Tag: bellana

Stress

Why is it that missing a day of work makes things 100 times more stressful when you return the next day? I was out Friday and it seems like nothing really happened in my absence, but here we are today and I am stressing out over every tiny detail?

I thought this week would be a normal two-days-in-the-office week but now it’s three. I have three pieces of paperwork that I need to have done by (probably) Thursday. It should be super simple. In fact, there were four pieces of paperwork and I’ve already cranked out one of them. I’m freaking out over the remaining three though. Why? I have time off booked for Monday and Tuesday next week. I thought they were going to be music days, but now will the be spent with dad in the hospital? I don’t know. Maybe. Part of the time at least.

Seriously. Stop freaking out over nothing, Robert. You’ve got this shit covered. You can handle it. Stop stressing. Work is okay. Dad is going to be okay. Calm down and just get it done like you always do.

I think I might just be reacting to being sad that Bellana left for Vermont this morning. No clue when we’re going to see either kid again. I’m guessing that’s the real root of my struggles with this particular Monday.

Over all it’s not a bad day or anything, I am just stressin’ like ya do. May your Mondays be easier on the ol’ stomach, as it were.

Duplexiversary

On this day in 2008, 16 years ago, Jen and I moved in together. We rented a duplex in Methuen that had three bedrooms. Well… one bedroom might have started it’s life as a big closet, but it was a bedroom in theory by the time we moved in.

I don’t have a lot of pictures of the building. Why? I have pictures of people hanging out in various rooms, but very few of the external. The only good one I could find is actually the back of the house. The left half of this building was our half.

Easter Dinner and Brunch 010
The kids were so little!!!!!

Note, the neighbors who lived in the right half of the duplex had access to that third floor, and rumor has it there was a hot tub up there. We didn’t have any access to the third floor at all. I think it was actually the attic. The other tenant also had a lot more basement space, but what we had was enough. I recorded a lot of RPM Challenge stuff in that tiny little basement space.

We moved in on April 19th. One month and one day later I proposed to Jen, right there in that tiny little back yard by that very gas grill.

Good times. Good times.

Bertie Botts Every Flavour Plant Clipping

First there was a plant that belonged to my step kids’ step mother’s mother. When she passed away, their step mother took the plant home with her.

When my step daughter, Bellana, got her own place she took a clipping of that plant and used it to grow a new plant for her apartment. She named the plant Burt. I don’t know if the original plant had a name or not.

During the early days of the Covid lockdown Bellana took her plant, Burt, to our house. While it was with us, Bellana gave us a clipping to grow another plant. We named ours Bertha. Bertha is now gigantic and still growing, but much of her early growth is dying off. The plant is alive, but it doesn’t seem terribly happy. I got nervous about the plant’s prognosis so I did a thing.

I took another clipping and put it into a glass of water. Nothing happened for what seemed like a very long time and I was afraid that I was going to fail in my attempt to keep Bertha alive forever. Then, late last week, a new root grew! Then a second new root! Excellent! The new clipping is alive!

A few minutes ago I put it into a pot full of potting soil. Will it survive the transfer? I hope so, but I have no way to know. It has plenty of soil, food, and water. I will watch it like a hawk to make sure it doesn’t lack for anything until it proves to me that it’s thriving. After that I’ll just treat it like a normal plant and let it grow like crazy the way Bertha did.

Say hello to the new baby plant. I have decided to name it Bertie Botts Every Flavour Plant Clipping, which I will probably just shorten to Bertie Botts Every Flavor Plant… or maybe just Bertie.

Wish our new green friend luck!

Still Sick: No End in Sight

The head cold persists. Today will be the fourth full day with it and I think it might be the worst day yet.

Yup, I’m still sick.

My wife had it last week and I have it this week. For both of us, with the exception of our one experience with Covid-19, this is the only real bug we’ve caught since the lock downs started four years ago. We have no idea where it came from, but it has turned out to be a persistent little sucker.

In four days I have plowed through two full boxes of tissues. I just started on box number three. Last night before bed I casually mentioned to Jen that I wished when I blew my nose that something substantial would come out. Well, I got my wish. What was the nasal equivalent of an annoyingly dripping faucet yesterday has turned into a gushing rush of snotty awfulness today… too much information? Probably.

The upside to this is that Harry is home! Bellana has been home since Tuesday and has already gone back to Vermont. Harry is staying with us today and heading back to school tomorrow. I’m really happy to have him here, I just wish I wasn’t so sick so we could hang out together. As it is I am keeping my distance from everyone. I don’t have Covid, but we’ve learned some things since the lock down started four years ago, and hopefully I’ll be able to keep Harry healthy. I’d hate for him to be sick when he starts school again next week.

Okay, there’s your update. My box of tissues and I are going to sit in the corner of the living room in our vegetative state for a while. I have a couple of songs that are ready to mix. Maybe I’ll mess with one for a while.

Too paraphrase U2, Achoo-babie.

Tomorrow

So the plan for tomorrow, a sort of random vacation day in the middle of the week.

We have a ton of stuff that we bought for the kitchen remodel that we didn’t end up needing. Some from Home Depot, some from Lowe’s, and some from Wal-Mart. I plan on spending a nice chunk of the morning returning as much of that crap as I can. I thought about going to IKEA to return some of the mountain of leftover stuff we need to bring back but the receipts are all confused. We have to work it all out before we bring stuff back.

When I get home it will be about time to head to the airport. Both kids should be here by the time we need to leave. One, Harry, is here already. The other, Bellana, will be cutting it close but there should be enough time. It’s going to work out so that I can drive them both into the city at the same time. Originally I thought I would be playing Robbie the Airport Shuttle Guy twice, but now it looks like we can consolidate the two down to one. Nice.

After that I will go home again and make dinner for the love of my life and then hang out, missing the kids, until bed time.

Busy day on tap, yes it is. It should be fun.

Day Off Tomorrow

I took a vacation day tomorrow. Nice!

Both kids are going on Spring Break trips, and they are both leaving tomorrow, and they are both flying out of Boston Logan Airport. I am going to drive them both. Just call me Robbie the airport shuttle.

My step son is coming here tonight. My step daughter won’t be here until tomorrow. We won’t have a lot of time to hang with them before they jet off to more exciting places, but I’ll take what we get. I do love it when my step kids are here. Even when it’s only for a few minutes.

No Word Yet

No word from the guitar shop today. The guitar looked finished in the pics he put on the bookfayce yesterday but I couldn’t really tell. There was likely some finishing work that needed to happen (file down, polish, adjust the new frets maybe?) that I don’t know anything about. Hopefully I will hear something tomorrow. I can’t pick it up on Wednesday as I’ll be in the office. I don’t even know if he opens his doors on any other days. His website books appointments on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Let’s see what happens, okay?

Two things that I need to do today. One, call a plumber to look at a leak in the old bathroom. Two, I have a doctors appointment after work. I also have 3.5 hours left in my work day. I am just wrapping up lunch now.

Harry is coming home this weekend. How awesome is that? Looking forward to having him around. Also really looking forward to Thanksgiving. The actual holiday we will travel to my sisters’. The following Saturday we will have Thanksgiving Part II (electric turkey boogaloo) with the kids and Jen’s folks. I am really excited about both. Not that I can eat like I used to, but I’ll still love every minute of both days.

When are we going to go Christmas tree shopping? We usually try to do that while the kids are home for Thanksgiving, but I don’t know how the schedules will work out this year. We’ll have to figure that out too.

Have I mentioned that I am absolutely freezing today? Stupid cold. Stupid winter (even though we’re still over a month away from the first day of winter, it’s basically winter already).

Okay. Lunch break is over. Get back to work, Robert. You have some custom code to deliver. Get to it.

Packing Up

Graduation road trip weekend is coming to a close. I’ve been packing up our stuff and loading up the car. Harry went home with his dad yesterday so it’s just me and Jen and Nana this time.

Bellana is coming to the hotel to have breakfast with us. Bonus time! After that we will check out and head South.

All in all it was a great weekend, celebrating Bellana and her fellow UVM graduates. Congratulations to the class of 2023!