Tag: parenting

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Good Old-Fashioned Ultraviolence

I woke up a little late this morning and got the sense that the girls were in a bit of a panic to get the cats out of the house. Evidently Summer got a formal eviction warning letter, and she counted only two days left to have them gone. Since nobody actually addressed me about it, and since I had already expressed my own frustration about the situation, I just did my best to help out with breakfast so they could finish what needed to be done.

After we ate the kielbasa and veggies with eggs, they went to Dollar General for some cat food before taking everything up to Noah’s house, and I went home to shower. I got incredibly frustrated with always being made the villain, and Suzanne said I was “cold, cold like the wind” for being so unsympathetic, but I likened it to God sending people to Hell for eternity because they worked on a Sunday. People show up in droves to worship that guy, but I’m the fucking bad guy here for reminding them that they’re not allowed to have pets.

I had a couple drinks and a shower to relax, and then Summer wanted just the two of us to go to the movies to see Bullet Train. I thought I was the only one that was really excited to see it, but I don’t think she really knew what to expect. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it reminded me a lot of Kill Bill, without being quite so vulgar, but with some classic ultraviolence. All of the characters were great, and I really liked the cinematography.

After the movie, I tried talking to Summer about my feelings on the way home and I blew up for a bit that she kept saying I wasn’t being comforting or supportive. I knew it was hard to watch her kids hurting, but she enabled them by buying all of the cat supplies instead of shutting the whole thing down early, and I needed her to understand that it was okay to take the loss. She didn’t have to try and lessen the blow, and it was okay to just have a bad day and accept that every single one of us did something wrong.

When we got back to the house, Eaddie was still very upset. I learned that they just took the cats outside Noah’s house, so Sweetums got into a fight with his dog and immediately ran up a tree. I don’t even know how big of a tree it was, or if she’ll be able to get down on her own, but even Eaddie knew that she didn’t have any time to associate Noah or his house with anything good. I’ll be astounded if she doesn’t get picked off by a predator overnight, but I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do. I wasn’t present to do the thinking for all four of them, so if it’s two dead cats, it’s two dead cats.

I tried to coax Eaddie out of the house for some fish soup with my parents, but she didn’t want to leave. Autumn wanted to go to her father’s for some reason, so the lawn still didn’t get mowed over the last two weeks that we’ve been asking. I just have to assume I’ll be the bad guy again next weekend when it still hasn’t been done.

I went to eat and visited with my parents for a little while before heading home. Bác Vân called while I was on the way and asked me to come over for a bit. I helped with her iPad for a bit, then went home to do some laundry before bed.

L

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Frustration = Family

Mitch messaged me just as I climbed into bed last night, so I stayed up until about two in the morning catching up with him. I awoke several hours later and tried to climb out of bed, but had a long-lasting charley horse in my left thigh. I got around for a bit and then watched a couple more episodes of Ms. Marvel, leaving the finale for another day.

I showered and picked Summer up at her house as soon as she got back from Conway, and then we went to Clarksville to meet with Autumn’s therapist. He was a few minutes late arriving back to work, and then left us in the lobby for several more minutes, so we didn’t get back to him until about 15 minutes into our session.

I don’t think either of us had the right expectation for the meeting, and it seemed much more like a touching base than anything else. We certainly didn’t feel like we learned anything, but hopefully our sharing gave him some insight. He showed us a printout on Choice Theory with the Seven Deadly/Caring Habits, and at the bottom was a pixelated clipart picture of a balance scale. I told him that Summer basically nailed all of the caring habits, which meant I had to balance the scales by enforcing all of the deadly habits. I think he saw the irony, but he laughed and told Summer to get me outta there.

I hadn’t eaten all day and made the assumption that we might eat out of town, but instead we had to get home to cook dinner. It was still a little early, so I fought my hangry urges and talked her into running through Walmart with me to look for any deals, and also pick up the peppers we needed for dinner. Unfortunately they didn’t have anything good, but I did finally remember to get Eaddie’s lava lamp bulb.

When we got home, we both started prepping the peppers, potatoes, onions, and kielbasa sausage for a pan-fried dinner. It turned out really great, though the potatoes mushed up in the time it took to prep everything else. Eaddie ate with us since Autumn was at karate, and then Autumn showed up later with some Tropical Smoothie.

While we were in Clarksville, the girls had some house inspectors come by to investigate for animals. Evidently another property had been hiding a dog that caused quite a bit of damage, so this left the girls in a panic to find homes for the cats. This frustrated me deeply, because I was the one to originally let the stray cats run through the house as a joke. After that, no amount of screaming or threats could get them to stop letting the cats in, and they just continued to acquire more and more pet supplies. They refused to listen to any reasoning that they could be evicted, and now the cats would pay the price. I’ve tried to re-home fully-grown cats before, and it rarely works. It’s anybody’s guess what will actually happen now.

Do it for the Graham!

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I Don’t Wanna!

We had a little meeting today, but it didn’t seem like there was a whole lot of stress to do anything. I certainly didn’t overexert myself in my office. Gary asked me to go upstairs to take care of a couple work orders, which would have burned him up a bit, but I was able to breeze right through. I thought I might make it back over to Oakland at some point, but I just never did.

The morning went by surprisingly quickly, and Gary came back to fetch me for lunch. I took him, Josh, and Thomas to Zaxby’s where we mostly sat in silence and ate. Then it was back to the office. After a little while, Greg came in to investigate the phones, as they had all disconnected. Evidently Gary was making some network changes, and some automation actually caused what he was actively trying to prevent from happening. Once they got it working again, I went with Gary to Central Office, then Transportation, and finally Support Services.

By then, it was nearly quitting time. I think my greatest accomplishment was melting the crystals out of my honey bear with my Ember mug. I still ended up sticking around late though, because Eaddie didn’t have karate. I had a little peace to myself, and then went home for some more before heading up to Summer’s.

I stopped by Taco Bell for a couple burritos, which was fortunate since Summer wanted something to eat. Autumn was watching YouTube on the TV, and had talked to Summer about getting some things out of storage. I was still upset that we hadn’t addressed the manipulation that occurred while Autumn was “helping” around her grandparents’ house, so I made Summer call them on speakerphone. She didn’t answer, but at least it got the conversation started with Autumn. She got angry at first, but cooled off surprisingly quickly. I’m not going to keep letting her think she can get things over on me though.

We ended the evening shaking out Eaddie’s blanket because she left chocolate in her bed, which attracted ants. They’ve been in every single room of the house, and nobody’s figured out why yet. I baited them, and was off to bed.

Nike.

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Cleared for Nothing

Eaddie had a couple days worth of fun planned with friends, so Summer dropped her off for church and a day on a boat, followed by a night with her friend. Then she went on to the gym while I slept in. Eventually she made it home, and she, Autumn, and I decided to go hang out at Walmart for a little while. Jaylinn had told Summer that a bunch of stuff was on clearance, so we thought we might find a deal.

Nothing really caught our eye, but Summer did finally get her kitchen zester. About halfway through our shopping trip, Autumn developed a scowl that nobody really understood. Eventually she came out and said she didn’t like me showing public displays of affection to Summer, but really all I had done was hold her hand or walk with my arm around her. Autumn was just acting lonely and petty, and wanted to lash out. She even tried getting me in trouble for some new scratches on the side of Summer’s car, even though it was pretty obviously done by someone else pushing up against it from the outside.

Autumn wanted us to take her back home instead of to my parents’ house to swim, but I thought we might do her one better and take her to her grandparents’ house for a while. We first drove around the block a few times to look at some houses for sale, and then dropped her off to help with some housework. Then Summer and I went to my parents’ house for some swimming and spring rolls.

Julie eventually showed up as well, and helped with a bit of the prep work before we ate. I tried slicing some meat, but had trouble getting it very thin since the very outside of the block of meat had thawed out to be very soft while the inside was still frozen. The rolls were good though, and Julie appreciated an accidental, early, birthday dinner of one of her favorite foods.

Summer and I eventually headed home, stopping at Walgreens to pick up an order along the way. Then it was back up to her house for the evening, where we tried to finish up our written document for Autumn’s FINS petition. She baked a boxed cake mix we got from Walgreens, then did some stuff for work. We fought a couple separate ant infestations, Autumn was dropped off super late, and then it was off to bed.

Ungrateful swine.

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She’s a Little Runaway

I hardly slept last night, but got up and back to my cooler house after its first night of air conditioning in a while. We were a little scattered for projects during our meeting, and I could have hidden away in my office all morning, but instead I rode around with Zach to work on a few doors. We chatted, and it really helped keep my spirits up.

Summer had to go to Little Rock for a meeting, but then came back to work from home for the rest of the day. She wanted to get lunch, so after Zach and I finished running around trying to fix and lock all of the doors we were working on, I met her at Sumo’s. I still wasn’t feeling great about the situation at home, but we finally talked a bit and tried to come up with a plan. I suggested that she try and take Autumn to a recruiter and see what options might be available to her.

I went back to work, and after a followup text, Summer said she was having trouble with Autumn, and then called in tears to say that Autumn had blown up again and “ran away” down the road again. I reminded her that she could file a FINS petition, so she made a phone call and then had me meet her at the juvenile office next to the courthouse. The lady there did a whole lot of talking to sell the program to us even though we were already all-in. Eaddie sat in the corner quietly while we chatted, and then they went home to fill out paperwork while I went back to work. I figured Autumn had most likely called her grandparents to pick her up, and of course Summer confirmed my suspicion.

I worked out the rest of the day, and even a little bit late to update our Jamf server prior to our migration to their cloud service. Everyone else left me in the dark, but I was just happy to accomplish something of my own before I left. Then I went home until Eaddie finished with tennis practice and then met Summer at her house. They cleaned up a bit, since Summer had also worked up a sweat at the gym. Then we went to Stoby’s for dinner before fetching Autumn.

Eaddie went inside to visit, and perhaps to survey the situation. Her grandmother came outside to talk to Summer, but Autumn hid away inside until we talked her into going back inside to get her. I had to threaten calling the police, and then ultimately made the call when Autumn came outside but refused to come with us. A few minutes later, she realized how dumb and wasteful she was being and agreed to comply, but by then the trucks had already rolled and we had to stand at the end of the driveway talking to four officers for the next hour.

Autumn had cooled down, and was very talkative with Eaddie in the back seat. She kept wanting to talk to us, but of course we were sick of even hearing her voice. We had them shower as soon as we got home, and then they went to bed while Summer worked on the FINS petition with occasional help from me.

Having a written record of your life is pretty handy…and incriminating!

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Heat Waive

I made it home to shower this morning, but then couldn’t dry my hair in the heat and humidity before making it in to work. Everyone was sitting around the conference table awkwardly without me, but we didn’t have much to talk about. Everyone was sent off to take care of little things, and I spent all day in my office trying to look busy. I tinkered with a task sequence for a while, but couldn’t really test anything out without a lab full of computers.

Rood couldn’t get anyone out today to look at my air conditioner, so I called Roy’s. The lady I spoke with said they could get someone out in the same day, so I took that bet without knowing any kind of timeframe.

Gary and I met the others at Brangus for lunch, though I wasn’t really hungry enough for that. Just before we got our food, Veronica walked in, followed a few minutes later by her husband and Junior. Then on the way out, we saw Grant and his mother as they were leaving right behind us.

I spent most of the afternoon taking Net+ quizzes until quitting time. I figured my air conditioner probably wasn’t going to get fixed and went on to get Eaddie to her tennis practice. Rather than wait in the sun, I went home to sweat it out inside until Eaddie finished. A little while later, I actually got a call from the Roy’s tech. I was super surprised that he would be working that late, but he was super friendly and got me up and running again super fast.

The house only cooled down a couple degrees by the time I left to get Eaddie, and then I took her on home because she just wanted to eat leftovers. I finished up the rice and beans from Chuy’s while she cleaned the kitchen, and then sat around until Summer and Autumn got home.

We had both had a pretty long day, and Autumn had been running her mouth again, which lead to another family conversation. It’s really hard not to blame all of it on Autumn, because she’s making everyone in the house absolutely miserable. She does fine for a while, and we can spend time with her laughing for minutes at a time, but she eventually always reverts to a hateful, bitter kid. Eaddie’s been growing into her own person as well, so Summer’s feeling that loss as well. Seems nobody wins today.

Any one you walk away from, right?

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The Legend of the Space Viking

I slept in pretty late today after staying up way too late last night. Summer got up and went to the gym with Autumn and returned home around the time I was getting ready for a shower. We didn’t waste any time getting out of the house and headed to Conway for lunch. Eaddie had mentioned Big Orange, so we went for Red Robin instead so we could eat earlier in the day. The restaurant was pretty quiet, but service was incredibly slow. Our server brought out our “endless” fries in tiny baskets that had barely enough fries for one person, and then one cup of the campfire sauce for all four of us to share. Then when the food finally showed up, Summer’s salad was the best looking meal on the table.

Disappointed, we made our way to Little Rock and went straight to Goodwill. The girls really wanted to shop for some clothes, which was a little surprising to me. I figured by now they would be used to buying enough stuff new that they wouldn’t have any interest in thrifting. The store was a bit warm, and all the employees seemed to hate their lives. They were super busy, and the checkout line stretched halfway across the store. I found a cow butter dish, and we got a couple arms full of clothes for the girls by the time we left.

From there, we went on to the Promenade and got Eaddie some ice cream from MaggieMoo’s. It was Summer’s idea, but by the time we got there, she wasn’t feeling up to eating any, so Eaddie was the only one that got anything. I helped her with her cone, and then we crossed the street to get to the theater.

We all just wanted to cool off more than anything. The sun was incredibly hot outside, and the air conditioning in the IMAX couldn’t keep up. John and Melissa showed up just before the show, and then we all sat down for Thor: Love and Thunder. I thought it was a great movie, and it was nice that none of the previews really gave anything away. It really did kind of jump all over the place.

After the movie, we all went to Chuy’s for dinner. The service there wasn’t a whole lot better. They also seemed understaffed, and our waitress struggled to keep chips and salsa on the table. Summer and Eaddie weren’t super hungry, so I just shared a double order of fajitas with them.

We visited for a while and then hit the road for an uneventful ride home. Eaddie went through all of her clothes from Goodwill to show us, and then everyone was off to bed.

What a classic Thor adventure!

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Gone Finishing

Today was our last day of “summer hours,” and I was so excited to “sleep in” for half an hour to make it in to work by eight. Gary brought Shipley’s donuts instead of our usual, and they tasted very different from our usual. They were good, but I think I like the traditional ones better. I don’t know what they’re doing to their dough, but it just has a different taste and texture, and they’re glazed hot, which seems to melt most of the glaze off.

We sent Kyle to the junior high to finish up the imaging. Tammy was out, so I stayed in the shop to watch the phone that never rang. Gary took Zach and Greg to move some equipment around in a rack first thing, and then I think they spent the rest of the morning at the shop. Greg came back and chatted with me a little bit while I looked at CompTIA Net+ practice tests.

Greg insisted that we were supposed to go home at 11:30, so the other two followed him out. Kyle and I both independently worked until the dictated noon time, but he just left straight from the junior high. Gary ended up coming back with some lunch because he wasn’t sure anyone cleaned up the coffee pot. I had already taken care of it, so I just sat in the breakroom with him while he ate.

I went straight up to Summer’s to pick up Eaddie so we could watch the last episode of Stranger Things. I didn’t realize Autumn would be home, so I relented and invited her along too. Evidently Eaddie told her it was just going to be the two of us, so Autumn pitched a fit before I got there, and then refused to come with us. On the drive home, Eaddie mentioned that Rick really had contacted her for her Social Security number, and said that it was so he could put her in his will. That seemed very sketchy to me, especially as she described him as doing well with his new girlfriend. She seemed to acknowledge that it was weird for him to be so vague about what he was doing, so hopefully nothing comes of that. It’ll still have to be a parent talk soon though.

The season finale was pretty awesome, but I kind of felt like it was longer than it needed to be. Some of the scenes dragged on, and I thought they could have built the story about the main ‘tagonists a bit better. It just felt a little shallow, when otherwise it’s been an excellent show. As soon as we finished, Eaddie rushed me to take her home and wouldn’t even finish the credits because she said Summer told her to clean her room.

We made it back up to their house and Autumn was still lumped in front of the TV watching mindless YouTube videos. Summer eventually made it home, but then took Autumn to the gym while I made her a fresh salad, and fried some cod fillets to make sandwiches for Eaddie and myself. I felt a little bad not having anything explicitly for Autumn, but she didn’t set out any new food, and I cleaned up all of the leftovers in the fridge. She just didn’t want what little was left.

After we ate, Autumn was in a pretty good mood and wanted to play Monopoly, so Summer and I joined her. It was a comparatively fast game, and I went out early to help Autumn secure the win. Then everyone was off to bed.

You sank my battleship!

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A Splitting Image

Zach and Gary sent Kyle and Greg to image laptops at the junior high this morning while I worked on an Adobe licensing issue. I just happened to resolve it with trial and error, but I failed to understand how their licensing model was actually supposed to work. When I finished, I met the other two for imaging until lunch time.

Greg and I came back to the shop, and the four of us went to Quiznos for lunch. I love their lemonade, but man are those sandwiches overpriced. The bread was good today, but the sandwich didn’t seem quite as filled as it should have.

After lunch, I ran to the high school to dig up some better flash drives, and then took Greg with me back to the junior high to catch up with Kyle. We spent the rest of the afternoon staring at a clock that was stuck at 4:48 until we could finally leave at five.

I ran home to change, and then went to Walmart to pick up a few things for the dinner that the girls were making. Summer stayed home with nerve pain, so I thought the kids were cooking. I ran into Zach a few times while I was shopping, and then made my way up to the house to find Summer doing all of the work.

The al pastor tacos she made were pretty great, and I ate too many of them. Evidently she had bought a couple different seasoning packages that were identical in every way except for the preparation instructions on the back. Even the UPC was the same, but one method used a skillet, and the other boiled the meat in a pot, and I had sent her a picture of the slower instructions. It worked out in the end though, and everyone was happy.

The girls had been getting along well and playing their band instruments, and after we ate, Autumn wanted to finish our game of Phase 10. We finally finished and got everything put away, and then Autumn started bargaining to stay home instead of going to work with Summer in the morning. She got angry at the very first sign that she wasn’t going to get her way, and then escalated her argument all the way to bed. Nothing has changed.

I’m on to you, sucka.

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No Cats, No Play

I took the Shadow to work today since Summer needed to take her car. Fortunately I spent all day inside, so I never had to deal with any heat until quitting time. Zach was back, but most of the team was out on vacation. Kyle and I spent most of the day together imaging desktops for the cafeterias while Zach, Gary, and Greg ran around doing other things. They came back to get me for Taco Tuesday, but we all rode with Zach for that.

Kyle left to do other stuff in the afternoon, which left me in the back by myself for the rest of the day. Gary came back for a little while, and we worked loosely on a few different things. Then some guys came to clean out our air handlers near the end of the day. They finished up around the same time we did, and I went to my parents’ house for dinner.

Summer was out with sciatica and didn’t want to leave the house, so I just ate kabobs with my parents and then rode back home until Autumn could come pick me up. We stopped by Zaxby’s so she could get some dinner, and then it was a pretty quiet evening. I watered the plants, Summer went to bed, Autumn watched YouTube, and Eaddie hung out in her room all night.

Just before I went to bed, Eaddie came out to tell Autumn about some ex-boyfriend drama. I butted into the conversation just enough to confirm that it was normal teenage drama and that she wasn’t getting pulled into anything too toxic, and then it was off to bed.

Some grow, while others swell.