of Invincible with her. I knew it looked interesting, but was afraid to start something new with such a big backlog on my watch list, especially leading up to Doomsday. It was a pretty good episode though, and it’ll be nice if she wants to watch more with me.

Puperfect!

21 and Lost

I went to bed super late last night and had trouble feeling some sort of anxiety or nervousness or dread that I didn’t understand. I eventually fell asleep, but didn’t stay in bed very late. I got up and warmed breakfast for Summer and myself, and Eaddie left for church. We didn’t see her again.

I got into cleaning and reviews some more, but never had any luck with much of anything. My S21 Ultra was lost, and I felt a bit lost myself. I should have known exactly where it was, and the fact that I haven’t been able to find it at all has been nerve-wracking.

Summer went to the gym and I went to KFC to get a pot pie for $4.20, because apparently those are the kinds of jokes they’re making now. That was a surreal experience, because I walked into a seemingly abandoned restaurant that had a few people in the corner that didn’t look like they were there to eat. It took a while to get noticed, but the staff was otherwise friendly. I thought my glasses were smudged, but the air was just hazy. It didn’t smell like anything though. The cash register flashed garbled text, and it felt a little bit like I was in the Matrix. I got my food and headed back to the house to eat, and luckily the pot pie was amazing.

Summer got home and mowed the lawn while I continued working inside. We had set out steaks to defrost for dinner, but they were still frozen solid. Dad texted that Mom made eggplant soup, so Summer said I could go eat over there and then come back to grill her some brats. I ran over with Muad’Dib, we ate, and then I went to the Neighborhood Market to get her food.

By the time I got things cooking, she reminded me that she had to go to work for a meeting, so she didn’t even get to eat first. Luckily she didn’t mind eating late when she got back, and then I cleaned up a bit before bed.

Oh, to be.

Down to Glass

I woke up with a stomach ache this morning, but luckily it was nothing long lasting. Summer kept saying she didn’t feel well though, and wasn’t sure if she was getting sick. Eaddie left the house super early, but neither of us knew what she had going on. Summer was going to make breakfast, but I stepped in for her to make sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits since she didn’t feel well.

After breakfast, Summer went to the gym and I jumped right into cleaning up and looking for my old S21 Ultra. I’ve been wanting to use it to play music at our company picnic, but I haven’t been able to find it anywhere. I dug down on my desk to the point that I could see through glass, and I even found my old Pixel 2 XL, but the Samsung is nowhere to be found.

I continued cleaning, stopping for a late lunch, and then to run Muad’Dib to see my parents as it got dark. Summer went to bed super early, still not feeling well. Eaddie was in and out and back in again, so we didn’t see much of her. I had an anxiety attack later in the evening, wrote some reviews, and then took a shower before winding down for bed. My feet and legs have been swelling up again, so I’ve been trying to keep an eye on my vitals. That just means more spreadsheets.

Dig dug!

Side Quests

Summer had to work this morning, so I slept in a while, then got up for some leftover corned beef for brunch. Eaddie left for school and I got cleaned up for a trip to Conway with Summer to pick up some stuff for work. I had gotten tickets to see The Super Mario Galaxy Movie so it wouldn’t be a whole trip just for work. I really wanted to see Project Hail Mary, but the release of Mario knocked it out of every single larger theater.

I lost track of time and we got out the door way later than I planned, but we made it just in time to walk straight back and sit down at the end of the trailers. A family with at least one kid was sat right next to our seats in an otherwise mostly empty auditorium, but I sat down and shared an armrest on principle because I had reserved our seats ahead. It wasn’t completely unbearable.

I thought the movie was fun, but the 3D didn’t really do much for it, which was a surprise. After that, we went to Splash to pick up Summer’s stuff. I asked for the key to the manual wash and was able to give the Model 3 one of the best washes it has ever had. I had forgotten how vibrant the paint was.

By the time I finished, we were both super hungry, so we made our way downtown and ended up at the Rogue Roundabout. Summer didn’t have her ID for some reason, so our server said she would have to call over the manager. I didn’t recognize him, but he learned where we were from and said he was born and raised there, having graduated high school a year after me. I asked his name and learned he was the same Chris I had driven to the emergency room after stepping on broken glass at Cole’s bachelor party camp trip some fifteen years ago. I still had photos, and even had his number saved in my phone.

After that, we had several drinks before our food came out an hour and a half later. Everything tasted great – it was just incredibly, frustratingly slow. We caught Chris outside as we left, and I shared a couple pictures. Then we started toward home. Summer had previously said no to Long John Silver’s when we were thinking of where to eat, which put the bug in my brain that I should pick some up for later.

We went through the drive-through where I ordered a family mean, and was subsequently parked to wait for our food. I ended up going inside and had a great conversation with another customer that came in after me. We chatted intermittently with the guy who took my order, since he was busy running around behind the counter. He gave both of us free drinks for waiting so long, and then I remembered their delicious strawberry lemonade. The restaurant always looks super dated and worn down, but has never been what I would consider dirty. The staff has always been super friendly, and the food has always been fresh. I wish them success, because I miss the one in town.

I eventually got my food and we headed home, snacking on clam strips as it started to pour down rain. We made it home where Muad’Dib had apparently been left alone for several hours. He ran up to me like he thought I had gone forever. I had asked Eaddie about being home, but I guess I wasn’t specific enough because she had been gone to Tech for several hours before we made it back. Everything was intact though, so maybe he’ll be okay to be left alone a little more frequently.

First goes the body, then goes the bones. Then all that’s left is dust.

‘Cause if You Like It, but You’re Afraid of Early Release Bugs, Then You Shoulda Put an Update Ring on It

More pork chop sandwiches this morning. I had an okay day tinkering with some more Intune compliance stuff, then had an anxiety attack before a late lunch. It was a good, but windy day to sit outside Taco Bell, and then the afternoon was less painfully long.

Summer had a late meeting, so we got to the house and then immediately left for a run. Muad’Dib just casually trotted along the whole way, and it’s not even hot yet. We saw Dad before he left for church, and then got home and ate some leftovers. A bunch more had gone bad, so I threw that stuff out and took out the recycling just as Summer got there.

We spent some time outside cleaning up the driveway in preparation for some rain. I got Summer up on the roof to blow out the gutters as it got dark, and then she showered and went to bed. I cleaned up some more, then followed suit.

Whoa-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh.

Wheely Bad Service

I took a toasted pork chop sandwich for breakfast, and a heated lunch box with some chicken, sweet potato, and broccoli for lunch today. In spite of all the frustration, I was excited to get my Onewheel back in the morning. Teisha called when it showed up, and I loaded it into the car. The entire day was spent at the office wrapping up some of my understanding of Autopilot, so now I’m ready to actually build out some stuff around that and properly manage our devices.

My heated lunch box worked perfectly, and my meal was piping hot. Afterward, we took a break for some cake for Janice’s birthday. The afternoon went by fairly quickly after that, and we made our way home through heavy traffic.

Summer was in the tub, and Eaddie was leaving to play pickleball at Old Post, so I decided to take Muad’Dib out there to ride around. We never did find the kids, but we had a good time making a big loop around the park before coming back to the house.

As for the Onewheel; Future Motion did their usual shit job. It started with insufficient packaging because they didn’t replace the top egg carton inside the retail package, which I absolutely shipped to them. The Onewheel itself was completely covered in some kind of dust or powder that just blew off, so it had clearly been sitting out somewhere for a while. They replaced my Maghandle for some reason, and gave me a super shitty torn-up one with a really bad rubber grip. The plastics on the bottom corners also had huge chunks hanging off like they had curbed it multiple times. They rode it hard for 27 miles, which I’m not surprised wasn’t enough for them to reproduce my motor disengage issue. They did give me someone else’s used TFL valve stem cap though.

When we got back to the house, Summer and I ate some more leftovers. I saw another possum on camera under the house, so I had to investigate that. I have no idea how they’re getting in, because I walked the entire perimeter of the house and couldn’t find any holes apart from the small one at the top of the house under the eave of the roof.

Summer went to bed and Eaddie got home early and disappeared into her room. That left me to my own chores for the night before an even earlier bedtime than when I actually have to work the next day.

#FFM

Carpal Tunnel Vision

We got out a little bit earlier today after a lot of sleep, redeemed a free burrito at Burger King, and got to work to focus on HubSpot product updates. My hand hurt all day from zipping through spreadsheets and manually moving and combining data to make it fit HubSpot’s limited search capabilities.

I forgot Muad’Dib’s food at home, and ended up taking lunch about an hour late myself. I just went for a quick Big Mac, and then grabbed some cheese sticks from Sonic on the way back to share with Muad’Dib in the car.

The afternoon was short after that, but I got a break in the middle of that when my car alarm went off. I peeked at the sentry cameras and saw David’s truck nearby. It wasn’t long after that he came upstairs and said he accidentally bumped me with his trailer hitch. We went downstairs to check it out, and the hole we saw was really just the tow bolt cover that had popped off. The plastics and a lower running light were also damaged though, so he said he would get with his insurance company to take care of it.

Summer had been home cleaning all day, and was still at it when we got home. I had plans to go help Neal with a computer that was given to him, so I changed clothes, had a quick bite, and then headed over. It took a couple hours, but we got it going. The whole time I was working on the computer, he was flipping through his phone and showing me pictures of his family, friends, and things that he had collected over the years. I also learned that my old boss, Adam, had passed away. Neal has always been an interesting friend.

The kids were getting ready for their band trip while Summer was finishing up a bunch of laundry. I don’t know what I was busy doing, but I never sat down for long. The night flew by, and then it was time for bed.

Mindful Mondays

Rodents Everywhere

Summer made us some little breakfast sandwiches this morning before going to the gym. I wasn’t as productive as I wanted to be, but I somehow still felt like I was fairly busy all day. Eaddie left for church, and then Summer and I took Muad’Dib for a walk around the neighborhood when she got back. We visited Mom briefly, but Dad was still at church.

I had a ton of security camera clips of the rats downstairs, and strangely we saw a couple dead mice on the sidewalk while we were out. I never made it downstairs to investigate, but it looked like my bait was gone on the bucket trap again, but I kept seeing more clips of rats moving around. I don’t want to kill them, but I’m at my wits’ end. I’ll probably have to put out some more poison tomorrow.

I gave Muad’Dib a really good bath, and then Summer and I stayed in the rest of the day, just eating leftovers and cleaning up a very minor bit around the house. I finally finished the split pea soup, then made her a grilled cheese to go with some leftover tomato soup, and we finished the Wonderman series before bed. We liked it.

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