Wednesday, June 8, 2016

2016/June/07 - Back Home

Today was a little odd, because Grump drove back home after work.  It seems there had been a whole lot of noise and partying, (teenage boys!), near our house Monday night, and Sweetie got all spooked out over it.  So Grump agreed to come home for the night and keep her company.

That was Grump's big excitement for the day.

Kuya had karate class again.  He's still got a long, long way to go before he becomes a martial arts wizard, but in the meantime the exercise and discipline will do him good.

Kuya trying to keep up in Karate Class
Chop! Chop!



Meanwhile Old Grump had managed to rip the pocket off his shirt!  (Grump is a mess sometimes!)



 Once Grump got home, we all went out for ice cream.  Grump felt bad for Dodong, since we have been doing all these cool things, (karate class, piano lessons, swimming lessons), for Kuya, so he bought him a little stuffed "George", (from Peppa Pig), toy.

Dodong likes his new George toy very much!

Dodong and "George"




Peace!




Tuesday, June 7, 2016

2016/June/06 - Back to Work

It was a rainy Monday, and Grump had to get up obscenely early and make the long drive back into work.  Phooey!

But let's just leave Grump alone with his misery, because back home Kuya had an exciting day!

In the morning he had his first swimming lessons.  He was teamed with two other kids, both of whom can swim a bit already, so Kuya is going to have to learn some basic swimming fast!

Kuya at his swimming lessons

In the afternoon he had his piano lessons.  I wonder if he will write more songs to perform at the next recital?

Finally in the evening he had his first karate lesson.  Watch out bad guys!  Kuya is training to be a kicking-chopping force for good!

Concentration!


Watch out Bad Guys, here I come!



That was a busy day, huh?

Now I know you're still wondering about Old Grump, aren't you?  Are you curious about what he had for dinner?

Grump's Dinner


It so happens that every week Sweetie makes him some lunches and dinners, then puts them in individual serving containers like the one above, and freezes them.  Grump brings these frozen foods with him to Columbus, and so he has healthy, yummy meals all week.  Hooray for Sweetie!

And for those of you who can't live without a glimpse of him, (for God's sake why?), here is Grump displaying his iloc:



Peace!

Monday, June 6, 2016

2016/June/05 - Sleepy Sunday

Stuff happened, the most significant of which was that Little Charlie was dedicated at church!  This guy had a bit of a rough start at life, so it's wonderful that he's doing well now.  Thanks for your prayers!


After church we went to the Dovetail restaurant in downtown Macon for a delicious brunch that we really can't afford.  But what the heck ..... you only live once, right?

Sweetie taking Dodong's pic at Dovetail


After stuffing ourselves for brunch we mostly just lay about the house.  We did, however, discover that Dodong is fascinated by Barney, as you can see from the following pics:





Since Old Grump has to roll out of bed at an unGodly hour tomorrow morning, we all tried to go to bed early.  Grump was asleep by 9:00 pm, but Dodong was wound up, (too much Barney?), and kept Sweetie awake until 10:30!


Sweetie says, "Bye-bye!"


Peace!

Sunday, June 5, 2016

2016/June/04 - Sleepy Saturday

After a very late night last night, (after the kiddies FINALLY got to sleep, Grump and Sweetie stayed up talking), we were all pretty tired today.  Despite this, we had an active and exciting day.

The day started like most days, with Kuya playing on the iPad.  He seems addicted to that silly thing!

Kuya rotting his brain with the iPad

We set out early to do some chores, one of which included signing up Kuya for a karate class.  (Hopefully the discipline will do him good!)  While there we discovered they were having a free women's self-defense seminar, so Sweetie stayed behind and learned some techniques to defend herself with.

Sweetie at the self-defense seminar

She got an opportunity to take a few whacks at "Bob", the practice manikin.   Below is a still from a video Grump took of her doling out punishment on her attacker.  (Compete video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J1FNsfKUb0&spfreload=5 )

Poor "Bob"!


After Sweetie was done with her seminar we decided to go to Mellow Mushroom for lunch.  On the way there, Dodong fell asleep:

Sleepy Dodong!


Kuya posing outside the Mellow Mushroom restaurant.


Whilst Sweetie had been practicing smacking and kicking imaginary attackers, Old Grump had gone shopping at Lowes for parts to fix a broken towel rack in our bathroom.

Lowes has a really nice garden section.  Unbelievably, to you folks in the Philippines at least, here in the USA we cultivate and pay money for what you would consider noxious weeds.  As an example, here are some Lantana plants for sale:

Weeds for sale!
In our neighborhood many folks grow these around their mailbox, as they are quite pretty with their yellow or reddish flowers.  Which just goes to prove that a "weed" is often simply an unappreciated plant.


Once back home, Grump kinda fixed the broken towel rack.  I say "kinda" because, as you can see from the picture below, although it is now securely fastened to the wall, he hung it up crooked!  (Don't count on Grump for home repairs, as he has admitted before: http://buyingnirvana.com/words/when-it-comes-to-home-repair-ive-got-no-thumbs/ .)  You can also see the holes in the drywall where the towel rack was previously fastened.  He'll patch those up "someday".



Actually our bathroom needs a lot of work.  We have a non-functioning whirlpool which "someday", (when we get the money), we're gonna tear out and replace with a nice built-in vanity for Sweetie.

Our non-functional whirlpool


Meanwhile Lola and Sweetie have the gardens looking very nice, and producing well too!  That tomato plant in the photo below has already, (early June!), produced several small tomatoes for our use.

A Productive Tomato Plant

In fact, just whilst we were out walking around the yard in the late afternoon Sweetie pulled a couple more tomatoes off it.

Fresh Tomatoes


As the day wound down the boys gathered in the bedroom, each one transfixed to their own "smart" device.  We're not sure if this is a good sign or not.  What did people do before the internet was around?  (Grump vaguely remembers playing out in the street with other neighborhood kids when he was young.  Kids certainly don't do that these days!)

Three Internet Addicts Feeding Their Addictions


Peace y'all!

Saturday, June 4, 2016

2016/June/03 - Home

It's Friday!  Hooray!  This means that Old Grump will be driving home for the weekend!  Double Hooray!

Work went by sloooooowly, but eventually Grump was allowed to leave, and after stopping at the apartment Mr. S lets him stay in, he began the long drive home.  There were more goofballs on the road than normal, (leaving Columbus, Grump almost got hit TWICE by semi-conscious lunatics weaving their way to God only knows where, and some nut job in a red pickup truck kept zooming past him then slowing down in the left lane at inappropriate moments on state route 96 all the way to Reynolds), but due to the Grace of some Higher Power he made it home safe and sound again.

The whole family went to Chipotle for dinner, with Lola, Kuya, and Dodong bring along take-out food from McDonalds.  (Why anyone would want to eat McDonalds food instead of something from Chipotle is beyond me!)  Then we all went to be early.

Or so Grump and Sweetie thought!  Kuya was NOT TIRED, and bounced and fussed and chattered and kept the two of them, (Dodong slept through this craziness, and Lola was smart enough to hide away upstairs), awake for a good hour and a half.  Phooey!

Peace!

Thursday, June 2, 2016

2016/June/02 - Tiredness

Sweetie and Grump were tired today.

I guess from the excitement (?) of working on his computer too late, or maybe from eating too much chico-chicken just before going to bed, he wasn't able to fall asleep for hours, and then slept fitfully once he did fall asleep.

Sweetie had it even worse, as poor Dodong barfed in the bed right as they were saying goodnight to Grump, and cried off-and-on all through the night after that.  I imagine Sweetie maybe got two hours of sleep in total.

The good news, such as it is, is that she was able to rest a bit when Dodong got his naps today.

Kuya and Lola were just fine.

So it was a bit of a drag of a day.  To "punish" his body for misbehaving and not sleeping last night, Grump went to Planet Fitness after work and walked two miles, (TWO WHOLE MILES!!), on a treadmill, which of course as a workout is fairly pathetic.  However, this is the first time since last October that Grump has even set foot in a Planet Fitness, since he had his appendix removed, and then severely sprained his ankle.  His ankle still hasn't healed well, (a gift from the stupid lizard factory), and although he wore a brace, it hurt all evening after his walk.

Grump's Gimpy Ankle

Peace!

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

2016/June/01 - New Month!

It's a new month, and for Grump's tea business, at least, the month started off with a big thud.  Tea Universe made $0.00, (zippo!  goose eggs!), last month.  Phooey!  At this rate, Grump will soon lose his Amazon affiliate id.

So do the old guy a favor please, and if you're interested in buying something on Amazon go to Tea Universe first.  You can just click through an item there and NOT add it to your shopping cart, and then theoretically Old Grump will get a teeny tiny commission on any other Amazon products you buy.  (At the same price as if you had gone into Amazon directly, of course!!)

Grump is working in Columbus this week, so his day started off by waking up in his "bedroom", which is actually the living room of a co-worker's apartment.

Grump's "Bedroom"



Whilst Grump was working away in Columbus, back in Macon Sweetie and Lola took the boys, (and some of Kuya's friends), to the Sandy Beach Water Park.  They had a blast, until they had to come back home due to impending thunderstorms.

Sweetie and Kuya

Poor Dodong was a bit under the weather, so he just slept while the other kids splashed in the water.

Lola, a sleeping Dodong, and Kuya


Peace y'all!