Over the weekend starting Saturday morning my sweet do started throwing up. He threw up all weekend. So much. My house was like the Exorcist. it was fucking terrible. I lost track. I just washed my sheets and guess what, that same day they got the vomit treatment. I had to keep him in closed in the bathroom to contain the vomit to one space.

Monday came and he went to the vets. They hooked him on an IV to rehydrate. X-rays showed a blockage. I knew he ate something. This isn’t my first rodeo with him. He was to have surgery. The good thing is that by the end of the day they had removed the blockage. They had to do 4 incisions. Poor guy. At least he made it. Poor puppy. He will be home soon, I hope.

Well soon turned into 5 o’clock Tuesday. Another long day at work waiting to hear from the vet if he could go home. When I picked him up after work he was so happy. They showed me what they removed from him. It was in triple bags and I could still smell it. It was certainly a toy from the little I could see. Hopefully he has a quick recovery. Poor bastard gets the staples removed in 10 days and will be taking lots of meds.

We had our monthly morning meeting Wednesday. Lots of bullshit. Pointless. My allergies are active or I’m getting a sinus infection. I know the signs. I contacted my doctor for some quick meds just in case. He suggested I take a COVID test. Damn. I didn’t even think about that. I worried the rest of the afternoon. Did I have it? The third time I had COVID it was just like a mild cold. When I got home I took that damn test. Love that. So much fun. Results were negative. Thank the lord. It did sort of end our date night though. I don’t blame Yvette for bailing.

Friday started at 4:30. I took a second COVID test. Negative. I just finished the week with a nasty bug. Damn. Sucks. Screws up my plans. Hate going into the weekend sick. Initially I was going to do a half day and see how some extra rest did me. That’s about all you can do. I’m took a full sick day. I think everyone was pissed I was at work yesterday. I’ve taken two Covid test and both negative but feeling like shit is feeling like shit. Fucks my weekend plans. I’m on antibiotics as of yesterday. Sore throats and sinus pressure are the worst. .Pee!

I slept on the couch most the day. Happy Friday. What a week.

Jalapeño

Saturday breakfast with Yvette. Scrambled eggs, bacon and cinnamon waffles.

Chicken fajita, beans.

Chicken Parmesan

Salisbury steak, peas and potato’s.

Yvette made tacos.

Stuffed salmon w/broccoli cheese rice.

Lasagna rolls.

No date night due to illness. Steak and beans.

I was stuck in the office. I really don’t have much to say about the week. I was introduced to Mona at physical therapy. A device they gave said name to because it makes patients moan. Fuck Mona. I do not want to see her again.

It was foggy most of the mornings this week. And pretty gloomy. We did have a couple warm sunny days. Actually, maybe just one. It was such a dragging week, Friday could not come fast enough.

Happy Friday!!

Jalapeño.

Carne guisada street tacos.

Guisada queso smothered burritos.

Date night. Filet w/ balsamic reducing & blue cheese, baked potato, asparagus and some wine butter mushers.

Saturday started out rough. I was up until 4:20 am and woke up around 8:40 to feed my dogs. I had a message from Yvette but accidentally hit my phones update which sent it to update mode. It stalled. I had to wait for AT&T to open at 10 so they could unlock the damn thing. I really had wanted to go back to sleep after feeding the dogs. Alas, I was fucked. They fixed it quickly but I had to wait.

After that I went to Yvette’s to have migas. Next we were going to go eat lunch at 2 but something came up. Just as well, I was afforded a little more sleep. We had the quinceanera to attend that night so I needed what I could get.

It was beautiful and heart warming. The girl had special needs but she had such a great time. I have never seen a little girl so happy and free. It brought tears to my eyes. What a night. My second quinceaners. Good times.

Afterwards we went to grab some wing from Zero One Ale House. I really had t had much to eat. Most the servings were very high on the carb side and since we missed lunch I only had breakfast holding me over. The wings were good and we had a good old time. After that we went back to my house and talked about and eventually both crashed out. It was a great day over all. I met family and I experienced new things. Though it started out crappy, it was an over all win. Cheers!!!

Saturday started early and then I took a nice little nap. The grocery store was a mess. We have a cold spell coming this weekend and Texas has PTSD after the last time temps reached the single digits. I lost power for 3 days and my house reached 48 degrees. I don’t see that happening.

It sure did get cold. We even had some unexpected snow. I can handle cold but I don’t like single digits cold. I was over it by mid week. My drain line in the kitchen somehow froze up on me. I couldn’t do my dishes. It finally warmed back up to the 70’s by Thursday and by Friday it was cold again. 40’s. West Texas keeping us on our toes.

My back and neuropathy were really screaming this week. I’m too young to feel this old. I lost a lot of sleep waking up in pain and unable to find a way to sleep. Physical Therapy hurt but come Friday I was moving easier. I dread the sessions but they seem to help. Still have a long way to go.

For unknown reasons, Friday was my busiest work day. I was out and about all over the town. I was burning money left and right. It made the day sure fly by. Yvette and I had some yummy Thai food for lunch. Perfect for the cold ass weather.

Date night was great. I made some chicken thigh bulgolgi and we started watching the first season of The White Lotus. Yvette had not seen it. We had dinner on the couch. It had been a while since had one of these nights. We both fell asleep on the couch for a little while. Oh well. Great night with the woman I love.

Happy Friday!!!

Jalapeño.

Sunday lunch with my mother.

Tuesday’s and Wednesday I had green chili stew. Ground beef, potato’s, onion and jalapeño. HEB has a green chili sauce which I used with chicken broth. Yummy.

Chicken Cordon Bleu with bacon wrapped asparagus and spicy Mac n cheese.

Date night stir-fry chicken thighs. “Not pictured”

The campus will be alive again next week when classes begin again. I’m trying to enjoy the dead silence for one last week. It gets relaxing for a little while with the students and most faculty all away. The less traffic in the mornings is absolutely amazing. The less people walking down the sidewalks for my golf car cruise is also great. I get to go full speed. All of that is soon to end.

We got rain. We got wind. We got cold. We got sun and warm. It was a week in weather.

Physical therapy killed me. I’d missed it the last two week so my last session was before Christmas. It’s like they took it out on me for missing. We did exercise that we had never done before. It was also in the morning, which I’m not accustomed to. That took its own role on me. It made for a very long day without lunch.

That evening after work I was cooking for Yvette, her dad and her youngest boy. I was somewhat nervous about cooking for her dad for the first time. I made tuna steaks, steamed broccoli, sushi rice w/ a reduced sweet soy sauce. All turned out really well.

Friday was the birthday girls big day. It was a special birthday. Lola was turning 19 and she had on hell of a birthday surprise gift. It began at my house and moved to Cheddars for food. What a heck of a week. I was ready for the long weekend.

The dinner was a fuck up. The waitress screwed up drinks and the food. It was still a memorable time and we made the most of it. I liked my food, minus the pasta. Happy birthday!!!

Happy Friday!!!

Jalapeño

Chicken tetrazzini. Yvette, of course. Reason to marry her number 500. So good. Not pictured. Gone in minutes with seconds.

Cheese Manicotti, spaghetti and garlic bread.

Street tacos thanks to Yvette.

Tuna steak w/ sushi rice and steamed broccoli. I was trying to accomplish a healthy meal for Yvette’s father. Not pictured.

Happy birthday dinner!! We went to Cheddars. 🤔

Tuesday was a trip. I was exhausted from Friday – Monday. Doesn’t look like that’s not going to continue to be the case. It was a roller coaster ride. Back to work Wednesday and I have been tired all week. Hope all was good for everyone.

Jalapeño

Chorizo potato breakfast hash. Post Christmas. I was tired and quickly feel back to sleep. I didn’t even try to.

Even more chorizo potato hash.

The Saturday before Christmas Eve I did my last min grocery and alcohol prepping for the holidays. That means necessities and wine/beer. It was a rather nice day. Looked like it wanted to rain at any moment. After all that was knocked out I went out to my mothers to pick up her sweet labradoodle. He is 13 and he is staying with me until she comes back from Houston. You see, I’m the only one of my immediate family not to be celebrating Christmas together. I don’t like Houston but I also wanted to spend my first Christmas with Yvette and her kids and family. Last year we were 335 miles apart.

After my errands I decided to go have a treat of sushi and hibachi. It was a cloudy rainy day and that just sounded great. Of course some miso soup. They had the worst Christmas music playing but the food was fantastic as usual. My waitress was a dingbat though.

Once full I checked my second grocery list and went back to the store. It was just as much a mad house. I grabbed all that I missed on my first trip and got the hell out. When I was back home began the chore of wrapping presents. I think it went well. I won’t claim I have skills but I’m not bad considering it’s only once a year. After that it was once again a trip to my mothers to see if she had something I needed for a meal that would save me a $4 expense. She sure did. It would have been something that I’d only use once every 2-3 years. Success.!!!

Saturday night date night. Yay!! We had some nice steak. A meal I was surprised I had not made for Yvette. balsamic reduced steak. I also made some parmesan sour cream mashed potato’s. It was a great meal. Unfortunately the evening had to end early. She needed to get her son home and while she was doing that a pretty incredible storm came through and dumped a lot of rain which flooded the roads. Not worth her risking her life getting back to my house. We don’t live far apart but that little distance has a hell of a flood plain between us. The roads get dangerous.

Christmas Eve we went to her parents and had some ham, corn and potato’s. Good time. Watched some football. I was over there before 1 and suddenly it was 5. Time…. After that I rushed home to make some chili for us and the kids. I put everything together and cooked it for 2 hours. I transported it to her house and we all enjoyed. It was a big batch of chili. Leftovers.

After eating we sat around and laughed. I went home around 10 to check on my dogs and grab some decorating icing. They have a tradition where they bake and decorate cookies. It was a fun time. I decorated 2 of my own. We eventually all went to sleep so Santa could come.

Christmas morning!!! We woke up and unwrapped presents. It was a lot of fun. I really liked being a part of it. After presents I went home and checked the dogs. Let them go potty and eat. I got dressed into my matching pajamas. That’s another Christmas tradition, everyone wears matching PJ’s. Once dressed I picked Yvette up and we went to her parents again for some menudo. It was so damn good. Had some good conversations. Shaping up to be a heck of a day. When we left we all ended up taking naps.

A day can’t be perfect. I got a shitty text from my ex wife notifying me that she “debated tell me because it was Christmas” but my cat Samson died in the morning. She could have waited. It didn’t have to be Christmas Day. I was happy. I don’t say this on here but what a bitch. No explanation either. I later heard from a friend she posted about it on Facebook. I’m blocked so I have no idea. That was my favorite cat. I have missed him. Missed him more than her.

Christmas dinner was moved to 5:30. It was originally at lunch and moved to 7:30 and eventually 5:30. Yvette’s brother kept changing things. All worked out though. Yvette’s dad and mom out did themselves with the food. It was perfect for me, mostly protein. Brisket, beef ribs, jalapeño sausage. Homemade beans, potato salad and many pies. I ate a LOT of meat. We also watched football and opened more presents. I really wasn’t expecting her parents to get me anything but it was nice that they did. Really made me feel included. Her father and I had a few beers. God that man can smoke meats. I’m not only lucky to have Yvette but also lucky to have a great family.

Once we left her parents Al we went to her cousins Christmas party. The did a breakfast spread. Waffles, French toast, chorizo potato and an egg sausage casserole. We played some sill game. You have Christmas ribbons and cotton balls on a table. A spatula and a bowl. You are blind folded and have 15 seconds to scoop as many into the bowl. I had 5 ribbons and 9 balls. Not bears the worst but I didn’t win the $60. It was fun.

After we left I went home for a bit to be with the dogs. I went back over and stayed another night. It was a different but damn good Christmas. This life makes me happy.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Saturday I woke up before 7 and was going to surprise with burritos. I fell back to sleep until 9. I did nevertheless get burritos. We enjoyed and then laid down and watch some Hallmark show. I have been sleepy on this new medication. Once we got up, Yvette, her daughter and I all went to get some good pizza downtown. Her daughter wanted pickle pizza. After that delicious meal it was time to go to Walmart. It was a Saturday spent with lovely people.

Sunday my mom, Yvette and our daughter went out for so lunch. Otherwise it was a lazy day for me. A quick trip to HEB and I was done.

Monday was the big MRI day. Again. This one with contrast. Another new experience. I could not eat or drink 4 hours before going in. This one I also had to hold my breath. Weird and wasn’t told about that until I got there. I was super nervous. I had some anxiety meds my doctor game me. I also had Yvette and my mother attend. Basically holding my hand. I’m such a baby when it comes to hospitals and doctors. Bless them for the support. I was told that I needed a driver.

The Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix damn. What a show. I finished it Wednesday night. I highly recommend it to everyone. I suppose it’s somewhat a horror but it’s also a show about extremely wealthy morally corrupt pharmaceutical family. It’s really interesting and if any of you are a fan of Edgar Allen Poe, you will catch all sorts of Easter eggs because it’s all loosely based on many of his works.

The end of the fall semester and the beginning of our holiday leave. Thursday was the last day many people would be on campus. I was sticking till Friday. It was a short day anyways. I can tuff it through 4 hours. Shit, I literally did nothing work related on Thursday. I even brought my Nintendo Switch to work and played some Zelda. Paid to play a video game. Nothing was going on. It was sad.

PT wasn’t so bad Thursday. I probably pushed myself more than I usually do. Probably more that my PT pushed me. The only problem was that during the entire session the receptionist was talking the entire damn time. I do mean nonstop chit chat. I like her, but she was clearly bored and had nothing to do. I was also the only person with a session so…. What can you do.

The winter solstice. The shortest day of the year. Had to believe 2023 is at a close already. It was indeed a big year with many memorable events, not all good. I’ll get more to that with my next blog more than likely.

Friday. What a boring work day. I made the best of it playing Zelda again. The only work related thing I did was go hunt down a camera with the property manager to be tagged. That was it. Thank lord it was a short day. No one was there to do or need anything. After work Yvette and I went to Twin Peaks for a little lunch grub. It wasn’t bad. I do like the food, but I’msure others will think I go for the scenery. Not true.

Now the excitement. I was helping make tamales with Yvette’s family. It was actually very much fun. The process was very exciting. We had an assembly line. I was spreading the masa. It was impressive how much time goes into this. It was also a lot of fun doing some family bonding. I eventually got to try the tamales but first we had to bail to go have dinner with my mom. She was leaving for Houston in the morning. We had a nice dinner and good conversations. Over all it was a great Friday and I spent most of it with the woman that I love.

Happy Friday!!

Jalapeño

Chili and shells.

After MRI dinner. Actually, I had stir fry earlier but because I had been unable to eat due to the appointment I was really hungry. I think it was okay to treat myself.

Beef street tacos with cabbage, jalapeño and tomatoes.

Sesame chicken with steamed broccoli.

Chicken Alfredo with sun dried tomatoes.

Cork & Pig with my mom and Yvette. Friday date night +1.

From graduation catering, retirements, Christmas parties and the presidents office I was offer a lot of free food this week. Some hit and some miss. I don’t care. It was food and it was free. I suppose the brisket, chorizo stuffed mushrooms, pozole and chicken on a stick were the favorite from the events. It’s that time of year.

Rain!! A damn good amount at that. It was gloomy most of the week starting on Tuesday. Oh the joy I felt. We also really needed the rain so it was a win win for me.

Physical therapy was brutal on Thursday. I actually felt like I could have thrown up afterwards. I know that I benefit from it but damn is it hard on me. It’s me basically paying money for pain and I still have a few more months of it to go. What a thing to go through.

Friday was dead on campus. Finals were over. So many Christmas parties I’m so happy for Yvette’s daughter for making it through her first semester.

Happy Friday!!!

Jalapeño

Chicken curry over broccoli.

Pasta with green beans.

Tikka Masala

Chicken zucchini stir fry.

Pork tenderloin with Brussels, rice & raspberry chipotle sauce.

Chicken verde with a fried egg and beans.

Italian Nachos. Date night.

The vampires truly sank their teeth into me Monday. They took 15 vials of my blood during my morning my morning lab work. I was expecting routine lab work. They lady wheeled a cart over loaded with empty vials and I tentatively asked if those were all for me. She said yes. Let me know if you get dizzy. Lord. What kind of lab was this. They most I’ve given was 3 vials. I did indeed get busy. I was also freezing the rest of the day and anxious as a motherfucker.

The follow up doctors visit seemed to be good. My test results. It was a relief. I was better than I was 6 months ago. A year ago I was in the ICU. I’m lucky to be alive.

Friday was date night. I was getting prep work done and started playing Zelda. I got a call fro Yvette. She was working the River Christmas light tour. Some volunteers didn’t show up so they were short. I went a filled in. It was actually very fun. I handed out candy canes and dog treats. I was with her daughter. We both couldn’t believe we were doing that. Unexpected Friday.

Happy Friday!!!

Jalapeño

Ginger soy chicken.

Enchilada chicken.

Chicken tetrazzini. Thank you Yvette. My favorite.

Mini meatloaf with tatters and green beans.

Chinese Jalapeño Chicken over rice.

Date night!! Chicken Bulgolgi with seaweed salad and kimchi.