You never want to come back. Sure, you miss people. You miss a lot. Dogs and cats. People! But you just want that vacation to last forever. Blue moon beyond the stars and big birds flying across the sky throwing shadows upon our eyes. I miss everyone. It was a treat to see the dogs.

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Work was a f***ing chore. I was not out of the mode. I was tired. I was cranky. I had emails that I’d ignored for a week. I had annoying people to contend with. I still blew some of them off. I just couldn’t. Two training courses I was last due and needed to complete. Hey, I was already late. Screw it. What’s another day. My mind couldn’t handle. Fortunately I was able to get out of the office after catching up, but the day just soundly surrender me. It also happened to be 420 and I was a lover the place with blood shot eyes. Allergy and sleep deprived eyes. On 420!!! I wonder how many people thought I was one toke over the line. Oh yeah! Did I mention the mouse party in my snack drawer? The pooped and peed all over everything. I thought the little b*****s’s we’re all dead. Welcome back buddy. We missed you.

The middle of the week winter decided to grace us with her presence once again. I heard the usual complaints. “It’s too cold for this time of year”. These are the same people that will be complaining about it being 90 degrees next week. I personally welcomed the cold. I’m a fan of the gloomy weather.

Earth Day fell on us. It’s also the day my Riley dog died. Couldn’t have picked a better day to pass away. The day It was a pretty darn good day. I finally felt rested and things were looking on the bright side. I think everything’s better on Friday Eve. I mean, one more day to go. So happy Earth Day! Hope you did something for Mother Earth. Maybe planted something. Picked up some trash. Heck, recycled. Anything helps. Lord knows she needs all the help she can get.

Friday the gloom continued and we finally got a little bit of early morning rain. Finally. It was a long week. Lots of bull****. Great first week back. Isn’t that how it happens? You don’t see the bumps in the road until you hit them. Those f***ing bumps. Toss you in the air. Toss you in the s***. What a bumpy ride. We always survive. It’s life. Bumps. Cactus. S***! That’s life. F*** it. Cheers!!!

Update on the mouse wars: By the end of the week we had killed 4 of the little bastards. They are getting bold. One had the audacity to run across my bosses desk and poop on it while he was sitting at it. I feel that over the weekend they will regroup. Only time will tell.

Jalapeño

Seared pork chops w/ steamed green beans and blistered tomatoes seasoned with chimichurri seasoning. The pork was topped with a mixture of feta cheese, cream cheese, fresh dill & lemon juice. Once placed on the pork it was thrown into the over to give a nice texture. The sauce was amazing.

Seared chicken with a honey BBQ sauce I whipped together using BBQ sauce, honey & Mayo. The broccoli has cheese and bacon crumbles. Very tasty.

Spice coconut grilled chicken thighs over sushi rice. My middle brother made this on our Florida trip one night and it was a real treat so I had to try it myself. Mine was much too spicy for Bekah. It was great though.

SPAM teriyaki fried rice.

Air travel. I don’t really care for it much. I’m not terrified, but I’m not at ease. I’m tall to boot, making the entire experience a little uncomfortable. I also don’t sit still. This is a problem when on a plane.

We took off to the airport at 5AM and hit the air at 6:16. I had a little vodka to make the trip tolerable, I won’t deny. Music on and in the air the flight to DFW was over. Now we had 3 hours to burn. Without booze, might I add. It was Sunday and they don’t serve in the great state of Texas early. New experience, airport without booze. Good thing I brought my own. Side note, planes are not built with tall people in mind. I was folded up like a f***ing card table. We never actually had any turbulence. . It was great to be in the clouds again.

Connie arrived Wednesday. A great addition to the pack. Honestly, I relate to her and was happy she was along for this ride. First born children and all. We all need this break. I hope the birthday present treated her well. With the kids running around it can get a little crazy. You have to step aside occasionally. Watch the pelicans fly by for a moment.

Bekah and I didn’t get as much time together as we would have liked. It is vacation but we really need one on our own. Yes, family is great and I love everyone involved, but we need some serious alone time. I couldn’t get enough of her. Is that selfish? We made an excuse to go in town and hang out. We were able to escape and walk the beach. We even managed to go for a nice cold swim. Truthfully the thing I wished we could have done the most was stay in bed together. Nothing erotic, just lay together. It seemed that wasn’t in the cards. It’s something that can be done at the house and I plan on doing so. Why vacation opened my eyes to such a simple pleasure. I guess the getting away part.

The Gator Farm. Place I’ve been soooo many times. This last go I originally didn’t care to attend. The reason I did was for the kids. The excitement in their eyes was enough. And it was pretty cool the 5th time. The vultures. The f***ing stork. More terrifying than the gators. Bucket of rats… not for kids.

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Friday was Bekah and my cooking day. Middle brother came in for the assist. It’s fun and chaotic. Bekah had the shakes. The kids and commotion were killing. Powered through it.

Found a mouth of shark teeth. One of my favorite things to do is look for shark teeth. Once you find one it’s like the eyes just home in on them. It’s weird. I have an eye for them. Coming home with a collection. You would be shocked how much they cost in the tourist traps.

I sprinkled my father to sea. I snuck away. I cried. I said my fair wells. It was much needed. It was my own private service. Just him and I. I wished he was with me. We would have had fun.

I wrote about waiting last week. Well, when the wait is over it’s over. It’s amazing how quickly a good time goes by. Florida came and went in a blink of an eye. One moment I was boarding in Texas for departure, the next I was packing to go home.

It was a nice time. We had a nice time.

Song of the Week: “Florida” by Modest Mouse

Jalapeño.

TGIF crap omelet.

Brawts with red cabbage & spaetzle.

Seared tuna and oysters. Boogers.

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Chocolate and biscuits.

Spaghetti and meatballs.

Hot chicken salad and asparagus.

Fried green tomatoes and fish tacos.

Huevos rancheros with some steak and rice. Bekah was the leader here. I did the steak and all the prep. My middle brother came in with the egg assist.

Spicy coconut grilled chicken thighs.

Charcuterie board

Cocktail of the Week: who cares.

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The anticipation & anxiety is palpable. Vacation is near. It’s been over a year since I’ve left this town. A year!!!!

Waiting. Waiting all the time. That’s what we all do. We wait. We wait ourselves through life. We wake up and wait for the coffee to brew. Once at work we spend the entire day waiting on various things all the while waiting to get off work. After work it’s waiting on dinner or perhaps a buzz to alleviate all the waiting we did during the day. Waiting to get married. Waiting for that promotion. Waiting on that a**hole buying lottery tickets but not sure which ones he wants to get out of your way so you can by a bottle of water. Waiting for your kid (or dogs) to finally be potty trained. Waiting for that idiot in front of you to turn “right on red” when they clearly don’t know that’s an option that they have. Waiting for retirement. Waiting for your over priced cable and internet to work again. Lots of waiting on Amazon Prime packages the last year… It’s a life just full of waiting. Life is just one long line at the Post Office & only one window is open. I’ve been waiting on the trip to Florida since 2019. It’s finally hear and the wait is almost over. That final day I’ll be waiting to get home. Waiting to see my pups.

Life is funny in that we want things to come along and hurry up and happen. Waiting for future events. We are basically speeding through our own existence. Pumping the brakes a little would serve us all well. Learn to enjoy that time waiting. Each moment. So much takes place in a single second. A bird song. That butterfly fluttering by. A familiar face in a grocery store. The unexpected kindness of a stranger. Stumping your d*** toe. It’s all meaningful. Right?

Our lives are dictated by time. That clockwise rotation. What a real heifer. Throw all the f***ing clocks out! I’m soon to be 40. I don’t view myself at that age. Looking at myself in the mirror everyday I never noticed the lines on my face forming. The spark in my eyes fading. The hairline receding. (Okay, that I did notice.). Time. Do you remember when you were young? It fells like yesterday. Yet as a child yesterday felt like a long time away? Grandparents always said time, it flies. That the years keep getting shorter. As a child you can’t possibly understand this notion. As an adult, you begin to accept it at hard truth. Each passing year you find yourself saying something along the lines of “wow, the month really went by fast” or “how is it already insert month.” Our strict diet of calendar days. I suppose I should hold the calendar as accountable as the clock?

All this time waiting I forgot how to prepare for a trip.

Biannual lab and doctors visit. The vampires had a feast on my blood. I was left a nice blue, purple and yellow bruise. Rude. My results were positive. My A1C was considerably lower. Big win. Trying to get below the diabetic levels.

It warmed up this week. I had to turn the AC unit on for the first time. And the patio fan. Not what I want to start doing. It’s actually going to be cooler in Florida when I go.

It was a short week but it was a busy long week. I took Monday off and kept busy. Did a little landscape makeover. The days at work were crazy busy. Needy f***er’s. I couldn’t have been happier for Friday to roll around. Adios!!!!

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Jalapeño

Mac & Cheese Burger. Why have I not done this before. Everything just went together so well.

A Hello Fresh meal that appeared on my desk. Thanks! Pork tenderloin with roasted veggies. I added. It needed more. Some balsamic worked for the veggies. It turned out well. Bekah liked and that’s the point. The red wine fig sauce was interesting.

Easter brunch!!! Solo today, Bekah worked all weekend. Decided to keep it simple and make spicy egg Benedict with some prosciutto wrapped grilled asparagus. Wait! Is that really simple? I don’t know. It was good.

Easter dinner!!! Squash dressing, mashed potatoes, spicy green brands and ham Hawaiian roll slider. Deviled egg appetizers.

Another Hello Fresh. We didn’t follow the recipe. It was gross!!! Lucky for us it was easy to convert the meal kit to teriyaki steak. Roasted soy broccoli. All was good in the world.

Grilled chicken caesar pasta salad.

We were going to have leftover Easter ham and eggs. It just didn’t sound good but I hate to waste. Oh well. Ended up going to HEB for Korean ribs, stir fry and sushi’s. Easy tasty solution.

Mushroom Swiss bacon burger.

Pizza

Cocktail of the Week: Beer!!!! It was national beer day Wednesday.

Good Friday!!! Yay!! I had the day off. And it was a productive day spent running all around town. I got out of the house early and went to the plant nursery. I really wanted this bougainvillea I knew they had. I didn’t want to spend the money but in the end I somehow justified the cost. No more bougainvillea!!! NO MORE!!!

After that it was time for a beeto. Machacado for this guy. I asked for 2 green sauces & only got 1. Rude!!! It hit the spot and got me through most of the day. Julio’s does not skimp on their burritos.

Now that I was fueled it was time to run errands. I was also keeping my eyes open for some Ritz jalapeño crisp. I did my shopping at HEB. No crisp. I went for a treat at Market Street. No crisp. I ran for socks at Target. No crisp. Found a plant at Home Depot. Got my car washed. Dropped of my suit to the dry cleaners. Refilled my propane tank. Refilled my water bottles. Hooch run for rum. Finally I went to the Neighborhood Market where I knew for a fact I could get the crisp. Why oh why they are the only to carry that flavor is beyond me. Satisfied, I was on my way home. It seemed like every motherf***er in town was on the road. WTF!!! And none of them seemed to know how to drive.

Since I was still fairly satisfied from the beeto I went with a light “charcuterie” for a late lunch.

I went out to my mother for a little while to visit with her and my middle brother who came into town for the vaccine and Easter. Had a couple drinks and discussed the upcoming vacation to Florida. He went for carry out and was absolutely shocked how relaxed most people in our town are when it comes to the pandemic. See, in Austin they are still being responsible unlike around these parts. He was the only person in a crowded restaurant with a mask on. This includes the staff. He wasn’t even sure he wanted his pizza anymore. If anything, that experience might have prepared him for what we will likely see in Florida. I hear the pandemic is over in that state. “Eyes rolling out of my f***ing head.”

Bekah was at the bar so I decided to make a drink. Why not? It’s not like I hadn’t had a drink every other day this week. Yes, it was that kind of week.

It’s so nice and gloomy!!! Saturday I got up early to meet with the gutter people. We decided to go ahead and knock out a portion of our back yard so we can progress with the landscape overhaul later in the year. Gotta use that stimi check. After getting his estimate I decided to mow the yard. Bekah kept saying she was going to do it but she was really dragging her knuckles. It’s a satisfying chore.

I met my brother at a place called Street Eats. The same place I had lunch last Saturday. He had seen the pictures of the barria tacos and wanted to try them. It’s a picnic table kind of place with a BYOB policy so we grabbed some brew and had our lunch outside. We both don’t eat out so this was kind of a training exercise for Florida. The meal was nice and the time was well spent. I got an order to go and took it to Bekah. She was most impressed as well.

My life is so exciting. After dropping off the food to Bekah I boiled eggs and played a video game. Paid my mortgage. The dreaded SuddenLink bill. I hate that f***er. It was still gloomy. Once I realize I wasn’t progressing and only wasting my breath saying “f*** you” to a video game character, I left for my mother’s for another visit. It was a Harry Potter marathon. Good times as always.

Happy Easter! I got up early-ish and fertilized the yard. We have a big front yard so I treated areas I knew needed it the most. Running the sprinklers I noticed a few problems. Heads needing replacement and a pressure issue I’ll have to address later. S***!

Since the pandemic Sunday brunch is a tradition. I wasn’t going to stop on Easter even though I was alone. Eggs Benedict with prosciutto wrapped asparagus. I was satisfied. It was another nice gloomy day so I decided to make a little cocktail to go with my meal. Yeah, I made a cocktail because it was gloomy out. Don’t laugh at us weather geeks. Drinking due to weather conditions is quite normal with us. It was a good day for drinking. I’ll probably take a break next week before vacation where heavy drinking is assured.

Cocktail of the Weekend: Something I made up. Vodka, lime Topo Chico, OJ & a splash of grenadine. Tasty refreshing drink.

My main Easter task is always the deviled eggs. I’ve been the one making them for so many years I can’t even keep up. I make them well, what can I say. this year I decided to throw a little bacon into the mix. What the hell. It’s the appetizer.

As per normal, our holiday cooking experience was full of insulting each other. Lots of jabs and a little bit of wine. Okay, a fair amount. We had a good time. The meal wasn’t the important part. It was the family. The laughs. The good times. The memories to be had. I cherish these moments. We didn’t have Easter last year. I think we made up for it. Happy Easter everyone!!!

Happy Easter!!!!

Monday was the best Monday that I’ve had in a long while. It was Yvette’s birthday so I went and got her some balloons. When delivering the balloons the entire campus lost power. Rather than go back to my dark office where I couldn’t do a thing, I stayed put. Much better conversation to be had. A little over an hour later I departed. Next thing I know, it was lunch.

The art gallery had a new student exhibit. I always look forward to these. The last one wasn’t so great. I’m always delighted when I walk by to notice a new one is up.

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It was a short week. Good Friday we had off. I can’t say a whole lot happened, but I enjoyed the week. It was nice to visit with my campus friends.

Song of the Week: “This Must Be The Place” by Talking Heads.

Jalapeño

Chorizo potato bean tacos. Just things we had around the house that needed to be cooked or thrown out. Really can’t go wrong with this.

Jalapeño bratwurst served over a sea so honey mustard with potato salad and jalapeño.

Easy chicken paprikash. This is a Hungarian mea and my first time making it. The sauce was butter, paprika, heavy cream, chicken stock and flour. For the chicken I used rotisserie chicken. It was very good.

Artichoke rice salad with grilled chicken over a bed of mixed greens.

Bekah was going to make Taco Mac & Cheese. She went for drinks and brought hone enchiladas.

BBQ pork tenderloin w/ beans.

Saturday Bekah took off early to Hoe-zona on a mission with her siblings and I was left to my own devices. I was having a very ADD day. I was bouncing all over the place and couldn’t stay focused on one thing long enough to complete a task. It literally took me 2 hours to leave the house. I’d tried for 2 hours. No joke. When I did leave the house with my 4 task at hand I diverted to the Lily park and then from that I got lost.

The park was kind of pathetic. Only 3 Lily’s in bloom. I wonder, did the tanks completely freeze over during the winter storm like peoples pools did? How many plants did they lose if that is the case. That saddens me. I remember what it looked like 2020. Of course I do. It was a refuge when we first went on lockdown. I went their often. It’s a place I found peace. I was somewhat depressed. I missed my people. My routine. Lord, it’s been a f***ing year. Before I digress (pretty sure I did), the park was off to a hard start. The bluebonnets were killing it though. I located a few pink ones. Rare and beautiful. Not a lot else was in bloom.

From there I wondered downtown. For an hour. I really deviated from the course of my day. A peacock caught my eye. From there I just wondered around looking at various art & the outdoors. My head was in the clouds. I saw some pretty beautiful water fowl. Something relaxing about watching the ducks, or am I alone? When I was a little boy, younger than my nephew Teddy is now, my grandparents would take me to a pond to feed the ducks. I loved that about our visits. I got such a kick out of watching the quacking birds. I wanted to hold them, but of course that never happened. To this day, sadly, I’ve never held a duck. I’m still captivated by the little critters.

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Once back on course I made my rounds around town. My main mission was to get some plants for the yard. Sadly, I had a good deal of replacing to do. F***ing polar vortex. So I hit up a few locations and I found some but not much for variety. Worker said the supply chain was greatly impacted by that blast. I’m sure it was. Green houses lost all power for days. I spruced up the patio & front porch a little. I did the same last year. With the fear of imminent lockdown I wanted my outdoor space to be pretty and soothing on the mind. It’s amazing what some plants will do for a place.

Next up was an attack on the HEB. I planned a dinner my mother would make. God, it had been years. I’m not even sure why I thought of it. The store was a breeze. But…. I guess the siblings decided to have sibling night. Completely understand. What a day they must have had. So I was back to square one on dinner. Screw it.

My main indecision for the day was lunch. My indecision. I know it drives Bekah crazy. Some days I just can’t. Nothing is concrete. It drives me f***ing batty. I fretted over what the hell I was to eat. Out of f***ing nowhere something popped up! Street Eats!! Thank the heavens. I called it in and I drove. You have no idea how satisfied I was. Barrio Barria. That dipping broth was heavenly.

I chilled on the couch and watched a movie I’d been hearing about. “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.” It was cute and not bloated like so many movies seems to be these days. At an hour and a half. That’s unheard of. I now know the origin of “It’s Friday pumpkin!” lol. I must finish by saying that Michael Cera looks like a f***ing lizard. A chameleon to be specific. When I watch him I keep waiting for that long tongue to whip out and eat someone else on screen . Not sure about that guy.

So what the hell was I going to do for dinner for myself? I had chicken thigh, broccoli, and I’m not sure why, microwave rice. I don’t eat that s***. Panda Express orange sauce. I made a bowl!!! It was delish. And I went into a diabetic coma. Oops. I needed insulin.

The remainder of the evening I spent outside on the patio fighting the wind or inside on the couch watching whatever I could find. I decided to play bartender. I made drinks and I poured heavy but I never really reached the state of inebriation that I was longing for. I was up late and still it eluded me. Overall it was a jolly good time. Drinking alone is frowned upon, I know. Somehow solitary boozing has been stigmatized as a sign someone is slipping. I feel that every once in a while it’s needed. It’s a good way to find that inner you. Let the booze be the moderator to the conversation you have with yourself. All distractions are set aside. Tap that subconscious mind.

Happy Saturday!!!! Hope you all had a nice one!

A weekend a weekend. As I mentioned my youngest brother and the wife and kids were in town. Loved seeing them. Jesus. The kids are so much fun. I built monsters with Teddy and gave him a cup cake he wasn’t supposed to have. He is the splitting image of my father at that age. Patrick just smiles. He has my red hair. Hopefully not my hairline.

Brother, sister-in-law and I went to a vineyard outside of town. At first he canceled our plans. I went from “chill relax mode to let’s get things done mode” when he called to say plans were back on. Eye rolls, people. It took me a sec to switch gears again. Almost stayed in “get things done” mode. Glad I changed gears. Great time. I felt like I’d gone one vacation. It was great to hit the highway. I had not left town in over a year. It was weird putting the car in cruise mode at 75mph. We sat out and shared 3 bottles of wine. Is that excessive between the 3 of us? I don’t know. I guess I should include the wasp that drank with us. She wouldn’t leave the sparkling almond alone. When you need a drink you need a drink. Who am I to judge.

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The week began with a gloomy wet Monday, thank the heavens. I was not feeling work. It’s my office week. What a bummer, right? The drizzle and eventual downpour got me through it. I got goosebumps when it finally thundered. How I’d been waiting for a good daytime storm to pass through. Enough of the AM pitch black storms where you can’t see anything.

Pretty uneventful week, honestly. Leroy will tell you that “the bulls*** wouldn’t end” and he would be right. He clocked out early Friday. I mean, I woke up Wednesday thinking it was Thursday’s, I never shook that feeling. NOTHING eventful happened. We did get some more rain. 2 days of precipitation. I’ll take more, thank you very much.

I did find a little bit of treasure while looking for my father resume. His detailed account of family history and his early life up until he and my mother moved from Colorado. I spent a good time going through and printing (not my paper). I skimmed over some of it. Will be an interesting read once I find the time. Emotional no doubt.

Song of the Week: “Head Over Heels” by Tears For Fears.

Jalapeño

Waffle BLT? Sure. It was a fun concept but the waffle really didn’t add much. I think the fried egg was a little over kill. What this meal did do was make me crave an actual BLT. Not saying it was a dud. It wasn’t. It just didn’t live up to what it was mimicking.

Steak, onion & pepper grilled and tossed in red enchilada sauce with melted cheddar. Borracho beans cooked with brown beer. Not the prettiest but never the less delicious.

Teriyaki steak with broccoli, rice, pineapple & jalapeño.

Seared tuna w/ seaweed salad.

Orange citrus shrimp grilled with a vegetable medley of asparagus, radish & jalapeño. Simple and light.

I had no idea WTF was for dinner. So I made chicken fajita and threw queso on top. It was tasty as always.

Cocktail of the Week: Jalapeño Margarita Martini. You must know it’s been a year since I’ve had this drink and it was sooooooooo good. I actually said f*** it and went into a place Jay for the drink. I was out in under 10 min and it was worth it. No one was there anyways.

The weekend was actually a lot of fun. Friday I watched WandaVision. Bekah wasn’t around and she really doesn’t do Marvel. I have a little crush on Elizabeth Olsen and I like Paul Bettany so I gave it a try. I’m not the biggest Marvel nerd and I was clearly missing some back story but I was still able to enjoy it. I wasn’t expecting the show to pull at my heart strings. The end was deep. I recommend. It’s only eight 30min episodes. Very easy to power through.

Saturday came around and I was craving a certain lettuce wrap. The thing is when you order that as carry out it’s a soggy mess. After much deliberation I decided it was time to dine out. I was just a little anxious. It had been almost exactly a year since I had eaten inside a restaurant. We went at an off hour so no one was really around. It was good seeing the staff. The cook made mine extra spicy (they were spicy) since he hadn’t seen me since last March. It was all that I remembered it being. A good year since I’ve had it like this. I took my time. We played some music on the Touch Tunes and had some drinks. It was nice but still felt weird. I just wasn’t use to it, dining out. We continued to day drink once back home. It was a nice day for the patio. Bekah had a little too much fun and crashed before dinner was ready. It happens.

That evening I was electrical. I was so excited. Our first sever weather threat!!!! Tornado watch!!!! Boy howdy!!! I couldn’t sit still. I went outside with my hands in the air. BRING IT ON!!!! We didn’t end up getting anything but some rain, heavy winds and a nice light show but I’ll take what I can get. It’s sever weather season and the experts are expecting an above average amount of outbreaks this year. Should be exciting. Wednesday morning we got hit with another storm. This one brought with it hail. I woke up to artillery shells hitting my house. Because of the excitement I found little sleep the rest of the night. I need these things to happen during the day light hours.

Daylight savings time. My favorite. You know sleep disruption has been know to cause deaths. Why we still practice this barbaric ritual is beyond me. Starting the week in all the right ways I had a flat tire. I also have an air compressor now. I went to Discount Tire. Slow leak nail in tire. That’s a free fix but it seems I need a new tire. Oh, and another tire is almost in the red. Screw it, might as well replace the 2 of them and while at it get a rotation. I don’t want to be back here in another month.

To pass the time I went for a leisurely stroll. Upon my stroll, lost in my thoughts, I noticed a bright golden marble pebble. I bent down to inspect it. Weathered by time it’s smooth surface was as soft as a new borns skin. As I examined what could only be of natural design, I wondered to myself if ever this rock had been touched by human hands before? Would it ever be touched again? When I carried it away from its predestined path & placed it upon a large conglomerate exposed through the dirt, I wondered if this was where it would remains till the end of my days? Or would some other force of nature come along and carry it away? Maybe years from now I’ll come back and check on it.

My nephews were in town!!!! My lord they grow fast. Teddy is a big boy and baby Patrick is running!! He was crawling when I last saw him! This last year! I didn’t get to see enough of him because of the f***ing virus. I’m so happy that they came. The exhaustion is real. Just watching them play makes me tired. And that’s great.

St. Patrick’s Day. Oh what an anniversary this was. A year ago the world closed. Well, Texas closed. We were a little late. This was my last day at work for a few months. It’s insane to think how different this year is from the last. Last year fear was in the air. This year no one cares. We are doing better but it’s not over yet. I just…. what a f***ing year.

Bekah asked if I wanted to go get a green beer somewhere. To be honest I’m yet onboard with returning to the bar scene. It’s just… weird. Also, just because I’ve had COVID and a drip of bamlanivimab doesn’t mean I can’t catch it again. I actually found some green food coloring so she could have a green beer. Lamest St. Patrick’s Day I think I’ve ever had. Oh well. The last year was rather lame. I ended up making her a green beer at the house.

It took forever but Friday finally rolled around. Beeto day, unsupervised & a trip to Sam’s. That’s pretty much my day. I f***ed off for an hour on my mail run. Took a nice stroll on the campus. Beautiful afternoon.

After work Bekah & I went to my mother’s to have dinner with the family. Youngest brother got into town so we had his whole family. Uncle was in. We kind of celebrated his birthday. We ordered carry out. Cork & Pig. It’s been months. It was a good time

Song of the Week: “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” by Dropkick Murphy’s in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.

Jalapeño

Pasta. I had to make something with the leftover Italian sausage that I used for my pizza. I had a can of fire roasted tomatoes, broccolini, mushrooms, sundries tomatoes, ricotta & parmesan cheese. Combine all that with some bow-tie pasta & fresh basil. This one was a keeper.

Full English breakfast. Well, excluding the blood sausage. Cooked it all on the grill which was fun.

BBQ bacon wrapped chicken w/ grilled okra and deviled eggs.

Teriyaki burger. Simply Monday meal for the time change.

HEB jalapeño salmon patties with peas and mushrooms.

St Patrick’s Day!!! I always seem to default to a shepherds pie. Time to try something else. Corned beef. I basically made a Reuben on the grill. It was a fun experiment. Have to have potato’s on my Irish day.

Bibigo pork tenderloin. Korean BBQ. You have to love it. It’s a frequent on our menu but always chicken or steak. Served with some pan fried pork pot sticker and broccoli.

Friday dinner with the family. Pizza. BBQ chicken pizza.

Cockatoo of the Week: Black rum and Coke.

I understand why people in small towns drink. They are bored to tears and have nothing else to do. A relatively boring weekend segued into a extremely boring week. Bored to tears I was. I was going to title this one the “Boring Blog” but than I thought what is a fixer for boredom? A drink. And I needed a few. What did I do that made the week so boring, you ask? Zilch. It was the first week that I spent traveling around the campus to the various departments in a long time but unfortunately that still gave me very little to do. I shouldn’t have been so bored. When an opportunity arose and I was able to escape the office I sure tried to make the most of it. People I had not seen in over a month were in for long conversations. Because I was bored. Bored with coworkers. Bored with the internet. Bored with the food I cooked for meal preps. Bored with life. What a boring planet. Bored bored bored….

Speaking of conversations, I had a guy on campus come into my office saying that the ice storm we went through in February was all a government conspiracy. They made the storm. It was intended to make our Republican state government look like failures. So we control the weather now? WOW! This is f***ing BIG news. I mean, how did I miss this? I watch the weather, read the weather. This simply slipped by me. I am so happy for this visitors insight. I couldn’t wait to tell all my fellow weather geeks. My eyes were rolling out of my f***ing head. I was later asked how I was able to keep a straight face while listening to that horse s***. Well you see, I hear s*** like that to various degrees all the time working here. I’m trained in the arts of listening to said horse s***. Sad but true.

We had a friends mother pass away. Almost exactly a year after her father passed away. The visitation was bound to be sad. As a rule I don’t do viewings. I want the memories I hold to be the last image I have of that person. So when we went the the sister-in-law Connie and I held back and avoided the viewing room. Bekah said she looked good. I find it pretty amazing what the desairologists can do. To make the dead beautiful. Over all I was surprised that the atmosphere wasn’t in the gloom. It was a rather happy visitation.

It was such a nice and gloomy week. To cap of the week there was a free outdoor concert on campus. The symphonic band put on a nice little show. I was able to sneak out and catch about 30 min and I realized how badly I missed live performances. That was a sweet little taste I guess I’ll have to do with. Hey, I wasn’t bored!!!

Jalapeño

Spicy sesame chicken w/ sushi rice. The sauce was spot on. I was going for a mimic of my favorite from my childhood. Pretty close. Could have used their plumb sauce.

Brunch. I decided to do a smothered breakfast burrito. This thing was HUGE!! It was a burrito baby. For the filling I used chorizo, egg, onion & jalapeño, refried beans & cheese. I found some extra large tortilla and rolled it all up. I used a green enchilada sauce as the base to my sauce which I added a little extra seasonings to. Side with fresh pico and some avocado. I had to power through this one. It was great but it was too much food. The most stuffing brunch I’ve done yet.

Bunless burger of burger salad?

Chicken & broccoli smothered with creamy alfredo sauce. I made a spicy sauce with jalapeño and cracked red peppers. It was pretty yummy.

Buffalo chicken salad. This one turned out so good. Like, real d*** good.

Tonight was originally going to be grill shrimp & asparagus but we had a visitation to attend and bekah was going to eat out afterwards so I just experimented. Shredded chicken mixed together with taco seasoning, jalapeño, rotel & velveta cheese. Placed in a casserole dish, covered with cheese and corn chips. I thought it was pretty good for a quick throw together.

Mushroom Swiss bacon burger patty. I know it’s not the most visually stunning of meals so trust me when I say it was delicious. Heart healthy it ain’t.

With Bekah gone I guess I must make pizza. Looking at the last pizzas that I’ve made I realized they are all various pepperoni pizza. I wanted to try a different protein so I tried spicy Italian sausage. Also, red onions and fresh jalapeño. It’s was tasty but sausage pizza has never been my thing.

Cocktail of the Week: Dogfish Head 90

“WE WON!!!! Covid is gone!!! Woot woot!!! Not even a year has passed and we can all go back to normal!!! It wasn’t even real in the first place!!! All about making us sheep and taking away our rights. Enforcing lies upon us. All these idiots that fell in line and followed those dumb scientist. Science isn’t real either. Dumb egg head fear mongering motherf***er’s get paid to lie to us. Idiots that have been living in fear all this time. Cowardly f***’s! Making all is patriotic Americans look like sissy little girls. Who is the sissy now!! MERICA!!”

If the above offended you I’m not sorry. That’s how I imagine it must have been on Tuesday for many of Texans. “Eye rolling out of my head”.

The great state of Texas is opening up 100% and lifting the mask mandate. What a f***ing great idea. Coming from someone that was unlucky enough to catch the virus and knows first hand it’s not just the flu, what are these people thinking!!! This goes directly against what the CDC recommended on the exact same DAY! I’ll stick to wearing my mask, thank you very much. No coincidence that they made this announcement on Texas Independence Day. Nice way of making us look like a horses a**. Again, it hasn’t even been a year since lockdown. I’m just thrilled so many friends of mine can get the vaccine now.

Anyways…..

Monday was so nice and gloomy. It was also chilly again after a warm weekend. March 1st. WTF happened to the month of February? I’ve probably already said this, but I feel like I skipped the month.

My father is getting an exhibit in the campus’s new art museum. The mammoth bones he excavated will be on display. To provide the exhibit with a little information I needed to research my fathers work. It’s a lot to go through but I really enjoyed it. I could hear his voice while reading his words. I also realized how much I missed research projects from my college days. It was a real treat. I’m not sure I can provide the exhibit with anything else useful. His field notes, I fear, were disposed when we cleaned out my parents house. Amongst the many problems with Alzheimer’s is that the person isn’t cognitive to tell you what is of value and what is not. Where something is. It’s f***ed all around. I feel we lost many of things my father would have deemed important but how would we have known. I’m beyond happy he has an exhibit. He always said “they should be in a museum.”

Thursday was actually a very fun day at work. The morning we were to say goodbye to the crocodile that’s been part of our team for 3 years. His friend was very sad to see him go. Moving it across campus took some thought and a little bit of crazy. It was a real rush, let me say. Dangling a 500lb croc in the air and setting him into the back of a trailer. Nothing could go wrong. Nah. Once the crocodile was transported I got to see the new addition to the campus, T. Rex. I was kind of geeking out a little. To keep the day interesting I went and got the new Chick-fil-A spicy grilled sandwich. It was tasty. Not as good as the breaded, but still a dang good sandwich.

• 

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The afternoon was totally opposite. I was bored out of my mind. Nothing on the internet entertained me. No one came in. The phone never rang. I begged my coworker Janine to let me please to the mail run. For the love of all things Holy will you allow me this task. She agreed. I decided to pass on a golf cart ride and just run mail by foot. I took a nice leisurely stroll across the campus to burn up some daylight. Lots of plants look pretty sad after the ice storm. The green house was fine!!! I was told everything died. I told others everything died. Someone made a liar out of me. Rude.

On my journey back to the office some jerk on a motorcycle yelled at a couple students for pushing the crosswalk button. In some ways I could relate. His was the only vehicle and if they had waited a couple seconds they could have just walked across. But yelling at anyone is just uncalled for. The students looked confused.

Who cares about Friday. It was boring and long.

Song of the Week: “Foyer” by Wild Nothing. This one has a very 80’s vibe to it. I’m a sucker for a catchy bass line & they don’t get much catchier than this. Nice rainy day song.

Jalapeño

This was a can good kind of dinner. While dealing with winter storm Uri it became very apparent to us how little food we had in the house that did not require cooking. We don’t have much when it comes to canned goods. Well, the shelves were empty except for canned lasagna. Does not sound appetizing, does it. I added the leftover Italian chicken from last week into the pasta and served it with some canned green beans. It was actually a very good dinner. A meal that shouldn’t have worked.

Bekah made SOS “S*** on a Shingle”. I have no idea why it’s called that. It’s biscuits and gravy and it’s good. Double yoke is good luck, right?

Beef tenderloin with a peppercorn cream sauce & some asparagus/mashed potato’s . This sauce is a new thing. It was amazing.

Enchilada chicken. On of Bekah’s signature dishes. All I contributed was the poached egg.

Fish tacos using acing actual tacos. Years now it’s been basically the equivalent of a bunless burger. Not carbs. So this was a real treat.

Chicken Yakatori. I was going to make something totally different and this just happened. It was a warm day in March. You can’t go wrong with this and it’s one of Bekah’s favorites.

Queso burger for the win. Just can’t go wrong with this. Creamy spicy cheese over a delicious burger patty. My mouth is reliving it right as I type this. Yum!!!

We were going to have dinner with my mother and I was going to get a nice brick oven pizza. Her second COVID vaccine shot hit her and she had to cancel. I did not want to got to the store for dinner. I had chicken, beans and leftover queso. It was so good.

Cocktail of the Week: Kraken Black Spiced Rum w/ Coke.