Tag: pets

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Walk in the Park

Summer went to work, but I was off for Presidents’ Day, so I got up and made myself some rice and egg for breakfast. I wanted to get lunch with her later, so I got around for a little bit of productivity, but didn’t really accomplish much after an anxiety attack. I ended up sitting in a bath for a little while before I finally took Muad’Dib to get her. We went to Cici’s since I rarely have an opportunity to go for their Monday and Tuesday deal any more. The food was good, and then I vacuumed my car after I dropped her back off at work.

As we rode home, I decided to stop by Allen’s house on a whim just to see if he was still alive. We ended up chatting for about an hour as I lost track of time, so then I raced home to get Summer for her vein appointment. Muad’Dib and I hung out in the parking lot while she went in for the procedure, and then we went up to Pleasant View Park to check out the dog park.

The dog park was way in the back behind the ballfields. There were only a couple people there with their dogs, and they were friendly up until another old lady showed up with a large pitbull. That was Mrs. Carnahan, an old junior high math teacher, who I didn’t have, but recognized. Her pitbull had a short tussle with one of the other dogs, so they ended up going to the other side of the fence, and eventually left. Muad’Dib didn’t mind too much though, and we stuck around for a little longer before going out to walk a lap around the pond.

When we got back home, I drained the basement and then put out the rest of the poison because I got video earlier in the morning of three rats on camera at once. Then Summer and I watched Cruella before bed. She was weary about it, but I thought it was a great movie. I finally watered my plants, and eventually made it to bed.

People do need a villain to believe in.

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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.

Full

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Slowingburgertime

We got to work a little early this morning and tried to lock in. I had a couple things interrupt me throughout the day, but I felt like overall I had decent answers to everything. It was nice enough at lunch time that we ate outside Taco Bell again. Then Muad’Dib had a good run up the road back to the office. The afternoon went by quickly since I got to move around a little bit more.

Summer was standing outside when we got back to the house, and she really wanted a cheeseburger for dinner. I suggested going out to get a good one, rather than getting something less good from a fast food joint. We decided on Buffalo Wild Wings so we could take Muad’Dib.

Service was kind, but unbelievably slow. It may have been the kitchen’s fault, because the restaurant was absolutely dead, and we were the only ones outside. At least the food was really good, and we had a decent deal for it all.

Summer had a bath while I tinkered and cleaned up some stuff. Then we watched some of the MKBHD YITL episode before bed.

Mechanical Button Pushers

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Square Wheel Keep On Turnin’

I woke up hungry today, but I tamed that with a Soylent. I’ve been under-stimulated and under-motivated, but I played around some more with PiSignage and its less-than intuitive interface. I didn’t decide on lunch until we got outside, and then decided on Wendy’s. Muad’Dib looked back at me through the windows with jealousy, so he got a treat when I finished. Then I let him run back to the office from the very end of the street. That boy misses the Onewheel as much as I do.

The afternoon was a little more focused, but only just. The drive home had more traffic than I expected, which got worse as we got to town. I should have let the car take the first exit like it wanted. It knew better than me. We ended up going around our normal route at the last exit, and finally made it to the house.

The girls were home so we could chat about Eaddie’s band trip, but I guess I had figured most of it out before I got there. I wanted to book a hotel, but that didn’t happen. They got distracted by the television, and then I warmed up food for Summer and myself. We just can’t all stay focused on one thing ever. Then I got upset with Eaddie because she and Eli left about a quarter of a steak worth of scraps in the trash, which I fished out for Muad’Dib.

I thought I had caught a rat because I didn’t see my bait, but evidently something got to it without falling in. I added some more bread, then started some laundry to finish up the night.

I don’t wanna wait

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The Cheese Stands Alone

I heard some rustling in the dining room this morning, and shook down some boxes to expose a rat, who scurried around the corner faster than I could believe. The dog has no traction, but the rat moved like it was on rails. I thought I heard another one, but could never find it, so I knew we had to excavate the corner sooner than later.

We got to work and I actually felt pretty good, but quickly turned sour as my stomach did flips. We made it to lunch, and it was nice outside, so we went to Taco Bell. Muad’Dib did great sitting at the picnic table outside while I waited forever to get our food. There were multiple employees standing, and no discernible reason for the food to have taken so long. I eventually made it back outside and we shared some fries and chicken bits.

Afterward, we stopped by Sonic for some cheese sticks and then made it back to the office. It was a long afternoon, but I finally submitted my first purchase order with Howard. I like my new reps so far, and hopefully I can execute this digital signage well enough to impress some folks.

Summer was in the shower when we got home, and I still felt gross for a little while. I thought I might go help Neil with a computer, but ended up having leftovers for dinner with Summer, and then cleaned up the stack of boxes in the dining room. Hopefully I can keep things moving enough to keep the rats from moving back in, and then I’ll have to go full-extermination mode.

Gains

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Running a Cold

I got up with Summer this morning and thought I might go to her 5k with her, but ended up staying home to clean up a bit. They messed up the tracking, so she took forever to get her second-place division award. I figured we could go to breakfast to celebrate, but by the time she got home it was about time for lunch. She cleaned up and we ended up going to Brown’s Catfish because I had been craving catfish for a while.

Lunch was great, but I stuffed myself stupid. Summer had driven separately so she could go to the basketball game where Eaddie was playing in the pep band. I considered going to that too, but Muad’Dib had already been in the car for all of our lunch time. I took him home instead, and after a bit of rest, we walked to my parents’ house.

We visited for a while before I headed back and continued to clean up randomly. Summer got home and we sat on the couch together for a while, but she felt progressively worse all day. She thought it might have just been all the cold air during her run, and went to bed with a massive headache. I stayed up and tinkered until really late.

Plaidly

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Let’s Talk About It

I knew timing on food would be weird today, so we picked up some Burger King on the way out of town. They gave me the wrong kind of biscuit, but it was alright. When we got to the office, Muad’Dib didn’t want to listen, so he got spanked again in the hallway. That made him a little skittish about following me in there later, so I had to collar him for the rest of the day.

We were up and down the stairs a few times all morning. I brought a croissant sandwich to finish up some leftovers from home, so I ate that just before we left for the day. I raced back to town and met Summer at Beautiful Path for our first couples session. I was only a couple minutes late and she was already inside. I guess he decided to continue sessions off of her existing account when he realized we were together.

The session was about what I expected. Summer wanted to buy a pair of booklets for us to complete, and we played a “Newlyweds” style card game where we flipped cards and answered questions about each other. There were no surprises, and we both did well at the game after eight years together. By the end of it, he had us scheduled for future sessions in person instead of over the phone, which will be fine. We’ll be able to meet after work, which at least leaves my work schedule alone.

Summer went back to work for a little while and then went to the gym while I went to the house to do a little more work. When she got home, we did a minimal amount of cleaning up Christmas stuff that needed to be stored, and then we ate some spaghetti before she bathed. She didn’t feel great after that, so we laid together briefly until she fell asleep. I was up until Eaddie got home, and then it was off to bed myself.

It’s payback time!

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The Cat’s Outta the Fence

I felt a little better this morning, and stayed fairly physically busy all morning trying to make a patch cable out of some crappy, old wire. I went through a couple sets of ends before I gave up in favor of a different option. We went to Arby’s for lunch, and then I called to reserve a room for the Cavalcade of Magic when we got back to the office.

We were parked and sitting in the car, and Muad’Dib and I watched as a cat stalked through the grass on the other side of the fence that divides our property from the Interstate. I was still wrapping up my call when he started whimpering. The cat was out of sight and I thought Muad’Dib had given up, but as soon as I let him out, he ran out the front gate and leapt over a part of the fence that was leaned over. I wasn’t even sure he would be able to get back across due to the way the fence was leaning and how far he jumped. Luckily the cat ran back toward me instead of toward the highway.

They ran toward the building, and then the cat got into the drainage pipe that goes under the road, so luckily Muad’Dib didn’t fit. I got hold of him and gave him a good kick to the rear, then dragged him back to the car to get collared. We went inside and it wasn’t long before we were called down for cake to celebrate Elizabeth’s upcoming wedding.

We surprised her in the breakroom, had cake, and visited briefly before finishing up the afternoon. I got a text that counseling could be in-person tomorrow, so I got permission to leave at lunch time and finish the day from home. We got to the house a little while after Summer, though she was still sitting in her car when we got there. She bathed and I ate some leftovers, and then we watched YouTube as she passed out on the couch.

After she went to bed, I finished the evening filling out a bunch of intake paperwork for tomorrow. For now, it’s more of the same.

At least one of us has laser-focus.

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Lessons Fought

Eaddie called me a little after midnight, which of course startled us both. I tried to answer, but then she walked around the corner toward the bedroom and said she needed help. Summer jumped up too, but I dressed and followed her outside to investigate. Eli was sitting in the Pathfinder in the driveway right behind my car, and had gotten stuck on the ice slope.

We couldn’t even walk on the ice because it was so slick, so I got a couple containers for the kids to shuttle water back and forth. Eaddie was minimally helpful, and sassed me any time I told her to do anything. Summer eventually came out with my axe and started whaling on the ice to break it up. After a couple hours, we finally got free and climbed out of the driveway. I mentioned Eaddie’s attitude to Summer, and she decided to address it right away before the kids left. Of course Eaddie started crying in frustration, which broke Summer down. I meant for it to be discussed later, but apparently Eaddie had previously expressed wanting to be called out on the spot. They left and Summer and I struggled to go back to sleep.

As tired as I was in the morning, we made it to work for a long day. Rhonda said Muad’Dib had peed on Teddy’s bed in their office, which surprised me since he’s usually right around me. I tried to stay focused, but had a pretty bad anxiety attack in the morning. We got mozzarella sticks from Sonic, then a box from Taco Bell since it actually felt reasonably nice outside. Some old jackass parked crooked next to me, but luckily I could Summon my car out of the spot and load Muad’Dib back in when we left.

The afternoon dragged on a bit, and then we headed home. Janice gave me some money for gift cards from Old South and Brown’s, but the latter would be closed until the next day. The girls were at the house when we got there, but things seemed quiet. Summer bathed and I left to pick up some food. Eaddie denied hunger, but I knew she would eat, so I picked up a bunch of wings from Buffalo Wild Wings, and then a plate from Panda Express. Buffalo Wild Wings was terribly slow, and the boneless wings were terribly small, and of course Panda Express had boxed up my order half an hour before I finally got there.

We all sat down to eat, which was nice, but then Summer quietly summoned me to the bedroom for a talk. I think we both knew Eaddie was really upset that Summer had reversed her decision to get out by the end of the week, but I guess they talked about it and it had them both very bothered. I went to talk to Eaddie about it myself, and I felt like we had a pretty good conversation. Of course I won’t know how she really feels, but hopefully she and Summer can revisit later, and I’m sure we’ll be fine if we can all agree to focus our energy in a positive way.

Eaddie left to practice at Witherspoon, and I rushed to bed without much of a catch-up session with Summer. The less energy we have to spend on catching up for things like this, the better.

Beat the keys out of it.

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All or Nothing

Friday was good until it got bad enough to become good again. I stayed pretty busy at work, but struggled in the afternoon as the girls went looking for houses. I stopped by PetSmart when we got back to town, because I needed something to interrupt how I was feeling, and I got Muad’Dib a bunch of treats. Mark needed some computer help as well, so I stopped to see him for a bit too. When I got home, I managed to sit down and talk with Summer for a long while, and eventually we were able to agree that they would slow down long enough to breathe and catch back up from all the recent heaviness. We’ll give it three months without any more of that added stress, and focus on some therapy and heavy communication to see if we can maintain some momentum with our positive change. Eaddie came around and I took them to Waffle House for a late dinner, and we had a good time.

Eaddie was gone all Saturday, so I took Summer to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. They were depressingly slow compared to Old South, and after eating our food, we figured out why. We went back to PetSmart to use another coupon for some food, and then briefly stepped into T.J. Maxx before making it back to the house. We cleaned up a bit and stayed busy most of the afternoon until we decided to go to New China for dinner. I wanted to stop to see my parents on the way back, and Summer nervously went along. Mom had a surprising amount to say, and Summer came home upset for a while, but we talked a little more before bed and then woke up with clearer thoughts.

Summer got some Spam and I made breakfast sandwiches for the three of us. Eaddie left and Summer went to the gym, and I cleaned up the kitchen. Later on, we walked to Walgreens with Muad’Dib to try and get Summer’s prescription, but they were closed. I eventually warmed up some spaghetti for dinner, and at some point the day before we had started watching Wonderman, so we continued that in the evening until bed.

Document the process and build a roadmap to success.