It’s only Monday and I’m already two days behind where I was on Friday. What is this garbage? However, I did receive some more goodies for my patio project and I am now even more excited about it.
Author: peanut7312
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March 29
I’ve been wanting a backyard sanctuary since before I had a backyard. I’m feeling ready to make a true effort. It won’t be the $30,000 version I had in mind originally, but I think it will be nice. I have a screened in tent, some cushion covers, string lights, a shopping list, and a plan. Robin is skeptical. Her skepticism is my fuel, folks. And when we finish with the patio, I’m moving on to the garden. I’m excited. I will probably finish just in time for it to be too hot to want to use it. But it’ll be ready.
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March 28
I’ve become a big fan of ChatGPT at work, but it has repeatedly let me down at home. Every family activity it has suggested has been a giant bust with only one exception, and there was no way it could have predicted that my old boss would show up randomly at the restaurant it suggested which was otherwise just sort of ok. Anyway, it suggested RAM for today, so we went, and there just wasn’t anything interesting there for anyone. Also there were 40mph wind gusts and it was like 60 degrees outside. You should have seen the kids’ faces. It wasn’t disgust and it wasn’t boredom, it was complete disinterest. Christina couldn’t even be interested in sharing a brownie with her father. No one cared where we went for lunch, so Billy just picked a place he’s been wanting to go to, the Bearded Pig. The kids walked in there and then their disinterest did mingle with some disgust, because there weren’t cheeseburgers or chicken tenders on the menu. They settled for pulled pork and mac and cheese while silently dying inside, but then the food came out and holy shit, folks. They liked it. Moods started to improve. And then the magic happened. I don’t know if it was someone at the table who suggested it or just a whisper on the (insane) wind, but somehow we ended up at Sweet Pete’s, and satisfaction even turned into smiles. I guess candy will do that to a kid. We got a banana split and came home and no one has had to eat anything since then. Except Pinot, who ate my Starburst and is yet once again dead to me. This dog has eaten more of my candy over the years than I have and I hate him for it. And then I ended up on this mission to find a Lego piece that Robin lost from her set that we bought in New York. Christina has a 20-gallon tub of Legos and we pulled them all out looking for a replacement piece, but couldn’t find it. So I went to lego.com, or whatever their website is, and ordered the piece, which costs $0.13, but I ended up paying more than $13 for it with service fees and shipping. But there is no way we’re leaving this thing unfinished just because she is missing a 3/8 inch piece that I can’t find in 20 gallons of Legos. I have a lot of patience, but it is worth $13 to me to not have to pull out 14,000 individual Lego pieces to try to find the one we need. That may be a very conservative estimate, too. And that, my friends, was Saturday.
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March 27
The kids had a half day today, so Robin and I went to Leaderboard and played video games for a while before getting ready for tonight’s middle school dance. Looking at these two tonight, I really have to wonder what the heck happened to my babies?? At this point I have no chance of surviving prom. They had a great time and I’m glad.
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March 26
I had such a hard time waking up this morning to go for my run, but I’m glad I did. It is pretty much the only sanity I’ve had this week, and I’m so grateful for it. Today was a little better than the rest of the week, but it ended on a sour note when I got a series of condescending emails that really rubbed me the wrong way. But I have running and grapes and brownies and let’s face it, that person has bigger problems than I do. I’ll sit here being smug instead.
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March 25
I finished the day with a splitting headache. There is just so much riling me up at work and I can’t control my ire. I have a clearer idea of what I can throw off my plate; now I just need to find the time to do it. First I need to recover.
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March 24
Work is trying to kill me again. I am not really sure why I can’t keep up, but I finished the day drained and couldn’t really articulate why. I am grateful for the time I get to myself in the car while Christina’s at dance, though. It’s nice to have the peace and quiet. Although I did get stuck behind someone driving 24mph almost the entire way home and that just made me angry. Whyyyyy?
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March 23
Back to work today, and it was a stressful day. It took all of about six minutes for me to begin feeling annoyed, 23 minutes to feel angry, and an hour and a half to become irate. After that I was just tired and overwhelmed. But undeterred! Christina made tacos for dinner and then I read more of Billy’s book while I waited for her at dance. She wants to take eight classes during the summer. I’m glad she likes it, but I’m tired just thinking about it. So I won’t. Problem solved.
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March 22
I got a lot done today, starting with a much-needed run and ending with a highly admirable family effort to clean up the yard so it can be mowed tomorrow. There are three orange blossoms on Christina’s tree, and even the dead hydrangea managed one little baby cluster of leaves to give us some hope. I also did two loads of laundry, went food shopping, cleaned the kitchen, and cooked dinner. And I watched a shit-ton of college basketball. No one’s bracket is totally busted yet, but Billy’s hopes rest on Texas Tech beating Alabama later tonight. I know better than to talk shit because today has proven that you can’t predict basketball. And now it’s back to work tomorrow, which makes me kind of sad because this spring break was a bit of a letdown for me. It feels like forever until our next vacation. I am just going to have to find a way to make the most of my weekends. Mission accepted.
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March 21
In retrospect, this year’s spring break was generally poorly planned. We spent five of the last eight days in the car. Our day in NYC was kind of a bust. And today everyone was so worn out from all the traveling that we left Sea World after only half a day. I can’t say I’m not disappointed. I can’t even really salvage tomorrow because we have to go food shopping and do laundry, which will take up at least half the day. Oh well. I guess they can’t all be winners.
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March 20
I was on the road and couldn’t fill out a bracket before the March Madness started, so I printed out paper ones for me and Billy before I looked at any scores. Billy had already seen some of the scores, so he got one freebie that I missed (really, High Point?), but otherwise we’re on even ground. I’m having fun looking up all the scores and marking up the brackets. I am a nerd. We were going to go to Sea World today, but Christina still isn’t feeling well. We did come to Orlando (which was a wall of traffic from start to finish, thank you, Florida), but I think we’re going to stay in. Hopefully Christina feels better tomorrow. If not, she’s going to have to find a bench to lie down on because we have to check out of the hotel at 11.
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March 19
Made it back to Jacksonville. We hit next to no traffic until we hit Jacksonville city limits, and then it was traffic the rest of the way home. Welcome home. We got pizza from Renna’s and it was delicious. Christina isn’t feeling well. Some kind of stomach issue. I wish we could help her, but I feel like these digestive things just have to run their course. Poor kid.
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March 18
Pretty decent drive from NJ to VA today. There were a couple spots with traffic, but nothing more than a few minutes and otherwise traffic was very light. I hope tomorrow is just as easy, but I take nothing for granted. We got to the hotel pretty early, around 3:15. I spent some time telling ChatGPT how disappointed I was with it (for some reason this felt necessary), did some crossword puzzles. Then we went to the Subway at the gas station for dinner, bought some snacks, played some Uno, called Billy. Now I’ve showered, watching some basketball, and pretty soon I’ll be off to sleep. I’m hoping to get an early start tomorrow. Arriving early enough to have time to relax before crashing is nice. Fingers crossed for another easy day. We’ll see. I’m ready for anything. Kind of.
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March 17
We had a nice day living the life at Aunt Cathrine and Uncle Bob’s senior living facility. It’s like living on a giant cruise ship. The place has everything imaginable. Today’s highlights included visiting the facility thrift shop, going to the pool, playing Uno, and having a fancy St. Patrick’s Day dinner in the dining room. They seem so absolutely happy here, and honestly, who could blame them? It has been so good to spend some time with them. I’m glad we made the trip.
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March 16
We traipsed the town today. I learned a very important lesson, which is that ChatGPT is a terrible trip planner. Like, class-Z-minus terrible. Still, we managed to have a good day. Not hard to do because let’s face it. NYC. We had dinner with an old friend and was spotted at random by my old boss while we were eating. What a cool NYC moment. We did a lot. Black and white cookies at Zaro’s at Grand Central, Color Factory, Miniso, lunch and frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity, Chelsea Market, High Line, the Lego store, a stop at Starbucks during the worst of the torrential rain, dinner at Cowgirl, cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery, and back to the Jerz. I am exhausted and wired all at once. And that is why I ❤ NY.
Year in Photos 