Saturday was great. During the evening we received over half and inch of rain. I heard that the storm was rather intense but somehow I managed to sleep right through it. Everything about the next day just felt so refreshed. The air quality was perfect. We had a nice partly cloudy day with some perfect temps. I

went and picked us up some breakfast. Kolache again. This place right down the street has become my new favorite place in the mornings. After eating everyone got dressed for the 9:30 Easter egg hunt the campus was hosting. They had popcorn, cotton candy, balloon animals and all sorts of games. Alaya was very grateful for the Easter Bunny, for he has been too kind this year.

It was kind of a lazy day for the most part. Alaya had a little Easter photo session and Yvette and I ate some leftovers and lounged most the day. I ran a few simple errands and made a quick HEB trip and pretty much just chilled. Easter dinner was at 6:30 and all I had left to do was the deviled eggs. Hard part’s all behind me.

We made it to my mother and I assembled the eggs. My other parents were there so I was able to have a nice conversation while working. Multi task. So much going on with the nephews, adults and the little baby. It was rather funny seeing how my brother baby reacted to ours. He didn’t like it. Typical. He threw a little fit as was expected. The older two loved her. Anyways, we all bloated ourselves and my diabetic devices beeped LOUDLY most the night. Not one thinks of me in the holidays. Just kidding, It’s my time to cheat a little.

Easter Sunday I slept in LATE. Yvette woke me up at 10 o’clock saying they were going to church. Teegan also slept in and missed the service so I wasn’t the only orc. I decided to make myself some breakfast/brunch and eat and have some coffee outside. I was a beautiful morning. I probably should have gotten ready for the noon Easter egg hunt but I couldn’t bring myself to go inside. Beautiful morning!

The Easter egg hunt was a lot more laid back than all the others which we attended. No hurry for eggs, everyone took their time and shared. Alaya got a good haul. My nephews got a good haul. Everyone was happy. After the egg hunt we went to my mom’s for leftover lunch. We made some ham and Swiss sliders. I didn’t really need much due to the fact I’d already had a substantial breakfast. It was a lot of fun though. Sadly the boys had to hit the road back to Houston it was a short lived trip for them.

The rest of the day went fast. For dinner we went over to Yvette’s parents and had a hell of a spread. BBQ. The best, really. Her dad and I had a beer after dinner and we all enjoyed the nice weather outside. I was bloated. I left a little early to go hang out with my brother who wasn’t leaving until Monday. I had a little bit of wine and we sat down to watch something we had all seen, Taken, with Liam Neeson. Just something we didn’t have to think about and could still visit without worrying about missing anything.

Tee and I watched the lasted episode of The Last of Us. Wow. Hard. I knew what was coming but I wasn’t expecting it so soon in the season. Really a bummer. I mean, what an awesome episode but good lord was it bleak. I’m really curious how the show will continue forward. Bold move, HBO. Bold move. Some real GoT shit right there.

It was a good Easter and a great Easter weekend.

Earth Day/ Riley Dog Day. That’s the day my boy Riley died in my arms. He was the best dog and a true friend. We went everywhere together. 13 years ago. I still miss him and think of him. I’m glad he passed on Earth Day because I not only celebrate him but our special planet. This year I think it needs some extra hugs. With all the bullshit the current administration is pulling, I’ve notice Mother Earth weeping.

The campus had its usual little celebration. You could pot a plant, enjoy giveaways & activities, or just listen to the campus band really knock it out the park. I’m not exactly sure when we began the tradition of celebrating Earth Day but it’s been fun the few times I have been. I really think it is a fairly recent tradition. I need to ask some people because I think it’s rather exciting.

Wednesday we had a crazy man on campus. He probably wasn’t crazy but maybe he was. Some “preacher” had something to say on campus. What did he have to say, you ask. Just view the photo below. I walked upon the scene and the campus police were escorting him off campus. He said he would be back, and sure as hell if he wasn’t good for his word. He congregated quite the crowd and some good arguments from students. I don’t think anyone agreed with his message and was a little dumbfounded by his choice of location to spread his gospel. It’s something we don’t see very often and I found it rather exciting in a morbid sort of way. Let it be known, we have a pretty peaceful campus and this kind of hatred does not match our values. I don’t know where the heck this guy crawled out of. Where did he have the sign made?

After work I had a lot on my plate. I had to rush out to my mothers to check on her dogs. She took a day trip to San Antonio for her knee appointment. Next, I had a two year old girls birthday party. Yvette’s cousin Luke’s little girl. This was a much more dialed back party than her first, which makes sense. They had some really amazing food for the event. Steak & chicken fajita’s w/ Charro beans. The beans were exceptionally good. The cook gave them a spice no one was expecting and I was thrilled to find. He put whole jalapeños & chicharrones. I loved them. I must also mention the salsa and the guacamole. Fantastic.

After the party it was off to the hospital. Yvette’s oldest son had a baby on the way. We went for some moral support because it looked like this one was going to continue to take his time coming into the world. This is a far cry form how little Alaya arrived. She announced herself in a hurry. We were in the waiting room for a little while waiting for the “soon to be” babies momma’s epidural to kick in. When they finally let us back we jsut visited for a little while. She was dialated at a 1.5 and had to get to a 10. There was still a good amount of time.

Back at the house Yvette and I put on a movie we both had not seen. Something we didn’t have to think about. Greenland. I will admit it was good. I always get sucked into the disaster films. In this one w asteroid was fast approaching earth. Imminent collision. Gerard Butler is always good for a little fun movie viewing. Apparently the movie was released the year 2020. Not a good year for end of the world scenario films. Oh well, we enjoyed it. That was our night after a long day.

A baby was born!! Thursday morning around 3:30 the baby finally arrived. I say finally because we had been waiting for him to make himself known to the world at any time. The hospital kept pushing the date back. We thought he would be an Easter baby but somehow he made it to Thursday morning before entering the world. It was exciting to say the least. What a week. It’s crazy how when you expect something to happen it’s still a shock when it finally does happen. I knew it was coming for days. So I have two grandchildren now. Call me a happy Pops. I was so excited to meet him and I sure as hell didn’t want to be at work on that blessed day. For lunch I rushed my happy ass to the hospital to meet the little guy and he was even more adorable than I imagined. The parents were beaming. I caught a lucky break between people visits because Noah said it had been rather busy. I had to hold the little guy even thought I I dreaded waking him. What a beautiful day.

What can I say about the rest of the week? It was one hell of a week. Friday was dull compared to every other day. I really had to find things to do. I felt like every gormless individual made their way into our office. I tried my best to stay away from that place. Yvette being off campus the last two days left me a little jealous and really wanting to be anywhere else. She did pop in for a second to finish up some work and I got to hang out with Alaya and give her a tour of her Gigi’s building. That was fun for us.

After work I do what I usually do. Go get some last min groceries, I still wasn’t sure what was for dinner until after 5. Eye’s rolling. That drones I prepped what was going to be fore dinner, made a trip for some hooch and went to visit my mom and hear how her night was. She went to the “Dancing with the Stars” event we had in town. Apparently they serve a lot of hooch at these events. After chatting I came home a started our dinner. It was a grilling kind of night. Actually, the third night I’ve grilled chicken breast and Lola has eaten it. Progress. Maybe she just never had it cooked right and now she knows that I can cook it right. I’m happy not cooking steak. Finally. It was a nice evening to grill and have some beers. Trust me, I needed them. My back was having a week. If this keeps up, that injection is starting to sound good.

Happy Friday!!

Jalapeño

Easter dinner early.

Easter breakfast. Chipotle ham & cheese omelet with bacon and fries.

Easter lunch! Ham & Swiss Hawaiian sliders with some leftover pea salad.

Easter dinner. Pulled pork, ribs, sausage and potato salad.

Fajita chicken with Yvette’s Spanish rice.

Chorizo potato with Spanish rice.

Beef and chicken fajita with beans.

Sesame chicken w/ rice.

Grilled chicken fajita tacos.

Saturday morning I went and grabbed us some kolach’s. I don’t know why but I was just really craving that upon wake up. After having my breakfast it was time for the fun part of my day, taking and bagging leaves. Through the week I made a few piles to save myself some time on Friday, but I still had a LOT to do. First things first, getting some more trash bags. These Live Oak that I have are so damn messy I knew it would take a good amount. I started with the driveway and finished in the back. 15 bags later and I was done. I hosed off the patio and cleaned my dirty self up. I was filthy.

A weekend movie. I had been talking to see a flick called Warfare. I was excited because I really didn’t expect the movie to be showing in my town. I went to the theater for the 12:15 viewing and was shocked to find out it was sold out. I really half expected to be the sole individual at the viewing. I expressed this to the ticket clerk who told me it was full of military from the base. I didn’t think of that and it made perfect sense.

Since I was already out I looked to see if any other movie I might want to see was playing at about the same time. I got lucky with a movie called Drop. It interested enough that I stuck around. The movie was actually rather entertaining. I don’t know much about Apple air drops but I think this played well into how it could be used in a scary manner. So sure, I didn’t see the movie I was planning on seeing and ended up watching a movie I would have normally waited to see in my own home. I still had a nice time and was glad that I went.

Date night. I was excited to for us to both go somewhere we have not been together. The resturant was one my brother and I visited back in 2021 after the pandemic and after my ex wife had left me. He and I enjoyed the place and for some reason I never returned. It was on the other side of town but I drive by with work. all the time and think about going. We had ourselves a good taco tequila night. It’s nice to have a date night. Adults need that.

Sunday we managed to sleep in and it was great. I assume that we both needed it. The downside was I needed to get back in the yard and by 11 it was already hot. I got a psyched to mow and only seconds before Yvette points out that the mower isn’t at the house. It seems her son needed to borrow it. No big deal, I needed to go to a hardware store for some hose repairs. My water hose was so crimped. Yard was mowed, hose was fixed, door knob installed and bedroom wall lights mounted. All the while making time to fill up Alaya’s pool and plant some plants. A productive day which finished with a brief trip to my mom’s and a late show Teegan and I were excited for, season 2 of the Last of Us. It was a good weekend.

Monday morning was difficult. I worked too hard over the weekend and stayed up too late Sunday. I was dragging my ass around. Nothing could get me going. Trust me, I tried and tried. It was also very hot. Not a great Monday but luckily Tuesday was much better. It cooled off and was a beautiful day. I once again felt very productive at work and volunteered myself jobs just to keep busy. After work we came back up to the campus for a little Easter Egg hunt that Athletics was hosting. The turn out was good and they had plenty of eggs for everyone. I was happy the split the big kids form the little kids to make it fair. Alaya’s first egg hunt. She looked so cute with her eggs. In true Alaya fashion, the first thing she did was try and eat the eggs. Made for some pretty great pictures.

Yvette bailed out of our evening walk at last min so Hazel and I went on an extra long one. It truly was a beautiful evening. We walked for about an hour across the campus. Had a few greetings by the local fox population. I see enough of them during the day so it was rather nice encountering them after dark when they are more active. I was very happy for Hazel being able to keep up. She is still very active for her age and I’d like her to stay that way. I think these walks are as good for her as they are for me.

Hump day arrived and it just felt like Thursday. I guess in a way it was our Thursday since we had Good Friday off with no work. Work started off loud and so very annoying. People just wanted to talk and talk. My group wanted nothing of it and we all were very happy when it cleared out. Let us adjust for an hour, please. It was a strange day. Lots of stupid. Lots of it. People. What’s wrong with them. Communication breakdown, but I also must laugh.

Thursday was WAY too fucking busy for me. I had to fill in for Seth and that guy left a damn mess for me. So he went across campus and picked up some very big boxes and brought them back to our area. Well, the fool didn’t look to see that those boxes needed to go right back where they came from. That’s how my day began. The entire day was me cleaning up after him. It was insanely busy.

My only good moment of the day was with Yvette. We actually went out for lunch. It’s rare for us since we usually just eat at home. Jason’s Deli was calling our name. It was good as usual, and of course the company was a gift.

After lunch I couldn’t believe how much happened in the short hour I had been gone. The rest of the day I was running around for 3 hours without ever getting back into my computer. You see, what I didn’t do in Seth’s absence would become my responsibility come Monday. I’d rather just knock it out than take it all on on the Monday after a holiday weekend. By the end of work I was exhausted. I needed a drink.

After dinner I laid in bed and watched City Slickers. It’s been years and years since I had seen the movie and it really hits hard now that I am the age of the lead actors. Mid life, what a place to be. I never really understood how these characters felt u til this recent view. I can totally relate now that I’m technically older than the movies characters. Ouch. It made me feel really old. The movie came out when I was just 10.

Good Friday!!! Happy Friday!!! The day started out great, with both Yvette and I sleeping in. I finally woke up and made some breakfast sausage on the grill. Just a little snack to get us going. Alaya and I walked around outside and enjoyed the nice cloudy cool day. It was truly beautiful. It seems that she loves my wind chimes.

Friday night we were having ribs for dinner so I prepped them for the oven. I wanted to slow cook them for about 4 hours. I wasn’t sure if I’d be home to put them in the oven at 2 since I was running around town for my mom getting everything together for the Easter feast. I had the day off with nothing else to do so why the heck not.

We made a big list and I took off to hit the stores. My goodness, everyone must have been off on Friday because the store was an utter monster to transverse. to make matters worse, my device notified me that my blood sugar was low and dropping. I had no sugar on me in a store full of sugar. I left my half full cart and went out to my car for some skittles.

After that beast was conquered, I was off to get the ham my mother had ordered. Eggemeyer’s downtown has always been a very cool spot and it’s been years since I last stopped. It’s a specialties store and fun to look around but if you want to do shopping you better have that check book handy. I walked in and immediately realized that they expanded the place. How long ago, I wondered? After that quick stop I grabbed my mother and I some food. A very very late lunch at around 4.

We got things done. I “boiled and peeled” the eggs for Saturdays deviled eggs. I made the pea salad, which means cooking bacon. I shelled a bag of pistachios. It was a busy time and a lot of fun with my mom.

That night it was Teegan, Lola, Noah, Cameron, Yvette and I. Of course the little girl. I made a bit meal. Lots of meats. Perfect Friday evening.

Happy Friday!! Cheers!!

Jalapeño

Dinner out on the town.

Chipotle chicken bowl.

Skillet King Ranch Chicken.

Mississippi chicken.

Cheesy chicken and rice.

Leftover chicken street tacos.

.Chicken thigh, pork ribs, sausage with mac and cheese, slaw and okra.

It stormed early Saturday and woke me up thunder. Lightning. HAIL!!! I eventually went back to bed but damn it we didn’t get some much needed rain. My weather station read over an inch and a half.

We had tickets to the Rodeo for Saturdays matinee. I was excited. It would be the baby girls first rodeo. It was a typical rodeo day, cold and wet. We got there and the show was a good time. The contenders were not having their best day but it was still fun. The seats even better. Thanks to a friend on campus for gifting them to me. We were so close that Lola and I actually had dirt kicked into our faces from a bucking horse. It was nice to be so close that we could taste the dirt. After the show we went into the pavilion to shop and the fairgrounds for some turkey leg. While waiting we brought the girl to the petting zoo. Yvette and I went for some nachos afterwards. It was a good outing.

After the rodeo and fair I went to meet my brother for a drink. We had our drink with a friend and I ran off to HEB for some dinner ingredients. Quick trip back to the house to pick up Yvette and we were off to my mom’s for some dinner that my brother and I were cooking. We ate and we watched the final 4 March Madness. The Florida Gators won! Houston won! Wow! Hope the Gators win it all.

We watched “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.” An LA detective movie, I guess. One of Val Kilmer’s last really good films. A very entertaining movie also staring Robert Downey Jr., first big film after getting out of rehab. Pretty much the first stepping stone to Iron Man. The film is all laughs and high tension. Some exceptional dialogue. Written and directed by Shane Black, you kind of know what you are getting yourself into. It seems my brother is on a Val Kilmer

Sunday we woke up and got packed for the road to Waco. We tour another college, Baylor. The road was desolate. None of us had ever been to Waco from San Angelo. Talk about the middle of no where route that google suggested for us. . You best have filled up your gas tank before this trip. Mind you, this is the most direct route. We could have taken a longer trip that would have afforded us more populated towns. Oh well. For 2 hours we didn’t see a single community. Nothing. No gas station or place to potty for 2 hours. No creature comfort you expect on the road. No shoulder to pull over on. Nothing. It had been a long time since we’ve been on such a long stretch of highway like that that I almost thought they didn’t exist any more. We gave a collective sigh of relief when we actually found a town that we could stop to stretch or legs, potty and grab a snack. The rest of the way was the modern highway one comes to expect while traveling. It was actually a rather pretty trip going forward. Bluebonnets were in bloom.

Once we made it into Waco we checked into he hotel and found something to eat. Teegan actually had scoped oit a place he had been hearing about on TikTok called Dave’s Hot Wings. I figured I would get the hottest wings that they had just for the experience. Usually ordering the hottest does very little for me so I was taken back when they made me sign a waiver saying that they had warned me of the spice level. When the wings arrived I could smell the heat. I have to say that the heat was much more than expected. I was expecting something like BWW’s heat and what I got was next level. It kicked me in the guts, literally. I was happy. For once I wasn’t disappointed. I told Yvette that chain food usually isn’t very hot. I make myself food at this level of heat. That alone says it all.

The hotel stay was interesting. While tee and Yvette went up to the room and waited downstairs to get extra towels, TO and tissue. While waiting This rough woman wondered in. The hotel manager began asking her all sorts of questions. She said she was a guest at the hotel but didn’t k ow what room or what name. She just looked lost and she was talking to herself. While going back upstairs a firetruck could be heard real close by. Back in the room I looked out the window and the truck was in front of the hotel. I went back downstairs and sure as shit it was that lady being checked out and taken away by pharametics. What was that story about? Who knows.

Monday morning. The complimentary breakfast. It is what it is. I enjoy them solely for the people watching. The food is generally crap. We had some truly hungover looking people in the hotel that morning. My god. The coffee… now that’s what I always need.

Baylor campus tour. I was immediately impressed. Walking into The Welcome Center was akin to checking into a very nice hotel. My campus has nothing remotely similar. After a brief presentation we loaded into golf car and the tour began. The morning was brisk but we had dressed appropriately. Not everyone on the tour was dressed for the cold and it was comical that these girls chose to look cute over dressing practical. Our tour guide was was well informed a he took us to the Business and Science buildings, each costing 100 million. To say these building were impressive does not convey just how close my jaw was to the ground.

The cherry on top was our final stop, the football stadium. I figured they would want to show it off but I never thought they would bring us out into the field. It was damn impressive. I’ve never been in a stadium like that. Even Teegan was pretty floored. We got some great pictures and I think we could all agree the tour scored above expectations.

After the tour was over it was time for lunch. My mother’s friend recommended two places, one of them was closed. The other was a weird little pizza place right out of the 60s. The pizza was fantastic. I’m not so sure about a place that plays The Three Stooges on loop but it was a good pizza. After lunch we should have been hitting the road but we had a low tire so we went to get air. While waiting I noticed a nail, unfortunately. This put us behind for almost 2 hours while we waited for them to replace the tire. Barns & Noble close by turned into a godsend. One good thing came out of the delay, Teegan finally found some Pokémon cards. He was a happy camper.

The drive back we opted out of taking the two hour backwoods road through no man’s land for a slightly longer trip on actual roads where we would see actual communities. I think that was the best choice. We were all tired and didn’t need to white knuckle a sketchy highway. What a trip.

I really can’t say much about the week. Yvette had a bad one, I had an okay one. Went to work, evening walks and just pretty much drifted though. I’m sure something exciting happened but I really can’t vouch for it. Ah, life.

National Pet Day. Happy Friday!!

Jalapeño

Ravioli with a mushroom cream baked with fried onions on top served with Italian Parmesan green beans and caprese salad.

Some spicy damn chicken. It hurt in a oh so good way.

Topatios w/ fideo.

Guiso rice bowl.

Frozen chicken bites in the air fryer with mozzarella/parmesan cheese and marinara sauce served over egg noodles and Italian style green beans. A quickly thrown together meal.

Grilled orange chicken with some chili crisp broccoli.

Grilled chicken tacos.

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.

Saturday morning we were reunited with the kids. The smile I got from the little one when she saw me at the airport melted my heart. I sure missed these people. We got them loaded up and back to the hotel for a little free breakfast, which was not very good but oh well. Next on the agenda before departure was Trader Joe’s.

For whatever reason, Lola drove the first half of the return trip. I needed a Xanax to calm down. Just kidding, she did fine. I was a little worried but they were all for nil. She did make one impulsive move to turn us around outside of DFW to eat at a Chuy’s off the interstate. I had never been. It was good. Yvette and I shared a meal. I’m always weary of eating when traveling. You just don’t know how your stomach might take it.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. We got home and all settled. I went to my mom’s to pick up my dogs and I picked up some pizza. After having a bite I was alone in a quiet house. I decided to go for a little walk. It was a nice evening.

Sunday we all slept in a little. It was the day of the surprise birthday for Sofie, Yvette’s niece. I got ready early and decided to run out to Sam’s to fill up gas and grab some bottled water. While out there I picked up some rotisserie chicken for us to use for the week.

The girls got ready and we all went to the birthday. party. I’ve never been a part of a surprise party and it was exciting. For the food we had homemade Guamanian. Yvette’s sister-in-law’s side of the family are from Guam. I will say the food was amazing, but damn it my blood sugar didn’t care much for it. I went HIGH. Lord I really hate being a diabetic sometimes.

After dropping off some leftovers at the house I went to my mom for a mother/son time looking for outdoor plants. I have a thing for potted plants on my porch. That little hobby was cultivated by my grandmother. She use to take me shopping for plants in Ballinger Tx. My mom and I have always kept potted plants and it’s just that time of year we both had the itch to scratch. We didn’t have the best of luck. Slim picking and some pretty pathetically cared for plants.

Sunday night was great. I went home and potted my plants. Just having a little bit of color is a nice change from the blandness of winter. After potting the plants I started on dinner. I invited Noah and Nadia to come join us for steak fajita bowls. I cooked up all the fixings out on the grill and enjoyed a couple cold beers. The special sauce was prepared ahead of time. Nadia didn’t make it but Noah came over to eat. The kids were not all that excited to be going back to school after Spring Break and I completely relate. It was a fun night and I have found that I really enjoy cooking for all of them on these Sunday nights. I might not have it perfectly down when it comes to making the correct portions, but I am getting better. It’s a challenge that I have accepted.

The week began like a sloth crossing the road. The kids counsels get going at the house, no one at work seemed to motivated to be productive, yet I was ready to roll. Unfortunately, I was unable to because of office duty. After the long day was done I cooked another new dish. Well, sort of. I’ve made the basics before but used a different pasta this go round. I also tweaked it a little. With dinner done early Yvette, Alaya, Hazel and I went for a walk across the campus. It was a beautiful night and we all had a blast, especially Alaya and Hazel. We made that a thing all week long.

Staff senate. The first of two Teams meeting was scheduled for Tuesday and although I said I would be able to attend, with my job you just never know for sure. If something comes up I have to drop and go. The meeting was at 11:30 and I all but made the last min. Lucky for me it was short. The person I picked to win the award was also favored by everyone else in the committee. I was a little appalled that everyone else was able to see that I was the most harsh when it came to ranking. I was the only person to give a 1 rating. I was just going by the outline I was given on how to rank. I didn’t let personal experience get in my way. I feel like the others must have or they just didn’t want to seem “mean”. What’s the point in this if it’s not fair and not biased. Good to know that everyone now either thinks I’m an asshole or I am just flat out honest. The second one on Thursday wasn’t as revealing.

Thursday night was more March Madness. My two teams, Florida and Texas Tech both playing. Florida won the first game and after a nice walk I watched the very late TT game. The Tech game was ugly to watch. I tried to stay up but the damn game was going to last until at least midnight. I snoozed and eventually woke back up towards the very end of the game. It was neck and neck but at the very end Texas Tech pulled it off with a 85-83. Yay and goodnight.

Friday was finally a day that I was able to escape the office. We were short staffed and that gave me some opportunities to be free and fly away like a little bird that had been caged its entire life. I joke, it wasn’t that bad of a week. I had the privilege of having a private tour at our new aviation building that’s located out at the airport. I was kind of happy with my task of heading out there, it got me far away from the campus and a round trip of 30 min car time. Anyways, the tour was great. Such a beautiful facility and I’m afraid to even know how much it all cost. The flight simulators were stunning.

That night I was going to take Yvette out for dinner pre birthday but we found out the kids had both planned on going to a concert so we were going to babysit the little girl. That’s a good time and we could just get some carry out food. Well, that was earlier said than done. The Wharf decided they would not do carry out over the phone because they were too busy. Okay, I’ll just go get some take out and wait at the bar for my food. I drove all the way only to be told that they don’t do food in the bar. Uh, I was getting it to go. Nope, they are not doing to go food. Well, how long is the wait for a table? 30 min. Okay. I’ll get a table and get the food to go. Again I was told no. At this point I was pissed and it didn’t help the hostess was rude. I mean, it wasn’t like they were not going to get any money out of it. I was even willing to wait around and have drinks. I really would have called that a “last time” if I had not been going there for years and years.

Defeated, I went home. Yvette and I regrouped and it was decided on some Korean food. I could not get anyone to pick up the phone so I just decided to go and place an order in person. Again, a wait. At least they would take a to go order. I went down the street and had a beer while I waited for a text saying our food was ready. I picked it up, went home and realized half the order was missing. This was not our night for to go food. I called and they said the rest of the order would be ready in 10 min. Christ.

When we finally ate, gave the girl a bath, and put her to bed it was March Madness and relaxation. Good lord. Happy Friday!!

Jalapeño

Tired from the road and the travel I didn’t want to cook. I picked up some pizza from a place called Trophy’s.

Steak fajita bowls.

Marry Me Chicken Pasta.

Buffalo Chicken Pasta. Yvette made dinner and I added some blue cheese crumbles. Delicious.

Yvette cooked tonight. Balsamic steak and peppers with an artichoke summer salad.

Italian sausage mushroom pasta. It’s basically a sauce of butter, Parmesan, heavy cream and wine. Lots of spices. I was happy

Chicken Bulgolgi.

Saturday was a trip to Dallas. Lola, Tee & the baby had to fly out at 6AM Sunday morning. I k ow, what a convenient time to depart all thanks to their father. You see, they were off to visit him in Atlanta, Georgia. The ride I wasn’t 100% looking forward to simply because it hurts like hell to be in a car. To make matters worse, I forgot to take pain meds before departure. we stopped just before the interstate to right this wrong. Anyways, the day was a nice one. The wind was nowhere near what it was the day before. Small blessings.

We didn’t make the best time even with just one stop. The traffic was consistently awful. I will say, regardless, I had a good time. The pills that I purchased during our one stop made the second half of the trip much more enjoyable.

Once in Dallas we all agreed that a very late lunch was needed. We stopped at an In-n-Out Burger. It had been 13 years since I have eaten at the establishment and boy did it satisfy. I was in California for my cousins wedding. It was the same year I started working at the university. The same month, to be exact. That was before on could find the food chain anywhere other than California. I had an animal style burger, of course. How in the world could I not. It’s the only way.

The hotel was nice. It had a resturant and bar, beautiful pool and some very nice spacious rooms. It seemed they were having a Saint Patrick’s Day party the night we were staying. That’s always fun. I look forward to people watching later.

Yvette and I left the kids in the room and went exploring the hotel and the adjacent lot, which had restaurants. We were thinking of getting something to go and having it in the room. I found a beer and liquor store and picked up some local Dallas brew. Community. I’ve had it before and it only felt fair with us having passed by the establishment on our way in.

A shopping spree, multiple Resturant stops and it was time to kick back and relax around the hotel. Yvette and I went to grab some food in walking distance. They didn’t give it to us to go so we had a dinner date. A place called Texadelphia. It was really good and it was fun. We walked back to the hotel and went to the room. I decided to people watch. I ended up at the bar talking to the bartender. Kindred spirits, bartenders and I. I had a drink and a beer. The conversations I heard were absurdly stupid. Drunk travelers. Did I mention the Saint Patricks Day party that was going on? No? Well, it was a big thing and it was exclusively African Americans. They were all decked out. I’m talking some expensive looking green suits. They had the entire ballroom area booked and the party was going on until 1AM. I rode the elevator with a Leprechaun. They told me the real party was on the 7th floor after the downstairs party was over. I didn’t even want to know. After having my fix I went upstairs and went right to bed

Sunday we woke up at 4 am to get the kids off to the airport. It’s amazing to me how much traffic on a Sunday morning is moving around already. The airport surprised us by being rather busy. Oh yeah, spring break. They got their baggage checked in and we left them at boarding. Unbeknownst and very lucky for us we got a free pass. Because the baby was on board they got priority which meant they cut ahead of about 100 people waiting for security. The flight was actually at 6:35 so that was a real blessing. Yvette and I waited around until we heard from them that they had made it through TSA and had found their gate before departing back to the hotel for a little shut eye.

I like the complimentary breakfast at hotels just to people watch. It’s always fun to listen to the other conversations. Half of which that morning seemed hungover from the Saint Patty party the night before. That after party on the 7th floor must have been a real banger. The meal was your typical hotel shit. Choice of eggs, sausage, and a variety of carbs, none of which were very good. Just bland free food. Like I said, it’s not the food I like. I got what I needed and ate downstairs while also making Yvette a meal to go.

On the road again. The traffic was much more even flow and we really only encountered one area bottle necked, which we quickly detoured. Good conversations and just a damn pretty day. Yvette decided to take us on a little adventure for lunch. A place called Underwood’s that was a little out of the way but she wanted me to try it. The place had been around since 1946 and she could t believe that I’d never been. It was like a time capsule. Old school cafeteria line with trays and all. They serve the meat position while you help yourself to the sides and fixing plus desserts. I almost forgot how that even worked. It was really a fun experience and the food was great. Another first time experience with her.

We made it home and decompressed. Yvette ran to her folks for a bit and I ran out to my mom’s. Neither of us were very hungry and we were both pretty tired. We watched the current episode of the White Lotus and made our way to bed. The house was so damn quiet I wasn’t even sure I would be able to sleep.

St. Patrick’s Day! Monday was the day of the Irish. With my little bit of Irish heritage I always celebrate and this year was not going to be any different. Nothing crazy, of course. I am now 43, but with the kids out of town we decided to have some fun. We had already planned to make Monday a date night before we even realized what the day was. Why not go out and have some drinks and a little to eat.

On my way home I stopped by Parrots Head to see my friend that was working. He is a good man and he always gets really festive. This year he was not at all disappointing, he had a green beard and Leprechaun green hat. After having an obligatory green beer I went home.

Yvette and I got ready for our outing, Shenanigans. She looked amazing and needed to show off the new hair. I must have looked like a bum next to her that night. We had an Irish whiskey shot and a few beer with our magic mushrooms. We both love fried mushroooms and as far as I know Shenanigans is the only place in town that still serves them. It was a good time. I ran into 3 bartenders I had not seen in a long time and that was also kind of cool. It was a lot of fun getting out. Call it a date night. Of course I had an Irish meal planned for dinner so we only snacked.

I was asked to be on a staff senate committee. To decide who best deserves the presidents awards for staff excellence. My friend Brit reached out to me months ago because they were having trouble filling it. I said I would think about it and when eventually asked again I said yes I would do it. My focus is on leadership & innovation. I had to fill out a rubric grading the nominees. Some of these people, I’m sorry to say, are not what I would deem worthy of any type of reward. At least from my perspective, they were not that great at the job that they were assigned to do. Some of the nominations really had no examples to give that proved they were able to accomplish the tasked needed. Is it fair to give low scores to those you know do their jobs and work hard because the nomination wrote such a poor letter for them? From the criteria, that is how I must score people. It’s a shame. I mean, you can fluff someone with praise all you want, but come on, how hard is it to give just one good example of what they have done to better the team. I spent a few hours on this, reading and scoring and writing up my reasons for the scores. It was something different but I don’t think I’ll agree to this again if asked.

This was the first real week Yvette and I have had alone since we got married and I will say that as much as I missed the kids around and how eerie the quiet was, I sure liked our alone week. It was good for us both, I believe. Hell, what if we found out we really can’t just be alone with each other? It was a fantastic week together. Thursday was our last night at the house together and we made it special. We had that drive to Dallas ahead of us the next day so it wasn’t too late. What a week, though. I think I appreciate and understand my parents more by just having a week without kids. It’s something I never understood completely and now I sure do.

Friday it was on the road again. Back to Dallas. The kids flew in Saturday morning bright and early. We decided it would be easier to just take a vacation day and drive early rather than wait till after work. Really a bitch the flights that their father booked. The most inconvenient of times. Oh well. I went and got us breakfast and gas while Yvette cleaned a little and finished getting ready. Some McDonalds. Yay. Always a good quick breakfast. Reliable.

The drive was my first big travel drive since I had hit my head. I was a little worried. It ended up being rather fun. I missed the days of driving and or the longest time I was uncomfortable getting back on the road.it really wasn’t all that bad. Once the traffic got bad I just found someone to cruise behind and we had a good 40 min together. Sadly, our relationship didn’t last and I was alone again..

We stopped at a local brewery on the way in. Martian House. Funny thing, they make most the prickly beer that is distributed around the great state of Texas. We had hoped they had a little to eat but alas, they were just a taproom. No less, I had myself 2 beers and passed the baton over to Yvette to drive the rest of the hotel. Bummer that it happened to be rush hour but we didn’t have much further to do.

We picked up a little booze and checked in. Our last night alone and all. We were staying at a different hotel this go round and the surroundings were so different even if in the same area. Much more homeless people, which was sad. It doesn’t worry me so much, but I sure didn’t want Yvette to go to the car after dark. I mean, when you pull into the hotel you are staying at and a man is sleeping in the parking lot it’s discerning. The hotel was really nice though. It’s just downtown living. You have to expect that.

We went out to have a nice night on the town. We didn’t want to eat anything we could find in San Angelo. We found a cool place called Maple Landing. Heard good things and it was a fun little establishment. Surrounded by upscale apartments that you will see in any of these cities these days. What was clearly once a quiet little neighborhood was appropriated. Oh well, I am not a social justice warrior. Dinner was good and the drinks were even better. We went back to the hotel and relaxed and watched some March Madness

Happy Friday!!

Jalapeño

Leftover pulled pork BBQ tacos.

St. Patty’s Day Sheppard Pie. I make it once a year.

Texas whiskey glazed pork belly burnt ends w/ beans and cheesy pepper squash.

Homemade pizza and wings. Mango habanero and buffalo.

Carnitas verde.

Pork belly taco with some vinaigrette slaw.

Saturday was fucking cold again. We woke up and the sun had gone hiding behind the damn clouds. Boooooooo. Baby shower day. I had to run to the Post Office to ship off a eBay sale and a run to Target for a gift bag. Very last minute and all on me.

The party was for Noah, Nadia and Baby Niles. The turn out was really great. Hell, I helped serve the food and we damn near ran out. To say it was a little unstructured would be putting it lightly. The important thing was that the parents of the upcoming baby had fun and I could see that they did. That is key. I’m petty sure everyone had fun. Shame it had to be a bit of a chilly day since we had a lake house rented out. Damn the luck.

After the shower fun we got home and saw Teegan off to his Junior Prom. The guy looked sharp in his suit. I was proud of him. My mother let him borrow her car so he could pick up his date with some real style.I could tell he was a little nervous but I recall my first prom. What a time that was. After he was off Yvette and I decided to go get a cocktail and a little snack. I knew she needed to relax after the baby shower. That night I cooked for us and it turned out to be a nice relaxing evening. Saturday was nice once the work was over with.

Sunday we took on the damn time change and it was kicking us all in the teeth. Even Alaya seemed thrown by it. I got up and made us a breakfast pizza. Chorizo and potato. I was very happy to hear from lola that this pizza was my best one yet. I might not agree with that assessment but I was very happy to hear it from her being she is a picky eater. It was a safe bet that she would enjoy it considering it’s all her favorite burrito fixings.

Mickey 17. I’ve liked the films by Bong Joon Ho. Parasite won him a best Oscar but Snowpiercer and Okja were the two movies that have made him a must see director. Okja had me questioning myself ever eating meat again. Such a powerful film and I get a little teared up just thinking about it. This film was more in line with those, being that it was also si-fi. Robert Pattinson is an actor who went from joke to exciting in a matter of just a few movies. Let’s just say he did well here. He plays an expendable. A man whose job it is to die and be reprinted. I really don’t want to say much about the film because it’s one which the less said, the better.

Walking out of the movie at 6 o’clock I was fulling expecting dusk to be upon us but it was not. Damn the time change. I was assaulted by bright skies and blinded. It will once again take me a long while to get in the groove of this new time. I ran out to my mom to drop off her car and get a ride back home before settling into the Sunday evening weekly shoes. It is kind of nice watching something that you cannot binge.

Monday was a Monday X 10. The time change would have been bad enough but thanks to my damn dog Owen we were woken up around 4 to him raiding the pantry. Somehow the doors didn’t close and he helped himself to 2 bags of chips, marshmallows, baby food and a box of banana pudding mix. The powder combined with his drool made a past that had to be scrubbed off the floor. I was on my hands and knees cleaning up a mess in the wee hours of the day. I suppose it was better than coming into a surprise when I was in the motions getting ready for work, I was so pissed at that dog. to add to my fury, the bastardized had the nerve to start howling after I let him outside forcing my to let him back into the house.

The day was just a slog. When the work day was finally over I realized how I like this time once I get used to it. You still have a good portion of the ay ahead of you and don’t feel as rushed to get things done before settling into the evening. So I was grilling burgers that night and the first thing I did after work was season the ground beef. After that we took the little girl up to the band practice field to play. She really likes the turf that they laid. I have to admit, so did I. It is so soft. I could easily take a nap in the shade on a nice day. I ran some more errands before settling home and grilling the burgers. Noah and Nadia came over for Yvette’s shrimp po boys. I must admit that they are damn good, it’s just way too much bread for this diabetic. I made myself a burger salad and the house was full of laughter. I will say that Monday ended a hell of a lot better than it began. Happy Monday!

The week just kind of lumbered on. My boss was away on a whiskey trip in Arizona so it was relatively quiet in the office. The weather was beautiful, if a little windy. Damn the wind. Regardless of that factor, I did spend as much time outside as I could. I think I finally started to get my groove back come Wednesday. Not 100%, but still a heck of a lot better than I was Monday. The campus was gearing up for some Spring break. Good lord, this time of year just brings back memories of the year 2000 when we were all sent home for the pandemic. Crazy that we are 5 years removed from that. The world literally changed and my life changed. It as a major turning point, for better or worse. How time does fly.

It that time of year where it goes from cold to hot real fast. Thursday was beautiful. No wind. Yvette and I took a nice walk on campus with the little girl. it was a lot of fun and we might have selfishly gone too far because the baby got a little tired of the stroller on the way back and wanted to be carried. Next time make it a half trip down our mall. Oh well. It was fun. She never cried and she had fun as well. It was decided that on nice night we need to start going on walks with the baby girl.

Let’s talk about the wind. It’s that time of year, March. It is expected to be windy but GOOD LORD has it been bad this year. We have had 2 days where the weather channel was forecasting hurricane force winds in west Texas. We had 3 major dust storms. I mean dense brown fog like storms where the visibility was nil. A lot of the dirt stems from the lack of rain. Everything is so damn dry. I remember this weather from my Lubbock days and how the first time a haboob blew through I was in disgusted awe. I didn’t want it to travel back to my home town and this week that’s exactly what it felt like. Damn the wind, seriously. I have not been able to breathe right for almost 2 months and every time I start to get better some shit like this blows in. The joy. But my lord, the havoc this storm brought upon Texas. Live lost and so much property damage. To see the wreckage left behind on the highways was just devastating. In don’t really know what kind of preventative measures could be made other than just closing down the highways in advance but no one really knew just how bad it was going to get. 100mph gust in Texas.

Our little town was once known as the “Wool Capital of the World” so we have a thing for sheep. Businesses around town can pay to have a sheep processed and painted by an artist and have displayed in front of their establishments. I thought it would be fun to seek out all the sheep, if possible. I like art and this will be a new hobby. Kind of like finding all the Korink seeds in Zelda. Anyhow, when I have the time I plan to find them scattered around the town and photo them. Expect to see some sheep in my galleries for a while to come. I know that there are at least 100 of these little guys scattered throughout our town. The first one was easy, it being on the campus which I work. I hope you enjoy my efforts as much as I.

Jalapeño

Green chicken curry for Yvette and myself. It turned out amazing.

Orange chicken. Extremely hot. I added ghost peppers.

Hamburger salad.

Teriyaki pineapple shrimp.

Jalapeño!!

Grilled chicken with country style gravy, grilled okra and paprika butter corn. Oh, and a bunch of red jalapeno.

Pulled pork baked potato w/ okra.

Looks like it was free for all dinner. I used a leftover chicken breast and made some green chili verde over rice.

Some actors are a part of your life. Gene Hackman was one of those actors. I realized he was in a lot of my favorite movies but it wasn’t until his death that I realized just how many GOOD movies he was in I saw over the years. O many I still have not seen. This week I will be watching my favorite and some I have never seen.

It was as if I grew up with him through the 80s till the early 2000s when he retired. The magnitude of good films that he did is astonishing. Lots of these films I remember him from are straight up classics. Unforgiving. I watched the movie some so so many times with my father. Some of the best quotes ever. “I don’t deserved this…. To die like this. I was building a house.” For those that know. Might be not only one of my favorite movies but also one of the best movies ever made. I think the impact of his death hits harder due to the circumstances being iffy and he having lived a peaceful retirement from the Hollywood scene for 20 years. Having been out of the light for so long was respectful. He was always on my mind but hearing he passed hit me hard because he wasn’t.

Saturday I worked on the side years. I’m trying to get it cleaned up before th spring growth kicks in. It will be future parking when it is all said and done. Later once Teegan and Yvette realized I had spent 3 hours in the sun they came and got me out. Teegan and I departed to go get drive a car he might be interested in. The vehicle was rather awesome. I had never heard of the feature which keeps the vehicle in a lane if you take your hands off the wheel. Teegan liked it and we had fun. I’m so happy he likes doing these kind of things with me. I don’t think I can portray how happy it makes me.

My first movie in honor of Gene Hackman I watched The Conversation. One I had never seen but thought that I had. A dark story be Francis Ford Coppola. It’s a little more relevant today. It’s about a surveillance guy that might have bitten off a little more than he can chew. It’s dark yet entertaining. The scary part is thinking how much more advance we are when it comes to keeping tabs. We can go to the store and buy a device that bugs a car so you know where it is at any time. Fuck that.

Sunday I woke up and cooked some bacon and made some potatoes for everyone. A little minimal cleaning and a trip to the store was in store. Yay. I turned on another Hackman movie, this time The Royal Tenenbaums. Truly Hackman swan song to cinema. He is such a likable asshole in the film and it’s amazing. I watched it with the kids who had never seen the movie and they even found it funny. I mean, how can one not. It’s hilarious.

We met my mom for some late Sunday lunch. I do mean late. It wasn’t until about 2 that we were seated and it was more like 3 before we actually ate. We went for some Japanese steakhouse hibachi. Alaya was having such a blast watching the show. She likes fire maybe a little too much.

After late lunch I worked on the side yard for about an hour before departing to Target to get a little Easter Bunny for the little girl. I really didn’t get to do a lot of errands around the town because I kept busy in the yard and Sundays late lunch ended really late. After running around I stopped by my moms and visited for a little while. I like our visits. That night I came home and grilled up some burgers, air fried some fries and made a quick slaw. We watched the new episode of The White Lotus and we went to be.

Unfortunately that night I had one of my sleep walking episodes. As I’ve stated in blogs past, I have many sleep disorders. I have been sleep walking since at least 10 years of age. Anyways, Lola found me. She came down the hall to get the baby some formula somewhere between 2-3. The foyer light was on, which threw her off a little. The fridge alarm was going off notifying that it had been opened to long. Not unusual. She came around the corner to the kitchen and the front door was standing wide open. This freaked her out. That when she saw me unresponsive but mumbling on the couch. Rightfully so, she freaked out. She went and got her mom thinking something had happened to me and she might be next. That someone was in the house. No, it was just me. For whatever reason I opened the front door and left it that way and went back to sleep in the living room. Scary because what if the dogs had gotten out or someone had let themselves in.

I felt so embarrassed by the episode. I knew it was only a matter of time before this happened with them living with me. I was terrified of that happening and it finally did. I had told Yvette that I occasionally sleep walk but in all this time together she had never been witness. I apologized to everyone. I really feel so powerless. I don’t know what I do. Usually it’s just roam aimlessly and end up laying down somewhere other than my bed. I have gone outside a few other times, once locking myself outside in my underwear. No good scenario. Lucky for me it happens few and far between. Yvette suggested we child proof the door which might deter me. It’s not a bad idea but it’s embarrassing to think about.

No Way Out. Another movie I had never seen with Hackman also staring a very young Kevin Costner. Pretty much a political thriller. Hackman once again playing a conflicted man who is clearly…. Whelp, I’ll let you watch it. It was a movie that impressed me and I’m not sure why I’d never seen it.

The week started out rather unexpected. My coworker had a family emergency so I was pulling double duty at work for the week. Kept me busy. I maxed out my university credit card last week and had to get the limit bumped. Good thing because I’m was burning money again this week.

The Replacements. This is just a fun movie. Keanu Reeves the year after he blew up with The Matrix. Gene Hackman delivers as the retired coach to work the “replacement” players into a team that can play ball. This came out while I was still just a baby so I have fond memories growing up with it. This movie has some really great moments and I struggle to believe it came out 25 years ago. Lord, I’m getting old.

Tuesday was just disgusting. We were all awoken around 2AM with our phones blowing up declaring a Tornado Warning had been issued. A funnel cloud had been spotted south of town. I looked at the radar and determined we were in no real danger. It was windy and we had a little hail but that was really about it. Well, that wind never let up it only got worse. We were expected to have 60-70mph gust throughout the day., You could see the dust in the air early on. Not a good sign. By noon we were in the middle of a full blown dust storm with visibility down and air quality just utter shit. It was a brown dense fog. I lived with this in Lubbock and it was as bad as I ever saw it. It never let up until dusk arrived. I mean, it was terrible outside.

Wednesday might have been the most beautiful day in the world. Clear blue sky with NO wind. Everyone was in an amazing mood and so happy to not have a repeat of the dust storm. I mean, the day was about as opposite as they could get. Yvette and I even had a little picnic under some trees. I enjoy having a picnic with this beautiful lady.

The Firm. This is more of a Tom Cruise vehicle from the early 90s, but Hackman was a key character. The movie I really never gave much a chance back in the day but as the years have gone I’ve grown to enjoy it. Hackman is fantastic. Once again, an unsavory character. He loved playing those types. Charming.

Unforgiven. One of my top 5 movies. I think I might have talked about it enough in my intro to this blog. Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris & Gene Hackman. Three of the best actors alive, sadly one less. The power of this movie. Amazing. A real meditation on this history of violence in America. How the foundation of the country was build on violence. How no matter how much we step away from it, we are capable of coming back to it. More straight forward is the idea of aging. Do we really change that much when we get older or are we just trying to be changed? Hackman has such menace in his eyes. Seething with the threat of violence behind every glance. When he does let it loose it is truly a horror. You watch his character and you know he believes what he is doing is the right thing when you know it is not. It is clearly why he was nominated and won the academy award that year. He is a spectacle to behold and all the while terrifying. Such an amazing actor.

Happy Friday!!

Jalapeño

I was going to just make Korean BBQ chicken with rice but it turned into a real meal. Noodles, broccoli, carrots and snap peas.

Burger, fries and slaw.

Roasted green chili chicken thigh over rice w/ cheese & pico.

My first attempt at chicken spaghetti with some broccolini.

Leftover chicken spaghetti spiced up with a side salad.

Red enchilada chicken bowl with black beans.

Garlic butter steak and some creamy Alfredo shells with Italian broccoli.

Saturday I went a saw a movie, The Monkey. It was based on a Stephen King story I read way back in the early 90s. I have always been a fan of his material I I will always support his movie adaptations in the theater. I was really curious how the hell this story could be adapted to film but I liked the director and trusted his judgement. The movie was absurd in a good way. I laughed out loud a few times. The deaths were just hilarious and unrealistically funny. I’d say it was really only loosely based upon the story by King and I was okay with that. I don’t know if a better film could be made from the source material. Yes, it was a horror but it was also a damn comedy for people that are into the genre. Cheers!!!

National Margarita Day! After the movie I dropped off some groceries to my mom and picked up Yvette. NMD is our day. You see, it should have been our first date but I was too foolish to see she might have been hinting that I take her out. What I did do is bring her a premixed margarita and went out to get my own. Yeah, idiot. Our first date ended up being a month later on her birthday but it should have been on NMD. Anyways, we have ever since celebrated the day by going out and getting a margarita and joking about how dense I was at the time.

Sunday was a beautiful day. The sun was out and the warmth was nourishing to us all after the cold streak that we endured. Yvette and I spent the majority of the day running around to various stores gathering what we might need for the weeks meals and whatever household furnishings that we might need. I think most the town was actually stepping out of hibernation because it was rather busy. Witnessed some utterly stupid driving. Hard to imagine how these peoples event were able to obtain a drivers permit for the roads. Scary.

That night I was a grilling machine. Noah and Nadia came over for the feast. I had 3 1/2 pounds of chicken thighs, 2 sausage links, okra and a nice pasta salad that Yvette made. Noah brought some Boudin. I had honestly never prepared that. It’s a rice sausage and it did cook a little funny compared to what I am accustomed to grilling. Rather tasty when complete. It was a fun night and I do enjoy the family feast. It’s good to have them over and I was so excited about grilling all week long now that we have the weather for it.

The week started off as they typically do. Sometimes I feel like I’m living the movie Groundhog Day. Wake and repeat. That’s almost how work is these days. At least the job I was doing on Monday kept me out of the office and driving around town paying various bills throughout the day. It was beautiful with highs reaching the 80s. I joked that it was kind of hot after a week of fringed temps.

Tuesday was a weird day. For one thing, I think I might have over medicated myself during the early morning hours. Gabapentin. I take one before bed every night to help with the neuropathy but I am pretty sure I woke up and took another in the middle of the night thinking that I missed my dosage because my head was high in the clouds. I know how that feels because I’ve accidentally done it before. It’s a weird feeling to be there but not really there.

The day started with a request from a service tech to find him a capacitor. We had a conversation and he told me exactly where I needed to go to find the device. Well after driving across town and circling the said location looking for the place with my eyes and my google I finally parked and went into a neighboring business to ask them where I needed to go. Turns out the establishment went out of business years ago. Wow. I knew a little back story on this tech because his wife and my mother are friends. The poor mans mind is slipping. It made me sad more than anything else. I have lived that life with my father. I really liked this tech and this was the first time seeing first hand that he was starting to slip mentally.

Hump day I woke up feeling amazing after a wonderful nights sleep. I had a lot of motivation and “want to”. I powered through the Damone morning and took no prisoners. I even had a morning meeting that was about 40 min of my life I will never have returned. After lunch, my day took a dark depressing detour into hell. Some people. I hate having a seesaw of a day. I still count the day as a positive. You can’t let people get you down and you can’t hold expectations high of anyone.

That evening after cooking I made myself a drink and sat outside for a good while to just relax and enjoy my evening. Disconnect from everything. I am still trying to become a person that isn’t living alone. I spent the last 3 years living alone and the last 2 months living with people so at times I still need that alone time. I don’t know how anyone would think that could change overnight. Lord, it took me a while to figure out living alone, why would it not take me a a second to live with people again.

The transition was so much smoother than I thought it would be. Honestly, as an introvert I have always needed some alone time. I love having this house full of folk, but that does not change me and me needing a little time to adjust and find my me time. It is easy though. Everyone that knows me seems to think that I am doing a really good job. I think I am doing a good job. You introverts can relate. We don’t have to be around people. We feel good in our own skin, but we love people and also love being around them. It makes no sense to someone that isn’t one of us.

It helps that my family are such wonderful people to be around. I just love them. The little girl brings so much joy every time she smiles. I became a family man and I love it. It isn’t always easy, of course. Decisions I use to make on my own don’t always work. I must consider how the others will feel or be affected by what I decide.

For example: cooking. Deciding on meals. Cooking is not as simple. There is a picky eater under the roof. I like to experiment and constantly try new things. I get bored of the same things all the time. Often at work when I have downtime I am looking at new recipes on the internet. In the past I would decide on dinner right at the moment I found a recipe that called my name. Not so much anymore. I need to make sure everyone will like it. My new challenge is looking for meals that we all agree on and it’s been rather fun. The kids also have meals that they like to have in rotations, so I’m adjusting to that as well. Sometimes it would be months before I would eat the same meal again. I still make sure to have a couple “new” meals a week. Often that means two meals are being cooked on a given night but that’s no big deal.

Friday finally rolled around and I think everyone was ready for it. I had only a handful of things that I needed to take care of to complete my work load for the week and I was thankful for that. Well that easy landing didn’t happen. I maxed out my work card and it could no longer be used to complete my job until I had my limit bumped, which was eventually done. It was no problem staying busy because of all the strange unplanned BS that kept coming up during the day. Oh yeah, we had an earthquake. It sounded like someone was breaking into my house. What a day. Weird as it was I kind of liked it and it made 5o’clock roll right on.

After work I made a trip to purchase some patio chairs, pick up some med and I cooked for us. A drink felt good. Cheers and happy Friday!!

So one of my favorite actors passed away. Gene Hackman. Always looked the same in every movie through every year. Movies that have impacted my life and mean much to me over the years would be Superman, Unforgiven, The Replacements, The Royal Tenenbaums and The French Connection. Such a talented actor that always made a movie good. Rest in peace.

Jalapeño

A weird take on a breakfast burger. I usually use chorizo mixed with beef but I had some breakfast sausage. It wasn’t something that I’ll be making again.

Marry Me Chicken Orzo.

Breakfast mini open faced omelette w/ jalapeño poppers, pigs in a blanket and tots.

Sunday I made chicken thigh, sausage, grilled okra and Yvette made a pasta salad. It was a family feast.

I grilled some Caribbean pork ribeyes with some sweet ginger broccoli as the side.

Homemade ginger sauce!!! Hibachi steak, shrimp, chicken and veggies. I had steamed rice and Yvette made fried. Family dinner.

Fish tacos.

Chicken fried steak by Yvette.

Creole Cajun pasta with shrimp and sausage.

Saturday was a very pretty day. I woke up with some extremely high blood sugar due to my pump having some issues. It looked like the injection needle bent and therefore was not administering me any insulin which was a bad thing because I indulged for our Valentines date night. Bummer. I was well above 300 and had to resort to taking it the good old fashion way, a long ass needle. Oh well, I got it down and set up a new pump. Most of the day was running around knocking out errands and I enjoyed every bit of it. It was nice and it wasn’t going to be like this most of the week, if the forecast is to be believed.

That night we watched “The Menu”. I don’t know how to classify it. It’s a cooking foodie movie? It’s a horror? It’s a comedy? It’s all of the above. It’s a great movie. Great acting. I love it. Perfect after our 4 course meal on Valentines. Ralph Fiennes is great as the chef. You are somewhat sympathetic for him even though he is plying a psychopath.

Sunday was a sleepy day. We all slept in. I made a little avocado toast with an egg salad. We cleaned some and eventually made our way over to Yvette’s parents for some beef and chicken fajitas. Of course it was a damn good lunch.

After that fun I ran by the house to drop off some food for Teegan and I meal prepped the chicken thigh for Sunday dinner. Once complete and ran to Sam’s, Home Depot & HEB. Lord. The weekend went WAY too fast. After all that was complete I stopped by my mom, who wasn’t feel 100%, to visit and see how she was doing.

That night I cooked and watched a movie called “The Gorge”. A romance horror? That’s kind of how my mother explained it. She liked it. I liked it. It was a sci-fi horror romance. I enjoyed the chemistry between actors. It was by coincidence that the same actress, Anya Taylor-Joy, was also in the Menu. I won’t give away any real plot details. It was pretty straight forward with a good ending. The creatures were creative enough. I have to say we need more romance horror mash ups. Why the heck not?

So the week was once again going to dip into the cold temps. It sure did dip. Just talking to people on the campus it was clear many didn’t plan on showing up. They had time they could use so why the heck not. I honestly thought that was a good idea if I had not already used some last week going to Austin. The cold isn’t all that bad anyways. All I was concerned with was the cold hindering my ability to live. Last thing I needed was a power outage.

Besides having to be out in the elements, the week was okay. These arctic blast were not things I grew up with all that often. We did get the cold but rare was it -6 windchill. I just don’t have a lot to wear in this kind of cold, just layer up.

For Wednesday I decided to make something arm for breakfast, jalapeño poppers. I woke up early, started the oven and went about my usual morning routine. The peppers baked for 25 min and smelt amazing. I knew Yvette & I wouldn’t be able to eat them all so I packed some on a plate and brought them to my old coworker, Sarah aka: Janine. She works on campus again in my general area so I thought that would be nice. She said it made her day. Yay. It was a warm meal for such a cold cold day.

The Killer. A fairly new David Fincher film that premiered on Netflix back in 2023. It does not seem that long ago that I first watched it but time has been funny since the year 2000. I at least feel that way. A lot has happened in my life. Anyways, the film is actually really enjoyable. I believe I liked it better upon second viewing because I knew what I was getting. A contract killer with a stick code fubar’s an assignment. Nothing goes well for him after. Or does it? I guess it depends on how you look at things. He is certainly forced out of his stick life guidelines. I suppose it’s a more reflective film than straight out action, which one expects when watching a movie circled around hitmen. I of course just love all of Fincher’s films so I am biased.

If you have not noticed I have been watching a lot of movies. I get in the mood. It’s cold and I just have not wanted to do much else.

Friday rolled around and it was still a chilly bitch outside. I had a very quiet morning and a very very busy afternoon . I had a lot to do in a short window. Although it did make the time pass, it was also very annoying. I kind of like a little bit of a chill Friday. Oh well.

After work we went to the grocery store to gather supplies for the evenings meal. Yvette and I were having soup and I was making Tee some pineapple chicken teriyaki. It had been a little while since I made a good soup and I was rather excited. It takes a little bit of time and prep and I was down for that. I missed my soup days. I also found it fun making a completely different kind of meal that was a stir-fry. I’m sure the aromas in the kitchen had to be interesting to whomever walked in. Mexican spice and Japanese. Wow. After dinner it was time to catch up on our little show called Yellowjackets. I built a small fire and we had a nice quiet evening. Yay that.

Happy Friday!

Jalapeño

Spinach & mushroom scrambled eggs.

Steak fajita bowl.

Avocado toast with some egg salad.

Grilled stir-fry sesame chicken.

Chipotle chicken bowl,

Ravioli alla Vodka with some Italian baked pork chop and asparagus.

Made some Naan pizzas. Everyone had a personal. I choose pepperoni, jalapeño, mushrooms, black olive, sun-dried tomatoes and spinach.

Carne al Pastor tacos w/ Fidel.

Chicken tortilla soup.