Sunday, May 31, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 151

31/May/2015, Day 151.  Sunday.

"You're not a man, you're a dad."  Spoken by Kuya to Grump this morning.

So poor Old Grump is not a man!  However, if given the choice between being a "man" or a "dad", I'm sure most of us guys would choose the latter.

We woke up early and went to Panera for breakfast, then came home and got cleaned up and ...... went to church!  Yes, for the THIRD DAY IN A ROW Grump was dragged off to a worship service.  I guess this is payback for all those years, (decades!), he never set foot in a house of God.

After church we drove down to Warner Robins, where we went in BOTH filipino stores, (yes, there are two of them down there now), and bought all sorts of wonderful edible yummies.  Sweetie ran a little short of money, so Grump had to help out by putting some of the cost on the American Express credit card.  Back home Grump took a brief nap, then Sweetie and Grump did some grocery shopping,   Once again Sweetie ran out of money; Grump had to put some of the bill on the Amex card, again!  After they got home from that final shopping trip, Grump waited until it cooled down a bit, (6:00 pm or so), then mowed the lawn.

Meanwhile Dodong and Lola and Kuya were busy playing and screaming most of the day, but somehow in between the screams and pokes Lola found the time to cook up a delicious fish stew, using the fish and veggies we had bought earlier today.

Now we are all tired, and waiting to crawl into bed.  Goodnight all!

Saturday, May 30, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 150

30/May/2015, Day 150.  Saturday.

As threatened, Sweetie made us all go to SDA Sabbath worship services this morning.  Grump and Kuya survived; heck, they probably even learned something, (but won't admit it!).

After church we ate a HUGE lunch at home, then just rested and napped for several hours.  Finally in the late afternoon we shrugged off our sluggishness and went for a walk at the Riverside Mall.

We bought clothes for Dodong and Kuya at Gap, ($80.00), and Belk, ($50.00), then after browsing at Barnes & Noble for a while bought some books, ($30.00).  So just like that  -  POOF!  - another $160.00 goes up in smoke.  No wonder we can't pay off our credit cards.

Dinner was ..... well, we were still so full from our HUGE lunch that we just ate some pretzels at the cookie and pretzel store at the mall. 

Back home, we all just relaxed a bit more, then went to bed.  A happy, unstressful day comes to a close!

Friday, May 29, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 149

29/May/2015, Day 149.  Friday.

The wonderful weather continues!  I hope some mid-August day, when we're suffering with the oppressive heat and humidity, that we can remember these nice days of May, and how pleasant it was just to be able to experience them.  

Friday is a fun day, because for Grump the work week is over, and two days of relaxation begin.  Except that this weekend Sweetie has decided we need to go to SDA sabbath services on Saturday morning, AND regular church services on Sunday morning.  We haven't been going to church much recently, and she believes we are starting to "drift" into bad thoughts, which will lead to bad behavior.  So Grump is just gonna have to suck it up and sit through two worship services this weekend.

And if that isn't bad enough, tonight she insisted that she and Grump go to Bible study!  Grump doesn't really like going to Bible study after working all day, and it always tends to run late, (10:30 - 11:00 pm), so he wasn't too thrilled with this idea.  But Sweetie's will prevailed, so off she, Grump, and Kuya went, to Mama Sue's house for a mini Bible lecture. But we had only been there an hour or so when Sweetie's cellphone rang.  It was Lola, calling because Dodong was crying for her.  Sweetie had to leave, and she took Kuya with her, but Grump was told to stay.  Poor Old Grump!

Our yard and gardens are looking so much better now that Lola is devoting time to them.  After the STUPID deer ate all our plants two summers ago Grump just lost interest yard work of any type, (other than mowing the grass, which is more of an nonvoluntary activity anyway), but Lola hasn't experienced that aggravation yet, and is plunging headfirst into being a super-gardener.  I just hope the liquid fence continues to keep those miserable giant-rats-on-stilts, (deer), away from our yard.

Goodnight all!

Thursday, May 28, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 148

28/May/2015, Day 148.  Thursday.

Gosh, it was another beautiful day here in central Georgia.  You just can't ask for better weather.

While Grump was cooped up at work, Sweetie, Lola, and the two boys went for a stroll at the Riverside Mall.  (Real name:  The Shoppes at River Crossing.  I like "Riverside Mall" much better.)  Miraculously they didn't buy anything other than a preztel for Kuya.

Dinner tonight was fried cod and rice, (a meal isn't complete without rice, correct?), after which Sweetie and Grump drove off to go to the bakery in North Macon.  Unfortunately when they got there, the bakery was closed.  So they decided to go to the cupcake store, which, once they got there, was closed for the evening too.  Drat!  No dessert tonight!

By the way ..... ever notice how difficult it is to get the correct spelling of "dessert" or "desert"?  A misplaced "s", and you could be walking across the barren sands instead of enjoying a sweet treat.

We ended the day with our standard evening song, which consists of Dodong, Kuya, Sweetie, and Grump standing around moving their arms and bodies in a way that, should you be in a charitable mood, you could call "dancing".

Goodnight all.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 147

27/May/2015, Day 147.  Wednesday.

It was actually a very nice day here in central Georgia.  Although warm, (some may even say hot), the weather hasn't quite deteriorated into that miserable very hot, very humid nastiness of full summer.  Those days are coming, so we're enjoying this nice weather while we still can.

Nothing really all that exciting happened with us.  Sweetie made another fantastic dinner, this time chicken bihon, and after Grump spent too much time on Clickworker, (again!), we all sat in the family room for "family time", which ended with a little dance.

I don't have too much else to say, so I'll leave you with a couple links you may/may not find interesting.

The first,  http://www.aquapress-bleher.com/ , goes to a website of a guy who travels all over the world studying fish, with an emphasis on keeping them in aquariums.  Interesting man with an interesting website, but - alas! - not all the links work correctly.

The second, http://www.prolificliving.com/ , is the website of a terminally upbeat life/business coach.  Worth checking out on one of those "down days" if you need a little enthusiasm boost.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 146

26/May/2015, Day 146.  Tuesday.

Grump had to go back to work today.  Ah .... poor Old Grump!   Considering he works in an office and sits on his fat lobot all day, he doesn't really have it that bad.  Things could be much, much worse!

After Grump got home from work, we drove over to the dealership and got Sweetie's car back.  The problem was yet another piece of debris interfering with an ABS wheel speed sensor, this time on the left side.  The "repair" didn't cost us anything, and hopefully now we won't have anymore troubles with the brakes on Sweetie's car.

While getting Sweetie's car it started to downpour really, really hard.  Old Grump got SOAKED, but he doesn't really mind all that much, because we really needed the rain.

The best news of the day was dinner.  Sweetie made some embutido, (Philippine meatloaf), and it was super-de-duper yummy!  Now we're all stuffed, and sleepy, so we're gonna go to bed.  Goodnight all.



Monday, May 25, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 145

25/May/2015, Day 145.  Monday.  Happy Memorial Day!

We woke up early again this morning, (Grump was awakened by Kuya jumping on him!), and proceeded to Panera, where we had a nice breakfast.  After breakfast we came home for a bit, then went grocery shopping.

Most of the day was split between resting at home and shopping, as we were too tired to go for another walk.  By late afternoon our energy levels had recovered a bit, so we worked in the yard for a few hours while Kuya went next door and ate hotdogs and hamburgers with Uncle Mac.  Finally we drove to the Hyundai dealer to drop off Sweetie's car one more time, as her brakes aren't working once again.

Now it is late, and we all are tired.  Goodnight all! 

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 144

24/May/2015, Day 144.  Sunday.

We got up early, and decided to skip church.  Instead, we went for a walk at the nearby Ocmulgee Indian Mounds.

After our walk we lay around, napping and even, in the case of Old Grump, sleeping and snoring.  Then in mid-afternoon we went shopping to Lowe's and Walmart, looking for plants and seeds to give to Lola for her garden.  (It's only proper to call it her garden now, as she is doing most of the work on it!)  Once we got home Lola immediately set to work planting and potting and watering and spiffing up the decorative plants around the front door, and the garden beds out back.

Old Grump's one and only task was to spray the newly planted arrivals with Liquid Fence.  Would you believe he forgot to do this!

Dinner for Grump and Sweetie, (with a few bites for Dodong), was some chicken basil empanadas and chicken potstickers we bought at Fresh Market, along with slices of watermelon.  Lola, (who apparently misses eating fish heads and miscellaneous unpronounceable animal parts), and Kuya eat had a McDonald's hamburger, WITHOUT pickles or onions.  (Kuya did get some cheese on his.)  So while the rest of the family eats delicious gourmet fare, those two will stick to bland fast food.  To each their own!

As we were all still a bit tired from our big adventure in Callaway Gardens, Sweetie insisted we go to bed early.  She didn't meet much resistance!

 

Sunday, May 24, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 143

23/May/2015, Day 143.  Saturday.

A Callaway Gardens Advcnture

Today was the day we had planned to go to Callaway Gardens.  Although we were all up early, packed, and ready, we almost cancelled our trip.  The reason behind the near cancellation was Old Grump.

Right after breakfast, a great brouhaha arose because he happened to look out the kitchen window, and notice that Lola had pulled out all the passion fruit vines he had been trying to grow for the past two years.  Grump was extremely upset and angry!

Now before you get too mad at Lola, understand that ever since Grump lost interest in growing "food for the STUPD DEER", Lola has been doing 90% of the garden maintenance.  She thought his passion fruit vines were weeds, and pulled them out.

So Grump was in a pissy mood all morning, despite which, (or maybe because of!), we decided to go to Callaway Gardens anyway. 

It's about a two hour drive from where we live, but mostly lightly traveled back roads.  (Grump is getting tired of interstate driving.)  Once there we decided to purchase a season pass, which will let in a car full of folks for free.  In addition to our half-off admission for the day, this set us back $175.00, which went straight to the debt-laden American Express card.

Callaway Gardens is a wonderful destination for walking.  We walked from the Discovery Center to the Butterfly Center, then doubled back to go to the Horticultural Center, and walked back to our car via the path that goes past the Memorial Chapel.  Lots of walking, but it was mostly under trees and along well maintained paths, most of which were paved.  We probably walked 3 - 5 miles, but I would guess we barely covered a tenth of the availabe trails!

But there's more to Callaway Gardens than walking paths.  The food is also terrific!  We had a nice light lunch at the cafe near the Discovery Center, then later in the early evening after all our walking was done, we had a superb dinner at the Garden Restaurant.  Grump had a yummy salmon dish, (wrapped in a pastry shell!), and Sweetie had the best prime rib we're ever tasted.  Even Lola's pork chop was delicious, although Lola, who happily munches on fish heads and miscellaneous internal animal organs back home in the Philippines, didn't like it.  (Go figure!)  So Grump will have a wonderful lunch one day at work of her pork chop made into a bihon dish.

Now the Garden Restaurant was truly fine dining, and as such wasn't cheap; we pounded our beleaguered American Express card with nearly $150.00 for this dinner.  After this luxury, our extravagances in Savannah last weekend, and, most disturbingly, our repeated costs to "repair" Sweetie's car, the balance on the American Express card has soared to over $6,000.00.  Now we did make a payment of $4,000.00 recently, (from the money we put in the Robins FCU account), but even so, this will leave us will a balance over $2,000.00.  Yuck!

But what are we to do?  It's BORING sitting here at home, and the kids, (especially Kuya), get restless.

Painfully aware of our money troubles, Grump stayed up too late again, (which is why this entry is late), putzing around with Clickworker/UHRS in a desperate attempt to earn a few more dollars.   Any suggestions on how we could earn some more money to pay for our "necessities"?

   

Friday, May 22, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 142

22/May/2015, Day 142.  Friday.

The brakes on Sweetie's car are malfunctioning again!  The ABS sensor is on, and the "EBS Off" light is on.  GRR!!!  This means we'll have to take the car back to the dealership yet again.  GRRR!!!!

This all started with an oil change we got about a month ago.  Grump had the guys at the dealership do a safety inspection, and they said we needed new brakes.  Okay, so we went ahead and got that work done.  Then we had to take the car back because the ABS sensor was on.  Then we had to take the car back because the air-conditioning broke.  Now the ABS sensor is on again.

It will be interesting to see how this latest issue resolves itself, because the car's brakes worked fine BEFORE they started messing with them!

On to more pleasant things ......

It's a three day weekend!  Hooray!!  Tomorrow we plan on driving to Callaway Gardens, which is about two hours away, (assuming Sweetie's car doesn't break down on the way!).  There are lots of cool kid-friendly things to do there, so we're hoping Kuya really enjoys it.  The rest of us should have a good time too.

Tonight Grump, Sweetie, and our friend Joyce drove to Warner Robins.  We intended to go to the Filipino store there, but it was closed, so we made due with the Vietnamese store, (which was less icky than normal), then stopped at the Korean store before heading home.

Now it is late, and we all want to get up early tomorrow to go to Callaway Gardens, go I must bid you adieu.  Goodnight all.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 141

21/May/2015, Day 141.  Thursday.

The most exciting part of the day happened this evening.  Sweetie, Kuya, and Old Grump did the "chicken dance", while Lola and Dodong laughed.  (Fortunately no photos were taken!)  After several dances Dodong wanted to dance too, and started crying.  Grump wound up dancing with him, while Kuya danced with Sweetie.  We didn't dance very long, but we still got tired.

It's been dry here in central Georgia.  I'm glad I'm not a farmer, because I would think that this year's growing season is going to be a difficult one.  But no rain means we get to enjoy the outdoors more. 

I think Kuya is already getting bored from not being in school.  He doesn't have any friends nearby, which for a kid is just awful!  Next year might be too soon, but maybe the year after that he, Sweetie, Dodong, and Lola can go to Mindanao for the summer?

Sweetie made some delicious tilapia for dinner tonight.  It was like being back at a fine dining restaurant in Savannah!

Grump survived work relatively unscathed, although he is a bit anxious about how all this "rating crap", (don't ask!), is going to turn out.

Goodnight all.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 140

20/May/2015, Day 140.  Wednesday.

Dodong walked all by himself this evening!  He took three steps, then a few minutes later took two steps.  Hooray for Dodong!!

Other stuff happened today too  -  Grump got paid, Sweetie did lots and lots of cleaning which included cleaning up the living room table, Lola continues to clean and take care of Dodong, and Kuya watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle videos online.  But the most significant act of the days was most certainly Dodong's first few hesitant steps.

Grump continues to make money with Clickworker, (he's made almost $30.00 so far this week), but - alas! - Sweetie is not impressed, and wants him to spend more time with the family.

We'll leave the two of them alone to work out this dilemma.  Goodnight all!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 139

19/May/2015, Day 139.  Tuesday.

Here in central Georgia the weather has been GORGEOUS lately, cool in the morning, somewhat hot in the afternoon.  Except for after an occasional shower then humidity has even been tolerable.  I know it's not gonna last, and that insufferably hot and humid days are coming, but while these days are here we do our best to get outside and enjoy them.

Meanwhile, back in working world, it was just another quiet weekday for Grump, until late in the afternoon he got an email telling him that he was gonna have to dig into an incredibly convoluted program to figure out why it was sometimes calculating rates incorrectly.  Darn!!

After work Sweetie, Kuya, and Grump drove over to Mathnasium of Macon to sign Kuya up for summer sessions.  His math skills aren't that great yet, (hey ...... cut him a break!  he's just out of Kindergarten), and neither Sweetie nor Grump are all that great at math, (nor fond of it!), so it was decided to get him some help from outside the family.

Since Marco's Pizza was in the same shopping center, they decided to get a pizza to take home, to see how Marco's compares to Papa John's and Mellow Mushroom.  I'm pleased to say that Marco's makes very good pizzas, although price wise it's tough to beat the 40% discount Grump gets at Papa John's from his employer.

After dinner a tired Grump piddled away at Clickworker for a bit, (he's made $18.00 already this week - woo hoo!!), then we all went to bed.


Monday, May 18, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 138

18/May/2015, Day 138.  Monday.

After our exciting weekend, it was a blah back-to-work Monday for Grump.  Sweetie and Lola had their troubles too, as Kuya is now on summer vacation, and out of school until mid-August.  Keeping him occupied and out of trouble will challenging,

After all that walking in Savannah Grump, Sweetie, and Lola were tired and sore today, especially Grump.  Kuya, on the other hand, acted as if nothing unusual had happened.

Dinner was almost as good as our Savannah dinners.  Sweetie cooked up some baked pompano stuffed with green onions.  It was served over rice, and was absolutely delicious.  Desert was some fresh sliced mangoes.

I feel like in our descripions of our Savannah trip poor Dodong wasn't mentioned as much as the rest of us, so here are some pics of him enjoying the city scenery:






 

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 137

17/May/2015, Day 137.  Sunday.

This was our last day in Savannah, Georgia.

Just like yesterday, we got up early, but this time instead of riding the boat over to downtown, we packed up the car, checked out of our room, and drove across the Talmadge Memorial bridge.  Once downtown we found a place to park, then walked around looking at the city some more, and also for a place to eat breakfast.

We settled upon the Funky Brunch Cafe on Broughton Street, and it was a fortuitous choice.  Kuya had yummy chocolate pancakes, Sweetie had a very yummy smoked salmon omlet, and Grump had an extremely yummy veggie omlet.  (Yeah .... I forget what Lola ate, but she ate it all up!)  Now it wasn't cheap, (nearly $60.00 including tip), but it was very, very good! 

After breakfast we walked some more, all the way to River Street, and bought some candy and ice cream.  It was a long walk back to Broughton Street, and by now we were ready for lunch, so we stopped in at The District Cafe & Eatery for a light lunch.  While the food was very good, this was the only restaurant where the waitstaff were a bit surely.  Maybe they were having a bad day, but I felt like, (to paraphrase John Cleese), they could run a perfectly fine restaurant if only it weren't for the customers!
 We have many pleasant memories of our brief Savannah trip.  We all had a blast, even Grump, as evidenced by this pic:

 
We even managed to get a picture with all of us in it, standing outside Paula Deen's The Lady and Sons restaurant.  (Grump is reflected in the window.)


Sweetie even got to meet Paula Deen!  (Well ..... at least her likeness.)


While not the cheapest destination in the world, we think Savannah is worth a visit, if nothing else for the fantastic food.  You don't have to spend as much money as we did to have a great time. If you're willing to stay outside the city hotels are much more reasonable, and you don't have to eat at fine dining restaurants every night!  Besides, walking around looking at the pretty buildings is free!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 136

16/May/2015, Day 136.  Saturday.

We woke up early, got dressed, (duh!), and headed down to the dock to catch the ferry boat into town.   Here are Lola, Sweetie, Kuya, and Dodong on the boat:




Once in town we walked around a bit, then got a good breakfast at a place called Henry's on Drayton Street.  It's a buffet.  The fresh fruit was really good, as was the bacon, which was cooked just perfectly.  We ate like we hadn't eaten in a week, stuffing ourselves full of food.

After that we walked through downtown, checking out buildings and stores.  We walked and walked and walked ......




..... and every now and then rested for a bit, then soon set off walking again:


Eventually we made it to Forsyth Park:


Now Grump had the brilliant idea to eat at a sandwhich shop he read about at the southern end of Forsyth Park, so we trudged all the way there, only to find a natural foods store, (Brighter Day Natural Foods), instead of a restaurant.  We got smoothies there, but let me warn you: unless you enjoy drinking liquified celery, parsley, and kale, you may not like them.  (These aren't "junk food" smoothies!) As it turns out, had we continued down Bull Street we would have found the restaurant Grump was looking for.

After the smoothies we walked back thru a farmer's market in Forsyth Park, then caught the FREE (!) bus back to River Street, where after a brief wait we caught the ferry back to our hotel.

Now it was swimming time!  Sweetie, Kuya, and Grump all went swimming for about an hour, while Lola stayed with Dodong. 

After swimming we got ourselves dressed again, then went back downtown via the ferry again to get dinner.  Once again we walked all the way from River Street to Forsyth Park, this time to have dinner at the incomparable 700 Drayton.  This is a fine dining restaurant, and while it costs a pretty penny, (we paid about $155.00!), it is worth the cost.  Sweetie had what has to be the best fish she's ever eaten in her life, and Lola's shrimp and polenta, (not grits!), was devine. 

Once dinner was over we skipped the bus and walked all the way back to River Street.  Then it was back to the hotel, where after Sweetie and Grump spent a little "couple time" down by the river, we went to bed early for a well deserved rest.


Sunday, May 17, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 135

15/May/2015, Day 135.  Friday.

As has been happening lately everytime Grump takes a vacation day, our day got off to an early start with a 4:00 am call to Grump from work.  GRR!!!!  Fortunately this was quickly taken care of, and the day proper began.

First it was off to school to watch Kuya's Kindergarten graduation ceremony.  After a brief muscial, Kuya received his diploma:



While Dodong stayed interested in the show, Grump nodded off a bit.  (Cut the old man a break!  He had been awake since 4:00 am.)



After the graduation ceremony we packed up the car and headed to Savannah, Georgia, for a weekend vacation.   I-16 was under construction in various places between here and there, so the driving was a bit tense, but with the Grace of God we all arrived okay.

Lola, Sweetie, and Dodong were dropped off in downtown Savannah to do some shopping, while Kuya and Grump drove off to the hotel.  We were staying at the Westin on Hutchinson Island, and for some reason when trying to get on the Talmadge Memmorial bridge Grump wound up going west on I-16 instead of east.  So it took the two of them FOREVER to finally get to the hotel.

After checking in and bringing some bags up to the room, they were supposed to catch one of the Savannah Belles ferry boats over to the riverfront shopping area along River Street to meet Lola, Sweetie, and Dodong.  Of course they missed the boat, so an additional 45 minutes passed before all of us were together again.

Sweetie and Lola were shopped out, which is understandable, as they had been walking up and down River Street for almost three hours!  So we decided to get an early dinner, and by luck stumbled upon the The Olde Pink House.


Although we did not have reservations our luck held out and we were able to get a table downstairs in the tavern.  The food was superb!  Grump had the best flounder he's ever eaten, with a crispy skin.  Even Dodong was happy, as he was treated to several very sweet orange slices.

Yes, it was expensive ..... $134.00 with tip, which went straight on the American Express card.  (We'll worry about vacation expenses when the bill comes!)

After dinner we walked around downtown a bit, then took the ferry back to the Westin.  Thanks to the unnecessarily early start to the day we were all tired, so we all went to bed early and were soon sound asleep.
 

Thursday, May 14, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 134

14/May/2015, Day 134.  Thursday.

Grump finally gave in and sold off $7,000.00 worth of stocks in our savings/retirement account to pay off our debts.  He justified this by saying that he might as well sell when the market is high.  This should pay off our American Express credit card balance, and give us a little buffer for the rest of the year.  Now .... the trick will be, can we discipline ourselves NOT to spend, spend, spend again, or six months from now are we going to be in debt again?

The other noteworthy event of the day was that after dinner Grump mowed the lawn, in the heat.  He had to cut it today, because as soon as Kuya's graduation ceremonies are over tomorrow, we're leaving for Savannah for two nights.  We'll be coming back home late Sunday afternoon.

Yes, this will be an expensive trip, but we've prepared ourselves psychologically for the expenses.  And now that we will have $7,000.00 to help us pay the bills, it should be more enjoyable.

Goodnight all.


Wednesday, May 13, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 133

13/May/2015, Day 133.  Wednesday.

Blah!  Today was like yesterday.  Grump was tired, work was icky, Sweetie's car was still in the shop, and after dinner we went shopping and spent money we don't have.  But there is some good news!

Sweetie's car is out of the shop now, hooray!!  It cost $1,300.00+ to fix the silly air-conditioning, but here in central Georgia driving a car without air-conditioning is a miserable experience.  That makes almost $3,000.00 we've spent on that darn car in the last three weeks.  Ugh.  All I can say is it better appreciate the money we've lost on it, and run FLAWLESSLY now for at least the next two years!

Kuya had a swimming party at one of his classmate's house.  All the kids had a great time.  Kuya had a blast splashing and jumping in the water, and worked up such an appetite that he ate FOUR pieces of pizza!  Yummy!

Goodnight all.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 132

12/May/2015, Day 132.  Tuesday.

I'm tired and frustrated due to our unceasing lack of money so I'm just gonna stream-of-consciousness spew out today's events starting with Grump getting up early to ride the bus into work on account of Sweetie's car still being in the shop and Sweetie needing a way to get Kuya back-and-forth to school then a mostly quiet day at work but then after work the bus broke down so Grump couldn't get home on time which is okay anyway because Sweetie had to pick up Kuya from his last after school "camp" of the year but once the next bus showed up Ms. H offered Grump a ride home from the bus stop, (again), so although the evening bus driver was slow slower slowest at least Sweetie didn't have to drive over to the bus stop to pick Grump up who once home an hour late ate the yummy tilapia, (skin and all!), that Sweetie made for dinner and that everyone else had already finished while waiting for Grump to finally get home after which, (and after the chocolate ice-cream), we looked for hotels in Savannah to stay at this Friday and Saturday night and finally after much angst settled on the Wyndham Resort across the river which NO we can't really afford but what the hell we can't really afford all the car repair costs anyway so if you're gonna go bankrupt you may as well enjoy it!

Goodnight all!

Monday, May 11, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 131

11/May/2015, Day 131.  Monday.

No Rest for the Weary, and the Credit Card Bleeding Continues

Yesterday I forgot to mention that we had to drop off Sweetie's car at the repair shop again.  This time the problem was with the air-conditioning.  They called us back today and told us that the condensor will need to be replaced.  Total cost, about $1,300.00 !!

Grump was way too tired to do much once he got home from work today, (after a ride home from a nice co-worker), but that didn't matter, because we needed rice.  (What is a home without rice?)  So off Grump, Sweetie, and Dodong went to Sam's Club, to purchase rice, mangoes, and a few other essentials, then Sweetie decided we needed to stop by Old Navy, to purchase a camoflage t-shirt for Kuya's school play.  By now Grump was getting very grumpy indeed, but we decided to go to Marshall's anyway, where we purchased a surprise Kindergarten graduation gift for Kuya.

Too much spending and not enough rest make Grump a grouchy old man, and he was in rare form this evening.  Let's hope he gets some sleep tonight!

Goodnight all.


Sunday, May 10, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 130

10/May/2015, Day 130.  Sunday.

Happy Mother's Day!!

As it turns out, that crazy Grump was up until 1:00 am (!) last night, puttering away on the computer.  (He claims he was diligently working Clickworker/UHRS for a few bucks, but I think he was actually leering at some "Big Nostril Mamas" websites.)  He finally went to bed once Sweetie started yelling at him, which is nutty.

So both Grump and Sweetie were a tired and a bit irritable today.  But we all had a good day anyway.

The day started with a breakfast of donuts bought fresh at Dunkin' Donuts.  Now how can any day that starts off with a donut breakfast be bad, huh?  After that yummy treat, we headed over to the Ocumlgee Indian Mounds, which is a park run by the National Park Service here in Macon.  Kuya got to run freely along the trails; no one can keep up with him anymore, not Sweetie, not Lola, and certainly not Grump.  Because of this is was decided that Grump could bring Kuya over to the Indian Mounds more often, just to let him run off some energy.

By the time we got back to the car all of us were exhausted, except Dodong, who had been pushed along in his stroller.  We came back home for a much appreciate rest, where everyone slept for a bit.  Everyone except for Kuya, that is, who at six years old now seems in possession of boundless amounts of energy.

After a nap Sweetie, Grump, and Kuya went shopping at the Fresh Market, an upscale grocery store where they bought lots of cool, yummy stuff, paying for it all with the beleaguered American Express credit card.  (i.e.  -  they spent money they didn't have!)  Dinner was some yummy spaghetti Sweetie cooked up.

In the evening we worked in the yard.  Lola watered plants, Sweetie pulled weeds, Grump transplated marigolds, and Kuya "helped" everyone.  Then it was time to come in, wash up, and get ready for bed.

Goodnight all!  

Saturday, May 9, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 129

09/May/2015, Day 129.  Saturday.

The day started off very early - 4:30 am!  Grump had to get up and dial-in to work, (well, it's more accurate to say "remote connect" in to work these days, but that sounds awkward!), to monitor some jobs.  He did this for about three hours, then he, Sweetie, and Dodong went to Panera for breakfast.  (Kuya stayed home with Lola, watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle videos on the iPad.)

After breakfast Grump, Sweetie, and Dodong drove over to the Walmart on Zebulon, (the very same one that once hosted a Honey Boo Boo signing), to do a little shopping, after which we came home and took a nap.

Grump slept the longest, of course!  Once he was awake we had a little snack of corn-on-the-cob and watermelon, then got dressed to go to our one day early Mother's Day dinner.  Since it was still so early, (4:00 pm), we decided to do some exploring, and drove around parts of Macon/Bibb county we hadn't been to before.  Specifically, we drove out Zebulon Road west of I-475, where there are some very pricey subdivisions.  Looking at the big, glamorous houses was fun, and we even discovered a back roads route to the restaurant, (the wonderful Taki), where we had dinner.

Dinner was pricey, but even Grump didn't complain, because it was so wonderfully good.  Lola got her usual, tempura shrimp, Kuya had salmon and broccoli, while Sweetie and Grump split a huge plate of mouth watering sushi.

After dinner we were stuffed, so we decided to go to the Riverside Mall to walk off some of our overindulgence.  Kuya was still hungry, so he had a baked pretzel and chocolate milk, which he ate at the Barnes and Noble cafe.  While there, Sweetie and Grump forced down a triple chocolate brownie, and Dodong ate half of a vanilla cupcake.


Home for the evening we just relaxed for a bit, then got ready for bed. Once in bed, Dodong had a little surprise for us; he vomited.  We cleaned up as best we could, and everyone but Grump lay down to go to sleep.

Why didn't Grump sleep?  Because of Clickworker/UHRS, that's why!  It seems that the appearance of reasonable tasks on UHRS is sporadic, and once one appears that you can quickly make some money on, you have to act on it immediately, or it will be gone.  So silly Grump is staying up late just so he can make a few extra dollars!

The rest of us would like to say, "Goodnight all."  Sweet dreams. 

    

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 128

08/May/2015, Day 128.  Friday.

Grump woke up tired.  He slouched into work, unshaved for three (!) days, hoping to hide in his cube and avoid anything that looked like work for the day.  As luck would have it, his boss from Virginia showed up for a visit, and sat in a cube directly across from him.  Poor Grump!  No "slack day" for you!

Sweetie cooked some excellent beef bihon, which everyone ate for dinner.  Then she disappeared for several hours to go next door to Uncle Mac and Aunt Lily's house for Bible Study.  Lola, Grump, Kuya, and Dodong all stayed home.

We're looking forward to the weekend, even though Grump has to get up early Saturday morning, (5:00 am!), to monitor some work jobs from home.  Poor Grump!  Will he ever get enough sleep?

Kuya is still infatuated with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  He really enjoys watching TMNT videos on YouTube, but we aren't too thrilled with the violence, and the typical cartoonish over-sexualization of the women characters.  The best videos, believe it or not, are the ones that preview TMNT toys.  

Thursday, May 7, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 127

07/May/2015, Day 127.  Thursday.

So why is Old Grump so darn grumpy anyway?  Could it be that he is tired of our constant spending?  Could it be that he is frustrated when month after month goes by, and he is still unable to pay off all the credit card bills?

To be fair, our credit card bills are inflated now because of a house repair, and some needed maintenance on Sweetie's car.  But it still hurts when, after squeezing out the pennies to pay as much on the credit cards as he can, Grump is hit with a request for $100 for a cousins wedding in the Phillipines.

Okay Grump ...... take a DEEP BREATH and relax.

$100 to celebrate a happy occaision, the start of a life together for two young people, is NOT A BIG FRIGGIN' DEAL!!  In fact, Grump should be happy that he is able to contribute.  What a fortunate position to be in, to be able to help other people!

You know what?  I think, since Grump was so uptight about this, that he ought to give more, maybe $120.  What do you think?

Goodnight all.


P.S.  -  There's actually more to this story.

Since early this week Sweetie had a strange desire to call her cousin.  She hasn't spoken to this cousin in years, so it was truly a strange feeling.  Finally curiosity, (or something), got the better of her, and she called.

When her cousin answered, the cousin immediately exclaimed, "Oh thank God you called!  We've been praying for more than a week that you would call us!  I'm just going to be direct and tell you: we really, really need money to help pay for my brother's wedding."

How about that?  Weird, huh?  I guess this is another example of how prayer works!

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 126

06/May/2015, Day 126.  Wednesday.

Tiredness.  Extreme tiredness!

Grump and Sweetie didn't sleep too well last night, and now they're suffering.  It's not even 8:00 pm yet, and they're starting to get ready for bed!

Work was pretty tough for Grump today, partly because he was tired, and partly because he has a whole lot of ridiculous stuff to do.  But he made it through the day okay.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

After dinner we watered our potted plants, (who are all outdoors for the summer), and then Sweetie washed Grump's car.  How sweet of her!

Here is a video of Kuya dancing at school which was taken a week or so ago:
 


Enjoy the dancing while we get ready for bed.  Goodnight all!

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 125

05/May/2015, Day 125.  Tuesday.

It was a mostly quiet day.  We did the usual things: Grump went to work, Kuya went to school, Sweetie and Lola took turns watching Dodong and/or cooking and cleaning.  Nothing too exciting until after dinner, when .....

...... in a fit of madness, (guilt?), Grump suggested to Sweetie that the two of them drive all the way to McDonough again to buy the walking assistance toy for Dodong.  (Dodong hasn't begun to walk yet, and Sweetie is convinced this will help him.)  Sweetie readily agreed, and the two of them drove off to Babies-R-Us.

The good part about this was that Grump and Sweetie got to spend a good 90 minutes with each other without any interruptions from the kids.  Once at Babies-R-Us Sweetie quickly found the toy she wanted, and soon after they were back in the car headed home.

Once home Grump had to assemble the blasted thing, which drove him nuts!  He only broke one small part, so now when Dodong awakes tomorrow morning he will have a brand new fancy walker toy for him to play with!

Goodnight all!

Monday, May 4, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 124

04/May/2015, Day 124.  Monday.

The good news is that Sweetie's car appears to be okay.  The mechanic said that a shard or something had gotten into the brake sensor, and in addition to flipping out the displays on the dashboard, it caused the cruise control to malfunction.  There was no charge to fix this, and Sweetie's car seem fine now.

The bad news is that Sweetie is concerned that Dodong is not walking yet, and really, really wanted Grump to buy a walking assistance toy for him when we were at Babies-R-Us Saturday.  Tired as Grump and Sweetie were tonight, they drove all over Macon looking for something equivalent, and found nothing.  Walmart didn't have one; Target didn't have one; Burlington Outlet didn't have one.  Even worse, it appears that Burlington Outlet is phasing out their baby supplies section, which is a bummer.  Does this mean we'll have to drive all the way to McDonough every time we want something for Dodong?

Speaking of tired ..... except for Kuya, (who is bouncing off the walls with the crazy enthusiasm of a six year old), and Dodong, we are all absolutely zonked tonight.  Even Lola is a bit tired.  So let's say, "Goodnight, sweet dreams, and may God bless all of you."    

Sunday, May 3, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 123

03/May/2015, Day 123.  Sunday.

After the hustle and bustle of yesterday, we decided to relax some today, and take a well needed rest.  We didn't even make the drive to church this morning, but rather settled in to a leisurely breakfast of chocolate flavored oatmeal.

The boys, Grump, Kuya, and Dodong, all got haircuts today.  It was Dodong's first haircut, and he really looks handsome!  Kuya looks handsome too, of course.  Old Grump just looks a little less old, but that's okay.

 Grump and Kuya played a little "baseball", with Kuya actually hitting the ball with the bat a few times.  Way to go Kuya!

I'd like to say we gave the old American Express credit card a break, but things didn't work out that way.  After all the excitement, (shopping!), of Friday and Saturday she was out of cash, so we had to use the credit card to pay for groceries, adding over $100 to our never-ending debt.  Phooey!

The omninous news is that when we were driving to Babies-R-Us yesterday Sweetie's car was acting funny.  We had the brakes changed a little over a week ago, and they just haven't worked right since.  So this afternoon we dropped her car off at the dealer.  Sweetie will use Grump's car tomorrow, and Grump will have to take the bus to work.

That's all for today.  Goodnight all!


A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 122

02/May/2015, Day 122.  Saturday.

We woke up early to go ...... shopping!  Yes indeed!  It's a weekend day, and on the days when Grump is not working we are busy spending the money he earns!

It was fortunate we got off to an early start.  We had planned on driving up I-75 to the Babies-R-Us in McDonough, but a few miles south of Locust Grove there was a horrendous traffic jam, so we took a leisurely detour through the countryside.  It probably took us longer than if we had sat in the traffic on I-75, but it was sure a lot less stressful, and we arrived at Babies-R-Us plenty early anyway.

At Babies-R-Us the usual damage, ($100+), was done to our credit card, then we drove back towards home, stopping in Forsyth at the Grits Cafe for a yummy but expensive, ($60+), lunch.

By now Old Grump was becomming very grumpy indeed over all our spending, especially considering that we had spent $160 yesterday on a new handbag for Sweetie.   So we headed back home, and just relaxed for the rest of the day, NOT spending any more money in the process!

Bedtime came early for Kuya and Dodong, and even Grump soon joined them.  And another day was done.

P.S.  -  here is a pic of the $160 handbag/diaper bag.  It's a high quality Michael Kors product, which is important, as we have had the handles of cheap handbags ruin some of Sweetie's blouses.

 

   

Friday, May 1, 2015

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 121

01/May/2015, Day 121.  Friday.

Today Kuya's class had a field trip to Elliott Farms in Lizella to pick strawberries.   It was a beautiful morning, although a little cool, particularly when the wind blew.  But it was good strawberry picking weather!

Here are Sweetie and Kuya picking strawberries:



Kuya is VERY popular with the girls.  (Grump, who was always something of a dud on the dating scene, is jealous!)  Here he is with a few of his girlfriends:




Despite the cool weather, Old Grump is so ridiculously pale that he still managed to get a bit of sunburn around his neck.

Speaking of Old Grump, remember the energy drink that he drank at lunch yesterday?  As usually happens when he drinks one of those, it really didn't kick in until late evening, when he was getting ready for bed.  Because of this, Grump tossed and turned all night, and didn't sleep well.  So when we got back from picking strawberries, a tired Grump crawled into bed, and quickly fell asleep.

He slept for an hour and a half, after which Kuya woke him up.  (To watch a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle video, I believe.)  Once Grump was dressed again, he, Sweetie, and Dodong went grocery shopping.  Since we were in the area we stopped at Marshall's, where Sweetie found an excellent Michael Kors handbag on sale.  It was big enough to replace her current diaper bag, (which is falling apart), and well built enough to last at least a year of heavy usage, (or so we hope).  It did cost us $160.00.  Grump says he's gonna have to spend more time on Clickworker to pay for it!

Sweetie made a dinner of rice and egg for Lola, Kuya, and Dodong, then she and Grump went out for a "date dinner" at the delightful Fountain of Juice, (Sweetie's choice!), here in Macon, GA, where they serve yummy food that is also good for you.

Exciting day, huh?  Goodnight all.

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 120

30/April/2015, Day 120.  Thursday.

So what happened yesterday?  (It's Friday evening, May 1st, as I write this entry.)

Old Grump went to work early, and for two and a half hours diligently made updates to a data file, only to have all his work be for naught; the decision was made to NOT apply the updates until Monday.  (Grump will have to make his updates all over again!)

At lunch Grump drank an energy drink, which will be significant tomorrow.  (IF I remember to write about it!)

Sweetie and Grump ate pizza from Papa John's for dinner, while Kuya ate some of their cheese sticks, which he calls "cheese pizza", as compared to the "tomato pizza" Sweetie and Grump eat.  Lola ate fish and rice, and Dodong ate baby food.

After dinner we went to the Riverside Mall for a stroll.  While in Belks Sweetie found a very nice blouse which was on sale for $20.00, which we bought.

In the evening, before bedtime, Grump once again went online to putter around with Clickworker, which is his fixation of the moment.  We hope Clickworker works out better for him than his other online ventures!

Goodnight all.