Saturday was a damn busy day. Teegan left with Noah to San Antonio and I was left alone at home with the dogs. I didn’t know how weird an empty house would be. It was weird. The strangest thing was the empty bed. Months waking up next to someone and suddenly not. How strange that felt. I had a loneliness settle over me. I had wondered what it would be like separated from everyone. I had a lot of things I could be doing but I really didn’t know what to do. I felt a little lost. I’m sure that’s weird to everyone. They are my family and I missed them all.

Since I wasn’t cooking breakfast and I didn’t feel like making something for myself, I decided to hit up a local joint. The place has been around as long as I’ve been able to walk, Mr. T’s. I have a lot of history with this little place and I’ve seen it change over the years. Saturday was my first time in the establishment in probably 10 years. Even longer since I’ve had their breakfast. Last week I had two separate friends that don’t know each other praise the breakfast. What better time to give it a whirl.

When I was a little boy I lived fairly close to Mr. T’s. After school I’d ride my bike there and get candy or a milkshake. Delicious milkshakes. Back in the late 80s & early 90s the place was a little corner store where you could also get groceries. It was a fairly cute place. The only time I’ve ever stolen something was in the store when I was probably 10. I was with some friends and on a date I took some candy. A single atomic fireball, to be exact. It wasn’t a big loss for them but it’s stuck with me forever. I guess I’m the one that paid the price for that little boys dare.

Eventually it became more of a diner. They had burgers and sandwiches. Chicken fried steak. In high school I practically lived off the loaded cheese fries. I honed so much weight it was disgusting. Just about everyday after school I still went to Mr. T’s just like I did as a little boy, but now I ate cheese fries.

I my college days I still occasionally picked up something to go. Often a breakfast burrito to help me out of a hangover. They had the most amazing breakfast burritos. I wonder if that’s has changed.

After college the ownership changed hands and it went down hill. They began trying new things that didn’t work and they completely stepped away from the milkshakes, which pissed me off greatly at the time. I don’t even drink milkshakes anymore, but how dare they take away something I held precious’s from my youthful days. I stopped going.

I’d heard ownership had once again switched hands and the place was good again. They went back to basics but they also began trying new things. New things that fit with the old menu. They also started up a larger breakfast menu like they had in the past. So after hearing how good it was that’s how I found myself eating eggs Benedict Saturday morning. It was indeed fantastic.

After my wonderful meal I for some reason mowed my backyard. Pissed off at how much dirt in the yard, I ran off and bought $100 worth of Bermuda grass. It was impulsive but as it turns out the weather next week is favorable for such a move. Cool temps and rain. I tilled the soil and laid the sod. I hate laying sod. I told myself years ago I wouldn’t do it once I was out of the landscape business but I’ve done it a handful of times since. I was supposed to have a pallet delivered a month ago that never came. Now it’s almost too damn hot.

I get busy in the yard and lose track of time. I had a graduation party to attend for brother-in-law’s oldest daughter. I made good time if not still a little late. Who really cares, I made it. I think people were surprised to see me at a family event without Yvette with me. I feel comfortable with her family. Hell, I needed to represent our little family since everyone else was out of town.

It was an Italian buffet. Yvette made the lasagna and I must say it was the best thing served. Everything else was basically slow cooker or frozen meals. So much pasta. The cake I also had to try. I did walk in and Yvette’s dad offered me a beer. I gladly accepted one and then another. It was a good time and I was happy for the family. I don’t see them enough to really consider the nieces but they technically are by our marriage. That means I take pride in them doing well. This family is so much different than the one I had with my ex wife. They all like each other.

After the party, Yvette had some spare time to call me before the baby photo session. It was great hearing from her. Sounds like they were having a pretty good time. Nadia got herself a new ride. She needed something different with baby Niles now here. Teegan also found one that he was interested in but wasn’t able to test drive. Sounds like a good weekend. I sure did miss everyone. I was happy that they were having a good time.

I made a run to the store and grabbed some goods for Monday slow cooking. Brisket. I was running out to my moms to pick up a sprinkler head and I decided to stop and have a beer at a place I use to frequent, City Limits. I recognized one bartender that I hadn’t seen in ages but that’s about it. When was the last time I was at City? Was it when I was returning the mimosa tower after our wedding? I really think it might have been. Back in the murkier days of my divorce I found great solace there, and I must say I’m happy to have left the place and those days behind me. I was nice to see the place but I have a feeling the stigma will always remain.

At home I made myself a drink and went outside to water my new grass. Damn if it wasn’t still freaking hot outside. I was happy to go back inside and begin my dinner. I made a jalapeño chicken stir fry. A meal that the rest of the family would die trying to eat. It certainly was hot. After that I crawled into bed and turned on a show I was watching here and there. Silo. It was a rather busy long day and I was actually tired. I tried calling Yvette before turning the lights out but her phone was not really working all that well. I think it’s almost time for a new phone, sadly.

Sunday morning I woke up and made a little chorizo and egg taco for myself. I watered the yard and enjoyed some coffee. Around 11 my mother called to inform me that my brother and his friends were passing through town and that it was time to have lunch. My stomach was full and honestly not happy, but I attended anyways. I wanted to see them, stomach be damned. We went to Armenta’s and I was able to see Monte and Anna and my brother, Chris. The food was indeed excellent as always. Unfortunately for me, I was really struggling. Nevertheless, I made it through lunch and had a good time. I was not about to miss them.

I might not have a twin, and Chris might be a little younger than I, but I feel a brother bond with him that is something only first and second born brother must know. I miss him immensely. I miss my brother Keith, but our relationship is not the same as Chris and I. Keith has a family. I suppose I do too. There was a time I did not, and Chris and I had each other. Chris helped me so much during some dark days of my life. I would do anything for him or Keith if they asked. I would be lost without either of them.

I rushed home after lunch, sick as hell. Afterwards I cleaned the floors and our bathroom. The floors I wanted to be clean for Yvette so she didn’t feel compelled to clean when they got home later in the day. My lord, they needed to be cleaned. I didn’t realize how dirty they were. Who ever does. Damn 3 dogs track in so much BS.

Yvette, Lola and Alaya finally made it into town around 4 (Teegan stayed with his brother another night in San Antonio) and I suggested we go to the pool to let Alaya have some fun. After decompressing for a while we all go swim ready. Alaya had the time of her life. She is a little water dog and I’m so happy for that. Next week she actually begins swim lessons on campus. No fear of the water with this little girl. It was nice for us all to get a little wet on such a warm day. A few drinks went down and just a fan time for a little girl.

I was happy they were home. God I was happy. It was time to cook. Carne al pastor tacos w/ street corn. It was an evening mostly spent with laughs and cooking. They wanted some silly Mormon show on Netflix which I could not help get sucked into just like a damn car accident pulls y,our head to the side. I pulled away and sent back to the show I was watching, Silo. Lola eventually went out and left us with a sleeping beauty.

Memorial Day was the definition of a lazy ass day. I woke up and made omelets for 3 and started a brisket. Time to got be lazy again. I lounged around until after 1 and didn’t leave the house until 2. It turned out the cooking of the brisket could have been put off. It was Yvette’s mom’s birthday so we were all going out for dinner. Well we had dinner for tomorrow.

Yvette forgot what day it was. She had a hair appointment an hour before the birthday party. Teegan got back into town. He had a good time and we hung out until the party started. Wait a second! A storm! We were postponed!! It actually hailed. Little hail. I felt helpless with 3 cars that didn’t need to get damage. Luckily it never became sever.

Teegan and I showed up at the dinner late because of mix signals. We were told to wait because the weather was potentially dangerous. Yvette sent me a text to go seek shelter and cover the cars. No one really seemed to know what was going on. When we walked in it was a full house. All the family except Yvette. I think they had been waiting on us to order and I felt bad. Oh well. It was a good time. Teegan and I were on the very end so we kind of missed out on any real conversation. The food was great and I really do not know how the hell they get it out so damn fast.

After dinner it was time for the final episode of Teegan and my show, The Last of Us. We were both excited but sad that it would be 2026 before we could watch it again. The even sadder realization was that Teegan would be in college and we would not be watching it together. That is some bullshit right there. We really hadn’t thought of that. I guess we FaceTime. I don’t even know. Damn bummer. The episode was good but also a real bummer. Fuck.

So Memorial Day weekend. It was good. It was different. It was fast. I missed my family and then they came back and I was happy to be surrounded by them. Being the first weekend without them I now see how big a part they play in my life. I missed the noise. The drama. The love. The baby. I missed them. So yeah, Monday was nice when everyone was back. It was a nice weekend.

I hope all of you had just as good a weekend.

My Saturday? Who really gives a damn about what I did. The usual. Yard work and a lot of cutting. Fun times.

That evening it was a graduation party for Yvette’s bosses daughter. Such a nice house and boy oh boy was the food good. I really wanted to eat much more but I also did not want to look like a pig. I of course felt a little out of place not knowing many people, it was mostly family. Her boss is a good person and she was great easing the anxiety. Fellow introverts. She insisted that Yvette and I leave with food, which was very kind. This being the second party that I have attended with her, the first being much more formal, it was nice seeing a very relaxed side. Good time.

After the party Yvette and I went to grab some hooch before the stores closed. Seemed like the right idea. I of course had more to eat. It was a nice mellow evening. I was tired. I think we all were, so we went to sleep.

Sunday we all slept in and eventually went to Yvette’s parents for some burgers. I had mine without a bun. Noah brought little baby Niles. He is too damn cute. I got to hold him for a while before feeding time. Crazy to think Alaya was smaller than him.

We watched Top Gun: Maverick at my in-laws house after lunch. Not being the biggest fan boy of the original I really wasn’t expecting much. Upon viewing I realized just how much I actually knew about the original. I guess over the years it had been engrained into my brain. I felt waves of nostalgia. A very well made movie. It pulled some strings and hit all the points that a legacy sequel should. I must admit that over the years I have really become a fan of Tom Cruise.

After the movie we went home, I did a little yard work and everyone went their own way. I went and visited with my mom for a while. I got in a little trouble over a misunderstanding. Yvette thought I was going to cook hibachi. I thought I was going to make it the following day. Oops. I came home to a feast being made without me and 7 hungry people. I was going to just eat leftovers. Haha. Oh well. I helped with the steaks and had a good time hanging out with everyone. It was a long day and I stayed up too late.

Monday was a damn drag. Nothing going on. I was bored and when something did come up I made a point to drag it out as long as I could. I did actually have an hour after lunch in which I was busy which made me miss the staff senate meeting. Darn! Haha. I hear I didn’t miss a damn thing. I was so looking forward to the evening and watching Teegan and my show, “The Last of Us”. I cooked some easy dinner, shake and bake pork, mac and cheese and green beans. Teegan and I sat down on the couch to eat and watch. It was a damn good episode. I was very happy to have Pascal back, if only for flashbacks.

Tuesday was beautiful. A complete break form the humidity that we have been suffering through the last few days. I actually was looking forward to spending time outdoors, so Yvette and I decided to have a little picnic. I went and picked up some taco Tuesday special and we had our lunch outside. I mean, we will not have many days like this for a while.

Wednesday night Yvette, Teegan and I went to the up and coming scholars event on campus. I take pride in this boys academics. His studious nature is something I know nothing about. I wish I had had that kind of ambition when I was in high school and I am certainly proud of him. It’s been a highlight doing these things with him. Wednesday was a low point, only because the presentation was a disaster. The host of the event has a language barrier, but that was only a part of the problem. The problem began early when more than expected guest arrived forcing them to delay due to lack of seating. This set everything back. They had to cut scripts short and that clearly threw everyone off track. They had technical difficulties with the slides not working. This made it abundantly clear that they were planning on relying upon the slides to help them along so when that failed they failed in turn. It came of as a mess and it was rather embarrassing. I felt bad for all involved. Hopefully next year they will have learned from whatever mistakes were made this time around.

After that mess we went home and finished up dinner. Potatoes were in the oven and all that was left was to heat the pulled post. It was a nice dinner. One which we all sat down together and enjoyed each others company. Those are the kind that I like.

Friday was a slow day at work. Yvette took off at one to make food for a graduation party and get ready to go out of town. Her and Lola were bringing the baby to San Antonio for some baby pictures. After work Teegan and I ordered some food for a local place and we watched a silly movie called Havoc on Netflix. Lots of violence. Unlimited ammo. Crazy body count. It was a good evening. I missed my wife.

Happy Friday!

Jalapeño

Shake n bake pork with some Mac & cheese and sautéed Italian green beans.

Teriyaki shrimp bowl.

BBQ pulled pork stuffed potatoes.

Salmon with broccoli rice and cheese w/ cheese.

Saturday started out just about like any other. Slept in a little, picked up some breakfast because no one felt like cooking, and set out to do some chores. I was dead set on finally cleaning out all of my side yard. I had a. Inch of big branches to haul off and dump. I loaded my vehicle to its fullest capacity and made a visit to the dump. That knocked out a HUGE portion leaving the tedious duty of breaking down mesquite trees. The vicious bastards. It’s almost impossible not to poke yourself at least 10 times.

While jamming to my music and breaking away, Yvette interrupted me to say that the tooilet was gurgling. I really kind of blew her off thinking it was no big deal. A few minutes later Teegan came out to tell me that his mom says the toilet was overflowing. I assumed I needed a plunger and it was simply stopped up. I walked into the house hoping that Yvette had turned the water off. Blow was I in for a shock. The toilet did not simply over flow, that would have been a blessing. No, both toilets over flowed and both showers backed up. Not just water but raw sewage. The smell was something awful and I had shit in my shower. The very daunting task of cleaning such a mess left me feeling mildly defeated.

This happened once before, 6 years ago. It had nothing to do with my plumbing but rather something to do with the city info structure and my unlucky placement on the grid. You see, if you walk outside my house and look left, straight ahead and right what you see is three streets all going up hill. What does this all mean, you ask? Well, the old phrase “shit rolled down hill” comes to mind. Something about the rare surge in pressure can cause my house to take a hit being at the lowest point. Yvette wondered if all the heavy rain might have also a contributed and I honestly couldn’t recall if the last time that this happened we had had rain or not.

So we called the city utilities department and reported a sewage back up. At this point the water had retreated just leaving behind an awful stinky mess. While we waited for the city to arrive we left and purchased as much disposable cleaning supplies that we could find. Lots of bleach. We cleaned and cleaned. I almost vomited a few times, I volunteered to clean our bathroom which was the lowest point and was where the poop was. It was horrible. After an hour of breathing in bleach the city trucks arrived. At first just tow regular worker and finally a big pump truck. They did what they could and tried to assure us it was over.

Yvette went to her parents to shower while I finished working in the yard. I had a messed outside caused by the rainfall earlier in the week. I went to the post office and shipped off an eBay package and eventually showered.

The baby boy stopped by for the first time. He is an adorable little guy. We painted his foot and made his mother a Mother’s Day gift. It was fun visiting and I really liked holding the little guy. Once he left Yvette and I decided after the day we had we didn’t need to cook. We needed to go out on a date and relax. That’s exactly what we did. We had some fine dining Italian food and relaxed the rest of the night away.

Mother’s Day. Yvette and the girls went to church and I stuck around to finish my yard work. I spent about two hours before realizing that I had lost track of time and needed to clean up. I was cooking lunch for my mom that afternoon. Oops.

My mom is my best friend. We have always had a very close relationship. We are a lot a like in a lot of way and for better or worse that’s a good thing. Sometimes that makes us butt heads. It has caused us to argue about many of things over the years which I feel has only made us closer. Yeah, we get mad at each other and sometimes for good reasons. That doesn’t diminish our love for each other.

I like to see my mom multiple times a week and I try to make a point to do so. She was the most supportive person during the darkest days of my divorce. I honestly don’t know how I would have made it without her. Call me a mammas boy. I’m proud of that title. People that k ow my mom would understand that pride. She has a strength that most men do not carry. That’s why mother’s days is a special day for me to celebrate her.

I started cooking and my mother and I had good conversation. I made a broccoli rice and cheese, some sweet peas and salmon croquets. It was a meal I hadn’t made in a long time that both my mother and I loved. It turned out really great. After eating I planted some flowers in the garden for her. We had a good time visiting and just relaxing. It was a good Mother’s Day.

Oh Monday. How you never leave my life. I was actually rather awake considering all the busy I was over the weekend. I kept myself busy and floated across the campus. Typical work BS. I didn’t have to cook after work which was very nice. After dinner Teegan and I watched our show “The Last of Us”. We missed it Sunday night because the block was full. No one would confess to who was watching it Sunday but oh well, I was sleepy and it made for a much better Monday night cap off. Damn good episode. I’m so glad that we have “our” shows. Everyone else just clears away and we get an hour to ourselves to absorb some quality time and TV.

The campus is dead. Finals week is upon us. I really like this time of year when the semester slows down. It’s rather relaxing. Wednesday I was supposed to have an MRI scan but due to a misunderstanding between me and the hospital I had to postpone. Really, I think the hospital filed to share with me some critical information regarding my my scan and what I needed to do. Oh well, the new date worked better for me. They are it such a pain in the ass to get an appointment and that’s on them. Fuck them.

After work we went to the high school awards to see Teegan receive his academic honors. This will be the second year in which I have attended and I am really proud of me. What I was the most impressed with were the 4 students that had perfect attendance awards. Good lord, HOW?? I would like to know who these people are. How do you not miss a single day? What is the secret? Lord knows I missed class. Impressive feat

It’s always a little eerie when it first begins to quiet down for the summer because it is SO busy right before. Now I walk into buildings and wonder if I’m the only one in them. You can hear a pen drop. I like it, but at the same time it’s kind of sad.

I suppose some of the sadness is bittersweet. So many of the students that I’ve grown accustomed to seeing on campus for years are graduating. I won’t immediately know which ones are gone but I will notice their absence later on. I’ve been working here for 14 graduations. That’s a lot of kids that have grown up and become adults. The kids that graduated that first year I was working are now the age I was when I started working here. If not probably older. Crazy thought. it kind of brings about a little sadness. Melancholy.

One thing that I have seen is the style and fashions change. I’ve seen them come full circle. It’s so funny what trends come back. Some for the absolute worse. When I started working on campus it was a little more similar to what I graduated seeing. I mean, I only had a 3 year break f=before I started working. Of course things would be about the same. I might be feeling much more right now just knowing that I have been around for so long. I have seen not only many generations of students leave, but many coworkers across the campus. Just recently a guy passed away. I realized I was one of about a quarter of our team that even knew who the guy was. What that means is anyone that started working in my area before the last 12 years has no idea who the man was. That’s a brick hitting me hard.

I left work with a headache. I cooked and no one but Yvette and I ate. Disappointing. I am always left bummed out when no one wants to eat my food. I try for the kids but I don’t make the meals they grew up with and the meals that they do like I don’t make enough. Some new meals become hits while some are quickly swept under the rug. It’s really special when they do like a meal.

Funny enough, a meal was actually requested. A chicken dish that I honestly had trouble remembering. Those are good days. I wasn’t even planning on cooking because I wanted leftover Frrom the night before but because it was requested and once I figured out what I was making I became excited.

Hazel and I went for a walk together. Everyone else was preoccupied and I still had that headache. I figured a good walk might help resolve the issue. The campus was where we walked and it was like it was our own. NO ONE!!. We ventured out much further than we ever do with the little girl. It was a nice night walk but still the heat is starting to kick my butt. We did see some fox. They are so brave.

Friday rolled around and it was even more the ghost town. A few little graduation ceremonies scattered here and there for good measure, but that was something I wasn’t a part of and no concern of mine. I was just ready for 5 o’clock. I did finally get my golf cart back. That’s my transportation across campus and I was really thrown off when they took it from me for repairs on Wednesday. The garage did actually make the cart ride much better. Apparently the 25 year old golf cart still had the original shocks. No wonder it leaned. It was like driving a brand new cart. I was ecstatic. I guess everyone considers the cart “mine”. Haha. Well, I was happy to have my cart back.

Happy Friday!!!

Jalapeño.

Chicken Marsala.

Mother’s Day steak for Yvette. Garlic Parmesan shells, Italian broccolini, balsamic reduction blue cheese steak.

Yvette made buffalo chicken pasta and a side salad.

BBQ drum sticks with slaw and sausage.

Spicy pepper Italian beef fettuccini w/ Italian broccolini.

Guiso rice bowl.

Leftover Guiso.

Saturday I slept in and eventually made myself some brunch. Everyone else was having lunch and I really didn’t feel like pasta so I thawed out a steak, made some potatoes and sat outside and grilled while I enjoyed my coffee. It was a nice enough morning to sit outside and have a brunch.

After that delicious meal, I decided to trim some more branches. I have tree in the back that almost died a few years ago from the extreme heat & drought. It had a lot of dead upper branches that just looked terrible. I had needed to cut them for a few years but I knew it would be a lot of work so I kept putting it off. Well, it was a lot of work. Mainly because they were so damn high. I extended the length of the pole saw to its limit and began going to work. It was mostly a success. I really needed to get on the roof for the remaining branches but I didn’t trust my balance with the saw way up there. Also, the shingles were burning my white ass.

After cleaning up it was off to the movies. Sinners. I heard the movie was good. I knew it was filling movie theater seats. I wasn’t expecting it to wow me as much as it did. I also wasn’t expecting it to be a packed movie so many weeks after first release. That surprised me. The role of the twins by Michael B. Jordan was so good that I could not tell that it wasn’t two separate actors. It was seamless. The sorry was great and the characters well written. I really liked the directing. A couple single take shots here and there. It also had a great deal of original music. Music was very important to the story. It could be called a hybrid horror/musical, for at times there were full on musical numbers. Well done musical numbers that mattered to the plot. A good old fashion vampire drama set in the old south during the times of prohibition, Jim Crow and the KKK. The fact that the “horror” aspect only shows itself halfway through and yet I was still totally engaged was amazing. Honestly, I would have enjoyed the movie had the vampires never showed up. It wasn’t until about the halfway mark that something supernatural even began to unravel.

Sunday morning was for coffee outside. I am loving these cool mornings and will continue to enjoy them as long as I can. In a Texas summer even the mornings are too darn hot to enjoy. My mom invited us to have lunch with her. A late lunch at 1:30. We went to a place that Yvette & I use to frequent with my mom a lot during the early days of our relationship. I had an obligatory tequila shot for good ole times. After lunch, I strolled through downtown in search of my sheep. It was a beautiful afternoon and we wont have many of these left. The river walk was beautiful. I found 17 sheep.

Cinco de Mayo. Monday was so nice and gloomy. We had scattered storms throughout the day and the temperature probably never reached above 70. I was in heaven. For a Monday, for once, I was happy.

After work we went to Yvette’s grandfather 97th birthday. The entire family was there, for the most part. They picked up a large batch of Chinese take-out and we stuffed ourselves. I can’t do Chinese take out because it’s all breaded and sugar. I love it but it wrecks my blood sugar. I went up 300 in less than 30 min. Not at all a cool feeling. I tired to keep the sugars low the remainder of the week.

With the party all done Yvette and I went to go see the little baby Nile’s. He is such a cutie. I’m sure it is just me, but he already looked bigger. Once leaving their house we decided that it was our duty to celebrate a little Cinco de Mayo with tequila, margarita and beer. We went to a little taco shop we sometimes hit up for lunch. It was our first time being there during the evening and it seems the joint is a popular place with the college kids. It makes since. Cheap drinks and tacos, perfect for the broke kids. After drinks we went home and called it a night.

Tuesday morning we had some storms roll through town. I’m pretty sure they woke up just about everyone. They woke me up, and that’s telling. I guess everyone was running behind schedule because the commute to work was busy, and I was running late. We had 3 inches of rain. It made for a good day. I did have a mess that would need to be cleaned up over the weekend, but I suppose the rain is worth it. One of these days I’ll come up with a solution to the water run-off issue that I have. Being at the end of the block and bottom of a hill comes with some consequences.

Seth sure had a nice week to be on the campus. The temperatures were in the 70’s everyday which is almost unheard of in May. Being stuck in the office I was a little jealous. I tried to find a few excuses to get out. Mostly I was tethered to the computer. Nothing makes a week in the office longer than consecutive beautiful days.

Thirsty Thursday! It was another beautiful wet day. We had some sporadic showers here and there with temperatures basically sticking in the 60’s. Very peculiar weather for May, as I have mentioned. What the weather did inspire in me was a desire to make a batch of soup one last time before the summer heat wave hits. Yvette suggested I make the green chili chicken tortilla soup I made a few years back. I guess even her student worker at the time sampled said soup and liked it. I sort of remembered that. Now I just had to remember what the hell that soup was. Lucky for us both, I had the recipe in my cook book. Rather, I had a basic outline for a recipe. We went shopping and I found everything that I needed to make a good soup. The kids don’t eat soup so it was a small batch just for the two of us. The soup was damn good.

After a very loud busy week in the office, Friday was rather quiet and peaceful. My boss was gone, which helped matters greatly. He is a rather loud talkative man. I mean no offence, but DAMN can that guy talk for hours. Often to no one but himself. I was able to get out on the campus a few times. I caught the last day of an art exhibit. They had some really talented women featured. All is all, it was fairly uneventful.

Happy Friday! We had dinner. We had s’mores. It was a nice Friday night.

Jalapeño.

Steak, peppers, onion, potato with Spanish rice.

Spaghetti

Mongolian beef noodles.

97 year old birthday party. Yvette’s grandfather. take out Chinese.

Crockpot Italian beef sub with provolone and peppers.

Tapatios w/ rice.

Green chili chicken tortilla soup. One last soup day in May. Wild weather.

Something I made with red enchilada sauce.

I am indirectly responsible for the death of a dove. You see, they roost in our oak trees and they crap on our vehicles. Out of frustration I got the BB gun out. At first shooting aimlessly into the foliage trying to spook them away. I connected with one, injuring it enough that when it tried to fly away it wasn’t able to get air. It crashed into our back door and was quickly caught by my dog Hazel. It wasn’t exactly a death I wish upon any living creature. It also made me profoundly sad the remainder of the evening. The bird just wanted a safe place to sleep and I took that from it. What made things worse is that the bird wasn’t alone. It had a companion. The companion even tried to come to its aid, but was quickly chased away by my other dog Owen. Later, the companion dove came back to roost. Upon seeing me enter the yard, it was fidgety in the tree. I looked up at it and it looked down at me. It quickly flew away. I hate seeing a terrified animal. Much less, be the focus of said fear. The bird had felt safe roosting in my trees and now it no longer did. It now had fear, and rightfully so.

I was rather angry at myself for it. When I was much much younger, a boy growing up, we did regularly shoot dove from the trees. I’m not proud to admit that. I know, you might say “it’s just a bird, lighten up!” It was till a living breathing beautiful creature that committed no crime aside from sleeping and defecating above our vehicles. For this the dove was shot from the tree which it was trying to find peaceful sleep only to be eaten alive.

The last animal that I killed was a rattlesnake. I was in far west Texas on some family land and decided to relieve myself. I urinated on a snake. It scared the hell out of me and I jumped a mile back all the while urinating everywhere and on myself. For this, the snake had its head removed with a sharp shooter shovel. It was just in the wrong place at the right time. In that snakes last minutes of existence it was pissed on, shot at and eventually decapitated. What a tragic ending. For what? It meant me no harm. It just had the bad fortune of being a poisonous snake. That’s stuck with me for years and I told myself I would not take the life of another living creature unless completely necessary.

That’s why I’m angry at myself. I can still see the flame flickering out of the eyes of the living creatures I’ve extinguished. No shit. I killed a lizard when I was a little boy by throwing a rock at it. I still remember it looking up at me taking its last breaths. It haunted me in my dreams. A damn lizard. Kids do stupid things and they don’t think about it at the time. Years later, as a middle age man, I think about that a lot. Killing birds. Spotlighting rabbits with friends. Just pointless murders of helpless animals.

Don’t worry, I never tortured an animal and I tried to make all deaths humane. I was just a dumb kid having fun with other dumb kids. These days I despise people that go trophy hunting. No animal should be killed and wasted without purpose. These days I probably empathize with animals more so than humans. Just because they are “lesser beings” does not dismiss them from having existence. Feelings. LIFE!! We really are not better than them because of our status as “humans”. Are we not all so called “Gods” creatures?

The following day I had a strange sort of anxiety over having participated in that doves death. I didn’t know the dove would impact me so much. Grief. Remorse. Not just for that singular dove, but for every other animals life I had taken in my near 44 years on this planet. I couldn’t stop thinking about it trying to fly away only to be caught it the jaws of a beast. The fear and the pain. It was all my fault. I was to blame. Overacting? I don’t know. I don’t know. I think maybe this is the root of why I have donated so much to animal causes over the last 20 years. I never really thought about it until now. One thing is for certain, never again. There was to much life in all those animals eyes before I took it away. I will not extinguish flame again. I hope, in times of judgment if there is judgment, I have a chance. Senseless killing is still senseless killing.

Go hug your damn pets. Animals are better than us. They have love without hate muddling things up. Unfortunately, humans have shown through history that our default nature is cruelty and hate. We seem to come back to that time and time again. I implore you all to seek love.

The Week.

Saturday I really needed to do yard work but I really didn’t want to. I fueled myself with coffee and attacked the yard. Mowing was the easy part but what o did next was what took so long. I went a little crazy trimming trees. The mess quickly gets out of hand. The clean up took hours. Since my dumping grounds was occupied I was forced to break all the limbs down and bag what I could. I also harvested some fire wood for next year. For some reason I still felt compelled to work. I sprayed the side yard plants. I need that yard eradicated. It was a busy day and I was at it for a good 4-5 hours.

After a visit to see the baby and the newfound parents finally free of the hospital Yvette and I had a date night. It’s good to go on the occasional date. We are trying to make it much more frequent. We had a few drink and just relaxed. It’s a thing couples need if they can. If nothing more than a little picnic. Just a meal for two.

Sunday was a perfect sleep in day. My back was agonizing. Really a bummer. It was already bothering me and all the yard work was me overdoing it. Big surprise. This little flare up is the worst it has been since finishing PT. I really had to do some stretching in the morning. I think it’s about time to just bite the bullet and get the spinal injection. I have put it off but at this point it’s worth a try. I didn’t leave the house until around 3:30 or so, which is very unlike me. I just hurt and wanted to lay around. I suppose that was productive.

Once I left the house the first thing I needed to do was replace Lola’s cereal. I had a late night craving for sweets and busted into her Kellogg Krave’s. All but annihilated them. I felt bad. I had to go out of my way to get them because only WalMart carries. After that little errand I was headed to get gas and some other groceries. On the way I veered off the beaten path to my favorite little cemetery. It’s a tragic story. Ben Ficklin was the county seat of Tom Green before my little town established itself as that position. In 1882 the town was all but wiped from the earth by a biblical sized flood taking away many of the residents in the process. This little cemetery is on high grounds and contains many grave markers with the same death date. After my trip on Sunday I noticed they have some recent additions, which is rather cool. I’ve always found the cemetery to be rather peaceful. My father introduced me to it years and years ago. He told me the story of the towns tragedy and it’s always stuck with me. From time to time I find myself drawn back.

The yard work took a very large toll on me. I hate my back. Hate it!! Pain is such a depressing thing. What do you do tho overcome it and live a life? You find out you will do what it takes. I went to my mother’s that evening, who knows all about pain.We visited for a little while and I came home to make leftovers into a real treat. Teegan and I had The Last of Us to watch. I was wondering where the hell they would go with the show after last week’s traumatic episode. Hard times to be a fan of anything. The episode was all about the fall back. It was depressing as hell. It was also really good.

Yvette cooked and went to see the baby. I was a little tired and stuffy so I stayed home and put on a movie. Norteratu 2024. I had been wanting to see it for some time. Love the directors previous works. It didn’t disappoint. Now if you know the tale of Dracula then you know this movies plot. It’s been done so many times. That does make this version surprising or not worth seeing. Now, this is my opinion. My stepsister hated it for reasons now understood.

Really nothing all that eventful during the week. I was struggling with another sinus infection or some shit. Stuffy runny nose and a slight cough. It’s been a bad year for me and my sinus cavity. It wasn’t until about Thursday’s that I started to feel a little better. Made for a foggy week at work with all the cold medications I was taking. Friday rolled around and at lunch I found a nice surprise waiting on my porch. A Propagandhi album I had pre-ordered months ahead. Made my day.

Happy Friday!!!

Jalapeño.

Chicken and waffles.

I had leftover chicken so I decided to pour some green enchilada sauce into a pan and make some chicken verde.

BBQ pulled pork street tacos w/ slaw, pickled onions & cilantro. I roasted some corn with a sour cream sauce.

Yvette made some white chicken enchiladas with rice and beans. A real treat.

Grilled fajita skirt steak w/ veggies over Yvette’s Spanish rice covered in white queso and homemade salsa.

I made Yvette’s spaghetti. It isn’t even near how I have grown up making it. We would pour the sauce on the noodles, not have them already mixed. I also grilled some meatballs and made broccolini. Good stuff.

Grilled tuan, mango salsa, broccoli.

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.