Category: Family

Cook Out

The weather was garbage when we got up this morning, but by lunch it had cleared up nicely. I had a mini-cookout. I made us burgers and fries for lunch. I hope Jen enjoyed it. We were watching Disney Cruise videos while we ate… and now we want to go swimming in the Caribbean.

I have been in the Atlantic Ocean. I have been in the Pacific Ocean. I touched a Great Lake once… actually… twice, I think. I’ve been in lakes and ponds and rivers. I have never been in a Sea though. Taking a dip in the Caribbean could fix that oversight.

297/365
297/365

Okay, Robert. Back to your chores. That bathroom isn’t going to clean itself.

Errands Day

Just running errands and doing chores today. Keeping busy over all. I really wanted to take the cameras out for a walk this morning, but the weather was awful. The light was the worst ever. So disheartening. Oh well.

After a couple of days of weirdness, my stomach has been a team player today. No issues at all. I’m proud of the little surgically altered guy. It did not wake me up last night, which was nice of it. My legs are another story though. Twice overnight I woke up with bad leg cramps. It’s always something when you’re an old fart like me. All I want is to sleep and my own body is stopping me from doing it. What a jerk I am to myself.

Before I get back to the housework, I think I am going to finally put in a vacation request at work for our staycation in September and our next trip back to Disney World in January. I think it’s time, don’t you? There. I just did it. Hopefully my boss doesn’t have a heart attack when he sees two week long vacation requests at once. They are spread out. It’s okay. I’ll wait a while before I put in for the second planned Disney trip. That’s a full year away.

The Red Sox winning streak ended last night. They played Cincinnati, who are pretty terrible this year, and lost. It made me sad. Here’s hoping for vengeance in today’s game. I want to win by 90, at least.

Okay. Back to work, red head.

Empty Nesters… Again

Bellana is back in Vermont. She left last night and stayed over one of her friends’ house in order to cut down on her morning commute today. At our house she was three hours away from work, and today is a work day for her. I get it. It makes me sad to see her go, but I am also really happy we had her for a few days. Even more so as we had Harry for a few days before that, and their visits overlapped so we had them both for a day. That made me really happy. That was an extra good night.

Jen is working from the office today. I am working from home. That means I am here by my lonesome, just me and the cats. I have a podcast playing on my MacBook and it’s streaming to Home Pods scattered all over the house. I don’t have to pause the podcast if I need to get up and leave the room. Heh heh. Technology is cool. When Jen comes home I’ll shut off any streams that are anywhere other than Harry’s room/my office space.

The Great Heatwave of 2024 is going to become official today. The forecast calls for the temperature in my little city to hit 99 degrees. That will be three days over 90. Heatwave: Confirmed. It is 9:10am right now and it’s already 83 degrees. It’s going to be fun.

The forecast for the rest of the week? Rain and clouds and awful. Back to normal, I guess.

After complaining about crappy sleep for the last week or so, I finally topped six hours last night. In fact, I topped 7.5 hours. It was broken though. I fell asleep at 9:30pm. Not by choice. I just couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore and zonked out. Normally I try to eat something before I go to sleep out of fear that my stomach will get so empty over night that it will hurt. A snack at bedtime avoids that problem, but I didn’t have one last night. My last bite to eat last night was at 7:49pm. I woke up with a bit of a stomach ache at 2:30am. I had a little snack and felt better, but I couldn’t fall back to sleep until well after 3:00. Oh well. I felt really tired when I woke up today (almost an hour later than I had planned) but I feel okay now. Here’s hoping I won’t be totally exhausted today.

Okay, red head. Back to work.

Taking Over Again

Harry has returned to Vermont. I am sad, but it does mean I can work from the desk in his room again. I’ve already taken over again.

The windows are open, though it’s going to get into the mid-90’s this afternoon so I will probably close them soon. The cats are happy.

The plants (Bertha the plant clipping, Bertie Bots Every Flavour Plant Clipping, and Bertrand Russel the Plant Clipping) are all happy too. I think… they are plants… their thoughts are tough to read.

292/365
292/365

Monday Blues

It is Monday again. Blah.

We had both kids here last night for the first time in ages. It was wonderful. Talk about a full heart, right? It’s over now though. My step son, Harry left for Vermont this morning. He’s on his way home. I was on a conference call when he left, but I got to say goodbye. I’m happy about that at least. My step daughter, Bellana will be here for a couple more days. She’s going out to do some stuff during the day today but she’ll be back this evening. I’m happy she’s here. I was happy that Harry too. I just really love them both and I love having them around the house.

Work has been busy so far today. It will continue for a few days at least. I am planning on working from home tomorrow but I have to go into the office on Wednesday. I’m not sure what my second office day will be this week. I hate the idea of going in on a Friday, but I think this week it will probably happen. I just don’t want to commute two days in a row this week. Especially after doing it four days in a row last week.

I haven’t taken a picture yet today. The photo a day challenge is still open. Where are the cats?

Father’s Day So Far

Jen and I went to lunch today with my father and my siblings and their families. It was very nice to have everyone together. I took a couple of pictures on film so I’ll probably find out if they came out or not in a few years. You know how film is.

Bellana and Harry are out with their dad right now. They will eventually be coming to our house for dinner. Harry goes back to Vermont tomorrow, but Bellana is going to stay with us for a couple of days. Each of them being here for a few days is the best gift ever. I’m very happy to see them, whenever I get to see them.

Here’s a few random camera phone pics from throughout the day so far.

I ran a couple of errands this morning. One of them was topping off the gas tank in the car. Obligatory gas station pics:

Do cats celebrate Father’s Day too? Is Robin watching through the window, waiting for her dad to show up? Probably not.

Our neighbors might not be having the best Father’s Day. I thought I saw one of the firemen holding a carbon monoxide detector. I’m guessing they didn’t find anything as the truck was only there for about 10 minutes. Here’s hoping all is well for our neighbors across the road. Fingers crossed.

290/365
290/365

Happy Father’s Day

Today is Father’s Day here in the United States. Is it Father’s Day anywhere else? I don’t know.

Are you a father? A dad? Are you, like me, a step father or someone who fills the roll of a father? Are you a single mother who takes on a father’s responsibilities? Well then, today is your day.

May your kids shower you with love and affection today. We are going to have lunch with my father, which should be lovely. My step kids are having lunch with their father, as it absolutely should be, and then they are coming to our house for dinner. I am touched.

I always feel conflicted on Father’s Day. I don’t want to be the kind of person who tries to take attention away from my step kids’ actual father, but at the same time they always make a point to make me feel loved on Father’s Day and I absolutely love that they do that for me. I am overwhelmed by how much I love my step kids. I call them my kids because to my eyes I couldn’t love them more if they were my biological children. I think if I loved them more I would literally explode. So while I do feel conflicted today, my step kids ignore that and treat me like the real deal and I cannot thank them enough.

I say it all the time, I am stunned that they keep me around at all never mind treat me like an actual parent that they care about. They are amazing. It’s that simple. I can’t put it any other way. My step kids, Bellana and Harry, are utterly, unequivocally, objectively, amazing people.

May your Father’s Day be a happy one. Fathers, love your kids. Kids, love your fathers. If it is not Father’s Day in your neighborhood you have my permission to act like it is and have yourself a merry little unofficial Father’s Day.

The Weekend is Here

It’s 5:30pm on Friday. Quittin’ time.

The weekend is finally here.

After working in the office four days this week, it has felt like the work week was 50 days long instead of five. It’s just been brutal.

But now it’s over. Time to sign out and go hang out with Jen and Harry.

Finally!

Happy weekend, everyone! (where applicable)