Tag: Family

Thesis

We just came from the college of arts and sciences award ceremony. Bellana was recognized for completing the honors college thesis paper and defense.

I am so proud I might spontaneously combust.

We are going to take her out to dinner tonight because it’s also her 22nd birthday. It’s just a big day all around.

Packed

I just packed a backpack full of camera gear. Three cameras, two 35mm and one mirrorless, four lenses in total, and six fresh rolls of film. Also a shit load of various Apple chargers, a small food scale, and a couple of camera chargers.

Tomorrow I’ll put my MacBook Pro and probably my iPad into the bag too. Then I need to pack a bag full of protein bars and go to the grocery store to buy a shit load of water bottles and sugar free gatorade to put into a cooler that I want to keep in the car. I need to get ice too.

The only other thing left to pack is one collared shirt that I washed earlier today that is hang drying in the cellar. Tomorrow morning I’ll throw that in the suitcase.

Oh yeah! I also need to pack a travel shaving kit, a tooth brush, and some deodorant.

All of this for four days in Vermont.

Totally worth it. I can’t wait.

Brunch

I wanted to make sure we did something nice for Jen today so I made breakfast. It’s the least I could do. Harry is here this week and he’s a night owl so we planned breakfast for 10:00. I made scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage. Pretty much the only breakfast foods I know how to make. Everything came out okay. Nothing was spectacular or anything. I did my best but it should have been better. My step kids’ mother deserves the best every day, but especially today.

We are planning on a visit to the cemetery to visit my mother today. I know it doesn’t really mean anything but I think it will make me feel a little better. I hope so at least.

Unrelated note: Star Wars The Clone Wars episodes eight and 12 have Jar Jar. That’s two too many. I was hoping that would be it for the first season. Then I got to episodes 17 and 18. Jar Jar is in both of them. Oh, come on. Four out of the first 18 episodes? I am seriously wanting to stop watching. It’s just not worth it.

Mouse Situation: Resolved

And just like that, our mouse invader has been vanquished without any bloodshed. The cats might be a little disappointed.

Jen heard some commotion in the bedroom and went to investigate. The cats had knocked over a little waste basket and the mouse ran inside. They had it cornered. The little rodent asshole was frozen in fear, shaking like it was going to tear itself apart. I picked up the basket and took it outside. I flung our little uninvited guest out of the basket and, in a pathetic sense of mischievousness, into what we believe is a groundhog hole on the edge of the back yard. Ain’t I a stinker?

The cats are confused. They still smell Mr Mouse so they are still trying to hunt it. Jen tried to reward them for their hard work by putting out a handful of treats for them. They haven’t even noticed yet, but they will once things calm down.

Good kitties. You have protected your house. I’m proud of you.

Meeces to Pieces

It’s time for our two new cats to prove their worth to the household. Yesterday we started seeing clear signs that they were stalking something. The hunt was on. Last night Harry got a brief glimpse: a mouse. Later, Jen and I also saw it hiding in a tiny space between a cabinet and a wall. I tried getting it with a broom but failed miserably.

The cats were hyper vigilant throughout the night but haven’t had any success yet. There was a moment this morning where I heard them attacking from the next room, and also heard their prey squeaking in terror. I felt kinda bad, but that’s the price you pay for invading our home.

The cats have two responsibilities in this house. One is to be adorable and let us pet them and snuggle them. The other is to eliminate small furry invaders. It’s time to hold up your end of the bargain, Robin and Lily. I have full confidence in your mousing abilities. Make Daddy proud, girls.

No problems last night as far as stomach pain goes. I was a little nervous before bed. I was a little queasy. Not bad, but just aware that I wasn’t at 100%. I was also so thoroughly exhausted that I couldn’t really think straight. I turned in at about 11:00 but I forgot to clean out my CPAP mask so I went to sleep without it. I woke up at about 3:30. My first thought was, here we go again. Then I realized what woke me up. It wasn’t in my stomach, it was on my stomach. Miss Lily had jumped on me and was very insistent about showing me some affection. I gave her what she wanted. She doesn’t really show me any attention like that, so I wasn’t about to say no.

Once she had her fill I tried going back to sleep, but I was pretty much awake. I just sort of laid there for a while, then I got up and got a new CPAP mask out of my closet. I had to deal with Miss Robin who ran inside while I had the door open and wouldn’t come out. I swapped out the drool’d in mask for the new, clean one and went back to bed. I got to listen to an attack on the mouse before I fell asleep. My alarm was set for 7:00am but I snoozed it until a little before 8:00. So the good news is, no stomach issues or anything health related. The bad news is I didn’t sleep through the night the way I was hoping. The lesser good news is that I did snag about seven hours of sleep that I very much needed, though I am still feeling really tired this morning.

Here’s hoping tonight continues to show improvement.

I was afraid of this. I have fully committed myself to binge watching all of Star Wars The Clone Wars. There are 133 episodes. It’s going to take a while. I know I tried doing this once before but fell off the wagon very early. Why? What stopped me?

During this morning’s faux jog (pronounced, yog) I found out. Season one, episode eight… the entire episode focuses on Jar Jar and it is just as insufferably awful as you would expect. I made it through without vomiting but it did sap my re-watching enthusiasm by about 65%. Oh well. Maybe I’ll go back to the X-Files for a couple of days.

If I don’t get a haircut today I am going to go insane. Just warning you. Ya know, in case I start posting things that are more insane than normal. If I do, you’ll know why.

Weigh Ins and Time Machine

I have been thinking about what to do about weigh ins now that I’ve passed the one year since surgery mark. Once a week suddenly seems gratuitous, especially when I’m not really losing a lot with any degree of regularity anymore. I think I am going to ditch the Wednesday weigh ins. At least in terms of tracking everything. I might step on the scale now and then, but I don’t see myself recording the data like I was in year one.

The monthly weigh ins are another story. I think I am going to continue to do that. Maybe it’s a compromise. The data analyst part of my tiny little pea brain will still have regular data to keep track of, just not quite as often. I think that’s a good plan going forward. I can still obsess about weight, just not as often. Good and good.

My in-laws, Charlotte and Sherman, gave me an Amazon.com gift card for my birthday. Thank you so much. Big smile. Right on queue, the two terabyte USB hard drive I use for my MacBook Pro’s Time Machine back ups sort of bricked itself today. It’s suddenly in read only mode. Guess what I used the gift card for! It’s almost like the disc drive knew today was my birthday so it took full advantage. Timing is everything, kids.

Okay… back to work, Robert. Your customers don’t care that it’s your birthday. You don’t care either, but they care even less, you know? Get to it.