Author: robertjames1971

I'm wicked tall.

(Non) Daily Haiku for You #130

I filled up my water bottle from the fountain at work and put some lemonade mix into it that I have been carrying in my backpack for months. 

G.R.O.S.S.

Let’s write a haiku about the experience.

Lemonade gone bad.
Was it the water or mix?
Do I want to know?

My New Desk

Just what I need, another desk.

The mouse pad, mechanical (clicky) keyboard, the coily cable of truth, the headset/mic, and the laptop stand are all my wife’s. The iPhone charger, the mouse, the USB C adapter, and the USB hub are mine (as well as the water bottle, the glasses case, and the box of tissues). The laptop and the monitor (and the chair and the desk itself) belong to the company.

It took almost five minutes for me to turn the workspace into a cable spaghetti horror show, but it’s going to be better than living out of a backpack (which is mostly out of frame to the right) every time I have to come into the office.

More Sugar Free Magic?

I just heard a commercial on a three year old podcast episode that talked about a sugar free clone (my word, not theirs) of some well known cereal brands. I went to their website and OH MY GOD THEY MAKE A SUGAR FREE COCOA PUFF’S! OH MY GOD!

Magic Spoon – Cocoa

What else? They make a sugar free version of Reece’s Puff’s as well! Again I calmly say, OH MY GOD!

Magic Spoon – Peanut Butter

I am shivering in anticipation. I am not going to buy either of these yet… I am just going to let them swim around in my tiny little brain for a few weeks before I give in to the Mt Everest sized anticipation. 

Life changing knowledge, kids. Life changing.

Love

Bloganuary writing prompt
Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved?
View all responses

I am not going to share too much on this topic (shockingly) but I will give a short answer.

One year ago my mother was coming to the end of her life. It was awful. She was in hospice and fighting hard for each second. The pain of knowing we were losing her and the guilt at not being able to do anything more to help her combined to pretty much crush me.

My wife was there for me. My wife was my support. My wife was my rock. My wife was my heart and soul. I have never felt more loved.

My two step kids were in Vermont through the whole ordeal, but they were there for me too. Remotely at first, but then after my mother passed away they came home and were there for me in person as well. Again, I have never felt more loved. 

My wife and my step kids. My family. I would not have made it through that experience without them. I am so thankful for the love they give to me and I will never be able to show them how much they mean to me. I love them all so much I cannot put it into words. I need to do an infinitely better job showing them how much I love them and how much they mean to me. My heart aches at the thought of it.

Commute Fun

After a few inches of snow followed by a layer of ice last night, the commute this morning is going to be rough. Hopefully most of Massachusetts will just stay home and I’ll have routes 93 and 128 to myself.

Not likely.

I’m running a bit late this morning but I did manage to sneak in a picture for the photo a day thing. Granted it’s basically the same as the last two days. What’s a red head to do?

To Do List Recap

I posted a to do list for this evening earlier. How did I do?

  • Approximately 90 more minutes of work – DONE
  • Top off the cat’s food bowl – DONE
  • Cook dinner – DONE
  • Eat dinner while hanging out with my wife in front of the tube – DONE
  • Shovel the 4-5 inches of snow we got today off of the drive way so that I can drive to the office tomorrow – DONE
  • Bring the trash barrel out to the street once there is a path shoveled to get it there – DONE
  • Finish today’s exercise and close the last ring in the Apple Watch’s activity app – DONE
  • Pack up my work laptop along with a bunch of things to put onto my new desk, which officially becomes my desk tomorrow – DONE
  • Keel over from exhaustion and sleep – IN PROGRESS

Well what do you know? I had a pretty productive night. The only thing left to do is sleep. I need to finish an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine first (season seven episode 22, I’m almost done with the full rewatch!) while I wait for my Apple Watch to charge and then it’s lights out, babie.

Nice work, Robert.

Chopped

My wife and I are eating dinner in front of the TV, watching an episode of Chopped because every now and then we binge watch the holy hell out of cooking shows.

One of the contestants had a bad experience trying to make ice cream in the dessert round. That was a moment of inspiration for me. Boom, like a cooking show lightning bolt.

Remember how I recently declared to the universe that I will (try to) grow peanuts in the back yard this year? Well I have another challenge for myself. This one will be easier, I think, and won’t be ruined completely by squirrels and chipmunks.

I am going to make homemade sugar free ice cream.

You heard it here first. Well, Jen heard it first because I told her I was going to do it before I started Googling. I found a few recipes. I will likely try this one first.

I’ll let you know when (if) I try it, and how it comes out.

To Do List for Tonight

I was hoping my to do list for tonight would include hanging out with my wife and then going to sleep, but it’s turning out to be a little more involved than that.

  • Approximately 90 more minutes of work
  • Top off the cat’s food bowl
  • Cook dinner
  • Eat dinner while hanging out with my wife in front of the tube
  • Shovel the 4-5 inches of snow we got today off of the drive way so that I can drive to the office tomorrow
  • Bring the trash barrel out to the street once there is a path shoveled to get it there
  • Finish today’s exercise and close the last ring in the Apple Watch’s activity app
  • Pack up my work laptop along with a bunch of things to put onto my new desk, which officially becomes my desk tomorrow
  • Keel over from exhaustion and sleep

How do I type the word, “yikes” in such a way that it accurately demonstrates how I am feeling as we approach the tail end of the work day on this gloomy Tuesday?

Yikes!