Saturday was my darling birthday!! The day was all about her. I got her a new purse, which she liked. I tried to get something very similar in style to what she already had and loves, just with a fresh look. Lola went for some Chick-fil-A so the pampering had began. I really needed to do yard work since I have been mostly out of town the prior two weekends. The lawn snuck up on me and the leaves have made a mess. I decided the lawn needed mowing the most, leafs were still falling from the sky.
I decided to put some headphones on and listen to an actual “album”. When I say “album” I mean it is a piece of music that was meant to be listened to in full. It’s an hour long story being told through the songs narrative. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Ghosteen. What a beautiful album and what an experience I had with it mowing the yard. Haha.
After my surreal time mowing the yard I cleaned up and made an expensive run to HEB. Damn the groceries. I don’t know how the hell I can spend so much on what feels like nothing. I got home and tried to finish making plans for the night. I needed to schedule reservations. Lola said 13 and that’s what I did for 6 o’clock. The rest of the day I spent looking for caladium bulbs and sheep. Yes, sheep. I was not done searching for the sheep. It’s kind of fun. Nerdy, but fun. With that done I spend a good 2 hours cleaning the house just in case we might have some guest over after the birthday girls dinner. I didn’t know. So btw, the dinner was a surprise. Yvette had no idea the whole family would be there. It was exciting.
I arrived first to the restaurant first and the table was already set. So far, no hiccups. Some more guest began to arrive and her came the first hiccup, more people would be attending than we had reservations for. Lucky for us the place was not busy on Saturday night and the employee’s had no problems adding an extra table to our party. I knew Lola would be frustrated upon arrival because she had been working on getting the numbers for over a week and it’s not like the very end for people to change their minds. Fair enough, I would be annoyed. Yvette finally arrived and she was somewhat surprised. She saw the vehicles when they pulled in. Oh well. Dinner was fun, we had our fair share of the menu and the cake that Teegan picked up.
After dinner Yvette took me to a few sheep she saw through the day so I could get my pictures. After that we came home and had a couple drinks. I watched an episode of Black Mirror. it was actually long enough to be considered a short film. The plot was bonkers. So in an alternative history these two astronauts can transfer their minds to a splitting image robot of themselves back on earth so they can still be with family on their long space voyage. One of the astronauts robot “expires” leaving him trapped aboard the ship. He sort of looses it. His partner decides to give him the ability to transfer his mind into his robot. Just to help the guy out. Well, the guy falls in love with his partners life back on earth. Things go from bad to worse. Really top notch and extremely dark.
Sunday’s arrival was too damn soon. The weekend always seem that way, don’t they? We all slept in pretty late so I skipped making breakfast and went straight to lunch: cheeseburgers. It was a perfect day for the grill. I poured myself a beer with some lime juice and started the process. 6 burgers made and everyone’s belly full, it was nap time for most everyone.
I put on an animated film called Flow, that had no dialogue at all. Just animals making various noises and nature sounds. It followed a gray cat after a flood in which the water levels mysteriously continue to rise. Not a single human, just the remnants of a decayed civilization. Some post apocalyptic shit. The kitty finds various friends on his fight for survival. A cat, dog, capybara, lemur and bird all become friends trying to survive. I rather enjoyed it. It was heartbreaking at times. Poor bird. That’s what I call a good animated film. Does not need dialogue to make you feel something. I mean, what an amazing film. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when starting the film, I just knew that it had won a lot of awards and it sounded like something right up my alley. Boy was I right.
The usual Sunday errands ensued. Groceries, plant shopping, and gas for the week. I desperately needed to wash my car. The sap. It was just awful. I prepped everything I needed to dinner and even meal prepped for our breakfast the next couple of days. It was a relatively busy afternoon. I even made time to go visit with my mom. That’s a real joy that I try and always find the time for.
One of my most anticipated games during this years March Madness just so happened to be during the time of Yvette’s birthday gathering. Of course that would happen! Why the fuck not? Two teams that divide my family happen to be playing each other on that date. No one could have seen that coming. Texas Tech was playing Florida. The Gators have been my team since I was too young to understand the concept of sports. Texas Tech my team for the last 25 years. Hard to pick a side. It was for the best that I wasn’t able to watch it. I would not have know which team to pull for. I checked my phone for updates throughout the party. It must have been a damn good game to actually watch because it was a nail bitter just from the score updates. Florida did end up winning after Tech blew a 15 point lead. I was glad I didn’t get to see that. The better team moved on. At least Florida has a chance and I can now relax and focus my energy on just hoping that they make it to the final. Go Gators!!!
Monday was a hell for most of us on campus. Yvette had a terrible go at it. to many people that don’t m ow what they are doing and she has a hell week ahead of her. I wish she wasn’t so stressed. To top things off my damn dog Owen had to chew up her purse. Not the one I just gave her for her birthday, but the one that it was replacing. The first purse that I gave her. It had emotional value. This act also really pissed me off. I don’t know what to do with this damn dog. Why empty out her fucking purse. A purse that’s been in his sight for months!! Why suddenly have interest it. All he did was make a fucking mess, damage property and piss off the hands that feed. Thank god it was just the inner pocket that he touched and not the outside. It will still pass general inspection.
After work we cleaned the house and prepped dinner. We invited my mom. I was excited. I made sure oof to make beef. We had a nice relaxing dinner. I grilled, we had a cocktail and good conversation. The evening was much needed. After dinner I took Hazel for a walk and picked up a banana split for Yvette. She needed it.
Wednesday was a day trip to San Antonio and back. A lot of car time. My mom was getting her second knee replaced on Thursday. I was not really looking forward to the solo trip back home. I really have not put a lot of miles on the highway since my head injury and the Dallas trip I had Yvette along if I had a moment.A trip to San Antonio is unfamiliar grounds for me. It had been about 20 years since I last visited the city. I didn’t know the roads at all. I hate GPS but I had to rely on it.It was a nice little mother son day trip. I hated that my mom had to have another surgery but she had to have that knee replaced or she would become an invalid.
The drive was really hazy and it looked like it wanted to rain. I was a little sad because it’s normally a pretty drive and since I don’t go to San ANtonio often I really wanted to enjoy it. It was interesting having been to both Dallas and Austin recently and comparing the traffic. San Antonio seems less congested by a large margin. Another thing that is hilarious to me is the road work. As long as I can remember, when I was a little boy, they always have had construction. I don’t remember the city without it. I don’t know what it looks like without road work. Has anyone in 40 years seen the city without road work? I’d honestly like to know?
We found our destination and still had an hour to burn before the appointment so we found a place to eat that we couldn’t have in San Angelo. We found this place that was about a block away that was called Maiz Concina. It must have been a fairly new establishment by the looks of the place. A really nice atmosphere. Ordered some barria and verde chicken enchiladas. Boy was that some damn good food. I forget how different San Antonio Mexican food is from what we have in San ANgelo.
After lunch I drove her to the appointing and just chilled in the lobby watching The Daily show with Jon Stewart. He had some interesting points, as always. God I hate the current president ion administration. I had no idea I would become a full blown Democrat but damn if this group and psychos didn’t punch me away from the Republican Party.
After that appointment we went to the hospital to yet another pre operation appointment. This one was rather quick. I was outside on the phone with Yvette and my mom came and got me. We checked her into the hotel and I help get her up to her room before saying good bye and hitting the road. The fun part, getting out of San Antonio on my own. It turned out to not be that hard a task. I had a few moments getting the maps to sync to my phone but once everything was lined up I was on the way out. Traffic never came to a complete standstill still bottle neck like it would in the DFW area. THANK GOD!!! I made it out of the cite and home before I knew it. My back did not like me by the time I arrived back in town. I see my PCP and will be bringing the issue up. It’s the trips, they kill me. I can’t be taking six Advil a day. Anyway, I made it home and I had dinner waiting. I was fucking tired.
Thursday morning I had a meeting with the vampires. The wait was longer than usual and they drained a fair amount of blood. I hate this mornings, fasting. I was on hungry boy. The reason I arrived so early this time was to afford me extra time before work to grab a little breakfast. For whatever reason it took forever and I was late. A 30 min wait and it’s usually 5-10 min tops. I got the feeling that the vampires didn’t arrive until late because the first person called back was about 20 min after I arrived. Rude. Well, I had to settle for breakfast on campus. At least we have some good options, like Chick-fil-A.
Yvette had her Cuber Security Expo. I dropped her off at 7:30 on my way to see the vampires. She had a long crazy day. I was a part of some of it. As with every year, crazy things happened. People. People just had to get in the way. People are a pain in the ass. I met her in the “green room” for lunch and was lucky to arrive just minutes before she was requested on stage for an award for her hard work setting things up. It was a very kind gesture from her boss. Very kind. We ate some pizza and the event ended. They had so much leftover food.
Friday finally arrived. Lord it was a long quick week. Does that make sense? I was so busy that the week just flew by but it also felt so damn LONG. Friday was gloomy, damp and cold. Typical rodeo weekend. Speaking of the rodeo, a friend of mine on campus had some extra tickets and thought of Yvette and I. She actually had 4 which was perfect just in case the kids decide to tag along. I was actually rather excited. Not for the rodeo itself, but because I know that my family loves it and I could provide that for them.
I had my doctor’s appointment that afternoon to go over all my lab results so I was working through lunch and taking off early. What is the point in coming back for an hour? Nada. I’m always anxious on the day of my doctors. It was all for nothing. I actually had great results and seem to be better than I was even 3 months ago. Pretty impressive how well I’ve gotten my A1C down in such a short period of time. I have to keep it up. He ordered another MRI test and an EKG. I figured I’d knock out the EKG test while I was already there, it only takes a few minutes. I’d honestly never had one and even my doctor thought that I should have had one when I was in the ICU. Hell if I know, I barely remembered my own name. After that I went and visited my wife at work until 5 rolled around and we both went home.
After work I prepped for some Mongolian beef and went out to my mother to visit with her and my brother. My mom seemed better off after her second surgery. I think it’s in part due to the lack of uncertainty. She knows what is ahead of her. They had some burgers and we watched a movie called Thunderheart staring Val Kilmer. It was released in 1992. It was a favorite of my fathers and I think of him whenever I watch it. Such a shame Val Kilmer passed away. Too many of the actors I grew up watching seem to be passing.
Happy Friday!!!
Jalapeño
Yvettes birthday. I had the chili relleno. El Paisano.
Broccoli cheese stuffed baked potato with grilled chicken. The kids had some steak.
Teriyaki pork tenderloin, sugar snap peas & pineapple w/ rice. My mother joined us for dinner. It was fun.
Firecracker chicken. This was a new one. I thought it was weird. Buffalo sauce, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper. It was really good.
Yvette made shrimp po boys. I made it a salad.
Leftovers. I had some pork, chicken, rice and snap peas from the week. I glazed the pork with hoisin sauce and baked. I sautéed the chicken and made sesame chicken. It was a good dinner. All leftovers.
Mongolian beef.
En Fuego 