Tag: parenting

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Studly

We had a meeting this morning about nothing in particular, after being told that we wouldn’t be having meetings every Friday as we have in the past. Zach was out with a sick kid, so Gary had to divvy the rest of us back up into groups to do the few projects we had. Brody, Gary, and I went to the middle school to hang a TV for the resource officer, but metal studs behind drywall made it a challenge. John ended up coming in to supervise in the already tiny and crowded office, but at least he was sat behind the desk.

We finally got everything up a little bit before lunch, and went back to the shop to wait for everyone else to get back before the Thanksgiving lunch in the cafeteria above us at ground level. The food was surprisingly good, and even the girls joined us this time.

Gary helped me run an audio cable on the Oakland stage after lunch, and then I went back to finish up a few things at the end of the day. Michael gave me a couple leftover pies from a pie party they had, and then chatted at me about cryptocurrencies for a while.

I took Eaddie home when I left, and we finished up our last episode of House before going to La Huerta for dinner. Autumn was at Quiz Bowl camp, and Summer had just gotten back from Little Rock and was working out at the gym, so it was just the two of us. As we pulled in, Eaddie wasn’t satisfied with how busy the parking lot looked, so we went next door to New China instead. She was in a super good mood and we talked a lot as I stuffed myself silly.

When we got back to the house, Summer and I went to Walmart to pick up things for our Friendsgiving the next day. Then she jammed out in the kitchen prepping pudding and broccoli salad while Eaddie and I watched more House until bedtime.

Now, sleeeeeeeeeep.

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When the Boss is Away

It was a bit more relaxed today with Thomas out to close on his house. I spent the morning cleaning up various work orders while Zach and Gary tried to go through all the old and stale work orders that everyone had. Summer decided really early that she wanted Mulan’s for lunch, but they were closed due to some staffing issues. Zach and I met her at New China instead, and the food was great.

I spent the end of the day at Oakland again, and then took Eaddie with me to the high school so she could ride the Grom some more. She had a much worse time today, and killed the engine so much that I really thought the battery was going to give out. Fortunately it didn’t, and she made a few fussy laps around the parking lot.

Autumn came out to meet us when she finished with wrestling, and then I sent them to dinner and clean up while I did laundry at home. Summer was spending the night in Little Rock, so they decided to stay the night with me, but Autumn didn’t want to do anything but go into the bedroom by herself. Eaddie and I stayed up watching House, but I gave her some diphenhydramine for her allergies that knocked her out before we finished the second episode.

Notate and move on.

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Gold Medal Flower

I got up early and dropped Eaddie off at the high school to go to her big string orchestra for the day, then went home to clean up before our day in Little Rock. My parents met us at Summer’s house, and we all piled into Mom’s car for the drive. Our first stop was MarketPlace Grill in Conway for lunch. We ended up having to wait about 45 minutes for a table. They were only seating about half of their tables, but disappointingly, they were still just packing everyone in super close to one another. One would think that COVID would have them spreading everyone out, but everyone seems to have just moved on from that sort of thing around here.

After we ate, we stopped by Kohl’s to do a little bit of quick shopping before continuing down to Little Rock. When we did finally get closer to showtime, we ran around Little Rock trying to find some flowers to take Eaddie. We stopped at a Kroger in the hood that didn’t have any, then tried to find a nearby florist that appeared to be a bad listing on Google Maps. Finally, we stopped by another grocery store that also didn’t have flowers, but they did have flours. Summer and I picked up a Gold Medal, and then ran back to the car to make it to the concert.

We showed up just in time to get some decent seats before the two bands got started. Eaddie’s junior high band was first, and they seemed very disjointed. I knew that Eaddie was good, and expected her to be in an orchestra of equally-talented people, but that didn’t appear to be the case.

We stuck around for the high school band, and then filed out of the building to decide on what to do next. Mom wanted to hit up a couple Oriental food stores, so we did that first, and then ended up heading back to Conway for dinner after failing to get into The Butcher Shop without waiting an hour or more to be seated.

On the Border was probably the best decision we made all day. The service and food were both pretty great, and Eaddie got her fill of everyone else’s food after having repeatedly told everyone that she wasn’t hungry enough for dinner.

As soon as we finished, we loaded back up and Dad dropped us off at Summer’s house. Eaddie and I stayed up to finish season six of House. We were both exhausted by then, so it was off to bed for the night.

How do you even play a whole note on a drum?

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Entombed Raider

I got up and out a little bit early today for no particular reason. I didn’t really get to anything I wanted to do though, because of meetings and an overwhelming need to decipher the latest draft of the proposed salary schedule. I actually spent all day crunching numbers on a combined spreadsheet, and it was a nice bit of self-confirmation that I could do that job, and probably better than those tasked with it.

Not long into the morning, several from central office came over for some training. I’m not sure why they didn’t do it in their own conference room, for for whatever reason they did it outside of my office, so I was made to lock myself in and stay quiet in the dark.

I snuck out for lunch with Gary and Greg, and we went to Taco John’s for the first time in ages. My Boss Burrito was mostly beans and rice, but the Potato Olés were on point, and I even let the girl upsell the nacho cheese.

We had a video call with an Apple guy in the afternoon so Brody could ask some questions, but it really just turned into Gary learning things and then assigning work to Greg and me. I guess that’s the job, so I can’t complain too much.

Eaddie had walked to my house and gone out for a bike ride, so I went home after work and then met her at the high school with the Grom. The helmet communicator worked pretty great, and I coached her through some laps around the parking lot as the sun set. We rode back home and then went to their house with some ribs I needed to grill.

Summer eventually made it home from the gym, and we ate while she had a video call of her own. The girls were still doing laundry for most of the evening, so there wasn’t much for me to do besides put some more work into my spreadsheet with some updated numbers from Judy, and then research home Dolby Atmos configurations. If you can have 11.2.8 at home, I can’t think of a single reason that you shouldn’t have 11.2.8 at home.

But what number do they use for the seat shakers?

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Ride About, Now

Summer made breakfast this morning, but Autumn and her visitor chose to continue stuffing their faces with junk food instead. Eaddie didn’t want to get out of bed, and I didn’t get home to clean up until the afternoon.

Autumn had wrestling practice in the evening, so eventually Summer brought Eaddie over and we went to the high school so she could practice driving. She didn’t drive around in the car for very long before she was tired of that and wanted to try riding the Grom. We never got out of first gear, but she only killed the engine a couple times. I had the benefit of knowing how to drive a manual transmission when I learned to ride, so I could understand her hesitation.

We didn’t stay for very long, and went to my parents’ house for some phở. Then we stopped by Brody’s house to try and drop off a tripod, but they weren’t home. Summer dropped me off at my house, and I tried to do a little more organizing before bed. It’ll be a short week, and I’m both excited and dreading it.

The funk soul sister.

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DiSLAPpointing

I got up this morning and warmed up some leftovers for breakfast. Summer was watching TV, and Autumn was supposed to be mowing the lawn after putting it off for two weeks since Eaddie’s been gone, plus who knows how much time since it was last mowed. I can’t even really remember what happened first, but I’m pretty sure she did at least go out to get started without too much protest. She had hardly gotten anywhere with it before things quickly escalated though.

At some point, Autumn came back in and just pitched an absolute fit about mowing. We weren’t having any of it, because we had no sympathy for a procrastinator and her woes. Eventually Autumn started back talking enough that I dropped my bowl of food and got in her face. She pulled her best “come at me bro,” and I didn’t waste any time.

After hearing about her blow up at Summer so many times, and even being present for a few, I thought slapping her across her face would feel better. I absolutely lost my shit and got screaming mad in her face. She still didn’t go back outside immediately, but she eventually made it out and the mower started up again.

I should have suspected something when I heard the mower stop, but eventually Summer walked by and said we should get dressed because the cops were on the way. Evidently Autumn phoned an officer from her Explorers program, who either felt compelled or was possibly even required to report the incident. I was already super torn up by the incident, but this just served to add embarrassment to the things I was feeling.

Two deputies from the county sheriff’s office pulled up as Autumn stood out in the sun waiting for them. They laughed when Summer recalled how Autumn argued she wasn’t responsible for keeping the lawn mowed because her name wasn’t on the lease. The visit was short and they recommended, I suspect out of protocol, that we look into filing a FINS petition. Looking into it just briefly, I’m not sure that’s the best path for us. I think we’d be better prepared to tighten our own leash, rather than possibly give up control to any part of the system.

When we all came back inside, Autumn refused to give up her phone and we had to physically wrestle it out of her hands while avoiding all manner of biting, pinching, and scratching. Being the stubborn parent that I am, we of course won the battle and she went back outside to continue mowing after a brief cooldown period.

While she was out continuing to mow, Summer called Nick and tried to explain the situation to him. I chose to open up, possibly in vain, and was basically scolded for laying hands on “one of his girls.” I let him speak his mind and awaited his arrival, of course after finishing up at work and running his necessary errands.

When Autumn finished up in the backyard, she came back in just as normal as could be. She warmed up some food and sat down at the table with us to eat. Everything was just fine, as though nothing had ever happened. She went back out to finish mowing after her break, and eventually Nick showed up and took the lawn mower away from her for a few passes as she came in for some water. We suggested she should go back out and finish herself since it was her responsibility, and she complied.

Once the lawn was done, everyone came in and we sat down for a surprisingly calm chat. I really suspected to have to go on the defence at least to some degree, but his tone seemed to change immediately after I told him that she had put off mowing for two weeks. Autumn expressed at least some regret, and I let Nick say anything he wanted to say. He ended up not taking her home with him because not having her own car to go to work the next day was too much of an inconvenience for him.

Summer went to the gym while Autumn and I had some leftovers for dinner. Then we came back to my house for the evening. Autumn went straight to bed after expressing some desire to watch a movie. When Summer finally made it, we curled up on the couch and watched most of a standup special on Netflix. Then it was off to bed.

I just wanted to make more eggs…

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Gotta Get Away

I got up early and ran straight home to clean up before going back to pick up Summer and Eaddie. We had to run by Summer’s shop to print Eaddie’s itinerary before we could leave, but then we were off to Little Rock. We made it with plenty of time, but they only let one of us go through security to the gate, so Summer went in while I sat on a bench outside just out of the rain. Fortunately it felt pretty nice out, and I had my earbuds on me.

Once the plane took off, Summer came back down and I took her to a place called Lakewood Fish & Seafood House to cheer her up. Watching Eaddie take off hit her a lot harder than she expected, so that pretty well set the tone for the day. At least everything we ate today was delicious. The stuffed crabs and seafood chowder were probably our favorites. The crab claws were odd, tasty, and overall left me a bit hungry.

After we ate, we walked all around McCain Mall and basically just felt sad about the state of retail in America. The nostalgia is all but gone. Even GameStop was uncharacteristically empty. JCPenney felt like a ghost town in areas. None of it made me happy.

I took us to Best Buy next, which again only served to kill time. They had zero deals, so we left and went to Sam’s Club. By that time I felt like I was just dragging a corpse around, so I picked up a couple things and we headed toward home. We had spent enough time out that we were both hungry again, so we stopped in Conway and ate at Bulgogi, which was excellent.

It rained all day long, but we eventually made it home, and Summer went straight to bed just as Eaddie landed in Milwaukee. I knew she could handle it.

I still kind of just want a steak.

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Quit Your Mowning

I got up early again to get the kids out mowing the lawn. Autumn refused, so I let Eaddie take the cooler early shift. Autumn wanted to go to church with her grandmother, and allegedly made plans to help her in the yard. We made her come right back home after church to mow in the heat before she could go and spend the night.

Summer left for the gym and I went home to clean up. A little while later she and Eaddie were headed to my house when her car started pouring coolant. I picked them up and brought them home to finish the last couple episodes of Glee. Then we went to Bocadillos for dinner and ice cream.

When we got back home, we watched a couple episodes of House before Summer was ready for bed. Then Eaddie started Loki while Summer and I chatted. I caught the tail end of the episode, but then I was ready to pass out.

Just a little bit hazy.

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Early to Rise, Early to Bed

I got up at five in the morning to pull Eaddie out of bed. After sitting around the house all week and barely accomplishing anything we asked of her, I wanted her to get out and mow the lawn miserably early so it would be cooler outside. I went back to bed, and woke up later to a decently cut front lawn.

Summer got up and made a big pancake breakfast, and everyone was in a better mood. Autumn fussed about being achy, but we blamed that on her diet and sedentary lifestyle. We’ve all got to get back into cooking healthier food at home.

After we ate, I made Eaddie start mowing the back yard. Summer needed a ratcheting wrench to work on her gas mower, so we went to my house for that, stopping briefly at the shop so she could top off her coolant. Her car is still just as smooth as we could have hoped. Unfortunately she never could get the mower started, so we’ll probably dump the fuel next.

Eventually we gathered everyone up and headed to my parents’ house for a swim. The sun was just overhead, so everyone got plenty of sun. Eaddie was understandably tired, which made her super resistant to going out, but I forced her into a suit, and she begrudgingly waded into the water. She kept asking to leave, but as I suspected, at the end of it all she was the last one out of the pool.

Mom made curry, fried rice, and had Dad fry up some egg rolls, so we all stuffed ourselves for dinner. Then we headed back home where everyone was in bed by 7:30.

Makes a kid quiet, compliant, and kind.

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Low Key

I thought I would be sweating my balls off today, but Zach did me a favor and tasked me with some things at my desk. I did get out to help unload a couple trucks, and then move a bunch of Chromebooks, but it was pretty much everyone else that did all the heavy lifting. I spent most of the day alone in the office.

Greg drove the four of us to Brangus for lunch, and I had probably the smallest chicken fried steak I’ve ever seen. It was truly miniscule. I kind of wished I had just gotten the beef spud as usual. The afternoon went by quickly after that, as I tried to finish up sorting through a bunch of my own filing.

I had to run by the junior high to deliver a laptop, and while I was there, Courtney, Sarah, and Hope chatted about all the hooligan tomfoolery that happened throughout the school year. Then we discussed a teacher that insisted a kid use “nuts” instead of “scrotum.” I ended the day there, then stopped by The UPS Store to ship an Amazon return. The kid that helped me got super chatty and just kept asking questions starting with, “what’s a rash guard” and ending with “how do I tell my father that I dropped out of college?” It was probably the most interesting conversation I had all day.

After work, I stopped by the shop to see Summer had already torn into her car. The plugs or coil had caused it to misfire on cylinder two, so she dove right in and fixed the thing. I was super impressed, but I had to run home and change into some shorts because of how much I was sweating. When she finished up, she drove it on home and everything ran great.

Eaddie was sat on the couch with Fortnite, and the floor in her room still wasn’t swept. Autumn mowed a tiny sliver of the lawn, but burned through both batteries doing so. I was super upset, so we made Eaddie sit it out while the three of us picked up some pizza and went to my parents’ house for the first swim of the season.

When we got back home, Summer and I cuddled up for the first episode of Loki, which I thought was just perfect. It did a great job of plucking a singular character out of the universe, putting him into a new one, and completely defeating him in order to rebuild a whole new world. I can’t wait for the next one.

Wolfman’s got REDACTED!