Child Labor

I had the hardest time falling asleep last night, and felt like I had been run over by a truck when I had to get up. We managed to make it to work, and Janice had left me a slice of banana bread, which helped. It was a really long day to myself after that.

The sun was out in full force for lunch. We went to Sonic because they had a couple deals that would stack for a lot of food. The sun was so bright, I would swear I got a sunburn just walking from the car back into the office. The afternoon was long as well, but we finally got to head home.

Eaddie had Eli and Ceci over at my parents’ house to uncover the pool and wash the cover, and they were all done by the time Summer and I made it over there. They left to shower while I started frying eggrolls, and then they came back to eat along with Julie and Kevin.

It was a big crowd for dinner, but it was staggered, and we worked around the space we had. Everyone filtered out and Summer drove home to deal with the newly diagnosed arthritis in her knee. I took Muad’Dib on the remainder of his run, and tried to hurry him along to avoid the incoming storm. We got a little wet, but it wasn’t too bad.

The kids came back over and watched a scary movie all night. Summer hadn’t been charging, so I had to stay up to juggle the cars around. She may just have to supercharge tomorrow morning, because like everything else in this house, the car charger doesn’t work quite right.

More noggin!

Draining Weather

Summer got up and made us eggs and corned beef hash for breakfast. I slept in a little later than I wanted, but I was exhausted. We ate, and then I was consumed by one of the biggest Vine drops I’d ever seen. I didn’t blow all of my orders, but I did manage to pick up a cheap robot lawn mower, so we’ll see how that goes. I’m not expecting much.

After that, I cleaned and organized and processed a bunch of stuff, and worked on the Humble site a bit more. Summer felt overheated and worn out all day, but did some of her own stuff in her newly cleaned office nook. Eaddie cleaned around her room a bit, and eventually left to go to Autumn’s birthday party at their father’s.

I wasn’t sure if we were supposed to fry egg rolls for my parents, and when I asked, Mom said she wanted to clean up the bún bò Huế. I took the Onewheel with Muad’Dib, and Summer met us there to have dinner. Then I did some dishes before we left. I took Muad’Dib on the remainder of his run, which he did pretty well.

I still hadn’t drained the murder basement, so I went outside and found it to be the fullest I had ever seen. To top that off, it didn’t appear to have power, so I couldn’t get it draining without running an extension cord around the house. By the time Summer and I got that done, it looked like power was back, and I couldn’t tell when or why.

I was up fairly late trying to get all of that cleaned up, and eventually made it to bed.

There must be some way out of here.

Goats of Music Past

Summer left the house super early this morning to run up Mt. Magazine. She decided to start extra early so she could join some other ladies, and let me stay home to sleep. I didn’t really sleep in much though, and got around to shower pretty early so we could have the day together. Eaddie left fairly early as well, to prepare for the celebration of life concert for Cooper and Shepherd. I had an anxiety attack after my shower, but fortunately it was super quick without any haze afterward.

When Summer made it home, she cleaned up and we went to La Huerta for lunch. Muad’Dib got to hang out on the porch with us, and it was just on the hot end of comfortable. The humidity had me sweating, so I wasn’t super thrilled to learn that we would be rushing to get to the concert. We ended up leaving Muad’Dib at the house, and barely made it to our seats as they played their tuning note.

It was a very long event, with four speakers sharing stories between multiple guest conductors. I didn’t realize that it was a community concert either, or I would have suggested we sit it out. Summer enjoyed it though, and then we waved Chance down as we were leaving, just to say, “hello.”

Muad’Dib was in bed when we got back, but he was excited to see us. Summer spent the rest of the day in bed while I cleaned up a bit around the house. It felt a bit late, so I took Muad’Dib out for a run. It was still bright and hot, and then my parents weren’t home, so we came back home for the evening.

I continued to clean and tinker, and then Dad asked me to come help unload some groceries pretty late, so I took Muad’Dib out for a quick run straight to their house where they had already unloaded. We came back, I tinkered some more, and then went to bed.

And I didn’t even get to meet Corey!

RingCentral of Fire

We got in this morning and didn’t immediately have to jump into anything. I got settled, warmed up a breakfast sandwich, and got some coffee. Then my morning went off the rails when Amanda called to say that Shane was having phone contact issues again. He tried to call Elizabeth, but got her instead. While I looked into that, he got transferred around to a few people and then eventually landed with me, but the caller ID said Amanda, so I answered the phone as I would with her. That was pretty jarring.

My research and subsequent conversation with support got me through lunch, which I had brought from home. Summer’s chicken pasta was even good reheated. I ate at my desk in the relative quiet, but then it got even quieter when Janice left early. I had the last couple hours to myself.

The drive home was frustratingly slow, with idiot drivers blocking lanes. We made it home to find Summer in the bath. I wanted to take her out for dinner since she had an early mountain-climbing run in the morning, so we ended up dropping Muad’Dib off with Dad and going to Check-H.

Dinner and service were both way worse than last time. The salad was great, but the hot food was pretty terrible. We basically had no service, especially after our server left unannounced. Our last server kind of took over, but only barely, for the essentials. I left more of a tip than I intended because I was distracted when Josh called out to me.

I hadn’t really seen Josh since he left the school, and though he sent me his new number, he never responded to my texts. We got that sorted, and then I took Summer home so I could take Muad’Dib on a run.

The basin had flooded, so I took him around the block where they had bulldozed the local forested area. It was then that I remembered I had ordered a set of heavy equipment keys. We made it home where Summer was shutting down for bed. I played around with Julie and Kevin’s website for a bit, and eventually went to sleep.

Safe More Humble

Ortega Bros.

It was a little rainy, but really misty this morning, so I had to use my meats to drive to work. The weather wasn’t bad once we got there, but it showered again at least once while we were there. I had my head buried in Intune for most of the day, and was stuck waiting on my test computer for much of that.

Lunch time came around, and Grant had planned to meet me for some Ortega’s, so I walked out with Muad’Dib and waited for him. We rode to the restaurant together and had a good meal and chat. I think we’ll plan on some double date stuff soonish, and I’m hoping Summer can make a good friend of her own out of it since I don’t really know Jana at all.

I had an anxiety attack in the afternoon that left me slightly dazed, and then incredibly sleepy for the rest of the afternoon. It may have just been yesterday dragging me down, but I tried another cup of coffee and didn’t feel super smurfy for it. It felt like maybe it was stress, but I didn’t think I felt like I had any reason to be stressed.

We made it to the end of the day and ran to therapy. Summer finished up at the lube and then we had a decent session. I don’t really think the book is helping as much as if we were just talking through some of the specific pain points we have, but at least it gives us a guided tour, regardless of whether the topics are relevant ot us.

Mom had more bún bò Huế for dinner, so we headed home to change. Summer took a shower while I ran Muad’Dib, and then she and Eaddie met us there for dinner. I tried to help clean up a little, and then we made it home to try and wind down early. I showed Eaddie how to clean the hair out of the vacuum brush, Eli came over late, and they went to watch a movie since Eaddie had been cleaning up her stuff all day.

Water!

In Memoriam

I decided to stop the iron supplements today so I could level out before my eventual annual checkup. We had brunch planned at IHOP for Autumn’s birthday, and we barely got around for that. Eaddie slept late while Summer had to go to Atkins to pick up Noah. Things immediately started going wrong.

The restaurant was pretty busy, and they were not prepared. A table behind us had some kind of drama going on, so a manager demanded that they leave. When they refused, he walked away saying the cops would remove them. Things settled down pretty immediately after that, and we eventually got our order in. Of course, it was a full hour before we saw a morsel of food, so we sipped ice waters until then.

Afterward, I ended up taking Muad’Dib home while Summer dropped Noah off. Eaddie wanted to go ride bikes, so I was tasked with getting out the bike rack in the heat of midday. I immediately started pouring sweat in the humidity, but we eventually got everything loaded, aired up, and ready to go.

We had a false start when my watch incorrectly alerted me that I had left my phone. We turned back before I realized it actually was in my pocket. We got to the lake and unloaded the bikes, but I realized I didn’t have Muad’Dib’s collar remote, so I left Summer with him on a leash and ran back home.

I couldn’t find the remote at first, and in the process, I dumped a full tumbler of water all over the kitchen floor. I mopped that up, dried my socks, and eventually loaded up again. The kids had gotten their bikes and started riding around the marina, and Summer was walking around with Muad’Dib. I brought my Onewheel since I wasn’t sure what the mood would be like after I had been gone so long.

Summer got Muad’Dib into the water and splashed around with him a bit. I was still hot and burned out, so I mostly sat from that point on, but I did take Muad’Dib for a couple short runs. Eaddie, Eli, and Ceci eventually came back around and hung out with us before we loaded up to go back home.

We unloaded and the kids went for more biking while I took Muad’Dib to my parents’ house for a brief visit. Summer started a bath for him when we got back, but I made it in there to take over, which upset her for some reason. She always refuses any time I mention that maybe she could bathe him, so I just didn’t get it.

I got him bathed and she helped dry him. Then I vacuumed a ton of hair off of him before finally getting to wind down for bed. Eaddie got home and took a shower, but then started to leave again. Summer was in bed, so I had to play bad cop again and tell her she needed to give their family a break and stay home to finish cleaning her bathroom and bedrooms, which have been complete wrecks all week.

Finally, I made a mad dash to finish up for bed, exhausted from the break.

And not one “thank you” was heard.

Wringing the Air

I slept in while Summer went to her run, and we had a much better day after that. We got up to eat some leftovers, and then I tried to be productive with some of the stuff all over the house. Summer has been excited about the new Masters of the Universe movie, but I learned that she was completely unaware of the old 1987 movie starring Dolf Lundgren. I found it for free on YouTube, so we watched that in the afternoon. Afterward, Summer wanted to take a nap. Eaddie was around for most of the day, but left later on.

I had set up a tiny dehumidifier last night, but it hardly pulled any water out of the air. Today, I uncovered a larger one I had ordered a while back, so I set it up and found it to work much better. Even with all the rain we’ve had lately, the little one barely had a quarter tank of water after 24 hours.

I took a shower late in the day, and then Dad asked for help unloading some things they had picked up at the store. I took Muad’Dib out for his run, but then saw that my parents were already home, so we circled back and got there as quickly as we could.

By the time we got back to the house, I had worked up my appetite. There wasn’t really anything left in the refrigerator, so I used my 50% discount at Domino’s and took the Onewheel out again so Muad’Dib could get some more steps in. Summer and I ate, and then lounged in front of the TV for the rest of the night. Out of nowhere, I had my first anxiety attack, I believe since I started taking my iron supplements again. It was a really short event, but still left me a little dazed. Eaddie showed up with Eli, and they watched a movie while we went to bed.

Good journey. 👋

Just Following Policy

I slept in a little bit today since I could wake up and walk to my office for work. It ended up being one of my most productive days as I tinkered away with Intune policies to manage the browsers for the maintenance shop PC. Eaddie was in bed all day, so it was just Intune, my speakers, Tiny Towns, and me.

I took a break to finish my old nachos from Ridgewood, but otherwise I stayed pretty busy all day. Before I knew it, Summer made it home from work and got ready for Sip + Stretch. I showered after, then had to run to my parents’ house to get Muad’Dib’s collar remote, and then Julie’s house to fetch a package. As soon as we got back to the house, I jumped on the Onewheel and Muad’Dib and I rode toward Point Remove.

As we neared the end of our run on Phoenix, we ran into Mollie and Craig walking down the sidewalk. We stopped for a hug, then continued to an absolutely packed house. There was a wedding party with a ton of people, but we managed to find a small table out back. Muad’Dib behaved perfectly and stayed right by me as we went through, then back to get him a cup of water.

Summer had gone to yoga with an old employee, and they both eventually made it down to join us. It wasn’t long after that when Eaddie showed up, and nervously walked around the outside of the building to avoid all the people. Summer ordered wings and a large charcuterie board, which was basically three giant blocks of cheese. I would be so happy if we never ordered that ever again. The wings were great, but there needed to be more of them for four people.

It eventually died down, and then we headed home. Muad’Dib wasn’t ready to come in though, so I took him for another short run to see Grandpaw. Then we saw the neighbors walking and talked to them for a moment before making it home for the night.

What a waste of skin and teeth!

Reedy or Not

I slept in pretty well today, and hoped that would help my recent concerns. Summer and I ate some leftovers and Eaddie left to get ready for Jenny’s recital in the afternoon. The whole day went by pretty quickly, but I tried to stay useful and productive. Summer took some time to get out her old laptop and play Torchlight II, which seemed like a good mental health break.

I got showered and we barely made it out of the house in time to drop Muad’Dib off with Dad before making it to the recital. Eaddie was only playing in one of the songs, but it was a nice, quiet show with just a bunch of the band kids and families. The kids did great, and then afterwards I saw Russ and talked to him for a moment before heading out.

Summer really wanted ice cream, so we went to Las Delicias where she got a cone and I got a mangonada. I didn’t think it was as good as Bocadillos, and I didn’t much care for the atmosphere being dark and loud, so we left and headed back to my parents’ house to get Muad’Dib. We visited there for a while before I really wanted to find dinner.

I wanted to try and find something with a bit more nutrition than the leftover Ridgewood nachos that were in the refrigerator, so we drove across town looking. We turned around at the old Valley Park Center where they had a whole lot of construction finishing up. Then we stopped at Aldi’s to see what aldi fuss was about. It was surprisingly cold and quiet in there, with a pretty limited selection. It didn’t seem worth the drive to me.

I got a box of salad, and we headed home to eat the last of the spaghetti squash casserole that Summer made. Then she cleaned the kitchen while I picked up around the house. She eventually went back to Torchlight and I took Muad’Dib on a run to take some old shirts to Dad before his surgery in the morning.

We wound down a bit more, then I did my best to get to bed on time.

DRINK MORE!

Mortality is Weird

I felt like I hardly slept at all last night. I just laid in bed feeling like I was awake all night, but my watch and phone insisted that I got a good night’s rest. I didn’t feel groggy when I got up, and we made it to work a little early. I brought along a Soylent for breakfast and my leftover Subway sandwich for lunch in an effort to save money and my health. I felt surprisingly good all day, and kept pretty busy.

Things got pretty quiet upstairs with Janice out. I don’t think anybody said anything to me all morning, and the guys left in the afternoon after I had eaten. I did step outside after lunch to give Muad’Dib some air, and decided to install my headliner to block the sun and try to keep my car a bit cooler in the summer.

Joel reminded me that we had our Traverse call in the afternoon, so I made it upstairs just in time for that. Having my phone muted lately has me missing most of my notifications, but I’ve also got notification fatigue from all the noise coming through. I’ll have to work in finding a balance.

Later in the afternoon, Elizabeth called me down for some help, but she was the only other face I saw the rest of the day until we stopped by Superfast to see Summer when we got back to town. She was just finishing up, and then we came home where I ate some leftover spaghetti squash casserole by myself.

I took Muad’Dib for a run to the Neighborhood Market to drop off some recycling, and he did great. It was probably our best run of the year, and I couldn’t say why. It was nice outside, but not as cold it normally has to be for him to get super excited. He even sat outside the store and waited for me while I deposited the recycling. We trimmed a couple blocks off of our usual path to see my parents, and then Eaddie called for advice on washing her floor mats at the carwash. While I was there, Julie called my parents from the beach, so I popped in to say hi before heading home.

When we made it back to the house, Summer and I finished the Kevin Hart roast before she went to bed. I was still feeling pretty good, but when I went to my office to try and recover my lost tab session, I started to really space out. I felt lost and confused, and I felt like I couldn’t remember things. It was like I knew I had a history of anxiety attacks, but I couldn’t remember what they were like. I was really disoriented for a while, and it was pretty scary because I just didn’t understand what was going on.

I took my blood pressure a couple of times, and it was a little bit high at first, but fine the second time. I slowly came out of the fog, but it was super strange. I don’t know if it was some new health concern, or maybe just the anxiety plus a lack of good sleep, but I just felt lost. I could hear Eaddie coming home and I knew where I was, but it was like my memory of everything was cloudy. All total, I think it took about two hours for me to recover from whatever that was, and then I went to sleep.

Let’s try extra hard to wake up this time.