What a Saturday. I woke up and it was Hazel’s 8th birthday. I had to get her some treats and a toy. I can’t believe it’s been 8 years that I’ve been blessed with her. She has saved my life mentally and she has driven me nuts. I suppose that’s what children also do at times? I’m so happy to have her.

Following that celebration I made some eggs and waited for the eclipse. We don’t get these all that often. So all last week I distributed eclipse glasses. I hope they went to good use because they were worth it. The ring of fire. Yvette and I went to the campus and viewed. It was really spectacular. I can say it was the best that I’ve seen. We both spent the better part of 2 hours walking around the campus. The sun coming through the trees was amazing. I didn’t expect that. Look at the picture below. Afterwards we snagged some food right near campus. What a morning. We had a great day together.

Homecoming week. Yvette, her daughter and I went to the Blue & Gold Bash. If you are a constant reader you probably know what time talking about. It was, as usual, a good amount of fun. I was a little hindered by pain so I didn’t get to enjoy it as much as I’d have liked. The students all seemed to have a hoot. I love homecoming week.

The Thursday football game was set out of town so I missed it. I saw video of Yvette’s son making an interception. Other than that I was told it wasn’t a pretty watch and they lost. Can’t win them all I suppose.

Friday came along. I knew it would be a slow afternoon so I brought my Nintendo Switch so I could play some Zelda at the end of the day. I was right. A drag…. That evening we had the homecoming bonfire. They only started stacking the pallets that very same day. It was not a very big stack. I don’t know who dropped the ball. It actually looked pretty good. I met Yvette’s daughter. Yvette was at the high school game.

Happy Friday!

Jalapeño

Buffalo drum stick with Mac and cheese and slaw. Yvette and her daughter came over. We had a little feast. The Mac and cheese was damn amazing.

Hamburger helper with mushrooms and spinach.

Stuffed bell pepper with beans.

A very tired in pain me decided to make easy comfort food. Sausage, beans & rice. Of course the jalapeño.

Breakfast for dinner. Spicy sausage with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce garnished with jalapeño and a side of hash browns.

Teriyaki shrimp with grilled veggies and grilled fried rice. I also made a ginger sauce.

It was a hard week for me. I knew 4 people that all passed away.

Carla. A friend of mine. Cancer. Damn it. We all knew it was coming but just not over night. At least she is no longer suffering. I will forever miss her hugs and embracing me as a friend when I was going through my divorce. She was a real ray of light and the world is a little dimmer without her here.

Shawn. A man that worked with my mother for years and years. He taught me so much when I moved into my house. I knew nothing about electrical work before him teaching me. He fought through lung cancer but the wear it did on his lungs was to much. They eventually failed him.

Meema Gwen. I’ve know her my entire life. She was 104 when she passed away. That’s a long life. It’s sad but not as surprising as the others

RIP my friends.

Thursday was me going through the ringer. Physical therapy, football game and the state picnic. The PT was by far the hardest session yet. It all involved me standing. It was pain personified. I collapses into my car after the session. The rest of the work day was a blur. I hurt and I could have passed out at any moment.

After work I had the football game and the state picnic. I got off work and ran home to feed the dogs before heading out to the game. I’ll admit, I took some Aleve and had a beer while there. My body was a wreck. I hurt in places that I’ve never hurt. This was the first time since 1999 weight training classes in high school that I actually felt sick from overdoing physical activity. The game I didn’t want to miss but damn if it wasn’t painful. They won again. Maybe I’m good luck?

The state picnic was good. I needed the free beer to relax my muscle’s. The food was good. We somehow missed the brisket but I guess it was a little late. I saw people I work with regularly. Bob, my recently retired coworker. Bob won a $100 gift card at the state picnic. He also walked away with 30lbs of brisket. Yvette and I were wondering how the hell that worked since he wasn’t employed by the state anymore. He was also drunk.

Happy Friday the 13th!!!!

This part is not PC but I’m going to quote it was best I can. Best thing I’ve heard at the bar from some random guy: “Wait a second. Am I retarded? Is that’s what’s wrong with me? 42 years old and just realizing I’m a retard. Is that why people are nice and always waving at me? Wave to the retard. Be nice to him. I’m fucking retarded, aren’t I? That’s why my life has been so hard. I’m retarded and didn’t know it. Explains a lot of my hardships. I’m a fucking retard”. I can’t tell you why the man had this sudden epiphany, but it was funny being a fly on the wall to observe. I was trying not to morn Carla.

Jalapeño

Saturday Yvette and I just had an appetizer night. Ceviche, jalapeño poppers, bbq weenies and chips & Queso.

Zucchini noodles and a meat sauce.

Yvette made a meal! Buffalo Garbage chicken. It’s chicken inside a pizza crust. Damn good meal.

Lemon asparagus chicken stir fry. Yvette seemed to like it.

Spicy chicken breast with Queso rice & a salad.

Thee state picnic with Yvette and her family. It was after the game and the bastards stopped serving the brisket. Oh well, I was still a good free meal with free beer.

Date night w/ Yvette!! One of the things I look most forward to. The kids were not with us tonight so we at and watched Anthony Bourdain. Creamy Alfredo with mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes and Italian sausage.

The weekend was great. Saturday was a busy day. We slept in until around 10 and she left to get her youngest kid whom I was paying to mow my damn yard. I hate this back. I left to grab all 3 of us some burritos. He wanted tapatios. He mowed and I did the weed eating. That itself kind of hurt. Fucking back.

We we to Sam’s and I ended up buying more that I planned. We god some bunt cake for a first birthday. Yes, an 18 year old had her first ever birthday celebration. Jehovah’s Witness. She is old enough to make up her mind so she wanted a birthday. 4 of us went out to eat and celebrate. It was so cute. I and Yvette’s daughter (I think) got the entire restaurant to sing happy birthday. After that her and I went and had some cocktails down town and then we came to my house and chilled out. What a great day.

Sunday I slept in and had brunch with my mom. Lazy day. Yvette brought me some of her parents menudo. My stupid back decided it wanted to scream. It was a painful great day.

The days were so much nicer this week. We had overcast skies and cooler days. It finally felt like fall. Unfortunately, the football game was out of town so I missed it. Would have been a good week to sit in the stadium.

Physical therapy…. Thursday’s are just going to suck for the next 6 months. This Thursday was pretty hard. He ended the session a little early because he could tell I had had enough. Sterling is a good guy. Maybe a little too cheerful while hurting me. I really hope this work out and is worth all the pain involved.

Friday was beautiful outside. I love that it feels like fall, finally. I spent to good time on the golf car. Yvette did our first mail run in a while and it was great. Once off work I came home and relaxed before dinner. I started cooking and my guest showed up a little early. That was fine because the meal was quick. We all had a good time (I think) and enjoyed the food. I was afraid that I didn’t have enough ingredients and I had more than enough. They all had leftovers. What a night.

Happy Friday!!!!

Jalapeño.

Leftover chicken enchilada.

Teriyaki chicken thing with a veggie stir fry.

Beef bulgolgi with kimchi & sticky rice. this was a request by Yvette.

Chicken soft tacos for National Taco Day.

Sloppin chicken with grilled okra and corn.

Pizza bowls!!! Yvette and the two youngest joined for this adventure. It was really good.

Training our new employee is still going well. I took him with me this week to get a feel for the purchasing aspect of the job. He had his first experience spending the university’s money. I really like him and hope he sticks around for a little while at least. I am aware he is retired and does not need the job for a living so he could bounce at any time.

Week two of having good blood sugar. I feel so so so much better. My back and nerve pain not so much. More physical therapy. I’m really hoping this is worth my pain. It helped for a few days and I think I over did it. I’d really like to be capable of mowing my own yard again. My damn neighbor made a comment about it. Dude, Yvette and her daughter would beat my ass if I tried to mow my yard right now. Besides, I don’t think I could even if I wanted to. Damn back.

Thursday’s physical therapy kicked my ass. At one point I seriously thought I was going to cry. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to walk myself out of the building. Talk about torture. Damn sadist. It really zapped all the energy out of the rest of my day. It was a good thing there wasn’t a football game after work. That might have been a real struggle. After work I went to my mothers for a second. All I really wanted to do is hit my couch and play Zelda. I did indeed play some Zelda though.

Friday, finally. Bittersweet day. Bob was retiring. I didn’t know how I felt. Maybe a little sad. Worked with him for about 13 years. We had a small group of people all working together and just this year 3 of them have left. You get accustomed to seeing the same person almost everyday. I might have had my issues with Bob at times but I still liked the guy. Things will not be the same with out him. Not only was he knowledgeable(34 year on the job) but he also game us plenty of stories. The words that would come out of his mouth some days. Good lord. I could write a book. I truly hope he has a great retirement. Never thought I’d say it, but I’ll miss him.

Happy Friday!!! Dinner with Yvette and kids. They must have liked it because they had seconds. We got the telescope out and looked at the moon. Great night.

Jalapeño.

Stuffed salmon with broccoli cheese.

Steak and veggies.

Ground beef stir fry. The veggies included are asparagus, red bell, jalapeño, onion. Topped with green onion and bean sprouts over a little rice to give it texture.

Ground beef street tacos.

Armadillo eggs with grilled okra.

Shrimp tacos. I was almost so tired from PT that I was going to bypass even cooking. I manned up and cooked.

Dinner with the family. Yvette and the kids came over and we had a chicken enchilada “casserole”. Yvette made the Spanish rice.

We all went to a sorority luncheon. They had a set up in a back yard and served burgers and hot dogs. Cookies and cake. It was HOT. I was happy to be there. I felt honored. I think they could have done more to make it social but this is coming from a not very social person. I happy to be there with the people I love.

We took a break to cool down at my house after. We all needed a little cool down period. Why did it have to be so damn hot. Yvette and I had a pre Jam beverage. We chilled for 1 hour and let that cool AC treat us well. This was a first time for everyone but me. I had not been since I was married and it was pre pandemic 2019. Things clearly changed.

Honestly, RamJam was too hot. At least we could go inside being an alumni. We had free food and free drinks. I was surprised the beer was actually free. I guess the day payed for it’s membership. Lots for free stuff. I just wish it had been cooler. So much free food. I had ribs, pulled pork, fried chicken and so much more. The free beer still blew me away. I’m glad I could get her daughter in without issue.

Sunday I had my lunch with my mother. We went to Outback, which was a major change. I had some shrimp and broccoli. Tasty time. Sunday is a nice lazy day. I enjoy them. I didn’t need much from the grocery store, thank god. I took a nap and played some Zelda. Went over to Yvette’s. The weekend was fantastic.

Saturday we got an early storm. It rolled through around 7 am and dropped over 1.5 inches at my house alone. The town flooded and we needed the rain. The day was nice. I brought burritos late to Yvette’s and we enjoyed. I brought her daughter a doctor pepper to her sorority rush. Later I ran errands and eventually returned to Yvette’s house. We went on a search for silky pajamas. The rush was having a pajama movie night. She ended up just going as herself in t-shirt and shorts. Good for her. They both came over for tacos later that evening. Tacos and Queso. It was a good day.

The girl made it through her rush and was picked to be in a sorority. I was so proud of her confidence. She did something outside her comfort zone and was a success. Big deal for her.

Sunday I switched out my pump controls. It seemed they had a recall on my old one. At first I had some calibration issues and also I was using it wrong because I was accustomed to how the old one worked. Which means it really wasn’t working the way it should and the new one was. So I had a major low. Monday more of the same. Once I leveled out I was coasting within my range. By Wednesday I was within my range at 89%. That’s amazing. The old one I was struggling to be at 34%. So the last few months I’d been thinking something was wrong with me but it was a failed device. I almost wanted to switch back to manual injections because of the work I had to do with my pump, which was suppose to make life easy. The whole damn fucking time it was the failed device. My god, I felt better in 3 days. I wasn’t as lethargic. I had more energy. I felt good. It was great. how long was that other device fucked? Most the summer if not all of it. Pretty major screw up. I rely on that thing to survive.

The week also marked the first week I was to train our new employee. I like the guy and once he figures things out he will be a good fit. He has such a Forrest Gump Alabama accent. This will be the 4th person that I have trained. Crazy.

I watched Once Upon a Time in Mexico. It came out 20 years ago. I saw it in theater. It was great at the time and great now. I can’t believe that was 20 years ago and I was only 22. I felt so old. The movie stands up and brought me back to the years all my guy friends would pile into a movie theater. Those days before you could buy booze in a theater we would sneak little air plane bottle in. Such a blast.

Thursday was Physical Therapy and another football game. PT kicked my ass. I could have slept afterwards. I was given stretches to do in the morning and again the the evening. They want to see me once a week for 6 months. I’m really hoping it doesn’t take that long. I really feel optimistic. It was a good thing I went because they found more issues with my back than I thought I had.

Another football game, another blowout. What a first two games to attend. I asked her son if they were ever planning on letting the other team score. I was very happy for him. It’s fun going. Much more fun than I ever would have thought. I like spending time with her mom and dad as well. These games also make me realize how badly I need my eyes checked. Lord. I thought he was 22 the first part of the game. I swear it was the way his uniform fits him. Palm to face.

Overall this was such a damn good week. I felt so energized and I regained some mobility. I’m so happy to be addressing some of my problems finally. Let’s hope things remain positive. It was even pointed out to me that I seemed in a different place than I had been for a while. Yay me!!

Cheers and happy Friday!!!

Jalapeño.

Spicy chicken thigh bowl. Pretty much what we had on Friday without the shrimp.

Sausage, bbq beans, jalapeño over some sticky rice.

Menudo.

My very own orange chicken stir fry. Yummy.

Korean ribs w/ broccoli, zucchini, asparagus, jalapeño, and bean sprouts.

Date night!!! Italian pork tenderloin w/ a chipotle raspberry sauce and broccolini.

We finally had a little rain. A major surprise. Yvette was coming over and said we had lightning. Sure as shit. They predicted some hail so we woke up her daughter and put her car into my spare garage just for safe measure. Thankfully no hail occurred but at least her car was safe and sound. She picked it up the next morning.

The week was a little weird with so many familiar faces retired. I will certainly miss Hector. He helped train me when I started. We worked together for a good while when he fell and hurt his wrist. He was a hell of a worker. I won’t be the only one that will miss the man.

I’ll be so happy to no longer be short staffed. I’m tired of the extra work load and juggling everything when my coworker takes a day off. Hopefully the guy works out. We could use some good help. Friday was a nightmare.

Happy Friday!

Jalapeño.

Ravioli with green beans.

Spicy chicken thigh. That jalapeño was almost to much for me. I couldn’t believe it.

Baked Spasagna. I cooked for the entire family tonight. It was a lot of fun.

Chicken breast in a mustard herb sauce with Brussels sprouts and bacon.

Steak and cheese enchilada. The Grill. My mother and brother. It was tasty.

So it begins. The fall semester is upon us. As per tradition, we took our obligatory first day of class photo that we started back in 2020. Seven of us gathered and a picture was taken. I tried to get Yvette’s daughter in on the fun but she wasn’t having it. Later that days I did another photo session with some other ladies on campus. It was a busy day and by the end of the week I still wasn’t “acclimated” to all the students moving around.

It was really a lot of fun having Lola on campus taking classes. I’m very proud of her. I gave her a few gold cart rides. I also gave other students rides. I even made it on snap chat as the best Uber ever 5 stars. It was the 2027 group chat. I laughed. If a kid is in need I’m willing. I wonder how many will ask me for a ride after going viral. Haha

These damn delivery robots are a menace. I lost count of how many times I would have to find a different route to cross the street in my cart because they were blocking the ramp. What does that mean for someone in a wheelchair? Oh yeah, they caused some poor kid on a skateboard to eat shit. The kid for up and kicked the damn robot. They only just launched. My eyes roll out of my head.

It was really a hard week on me for many of reasons. Physically and emotionally. Glad it ended on a high note, Yvette and I having dinner.

Jalapeño

Sausage eggs Benedict with warped asparagus.

Menudo.

Sloppy Joe sweet potato.

Chicken with ginger noodles.

Salmon over Mexican street corn.

DATE NIGHT!! I made some cilantro lime chicken and rice.

The summer ends. Rather, the university summer. Move in was Wednesday and it was crazy. I swear we have more students in the dorm this year. I have not seen it like that in a long time. Certainly since before COVID. It will probably take me a few weeks to adjust to the students all over the place.

I’m excited about Yvette’s daughter taking classes. I’m proud of her. I’m sure she has the butterflies but I know she will do well for herself. She is a smart girl with a big heart.

So Monday I had a fall. Damn neuropathy and sciatic nerve issues. I like my mobility and I’m ready for my physical therapy. By Friday I was still hurting but better thanks to morning stretches.

We had a couple minutes of rain Wednesday. It didn’t do shit for us but it sure did smell good. Wednesday was actually a rather nice day outside. Damn my pain from keeping it perfect.

I decided to keep campus maps with me for all the lost students and parents. I turned out to be a great idea. I lost track of how many I gave out. I’m not sure why they are not supplied. The students were very grateful. I’ve learned from past years that trying to give directions goes over many of their heads.

Hope all had a great Friday!!

Jalapeño.

Simple burgers w/ chili cheese tots.

Sunday brunch. Biscuit with gravy, egg, bacon & fries.

Omelet with refried beans.

Alfredo chicken lasagna

Spinach ricotta cheese with a spicy meat sauce.

Taco salad.

Chili bean spud. That you Yvette for the potato.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t going to miss my coworker. I was sad coming into Monday knowing I wouldn’t see her. Almost 4 years working together. We fought through the pandemic together. We both got hit at the same time by COVID. We worked well with each other. She is my friend. A bit of a worry wart, but otherwise a fine person. She brought a weirdness to the office that I’ll likely miss. She moved on to work on an internship at our only hospital for social work. I’m not really sure she has the fortitude for such work considering how she was constantly stressed at her last job. I wish her the best and hope I keep in touch. I will say that work was so much quieter.

Being short staffed again is just great. Especially this time of year when we are at our busiest. What can one do? I hope the hiring process goes well and a suitable replacement for Sarah applies. I worry though. We had one interview this week. Some young kid.

My back, leg and foot pain is really kicking my ass. I don’t like being cripple and that’s how I currently feel. Like a gimp. The chronic pain is exhausting. I’m afraid of real pain medications because I’m afraid if it works and the pain is gone I’ll get hooked and I do not need that. I understand why people get hooked. Pain all the time all day is taxing on the body and mind. I hope that physical therapy does me right. The referral went through. It’s time to start.

Fuck the week. It’s hard to be in a good mood when you have chronic pain and it’s triple digits outside. Friday was the cherry on top. No one showed up to work. I knew my boss would be gone but wasn’t expecting everyone else to call call in. What a bunch of bullshit. It left me extremely busy. I just wanted a break. I was ready for date night. Hope everyone has a great relaxing cool weekend.

Jalapeño.

Weekend pizza.

Menudo.

Brunch? Enchiladas.

Sunday lazy dinner. Canned spaghetti. Chef Boyardee.

Salmon croquettes w/ peas and broccoli cheese.

Soppin sauce on pork loin with spicy as hell sweet corn and pickled red onion.

Hawaiian style teriyaki chicken thigh w/ sticky rice and pineapple.

Some pork bulgogi over steamed rice w/ a side of sriracha soy sugar snap peas.

Spicy chicken thigh with veggies, pico, green sauce from Jamie, black beans and chips and Queso. I was going to make an Alfredo lasagna but Yvette doesn’t like Alfredo sauce. Oh well, this was still great. Date night was much needed.