Saturday, February 28, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 059

28/February/2015, Day 059.  Saturday.

As February staggers to a close, we're still not millionaires.  Phooey!

Grump and Sweetie, (particularly Grump), look forward to weekends, because it gives them a chance to sleep in.  So imagine their disappointment and frustration when Dodong awoke this morning at 4:00 am, and then proceeded to wake up Kuya with his wailings.  

Despite the earlier hour Kuya acted as if he had received a massive zap of electrical energy, and bounced around the house for hours.  He only fell asleep again for an hour or so in the car, as we were out shopping, but quickly recharged his batteries and resumed his frantic activity once we got home.

Ugh!  To say Grump and Sweetie are both very tired right now is an understatement.  But despite their fatigue, they did accomplish a lot today.  Sweetie cooked lunch and dinner, washed some dishes left over from yesterday, and took care of her three boys, (two young, one old).  Grump uploaded another affiliate marketing video to YouTube, and completed another post about his affiliate marketing experiences.

Although its barely 7:00 pm, as far as Grump and Sweetie are concerned it's time to begin getting ready for bed.  Good night! 

Friday, February 27, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 058

27/February/2015, Day 058.  Friday.

Today they passed out bonus checks at Grump's employer.  Woo hoo!!  Our creditors are doubtlessly very happy, because now they can be paid.

Well .... almost.  Even after the bonus check we still have a big chunk to pay off on the American Express card.  But Grump is really committed to NOT running it up again this year, and we think Sweetie is on board with that plan too, so with the Grace of God maybe this year we'll stay OUT OF DEBT for the first time in years.

Everybody here is doing well at the moment, but we really miss Lola.  She doesn't come back until April, which at this point seems a ridiculously long time away.

Dodong is sputtering away more and more these days.  He says, "da-da" frequently to Old Grump now, which melts his grumpy old heart.  Once Lola gets back she'll have to start teaching him Bisaya all over again, as we are speaking only English now.

Speaking of Bisaya, when Sweetie was on the phone with Lola tonight she had Kuya sing her the "Tong Tong Pakitong" song in Bisaya!  Kuya did a pretty good job for a Kano, much better than Grump could ever do.  Maybe Kuya is learning some Bisaya after all?    

Thursday, February 26, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 057

26/February/2015, Day 057.  Thursday.

It was a pretty quiet day.  I suppose the most exciting thing to happen was that we got take-out from Panera for dinner, even though we have to pay for it on our credit card, and our credit card balance is out of hand!  But Sweetie needs a break every now and then.

Grump was busy most of the day fighting with a DB2 utility program.  It took him a while to realize it ignored all input past column 72.  GRRR!!

Dodong, Kuya, and Grump are all doing well.  Sweetie is tired to the point of exhaustion, partly from having to take care of her three boys, and partly from the stress over her Papa's death.  Even though it occured last night for us, Papa's funeral was technically this morning in the Philippines.

Not too much else to report, which is okay.  Sometimes no news is good news.    

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

A Day in a Year in a LIfe / Day 056

25/February/2015, Day 056.  Wednesday.

Sweetie is very sad.  They will be burying Lolo in the Philippines Thursday morning at 9:00 am, which is 10:00 pm our time tonight.  (We are a day behind the Philippines.)  

The finality of his death is hitting home.  Lolo is gone.  Rest in peace, Lolo!

Sweetie hasn't been sleeping well ever since she got news of Lolo's death, and once Dodong got ill she hasn't been getting hardly any sleep at all.  As always, I am in awe of Sweetie's ability to function despite chronic sleep deprivation.  If Old Grump doesn't get at least seven hours of sleep, he's a grumbly, miserable mess!

Speaking of Grump, he got a lot of sleep last night, so he was in good mood, or at least as good a mood as an old grump is capable of.  He wasn't even mad about Kuya's school antics.

What were Kuya's school antics?  I'm glad you asked!

While at work, Grump received a phone call from Kuya's teacher, saying Kuya wasn't feeling well, and needed to go home.  Grump emailed his boss that he would have to be absent from work for a bit, then drove over to the school to get Kuya.  When Grump arrived Kuya was with one of the assistant teachers; she told Grump that Kuya had complained about a sore stomach, and was acting like he was going to vomit in the garbage can.

So Grump took Kuya home.  Once back home, Sweetie heated up his lunch for him, and Kuya ate it just fine.  In fact, he didn't seem to be ill in the slightest!

It is now evening.  After playing with his toys all afternoon, Kuya happily ate his dinner, then played with Dodong for a bit before using Sweetie's text pad to watch YouTube videos.  (But not Grump's video, which isn't proving to be all that popular.  Drats!)   Hardly the behavior of someone who was too sick to stay in school!   

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 055

24/February/2015, Day 055.  Tuesday.

Unhappy times in our house tonight; Grump and Sweetie are fighting about money.

It doesn't help matters that the last two nights Grump has gone to bed late, and then the past two mornings Dodong has woken both Grump and Sweetie up exceptionally early.  Tiredness tends to lead to grouchiness, particularly in Grump's case.

Anyway ...... our credit card debt has ballooned to over $5,000, with no end in sight.  Grump will receive his annual bonus from the company he works for this Friday, but it will only pay for a little more than half of this debt.  What really frosts Grump about all this is the accumulating interest payments.  We paid about $240 interest last year.  This year we have already paid almost $70 in interest to  our "spending card" creditors.

But the spending continues unabated.  How will this finally end, and when it arrives, will the end be happy or tragic?

At work today Grump received mixed news.  On the one hand he was given a good performance review, which is always a good thing.  On the other hand, he received news that his work load was effectively doubling!  This isn't as bad as it sounds, because his current workload wasn't necessarily onerous, but the potential now exists for both applications he will support to have massively time consuming problems simultaneously, which could be unbelievably stressful.

Maybe his affiliate marketing business will take off?  (Don't hold your breath just yet!)

Kuya says he "learned play" in school today.

Dodong seems to be getting better, but with all the illness circulating around these days, particularly at Grump's work place, we are still concerned for him.

Monday, February 23, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 054

23/February/2015, Day 054.  Monday.

Back to work for Grump, and back to school for Kuya!

To try to help Dodong recover from his current ear infection, and to (hopefully) prevent future ones, it was decided that Grump will drop off Kuya at school in the mornings.  Grump will have to alter his work schedule to work a little later, but hopefully this will only be temporary, until the icky weather we've been having recently improves.  (When will that be, July?)

Sweetie, (and Dodong!), will still pick up Kuya from school in the afternoon, because they don't have to get out of the car and into the damp-and-cold to do so.  

Speaking of cold, I forgot to mention that most of last week was very frigid.  It warmed up a bit Saturday and yesterday, but starting tonight the stupid cold weather is supposed to return.  

I had no idea central Georgia lay within the artic circle!  :-)

Sweetie cooked up some delicious chicken bihon, (pancit-bihon for you Tagalog speakers), for dinner tonight, despite still having to fuss with a not-quite-over-his-cold-yet infant.  A good wife/mother is worth her weight in gold.  If you've got one, treat her well!

Sunday, February 22, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 053

22/February/2015, Day 053.  Sunday.

Wow!  What a rough week this has been!

On Monday, Sweetie's Papa died.  This was a tragic, unexpected death.  Lolo, you were a great guy; we'll all miss you!

On Tuesday we drove Lolo to the Atlanta airport, then after a tense hour or so on phone with the ticket agent, we were able to get the problems with her tickets to the Philippines resolved.  Phew!   

Wednesday arrived without problems, but by nighttime Dodong was feeling ill.  He did not sleep well, so neither did Sweetie or Grump.  By Thursday he was really sick.  Grump had to take Kuya to school, and pick him up later that afternoon, missing sizable chunks of work in the process.

Thursday afternoon Sweetie took Dodong to the doctor's office, where he was diagnosed with his third ear infection.   Later Dodong responded to this bad news by wailing all night, keeping Sweetie and Grump from getting much sleep.

So once Friday morning rolled around, Grump was really in no condition to go to work.  He took Kuya to school, then worked just enough to make up for the time he missed Thursday.  

Fortunately the antibiotics were beginning to take affect, so Dodong felt well enough Friday to mostly sleep through the night.  We all slept well; in fact, Grump may have slept TOO WELL, for he woke up Saturday in a foul mood, and basically barked at everyone all morning.   By the afternoon he had recovered somewhat, but not before ruining everyone else's day.

So how about today?  Well, it started off poorly, with a 5:00 am call for Grump from work.  It seems the operators couldn't follow very basic instructions, and entered a data parameter in an incorrect format, causing a job to fail.  Grump had to drive in to work to help fix the problem.

Despite that, it was actually a fairly decent day for all of us.  Kuya played nicely with Dodong in the morning, and we had take out from Panera for dinner.  In between Grump and Sweetie alternated watching/holding Dodong.  

We did hit one small roadbump: in the late afternoon Dodong barfed all over himself and the car seat, which he happened to be sitting in.  We had given him some yogurt earlier to help counteract the effects of the antibiotics on his digestive system, and I guess that was a bad idea.  Phew!  Yogurt vomit is very, very stinky!

Grump is still trying to get his affiliate marketing business off the ground, without much success yet.  He wrote a short article on his experiences, "Novice Affiliate - Part 01", and uploaded a short video to YouTube.



Saturday, February 21, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 052

21/February/2015, Day 052.  Saturday.

First the great news: Dodong is recovering nicely from his latest ear infection.  Hooray for antibiotics!

Now the not so great news: Old Grump woke up in a foul mood, and bitched and grumbled all friggin' day!  This was despite sleeping in this morning, making up for all the lost sleep incurred on Wednesday and Thursday night.  

What seemed to set him off was the need to withdraw more money from our backup checking account.  That account is now hovering around $600; this is bad, because we make a monthly car payment of $400 from it.  In theory our income tax refund will soon appear in this account, giving us some breathing room, but until it does Grump will be one cranky, miserable old man.

 That Grump was so sour over finances didn't help Sweetie at all.  Sweetie is still mourning the passing of her Papa, and to listen to Grump's bitching and moaning just made her all the sadder and more withdrawn.  She needs someone to offer her some empathy and sympathy, not a running lecture on the nature of personal finances.

The money we took out of the bank this morning is going to Mindanao.  Papa's funeral is proving to be a popular attraction, (he was a very well liked man, and cool guy, so no wonder!), and we needed to send some money for more food and supplies.  

Despite her sorrow Sweetie was able to cook us a delicious lunch of pompano and rice.  We stuffed ourselves, then took a short walk around the neighborhood.  It wasn't bitter cold today like it's been recently, but it was still sorta cool, with nasty bits of chill when the wind kicked up.

In the late afternoon / early evening Grump "watched" the kids.  Kuya has begun to play very well with Dodong, which is a great thing, because Dodong really enjoys being with him.  

The other news is that Grump has tried his hand at affiliate marketing again.  So far he has been spectacularly unsuccessful, simply enriching marketing companies.  Hopefully he can figure out how to make this work before he runs out of money!
   

 

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 051

20/February/2015, Day 051.  Friday.

Poor Dodong wailed through the WHOLE FRIGGIN' NIGHT last night.  Old Grump got maybe two hours sleep; Sweetie got by with less than 30 minutes.

And to add insult to injury, in the wee hours of the night, during one of the rare intervals when we all were quiet, (and presumably resting), Grump got a phone call from work because some silly job had abended!  GRRR!!!

Grump took Kuya to school, then went to work for just three hours, to make up the time he missed yesterday.  He wonderful boss then let him take today off as another "bereavement day", so that he wouldn't have to lose a vacation day.

Back at home, we had submarine sandwiches from Publix for lunch, (and the other half for dinner later that night!), then puttered around until it was time for Grump to go pick up Kuya from school.

The rest of the day was spent watching the kids, (mostly Sweetie), carrying and consoling an ill Dodong, (Sweetie and Grump), grumping and grumbling, (Grump, of course!), and puttering around with setting up affiliate marketing, (Grump).  By the time we went to bed, Grump had submitted his first three affiliate marketing "campaigns".  

Will we make any money with affiliate marketing?  Who knows, but for the time being Grump is enjoying learning everything about it.
 

Thursday, February 19, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 050

19/February/2015, Day 050.  Thursday.

Ugh!  It was a rough day!

Poor Dodong was ill, and wailed most of the night last night.  Grump slept until about 3:30 am, then tossed and turned until about 4:30 am.  He then took Dodong from Sweetie, and walked about holding him until 5:30 am or so.  Miraculously, both Sweetie and Dodong were able to get a little sleep. 

Grump had to call into work, explaining he would be late, then take Kuya to school.  Sweetie stayed home and tended to a cranky Dodong.

Sometime after lunch Sweetie called Grump at work, telling him that Dodong was really sick, and that she needed to take him to the doctor.  We got a 2:15 pm appointment for him, which meant Grump had to leave work very early to pickup Kuya from school.

As it turns out, Dodong has yet another ear infection.  This is his third ear infection, and he is not quite one year old yet!

On a bright note, Kuya sat a the dinner table tonight like a perfect little gentleman, and ate all his rice and egg by himself.  He is doing very well at school, and he seems to be a really nice guy.  I hope all these good traits continue to grow as he matures.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 049

18/February/2015, Day 049.  Wednesday.

It was back to work for Old Grump, which was much easier that what Sweetie had to go through.  Lola arrived back in the Philippines today, so she had to take care of Kuya and Dodong all by herself.

Poor Dodong woke up with a slight head cold, and was cranky all day!  Sweetie had to bundle him and Kuya up and take Kuya to school in the bitter cold weather this morning.  Then when she got home, had to try to cook and clean while simultaneously soothing an irritable baby.  She would up cooking dinner with one hand, while she held Dodong in the other!

Sweetie is still dealing with the death of her Papa, Lolo.  The realization that he is gone is becomming stronger every day.  She tries not to cry in front of the kids, but she is very sad.

Caring for these two kids and climbing out of debt is going to be a big challenge for Grump and Sweetie until Lola comes back in mid-April.  Wish them luck, and keep them in your prayers!

  

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 048

17/February/2015, Day 048.  Tuesday.

We all woke up early so we could drive up to Atlanta to take Lola to the airport for her flight to the Philippines.  Because it was due to a death in the family, Grump was able to take the day off work as "bereavement", rather than using up another vacation day.

We got to the Altanta airport early, which was a good thing; there was a problem with Lola's tickets.  Apparently the place Grump purchased them from, ( http://www.cheapoair.com/ ), required voice confirmation for the purchase, and they had been calling Grump, but he had not been answering his cellphone.  After a tense hour or so all was straightened out, and Lola had her tickets.  I do think Cheap O Air is a good site to purchase tickets from, but be available for call backs after your purchase, else you may encounter the same problems we did. 

We got Lola on her flight, then headed back home, after a brief stop at the Babies R Us in McDonough, GA, to buy some baby food for Dodong.

Back home, we went to the back to withdraw EVEN MORE MONEY, (Grump is VERY stressed about this!), to send to the folks back in Mindanao who are busy with all the preparations for Lolo's funeral.  

Yes, Lolo is gone, and it is very sad, but in our home, we all miss Lola already, because she was here with us, and she helped us so, so much in keeping Dodong and Kuya occupied and happy, cleaning dishes and doing laundry, and just all the crucial little things that kept this crazy circus running for the last few months.  I don't know how we are gonna get by without her!

Monday, February 16, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 047

16/February/2015, Day 047.  Monday.



We got a sad early morning text: Lolo had died!

As you can imagine, all is in a flurry here at the moment.  We rushed to get Lola airplane tickets back to Mindanao.  This is a painful and costly event!

Ruperto Cabrera Flores:  27/March/1952  -  16/February/2015.  May you rest in peace, Lolo!

Lolo was proud of his fighting roosters.  He would have felt at home in Columbia, SC, home of the Gamecocks.  


He never got to meet Dodong, (who, by the way, was named after him), at least here on Earth.  But he did meet Kuya, and Lolo will be in our hearts as long as we still draw breath.

I wonder how he and Angel are getting along?

Sunday, February 15, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 046

15/February/2015, Day 046.  Sunday.

The day started out fine.  We all got up, dressed, ate, and drove off to church.  We've made a commitment to attend church EVERY Sunday that we are home, and available, (not ill or working).  There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is it may help impose some discipline on our otherwise chaotic lives.

After church Grump had hoped to spend some time listening to ClickBank University training, but all sorts of things interfered.  First Sweetie wanted some "couples talk" time after lunch, then Grump had to watch Dodong while Sweetie cooked and Lola made an important phone call, (more about that later), then one of Kuya's friends showed up for a visit.  

Ever try to concentrate while two five year old boys are running around screaming?  

Kuya's friend stayed until supper time, and while the visit was fantastic for Kuya, (and his friend), it sure cramped Grump's ability to do any online training.  But eventually Kuya's friend left, and then .....

Grump and Sweetie had to make a trip to the nearby Western Union to send some money back home.  It turns out that Lolo back in the Philippines was in the hospital, (remember Lola's important phone call?), and money was needed to help with that cost, and some medicine.  

So by the time Grump finally got a bit of free time to study, it was fairly late in the evening.  He still managed to learn a thing or two, and is going to give this ClickBank Affiliate gig a shot.  Who knows?  Maybe he'll actually make some money?

Saturday, February 14, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 045

14/February/2015, Day 045.  Saturday.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We started our Valentine's Day celebration by sending Angel a balloon, then we drove down to Warner Robbins to the Filipino store to buy some Asian vegetables and other goodies, (lots of small, oily fish  -  ugh!). 

After lunch Grump finally finished filing our income taxes, (via TurboTax), then we all went to the Riverside mall to walk around a bit, enjoying the sunshine and browsing through what Dillards and Belks were putting on sale today.  Ever since Grump found the Mr. Money Mustache site he has been preaching frugal living to the family, so when Sweetie refrained from making any purchases during our outing, Grump was extremely happy.

In the evening Grump attempted to plod through ClickBank University, trying to get a feel for what exactly they are teaching.  It appears that this training is really only worth the purchase should you desire to develop and sell products, (ebooks), through ClickBank, as there are lots of other forms of training out on the internet on how to become a successful affiliate, some of which appear to be better.  But then again, Grump has NEVER, EVER made an affiliate sale, so he is probably not the best person to judge.
 


Friday, February 13, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 044

13/February/2015, Day 044.  Friday.

Kuya had a fun Valentine's party at school today.  He brought home lots of candy, which he, Sweetie, and Lola did their best to dispose of!

In yet another effort to make a dollar or two online, Grump and Sweetie paid for access to ClickBank University a few days ago.  Sweetie reviewed some of the training material today, along with a really good personal finance site that Grump sent her a link for, Mr. Money Mustache.  Hopefully with a renewed interest to avoid unnecessary expenses, and a bit more income, Grump and Sweetie can climb out of the debt hole they've dug themselves into.

Grump had another quiet day at work, which is fine with him.  In a few short weeks he'll be the on-call "victim", so it's best to get some rest and relaxation now while he can.

We're all sleepy, so we're gonna go to bed early tonight.  Good night, and sweet dreams!



 

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 043

12/February/2015, Day 043.  Thursday.

I suppose the "highlight" of the day was when Grump and Sweetie went driving around Macon, frantically looking for Valentine's gift bags.  Sweetie had seen them for sale a week or so before, but hadn't the money to buy them.  Grump had gone to the bank earlier in the day, so when he got home he gave Sweetie her weekly spending money, upon which she asked him to drive her to the store to buy the Valentine's gift bags.  Old Grump was grumpy and tired all day, and after a long day at work the last thing he wanted to do was go shopping, but Sweetie convinced him to go anyway.  

Well, as luck would have it, the first store they went to was SOLD OUT of Valentine's gift bags.  Sweetie then wanted to drive across town to look for them, but Grump go angry.  They argued about the wisdom or futility of driving around looking for an item in seasonally high demand, then over Grump's protests wound up at Walmart.  

No, they did NOT find any Valentine's gift bags, but Sweetie was able to find a nice substitute.

Lola and Dodong had a nice, quiet day.  Dodong continued to sputter, "Da, da, da, ba, ba, ba ...." with urgency!

Kuya survived school without any reports of misbehaviour.  Hooray!

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 042

11/February/2015, Day 042.  Wednesday.

Tiredness!

We spent $47.00 to sign up for ClickBank University last night, and Grump stayed up to listen to a free seminar.  It was still going strong an hour after his bedtime, so he had to drop off early.  And after listening to the seminar, his old brain was spinning and churning, (smell the burning wood?), so he was restless all night, and didn't sleep well.

Fortunately he had a quiet day at work.

Sweetie putzed around the house, then went for a long walk in the afternoon.  She has looked at the ClickBank University training materials, and she thinks they're pretty good.  Maybe we have FINALLY found something we can make some money online with?

Kuya had a good day at school.  He absolutely LOVES the new iPad we bought.  (IMHO, it's much better than an android tablet.)

Loloa and Dodong hung out together again.  Dodong is now saying, "Da, da, da, ba, ba, ba, ba ..."!  He is already nearly as eloquent as Grump!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 041

10/February/2015, Day 041.  Tuesday.

So what happened today?

Kuya enjoyed another day of school.  It's encouraging to see the enthusiasm the young 'uns have for life.

Grump survived another day of work.  Where he works, they have shrunk down the size of the cubes; we feel kinda like sardines now.  It's more noisy and we have much less desk space.  Not too great for morale!

Lola and Dodong spent the day chattering back and forth, (I swear that kid will grow up speaking Bisaya), and Sweetie did a bunch of cooking and cleaning.

Basically just another typical day ..... except for Grump's commute home.  There was a bad wreck on I-16 near where it merges onto I-75, and it took forever and a day to get through the blockage.  From that point, traffic was exceedingly heavy all the way home.  Folks must have been sitting on the road for a long time waiting for the wreckage to clear, because things were all jammed up on I-75, and on Grump's exit folks were spilling over onto berm because the exit ramp was completely full.  But Grump made it home safely, so no harm, no foul. 

Monday, February 9, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 040

09/February/2015, Day 040.  Monday.

I swear this damn cold/crud/allergy/flu/crap-from-Hell is gonna kill Grump yet!  Just when I thought he might be getting over it, he started coughing again tonight.  Aaaaahhhh!

Anyway .....

Today was a cool day for Kuya, because after school he went to Valentines Camp.  He made a cute Valentines crown, and some yummy candy coated marshmallow lollipops.  

Today was also a cool day for Dodong, because he learned to clap!  Now we can say, "Clap!", to him, and he will clap along with us.

Sweetie seems to be getting over her cold nicely.  The amoxicillan must be doing its wonders for her, because for the first time in more than a year her nose isn't dripping.

Lola has been coughing and sneezing a bit, but she's tough; she'll fight this cold off without any medicine.

As for Grump ..... ugh!  As he feared the amoxicillian doesn't absolutely nothing for him, other than give him diarrhea.  His nose continues to clog, snot still drips down his throat, and he is beginning to cough, cough, cough again.   Poor, pathetic Grump!

There's not enough time in the day!  Grump and Sweetie want to sign up for the new Clickbank University online training that is being offered, but Grump can't seem to find the free time to invest in it.  Maybe he and Sweetie will have to do it on the weekends only?

Sunday, February 8, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 039

08/February/2015, Day 039.  Sunday.

 Despite still being under the spell of this lingering crudiness, we all went to church this morning.  It was nice to finally go to church, after weeks of absence.  It felt almost like an act of defiance against the bad forces of the universe.

After that, we mostly just piddled away the day doing plenty of nothing.  We had eggs and rice for lunch, then veggie lo mein and subs for dinner.

Thomas has spoken his first word, "Lola"!  I wonder if his first language will be Bisaya or English?


Saturday, February 7, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 038

07/February/2015, Day 038.  Saturday.

Sweetie and Grump were still fighting with this infernal crud today, but finally it appears they might actually be starting to get a teeny bit better.  HOORAY!!

I guess the exciting news is that we bought something cool that we really couldn't afford, namely, a new iPad, with hard protective case, (to keep it safe from the ravages of Kuya, and eventually Dodong).  It set us back almost $700.00, and once the credit card bill arrives you can bet that Grump will be having a fit.  But I have to say that it is really, really, really cool; Sweetie and Kuya are just digging the heck out of it.

Lola made dinner tonight: overcooked veggies and dried fish!  Well, at least Grump thought the veggies were overcooked, and Sweetie kinda agreed.  Sweetie really is quite an excellent cook, but Lola helps us so much with everything else that when she wants to cook, we have to humor her.  Fortunately its only once or twice a week.

The sad part about dinner though was that the overcooked veggies were some bitter melon and eggplant that Grump, Sweetie, and Dodong had driven all the way to Warner Robbins early in the day to buy, at the Filipino grocery store there.  Bitter melon when it's cooked right is pretty good.  When it's not cooked right, well, it's pretty bitter!

Later in the day Grump and Sweetie went for the shortest of walks, just around our neighborhood.  Grump was exhausted!  He can't wait for this silly illness to run its course and GO AWAY!


A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 037

06/February/2015, Day 037.  Friday.

Thank God for Lola!

Both Grump and Sweetie are still suffering from this persistant crud.  Grump was able to go to work, but he mostly just sat there in a daze.  Sweetie was able to drive, (painfully!), but her shoulder still isn't back to being fully functional.  Of course they are both still coughing deep heavy coughs, and to top it off, late in the day they both developed diarrhea.
 Oh the joys of being germ food!

Fortunately Lola is here to help them with the kids.  Kuya is doing fine, (he and Lola are the only ones not sick at the moment), and Dodong, although suffering from the same crap afflicting Grump and Sweetie, is still a happy little baby, fully enjoying life.  How Grump wishes he could have his good attitude.

It's been a tough week, folks.  I don't even want to think about it anymore.  We're all gonna go to bed early, and hope with lots of rest this weekend we all can finally banish this crud back to the dark regions from whence it came.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 036

05/February/2015, Day 036.  Thursday. 

Oh man, what a day!

First of all, if you've been reading our posts, you know that Old Grump has been suffering with a mserable cough since last Sunday.  Sweetie has been ill too.  They both went for doctor's appointments on Tuesday, from which they received prescriptions for fighting whatever crud it is that is ailing them.  Then yesterday Sweetie's arm began to feel sore.

What happened is that by Wednesday night Sweetie's arm hurt so much she could hardly move, and she spent most of the night either wailing in bed, tossing and turning, or sitting up in the TV room while Lola helped her watch Dodong.

This morning she was in dreadful shape; it was obvious she would NOT be able to drive Kuya to school.  Grump immediately scheduled her another doctor's appointment, but the earliest one he could get was at 11:00 am.  Since he had to drop Kuya off at school at 8:00 am, take Sweetie to her appointment later in the morning, then pickup Kuya in the early afternoon at 2:30 pm, he went ahead and called his boss, asking for one day of unplanned vacation.  (Poor Grump is using lots of vacation time on doctor's visits recently!)  

 That was our exciting day!  Oh, and Grump was feeling that great himself.  After dropping Kuya off at school, he crawled back into bed and slept for a couple hours.

While it's miserable that we have these stupid colds and viruses circulating amongst us, we are still very, very grateful that our problems are so tiny and trivial compared to what some unlucky folks have to go through.  So our prayer for tonight is one of thanks to God, that He has given us the basically good health we all have, and that he help us cope with these minor irritants he afflicts us with, while at the same time He shows mercy to those who are suffering greatly, and removes their burdens.


     

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 035

04/February/2015, Day 035.  Wednesday.

Grump did NOT wake up coughing so violently that he barfed last night.  Hooray!!  The world is once again safe for democracy.

To accomplish sleeping through the night without incident, Grump had to hit the codeine again.  In fact, since he was still coughing this morning, he took some of the drug enhanced cough syrup before going to work, which made his morning very interesting, to say the least.

Dodong seems to be getting over his illness, but, disturbingly, he still has what appear to be a few hives.  The problem with stupid hives is that just a few can very quickly turn into quite a lot, and then a whole body infestation.  Allergies are not something to play around with, as you never can be certain that they won't suddenly send your body into shock.

So we're still concerned about and praying for Dodong.  Sweetie is to inform Grump the very moment his hives get the least bit worse, and then they would take him to the doctor.

Speaking of Sweetie, she still has her illness, and now her right shoulder is very sore, from Dodong sleeping on it the past four nights.  It's tough work being a Mama!

Lola and Kuya and doing fine.  Kuya is doing exceptionally well at school at the moment.  He's only in Kindergarten, so it's too early to really tell, but if he keeps his academic edge as he gets older, he'll be in the top 10% of his class.  Hooray!


By the way ..... what lunatic came up with the spelling for "Wednesday"?  Was it one of those deranged medieval scholars who put the silent and useless "s" in island?

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 034

03/February/2015, Day 034.  Monday.  Tuesday!! 

.... double blah! ....

For the second night in a row, Grump took some codeine cough syrup to try to control his cough, and for the second night in a row he woke up soon after going to sleep with a massive coughing fit, which ended with him vomiting in the toilet.

THIS IS RIDICULOUS!  His STUPID cough is keeping him from getting a good night's sleep, and his chest and abdomen hurt from the constant coughing. 

How bad is it?  After getting up this morning, Grump had yet another coughing fit, followed by a bout of dry heaves.

Fortunately, I suppose, he and Sweetie had doctor's appointments scheduled for today, (routine physicals), so he had not planned to go to work.  

Dodong seems to be getting over his cold, but when Sweetie's doctor examined her, she was told she has what appears to be a long term infection.  Grump doesn't like the sound of that, and wants her to take some medicine, but she is reluctant to do so, since she is still breastfeeding Dodong.

Lola and Kuya are healthy, at the moment; hopefully they'll stay that way.

After our doctor's appointments Sweetie, Lola, Dodong, and Grump went to a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch.  It was very good food, but Grump coughed through the entire meal.  He hasn't coughed up a lung yet, but that hasn't stopped him from trying!

Coughing is certainly a stupid body trick!  Maybe someday, as we learn more about how the body works, we'll understand how to control allergies, and most of these STUPID coughs will go away?

P.S.  -  I forgot to mention that Sweetie and Grump both were given two prescriptions each to help combat whatever it is that is ailing them.  Also, Old Grump got a shot ...... in his butt!  Poor Grump.  Hee hee!!

Monday, February 2, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 033

02/February/2015, Day 033.  Monday.

.... blah ....

Both Grump and Sweetie were ill today.  If you read yesterday's post, you know Grump has a severe cough.  Once again, Sweetie had a sleepless night, as she spent most of it holding a fussing Dodong.  She has a runny nose that just won't stop!

Grump was able to go to work, which was good, as he had some stuff to get done in the morning.  Once Kuya was dropped off at school, Sweetie was able to take a nap.  Lola watched Dodong while she slept.

Dodong is sloooowwwwly getting better.  We wish the medicine would work quicker, but at least his health is going in the right direction.

As for Grump and Sweetie, they both have doctor's appointments tomorrow.  Sweetie needs to put a stop to her constant nasal stuffiness, and Grump needs to find a cure for his awful cough.