Happiness in West Texas

Saturday was the day I had been looking forward to. We had our first “real” Ram Jam, the tailgating that Yvette and I have been going to for a few years now. I say the first “real” one because the actual first one was on a Thursday, began while I was still on campus working, and was basically turned upside down by a freak storm. We certainly didn’t get the whole experience.

That morning I woke up and went about most of my routine and made a nice little cheese, ham and green chili omelet. I really had a craving for an omelet. I made some hash browns for Alaya to hopefully eat before she took off to gymnastics with Yvette. During that time, I ran some errands and found myself one more sheep that I wasn’t expecting. It’s always fun to just happen upon one of them.

When I got home, Yvette was home without Alaya. Her momma had swooped in and taken her away from us. I guess that meant that the house would be quiet for a little while since we had some time before the tailgating.

It was a really fucking hot afternoon, unfortunately.

We showed up at Ram Jam and kind of wandered around until we found my friend Art. He was working the Parrots Head tent. Of course he asked us if we wanted a shot, and obligated out of honor, we obliged. I can’t say starting out with a shot was the best move that I made that day.

Alaya, Lola and her boyfriend, Hagan, finally met up with us and we grabbed food and went inside where it wasn’t a fucking oven. I had a beer to wash down that damn shot. They actually had the Texas A&M game playing inside, and Teegan was at the game, so we watched that more than anything else. The food was on par as usual and I ended up eating more than I should have. It was impossible not to when so much was available and you want to try a little of everything.

Hagan’s parents showed up for a little bit towards the end, and it was nice to have finally met them. If Alaya is going to be spending so much time at their house, I needed to know that they were good people. First impressions tell me that they are. I honestly like Hagan. He seems like a good kid.

Between the heat, the people, the music and everyone wandering around with drinks in their hands, it finally felt like the Ram Jam experience we had been missing.

Afterwards Yvette and I had Alaya again, and rather than cook something grand, we got lazy and ordered some Pizza Hut. Alaya can devour some cheese pizza.

I wanted to watch another horror film so I started this one called Good Boy. The lead is a real-life dog, with the story told from the dog’s perspective. The editing must have been a brutal passion project, as it took the director three years to complete. It was definitely different from anything I had watched lately. I report that the dog does not die at the end.

Sunday was a cooler, cloudy morning that I spent outside with my girl. I even had breakfast on the patio. Alaya and I made some chalk drawings. I drew Yvette, Hazel and Roscoe. It was really fun. Sweet girl didn’t want to go inside, but we had obligations and needed to get ready for the day.

We went over to my in-laws for lunch. Roger had smoked a brisket. A damn fine brisket, if I must say. Roger really had a talent for that. Unfortunately, our time was cut short by an emergency room visit. Emma was having trouble lifting one arm, so better safe than sorry, they headed out.

I used the extra time to go chainsaw for my mom. During the night she lost a fairly large, healthy branch. I assume it must have been wind, although I never really saw many signs of a storm. Luckily for her, I had the saw and made pretty quick work of the branch. The new sharpened blade works like a charm, although my battery is not holding up like it used to. Time for a new one.

Since Sunday is one of my school days, I spent a few hours at the library to study and finish up a chapter. I actually like these moments. It’s kind of a nostalgic feeling, being back in the library I once spent so much time in years past. I need to look around and see if I can find my old study desk. Years ago, I engraved a little marking on it that I would be able to identify today if it was still around. Unfortunately, I never found it.

The evening was chill.

I attempted my version of a recipe from a local joint, The Penny Taphouse. The spicy ginger chicken. I think I did a pretty good job of it. After dinner I sat down and watched another horror movie, Glorious. This was disturbing, but also very funny. I recommend looking it up if you want something completely different.

Monday it was beautiful outside. I actually felt chilly when I went outside to water the yard. The morning birds were getting later and later, with the first birdsong at 7:01 quickly followed by those Blue Jays chiming in. The season was trying to change, thank the lord. The first day of fall was to follow on Tuesday.

I was pretty busy buying materials, so I was out of the office here and there. Nothing like how busy I was the week before, thank god. I actually had time to work on some homework and on this blog on my downtime. I figured why not use the resources I have available at work to do some personal business. That was impossible the week before.

After work the sky began to change, and the cumulus clouds grew into cumulus congestus. Yvette and I left HEB to find grey skies, with the hopes of rain possibly on the way. When we got home, I began to prepare dinner and hope for some showers. Eventually, they did come. A light rain fell upon us, the sky billowed with thunder, and lightning illuminated the darkness. The temperature dropped and for a little while, happiness was in West Texas.

Tuesday the Autumn Equinox was upon us. Finally.

After a brutal last few months of summer, we needed the break. For the first day, the temperatures really were not all that bad. I was happy with that. The afternoon rolled around and some more storms littered the sky, cooling things down further. I was again busy.

While driving to and from locations across town, I had a new album to listen to and get me into the mood for fall. Ride Lonesome by Beck. The album was released the Friday before and I was just getting around to giving it a proper listen. I have always enjoyed Beck, but the Beck I really like is the acoustic Beck.

That’s what this treat was. It’s a vibe that he can capture with an acoustic guitar that not many can match. Starting with the album Sea Change back in 2002, followed by Morning Phase in 2014, this sort of completes a little trilogy of sorts.

My father was a big fan of Sea Change, and liked Morning Phase as much as he could like it at the time. I wish he were around to listen to this new album with me. I can’t help but think of him when another acoustic Beck album hits the shelves. I can’t help but miss him. There are certain things that can bring someone back into your mind immediately, and apparently acoustic Beck is one of those things for me. All of this makes the new album much more powerful.

And talk about a great album to jam out to kicking off cooler fall weather.

After work it was another beautiful evening that we could spend time outside. Yvette watered the new plants she added to the bed over the weekend, while we both talked and sipped on a glass of wine. It was enjoyable, that was, until the door-to-door salesman arrived. Damn the luck. There was no hiding behind a closed door waiting for him to go away. We were snared.

He went on his spiel about how we needed tinted windows and how we might qualify for a discounted price. Blah blah blah. I knew there was no way to shut the man up unless I gave him something to work with. Thankfully, this meant setting up a meeting with him at another time. This was just a means to an end to be rid of the guy so we could go back to enjoying ourselves. I had no intention of actually meeting him and I called to cancel the following day. I had to admire the poor bastard. What a hard job.

Yvette and I decided from then on we needed to enjoy our wine in the back yard.

On Wednesday morning I found myself in a fucking mess. There was no way I could get full credit issued to my card for items I had to return because of a goddamn credit card fee. It was impossible for the vendor to issue that amount. I wasn’t happy to hear this and I didn’t know what to do but deal with it at a later time. What could I do? We really didn’t have a solution. What a pickle.

Usually, we have a blanket purchase order, but for unknown reasons, it hasn’t gone through. Actually, we all know the reason. I wouldn’t be in this mess if a certain department on campus was doing their job. Now I have a charge on my card with nothing to show for it, which I’m sure will cause a fuss with the AP department when I submit my report.

That evening after work I made my way to the library as I tend to do on Wednesdays. I wasn’t able to work in my preferred spot, damnit. It seems Wednesday is the day when I will be SOL and have to look for a place to bunker down. The basement has had the most options, although the damn elevator is a noisy bastard.

While studying away, I had a first — hearing someone else’s Dexcom device alerting them that they were having a low. I don’t know who it was, but somewhere in the library basement, someone’s device kept going off. It was a weird thing to hear from an outside perspective. I wondered if anyone else knew what the ruckus was. I sure hope the person was okay and had some sugar.

While walking out of the library, the skies were once again darkened by clouds. Looked like some cumulonimbus had developed while I was deep diving into my textbook. It didn’t rain, AGAIN, but it was a great change from the bright, clear skies.

I have enjoyed using the knowledge I’ve already gained from the course to better identify the clouds above me. My dad taught me how to spot the three basic forms of clouds, but now I am able to put names to many subsets of the basics — something I never really thought about when he was teaching me. Aside from the cumulonimbus, I spotted some cumulus, cirrus, cirrostratus, and some altocumulus clouds on my stroll to my car.

When I got home that night, I was treated to a delicious dinner by Yvette. Shrimp étouffée. Seriously, my jaw came unhinged by how good it smelled when I got home, and I was smitten by my wife all over again. It was a real treat, and I really am a lucky guy to come home to that after knocking out some school work. She made my day very special with that gesture. Boy do I love her.

It’s amazing how quickly a busy week will pass you by. I plowed through Thursday, without touching the brakes. Nothing exciting happened. I spent a lot of the university’s money on various things that people needed from around the town. Good times for sure.

We had Teegan coming into town Friday, expected sometime around dinner. He gave us a menu for the weekend: hibachi and meatloaf. Not together.

I was really excited to see him. It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a month since we dropped him off in Aggieland. It was going to be nice having him back in the house, even if only for the weekend.

One thing I have to praise the week for was the weather in the morning and the evenings. I fully embraced the cool mornings with my windows down and music blaring. That is one of the best things about fall: the nice mornings. If only the afternoons would follow suit.

Happy Friday!!!