Tag: parenting

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Not My Band

I was the first one up this morning, but Summer was right behind me. I made some coffee for us, and then we cleaned up a bit more while Eaddie left for church with Eli. She wanted us to go to a Tech Symphonic Wind Ensemble concert in the afternoon, and we had some other errands to run as well, so Summer and I got ready to go by the time she got back.

Our first stop was Diana’s for the open house. We met her realtor, who knew us by name, and we got to show Eaddie the house. There wasn’t anyone else around, and we weren’t sure it was going to be very popular based on the location. Diana saw us on camera and made a comment about my Eagles shirt, and then we were off to Tech for the concert.

It was a long, but good show. I enjoyed the songs more than I typically do, but at this point I hate going to high school band concerts. It’s always way better going to the competitive ones that Eaddie is a part of. She had to stay for practice in the youth ensemble afterward, so Summer and I left her to go get dinner at Mulan’s. Then we went to Walmart for a few more things, Zaxby’s to get some food for Eaddie, and finally Casey’s for free coffee day before making it back home.

The sun was going down quickly, so I left the girls to go get gas while I ran the dogs. We went a bit backwards from our usual route, ending up at my parents’ house to visit with Dad briefly before coming back home. We settled in quickly, and it’s back to working sleep deprivation for me.

Imagine complaining about communism at a Chinese buffet.

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Fun Without Hinges

I was a little slow out the door this morning, but I got to work on time. Not that anyone would have noticed. I spent a little time in the morning finishing up the Google Classroom cleanup I had to do for teachers that had left. Then I started tinkering with SCCM again.

They took me to another new place for lunch. This time it was Gadwall’s, and I had a big plate of chili cheese nachos. They were fairly good, but also fairly expensive. I was just happy that for the price, it was a pretty big plate. It occurred to me as we chattered that I’ve really missed being around people that haven’t acclimated to the unhinged things I sometimes say. It was a solid reminder of how hilarious I am, and how those who are around me more often are taking that hilarity for granted.

I was by myself for a part of the morning, and most of the afternoon. My big success was discovering the incompatible version of my Configuration Manager. Once I found the correct install for that, my laptop was able to connect to the server, which should speed up any work I do in that system.

After work, I ran back to the Target on our side of town to look for another Pixel Watch. I didn’t have any luck with that, but I did pick up a shirt for Muad’Dib and a big pool float that were both on clearance. Then I headed to Kohl’s in Conway to pick up an order before finally heading toward home.

Summer had a rough day at work and wanted Wendy’s for dinner, so I picked that up once I got into town, and we ate together before I went out with the dogs. They were super excited and had torn into a bunch more stuff in the yard. They ran the entire way to my parents’ house again, which tells me that we really need to get them out even more than we do.

I visited with Dad briefly for a walk around the yard, and then we headed home. I got a little upset to the stomach, but also had at least three separate anxiety attacks throughout the day, so I really wanted to get to bed early to get some rest. As I was just going to bed, Noah called from the ER, but it seemed to be more due to the fact that he needed a doctor’s note to keep his job. I talked to him a little bit and gave him what advice I could, but maybe we’ll hear more about it soon.

No crap.

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Gas in the Clouds

I needed the break today. I didn’t sleep in terribly late, but I didn’t have anywhere to be either. Eaddie had service hours and did some yard work with some other classmates. Summer made her some eggs when she got back, and then I had an egg with one of my frozen grilled cheese sandwiches. Eaddie went back out to do some shopping with friends, and Summer and I gave the dogs a much-needed brushing. Then we spent a little time setting up her new watch, and I eventually took a shower.

Tech band had a “Brass in the Clouds” event that Eaddie and Eli wanted to go watch, so we loaded up some camp chairs and headed up to Nebo for that. It was late, and I realized on the way through Dardanelle that I hadn’t really eaten anything else all day, and we wouldn’t be done until late, so I stopped at Taco Bell for some food.

We got up the mountain and the others went to find a place to sit while I ate in the car. I was late to the show, but I didn’t think it was very good anyway. It seemed a bit unpracticed, but at least it was short. I was surprised by the number of people there, and it took us a slow ride down the mountain to get back home.

I made the kids take the dogs for a walk since Eaddie was vehemently against me taking them with us to the “concert.” Summer didn’t feel great, so she went to bed, and I wound down pretty quickly.

Crunchwrap Supremes are more tortilla and lettuce than I remember.

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Collared Greens

Summer was up early doing some work, and I ended up sleeping in later than I wanted. I eventually got up and made some more eggs for breakfast, and even cleaned up some leftover stir fried beef. It was rainy all morning, but it eventually dried up enough to go out with the dogs.

Eaddie wanted to take my car to drive around with her friends because it was nicer than her Pathfinder, and we ended up having a big family discussion after she didn’t like my answer. That threw all of us off for the rest of the day.

I took a really late shower and then took the dogs out for a walk. We took a new path up and around Inglewood this time, and on the way home I couldn’t break their focus off of a nearby squirrel. I’ve got to do something to fix that behavior, because Stilgar is just able to throw around too much weight.

They were about out of food when I got back with them, so I got Summer up and we went to Walmart to look around a bit. We got more food, and a couple cowhide sticks for them to chew on, with the hopes that they’d stop chewing on important things. Eaddie spotted us while we were there, but we didn’t actually see her. She was out super late, and we ended up going to bed before we ever saw her again.

Interesting days ahead…

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Foaming

I got to work a little bit early this morning, but breakfast was already pretty picked-through, and definitely not as good as yesterday. It was quieter today though, I think because teachers were stuck in the auditorium for a large part of the day. I used my time to try and clean up some things before I got, but it’s getting harder to keep my spirits amicable.

Lunch wasn’t great either. I remembered the Junction Cafe having pretty awful chicken strips, and I was right. I don’t know how they got them so flat or dried out, but at least there was some food left over from yesterday.

I got the fish fed once I got back into town, and then headed home and played with the dogs. Then I took them out for a long run to my parents’ house for some water, and then the long way through the new neighborhood and the basin area. Stilgar was pulling and huffing pretty hard, and started to foam at the mouth quite a bit. I was a bit worried, but we tried stopping by some sprinklers along the way, and he managed to keep going. I gave him a good misting from the hose once we got back to the house, since he’s not allowed a bath for the time being.

I was pretty hot myself, so I rode back to my parents’ house for a quick swim before coming back home. Eaddie suddenly said she didn’t want to go to see Five Finger Death Punch next week even though I triple-checked with her before I submitted payment, so I really want to make her go anyway. It’ll be a lesson in maintaining a working calendar for her schedule.

Besides, we’ve got to start practicing now if we’re going to survive another Trump presidency.

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Rogue Tech

It was kind of a weird and quiet day at work, feeling like I’m caught in limbo with zero oversight and literally no administration present. I’ve been a little bit concerned, or at least cautious after being told that people might have tried to throw me under the bus somehow, but I’m really working on my own terms right now. I could potentially even rack up a bunch of overtime and they would be stuck paying for it. I did see where Samuel had logged in to some of our systems, and given the lack of trust I have for Todd, I don’t really know what to think. I’d left his accounts active just because I wasn’t sure if I was sticking around, but he really has no business in my stuff while I’m there.

I’ve sent a steady flow of applications out, and gotten a few automatic rejection letters. I think only one of them was from a place I was excited about, but there haven’t been too many exciting places either. Other than that, my biggest accomplishment was getting my USG-Pro-4 to successfully re-adopt to my network. Now I’ve just got to figure out how the heck to configure the VLANs for it again without breaking everything else in the process.

Summer made shredded chicken tacos for dinner, so I fed the fish and stopped by the Neighborhood Market again for some slaw mix. It wasn’t really necessary because I think I was the main person to eat any of it. The kids were being numbskulls, so I stepped out with the dogs and a beer while they ate. After I came in to eat, they went out to walk the dogs. Noah disappeared to the guest room after Summer upset him when she pressed him to apply for jobs making more than minimum wage. We’re not running a charity, but she hasn’t told him that to his face.

When Eaddie and Eli got back from walking the dogs, they said Muad’Dib still had some energy, so I took him for a run on the Onewheel to my parents’ house. I picked up some baking dishes from them, and then took a long route back. By then the dogs were pretty tuckered out and quiet for the rest of the night. I wrapped up as quickly as I could, and then it was off to bed.

I’d walk with my people, if I could find them.

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Breakfeast

I got up this morning and wanted to make a big breakfast for the girls, so I ran to the Neighborhood Market for a bunch of stuff. One of the things I really wanted to try and reproduce was the jungle juice from Boma, the restaurant from our Animal Kingdom Lodge stay. I also really wanted to make some waffles, and we already had everything for that, but we needed some bacon and sausage too.

Everything turned out pretty good. Eaddie took her friend home after that, and Summer went to the gym before coming back to mow the lawn. I tried to help with some other yard work, and I figured out the edging wheels on the string trimmer for her.

The day went by pretty quickly. Once we were cleaned up from working outside, Summer and I started watching Logan. I had to stop near the end to run the dogs, and then pick up some more food for them. Eaddie was out late with Eli, and went to bed pretty quickly once she got home. I took some NyQuil and we finished our movie, and then it was off to bed so I could go to work for the last few days there.

Right or wrong, it’s a brand. A brand sticks.

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Grills Night

Everyone got up and cleaned house this morning so Eaddie could have a friend over for the night. Summer did the lion’s share, and baked a strawberry cheesecake on top of it all while I milled back and forth doing the odds and ends, and cleaned up outside around the dogs. We talked about possibly grilling some food, but my parents also wanted to go out to dinner for their anniversary.

Eaddie eventually went to get Jenny, and then we all went to my parents’ house so the girls could swim, and Summer and I took my parents to meet Julie and Kevin at Pasta Grill. The food was pretty good, but I think I had the same thought last time in that I had enough other stuff to support about three times as much pasta. Everyone ended up taking some leftovers home.

When we got back to my parents’ house, Mom came out with a stick and started knocking over the hundreds of mushrooms that were sprouting all over the front yard. I thought they looked really cool, and several of them Googled as edible, but nobody was brave enough to try them. I hated that Mom wanted to eradicate them.

The girls wanted to swim for a bit longer, so Summer and I headed home. I took the dogs out for a run around the block, and the girls were home making their dinner when I got back. Summer and I settled in to watch X-Men: Apocalypse, and finally it was off to bed.

Each generation has cried out for a new world, but has built the same the old one: Corrupt and weak.

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Dog Days of Summer

I slept in a little bit today, and the dogs dug a new hole under the fence. I rode around and found Muad’Dib a couple blocks southwest, but didn’t see Stilgar anywhere. We looked around for a little bit, and then I got a call from the vet asking if we had him, because some lady brought in a dog that looked just like him. Muad’Dib and I started rolling back toward home so we could go get Stilgar, but then he just turned away from me and started walking toward a guy that was walking down the street. We ended up at the cemetery before Eaddie got to us with the leashes, and we loaded him up and headed to the vet. She said the lady came in a little panicked, and wanted to chip him. I would have been fine with it if she paid for it, but I couldn’t understand why that would be someone’s go-to action for a lost dog. It didn’t necessarily sound like she wanted to keep him, but maybe she did.

We finally got everyone home, and I went outside to brick up the fence, and nail some new pallet wood above it. That seemed to work, because the dogs were in the yard for the rest of the day while Eaddie and I ran around town.

We showered first, and then went to Superfast to see if Summer wanted to join us for lunch. She said she couldn’t, so the two of us went to New China. After that we went to PetSmart to browse for dog stuff. We looked at the little kiddie pools they had, but decided to try and find a cheaper one somewhere else.

Next we went to Ross and then T.J.Maxx to look for a swim suit for Eaddie. She found a couple she liked, but we ended up buying one she saw yesterday and missed out on when someone else picked it up. I guess the other girl didn’t care for it, or maybe they stocked a new one. In any case, Eaddie was happy.

We stopped at Harbor Freight, but couldn’t find any clasps for my homemade leash, so we went to Walmart and picked up a couple from there. They were out of pools, and thus started the great search. We went to the nearby Dollar General where they had just sold their last one. We decided to get something to drink, but at $2.30 for a 20oz Coke, we ended up buying two cartons of Minute Maid fruit punch for $3.

After that, we stopped back by PetSmart to look at their pool again, but after sizing it up, I felt it was too small for Stilgar, and definitely too small if both of them wanted to splash around at once. We went across town to the newer Dollar Tree and then another Dollar General on our side of town, but nobody had a pool. We finally made it back home and rested for a while. I had a pretty bad headache, so I laid in bed for most of the remaining afternoon.

We eventually got up and went to my parents’ house to swim for a bit. We got back home a little before Summer did, and played with the dogs a bunch more. I was exhausted, so we wound down pretty quickly from there. Hopefully the dogs will still be there in the morning, because I don’t know how much more of this I can take.

Collars next.

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Pupperunny with Extra Flees

The dogs were out again this morning, but came back in without much fuss. They just moved the boards around in the giant tree-shaped gap in the fence. I tried to fix it up, but I didn’t have a whole lot of time to really make a difference and I figured they would get out again. I took a shower, got my bagel, and made it to work.

I bounced around a lot today, and didn’t really accomplish anything of importance. It was all tangents today. The only frequent thought I had was to find a supplier for custom rope clamps so I could start a dog leash business and sell them for 80 bucks a piece.

Dad came to see the school after spending some time with Uncle Rick on Petit Jean. I was pretty proud of the facility, but mismanagement had seen an embarrassing number of things fall to ruin.

Eaddie had her band camp concert in the evening, so I ran home after stopping at Casey’s for a freebie and the old house to feed the fish.

Eaddie found Muad’dib outside, but he was gone again by the time we needed to leave for her concert. I rode down a couple houses looking for him, and got stopped by a kid selling solar. I accidentally gave him the electric bill for the wrong house, and I’m not sure I’m interested in what they’re selling anyway, but I guess someone else will come see me about it tomorrow. By then, we were in a rush to catch up to Eaddie, who drove herself. Summer and I picked up Dad at his house and then made it to Witherspoon.

Autumn and JoAnn were there, but both unpleasant, and it upset Summer. I had to suppress all of my thoughts into inside-thoughts, or else cause a scene. The concert was good, but loud from the front seat in that auditorium. It’s tough to find a good place to sit, because I like being able to pick Eaddie’s part out of the rest of the band, but being so close makes everything too loud to enjoy properly.

We dropped Dad off at his house, and saw the dogs in the neighbor’s yard on our way home, so they followed us back. I tried to have Summer put Muad’dib on the leash, but he ran across the street for a while. We chased him around until he finally decided to come home, and then I ripped a picket off of the fence so I could reattach it in a less-broken way. Summer went to bed and I had a sloppy joe for a late dinner. Then I sat with Stilgar outside for a while before coming in for the night. Eaddie was out late with friends, and snuck in while I was still outside.

Maybe a neuter will help.