A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 242

30/August/2015, Day 242.  Sunday.

Happy birthday to Sweetie!
Happy birthday to Sweetie!
Happy birthday dearest Sweetie,
Happy birthday to you!

Yep, today was Sweetie's birthday.  We celebrated by having dinner at one of her favorite restaurants, (and Lola's absolute favorite restaurant), the wonderful Taki.  Grump and Sweetie split a "Love Boat" sushi platter, Kuya had some hibachi salmon, and Lola had her favorite, shrimp tempura.  Yummy, yummy, yummy!

That was the highlight of the day.  We had hoped it would hold off raining so we could finally go to Callaway Gardens, (we had planned on going yesterday, but got rained out), but the rain came again today, pouring down in the early morning.

After lunch things had dried up a bit, so we headed over to Riverside Mall to get in some walking and shopping.  Sweetie bought some sauce dishes at Dillard's that they were almost giving away, and we all got some yogurt, then it was back home to get ready to go to Taki.

Lola, Dodong, Grump, and Kuya strolling through Dillard's, looking for goodies to buy

Later this evening Grump finally killed off his suffering Acer laptop, giving it one whack too many when the power cord was bumped and it shut down on him.  It is pretty much junk now; Sweetie will let Dodong and Kuya play with it for a bit, then it will become part of our local landfill.  (Moral of the story - ALWAYS back up any files you want to keep!)  I'm not sure if Grump will be able to continue with Clickworker/UHRS, because UHRS in particular seems to work primarily with Microsoft's IE, and our remaining two PC's are Macs.  Oh well ...... Grump will have to use his time more wisely now.

Goodnight all!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 241

29/August/2015, Day 241.  Saturday.

First the important news: little Isaiah continues to improve.  He is still in intensive care, and still has an I/V stuck in his arm, but he no longer has the feeding tube stuck into his nose.  (Yes, he was somehow being fed through his NOSE!)  Thank you so much for all your prayers, and keep those prayers coming, for once Isaiah is fully well there are plenty of other folks to pray for!

We woke up early, hoping that maybe that weather reports were wrong and it would be a nice day, but it was us who were mistaken.  The rain started around 9:30, and got heavy before noon.  Our plans to drive to Callaway Gardens were scuttled, and for a while it looked like we might get rained in all day, but after lunch the rain began to lighten up.

Hoping for the best, as we really wanted to get out of the house, we took a chance and went to Riverside Mall.   It was drizzling when we got there, but after shopping at a store or two the rain stopped, and it didn't rain again all day.

The exciting news from the shopping trip was that Sweetie bought a dress at Talbots, and it was LESS THAN $30.00!  We didn't realize Talbots had items marked down so dramatically, but now that we do know, Sweetie will be shopping there more often in the future.

Whilst shopping we met some of Sweetie's filipino friends, so we invited them over to our house.  Next thing Grump knew a big batch of stinky fish was cooking on the oven range.  Ugh!  Rather than deal with the odor, he decided to go outside and cut the grass until it rained.  It never did rain, so Grump got all the grass cut, and did some yard maintenace, (mostly weeding), besides.

In was quite a pleasant afternoon.  Kuya had fun playing with his friend Mattie, Sweetie had a great time chatting in Bisaya with her friends, and Grump enjoyed spending an afternoon working in the yard without being hassled.  And to top it all off, it wasn't bloody hot like it's been for the last three months.

Dodong and Mattie

Now we are burning candles to attempt to cover up the fish odor in our house.  But they will have to go out once we go to bed, and we are beginning to get very, very sleepy ..........

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 240

28/August/2015, Day 240.  Friday.

Grump's all excited!!  After a long, long spell of very cruddy days on Clickworker/UHRS, tonight he is FINALLY making some decent money.  Hooray!

Meanwhile, back in the realm of more relevant issues, little Isaiah still struggles to be healthy.  Sweetie made some very yummy empanadas today, (Grump had some for dinner, and he LOVED them!), and took several of them over to Pastor Jude to share with Mama Sue, her daughter, and her son-in-law.  While we can't do anything for Isaiah other than our prayers, (you are praying for him, aren't you?), we can help the other stressed out family members.

Human kindness and love is such a powerful force!  If we as a species survive all the crap a confused universe throws at us, it will be because of our love for each other.  Please never be afraid to show someone you care for him/her.

Other news/trivia:

Grandma and Grandpa are currently in England, visiting with Big John, (Grump's brother), his wife Jenna, and their kids.  Supposedly Grandma and Jenna are going to take a day trip to Paris!  That should be exciting.

Lola's ankle is swollen and hurts.  Sweetie wishes she didn't have to worry about her sister, and cleaning up loans due to "The King's" antics.  But hopefully by the end of this year all debts back home will have been paid.

Besides making some money in Clickworker/UHRS, Grump also got a haircut.  He is very itchy at the moment; I think he needs to take a bath and go to bed.

Goodnight all. 

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 239

27/August/2015, Day 239.  Thursday.

Today we are going to do something different.  I am going to ask you to pray for the health and well-being of Isaiah, an infant boy who was born early yesterday, and today is being monitored for some health issues.  I don't believe he is in mortal danger, (THANK GOD!), but it is still a pretty cruddy way to start your existence on this planet, separated from your momma, and stuck in a sterile room with an I/V in your little arm.

When it comes to newborns I get so emotional that what's left of whatever brain I once had more-or-less goes completely haywire, and I write things such as this "Letter to Angel".  (Yes, I write letters to a tiny fetus that died in my wife's womb.)  Life really is a mystery, and the most basic parts of it are what are most perplexing.

Anyway .... please say a prayer or two, (or three!), for young Isaiah, and then for someone else you know who could use some help, and then a prayer or two for all those folks who have no one else praying for them.  I can't promise that the objects of your prayers will necessarily benefit, (at least in a way that we can understand), but I can promise you this: the act of praying will do YOU good!    

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 238

26/August/2015, Day 238.  Wednesday.

So what exciting happened today?  Sweetie, Lola, and Dodong all had a good time staying at home.  Kuya had a good day at school.  Grump survived work, (barely).

We had baby food, (Dodong), hamburgers, (Lola and Kuya), and burritos, (Sweetie and Grump), for dinner.

Despite being in a very grumpy mood, (so what else is new?), Grump did NOT get anyone upset at him.

How about a picture of one of Grump co-workers, Mr. Az?  Mr. Az is somewhat of an uber-geek, being proficient not only on IBM mainframe platforms, (you know: COBOL, JCL, CICS, TSO, DB2, and all that wonderful stuff), but also has programmed professionally in JAVA, and is in the process of mastering C#.  All poor Grump knows is COBOL, so he's a bit intimidated by all this computer technology knowledge.

With further ado, here he is, Mr Az:

How a Computer Specialist eats lunch

So ...... if you ever need computer help, Mr. Az is the man for you!  And if you ever need someone around to bellyache about anything and everything, Old Grump is available.

Old Grump is NOT Amused!

Goodnight all.

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 237

25/August/2015, Day 237.  Tuesday.

Tiredness.  Extreme tiredness ......

Yes, Grump and Sweetie are dragging butt tonight.  Hopefully they can get to bed soon.

I suppose the most exciting event of the day happened when Sweetie, Lola, and Dodong were driving to pick up Kuya from school in the afternoon.  There was suddenly a very strong smell of gas, and Lola, convinced that the car was going to explode, pleaded with Sweetie to pull over so she could jump out!

Sweetie didn't pull over, Lola didn't jump out of the car, and the car did not explode.

Later, once Grump got home from work, he and Sweetie went to Panera to buy some bagels, and an orange scone, which they gobbled down before they even left the parking lot!

Dinner was delicious, being veggies from the garden, (mostly bitter melon, okra, and string beans), rice, and chicken.  Everyone, even fussy Kuya, enjoyed it very much.

That's it ..... I'm tired now and going to bed!  Goodnight all.

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 236

24/August/2015, Day 236.  Monday.

The day started out as just another back to school/work Monday.  We all muddled through the day, more-or-less getting done whatever it was that we needed to get done.

But then, towards the end of the day, things started to break down.  First Kuya left his lunchbox at school, then misbehaved at piano lessons.  Then the "couch incident" began ....

Actually, the "couch incident" began several months ago, when the big couch we bought at Value City in Columbia, SC, began to shed bits and pieces of its fake leather.  Dodong starting eating the loose bits of vinyl, (what else should you do with little bits of fake fabric?), and eventually the couch began crumbling so badly that we dragged it out to the curb, for the trash men to carry away.  We rearranged the love seat and recliner to make up for the loss of the couch, and life rolled on.

The only bit of sand in the lotion was Sweetie's desire to buy all new furniture, but Grump was able to dissuade her of this "foolishess", at least for the time being.

Well, today disaster has struck.  Check out this picture of the love seat; it's vinyl has begun to crumble too!

Our love seat begins to shed!

How tragic, particularly for Grump!

He and Sweetie discussed the situation, and he was (reluctantly) willing to go purchase a new sofa, love seat, and recliner, but now Sweetie has decided that the end tables and coffee table must be replaced as well!

ARRGHH!!!

Grump is very unhappy with this, to say the least!  We have FINALLY, after months and months of paying crazily high interest rates, gotten out of credit card debt, and now Sweetie wants to saddle us with a huge glob of debt again?

I don't know how this "couch incident" will resolve itself, but I'm afraid that things will be tense around here until it does.

In the meantime, Kuya wanted his picture taken, so here he is on the love seat, resting just below the "hole".

Kuya on our damaged love seat

Goodnight all!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 235

23/August/2015, Day 235.  Sunday.

We all got up more-or-less "early-ish", and prepared to go to church.  Then, right when we were leaving, it began to rain very, very hard.  It rained all the way to church, and was still pouring once we arrived at the parking lot.  We did our best to get everyone inside as dry as possible, but Sweetie and Lola got a bit wet, and Grump got soaked.  His white shirt was so wet that it picked up some of the stain from the wooden chair he sat in.  Hopefully we can wash that out!

It was Pastor Jude's birthday, so we had a birthday luncheon there at the church for him.  After lunch several of the ladies came over to our house to spend the afternoon cooking and chatting.  Several of Kuya's friends came along too!

Here are some of the ladies relaxing in the living room:

Filipinas at Rest

Sweetie enjoyed having company:

A Happy Sweetie

Since the cooking was being done by Filipinas, some of the items cooked were not what Americans would consider food.  Would you eat these fish heads?

Fish Heads  -  Yummy!!

Kuya had fun playing with his best friend, Mr. B.

Kuya and his best friend

We hope your Sunday was as pleasant as ours.  Goodnight all!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 234

22/August/2015, Day 234.  Saturday.

As is appropriate for a weekend day, we had planned to sleep in, starting our day later than normal.  Dodong and Kuya, however, had other ideas, as both were awake bright and early, ensuring that the rest of us were up bright and early too.

Ugh!  As you may remember from yesterday, Grump and Sweetie went to a late movie last night.  So waking up early wasn't something they particulary wanted to do, and once their sleep was disturbed, they were quite a bit groggy.  Oh well ..... such is the life of a parent.

After a quick breakfast Grump headed outside, to do some minor yardwork before it got too hot.  Sweetie was there to "help" him, goading him the whole time into coming back inside and getting cleaned up, so we could go get some lunch.  Eventually Grump succumbed to the heat and the nagging, and once he was washed up we all went to the local Vietnamese restaurant, Pho Saigon.  It's a good place to get a yummy Vietnamese meal, and is always very filling.

Back from lunch we next headed to Riverside Mall, where we bought lots of neat stuff at Dillard's.  Men's dress shirts were on sale for about $20.00 each, so Sweetie convinced Grump to buy five of them, while she and Lola each bought a pair of on-sale shoes for a total of $40.00.  With tax and all Grump put about $150.00 on his Dillard's card.  YIKES!!  The specter of credit card begins to rise again .....

But we weren't done yet!  Next was a trip to Lowe's to buy pots and potting soil.  This totalled about $50.00, and was put on the AMEX card.  Uh oh .....

After that orgy of spending things did settle down.  We went shopping at Publix, but used CASH for our purchases there.  (I also need to add that Lunch at Pho Saigon was a cash transaction.)

It was a fun day, but Grump is starting to worry a bit about our credit card spending again.  Let's hope it doesn't get out of control this time!

Goodnight all!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 233

21/August/2015, Day 233.  Friday.

It's Friday!  Whipee!!!

Kuya enjoyed another day of school, (even if Sweetie forgot to bring his hat for "Hat Day", and had to drive back home to get it and then bring it back, late, to his class), and Grump survived another day of work.

Dinner was rice, tuna, and veggies from the garden again, and it was yummy.  But the exciting part of the day didn't start until later.

Despite being bone tired, (the kids were restless last night), Grump and Sweetie left the boys with Lola and went out on a "date" to see a movie.  Fortunately they picked a good one to see, "Ricki and the Flash", starring the wonderful Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline.  It was a "relationship" movie, (you know, "chick flick"), so Grump figured it would be a hit with Sweetie, which it was.  Grump would prefer to watch something along the lines of "Bikini Hit Squad", (is there such a movie?), but he has to admit he enjoyed the movie too.  Besides, he can definitely relate to a bunch of aging boomers still cranking out their old rock-n-roll.

Goodnight all!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 232

20/August/2015, Day 232.  Thursday.

Another work day for Grump, another school day for Kuya, another play day for Dodong, and another cook/clean/watch the boys day for Sweetie and Lola.

Because of yesterday's later afternoon theatric's, Grump had to work an extra hour to make up the time he missed by leaving early.  But most of his day was spent attempting to learn C#, which is blowing his mind!

The exciting news today was what we had for dinner, namely beef empanadas.  They were yummy and beautiful!  Using her new "green thingy", Sweetie was able to make some absolutely fantastic and flakely empanada dough.  I fear that this device will enable her to make all sorts of yummy delights that will drastically add to our already bloated waistlines.

Here are the empanadas in all their glory.  (The pic in the background is from Sweetie's night out with the girls, when they celebrated her upcoming birthday.)

Yummy Empanadas

If you know the history of the Philippines, then you understand that Mexican food and Philippine food share lots of traits, although Philippine food tends not to be as spicey.  When Filipinos want bakery items here in the USA, they are inclined to look for a "Panaderia", where they can find Spanish bread, Pandesal, and Hopia, amongst other yummies.

Goodnight all!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 231

19/August/2015, Day 231.  Wednesday.

Another day at work for poor Old Grump.  In case you've ever wondered, here is what his teeny cubicle at his job looks like:

Grump's Mini-Cubicle

Here is a pic of Sweetie, Dodong, and Kuya relaxing in bed:

Snoozing in Bed

Now before I get in trouble, please note that I am NOT implying that Sweetie, Dodong and Kuya lay about in bed all day while Grumps toils away at work!  To start with, on weekdays Kuya is in school.

Speaking of Kuya, I guess the exciting event of the day was that Kuya fell while playing at school, and put a nasty cut into his upper inner lip.  How bad was it?  Sweetie got all upset and called Grump at work, asking him to come home and help her take Kuya to the doctor.  Grump was fairly certain this injury, while painful, was no big deal, but he left work an hour early anyway, and he, Sweetie, and Kuya drove over to the doctor's office.  As expected, the doctor took one look at the cut, told them not to worry about it, and the three of them drove back home.

Goodnight all.

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 230

18/August/2015, Day 230.  Tuesday.

This will be a real quick entry, because I don't feel well tonight.  (Tummy and intestinal cramping, with frequent visits to the bathroom  -  don't ask!)

Grump left work early today to go to the doctor for a follow-up visit.  The blood pressure medicine appears to be working, which is GREAT, as it is a very low dose.  Grump has another visit scheduled two months from now.

Sweetie is out with "the girls".  It is Joyce's birthday; they are all eating at a Mexican restaurant.  (08/20 update: actually they celebrated Sweetie's upcoming birthday, as Joyce was unable to attend.)

It rained really, really hard this afternoon.  During a break in the rain Grump applied some liquid fence deer repellant to the garden plants, as deer love to come munch on them after a heavy rain.

That's all, folks ...... I'm going to bed!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 229

17/August/2015, Day 229.  Monday.

Another back-to-work Monday for Old Grump!

Grump and Sweetie were still tired today, so tired in fact that they skipped going to the gym, which is a shame, because they haven't gone for a few days.  Sweetie also did not go for a morning walk, because it seemed certain that it pour down rain at any moment.  (It never did!)

I guess the big news of the day was that Kuya's teacher pulled aside Sweetie in the afternoon, and told her that Kuya is NOT listening very well.  He did NOT bring his lunch to the cafeteria as he was told, and he doesn't seem to pay attention in the classroom.  Uh oh ..... he's only had three days of school, and he's already in trouble with the teacher?

Kuya is spending too much time playing with the iPad in the evening.  I suppose he is just imitating Grump, who hops on the internet for hours, ignoring everyone else.  YOU'RE NOT BEING A GOOD ROLE MODEL THERE, GRUMP!!

Lola and Dodong are doing well, although Dodong still seems to have an inclination to bang his head on hard objects.  Oh my!

Goodnight all.

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 228

16/August/2015, Day 228.  Sunday.

Neither Grump nor Sweetie slept too well last night, so they woke up tired and a bit grumpy.  Despite that, we all managed to go to church, (hooray!), then got some food for lunch on the way home.  Lola and Kuya ate McDonald's hamburgers and/or chicken McNuggets, while Grump and Sweetie had tofu burritos from Chipolte grill.  Poor Dodong was stuck eating baby food again.

After lunch Grump and Sweetie mostly just lay about, crabbing and picking on each other, but they did eventually work up enough energy to go grocery shopping, where they bought some fruits, eggs, beef and chicken.

Dinner was ....... the ubiquitous "veggies, rice, and tuna" dish that we are eating nearly every other day now.  Yes it's quite good, but we are starting to get a bit tired of it.

All-in-all, not a bad day, but not a spectacular day either.  If we were hauled before God and asked to account for how we spent this day that He gave us, what would we say?  That we rested?

Goodnight all.

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 227

15/August/2015, Day 227.  Saturday.

The day started with Grump getting up early, (okay, early-ish - it is a Saturday, you know!), and cutting the grass.  There is a lot of grass to cut, and it is still hot here in central Georgia, so by the time he was done he was very tired, and very red.  We took a pic of him for inquiring minds to see, but we'll save it for the end of the post.

After a light lunch we did a little shopping, then walked around Riverside Mall.  Miraculously we escaped from there without buying anything, other than a snack at the pretzel and cookie shop.

Back home we had a dinner of veggies picked fresh from the garden this morning, rice, (of course!), and tuna.  We've been eating this a lot recently, but that's okay, because it is really, really good.  You just can't beat fresh from the garden veggies.

After dinner we got Sweetie's early birthday present out of the box and set it up.  It's a blender/food mixer type thingy, (I really don't know what it is, or what it is used for!), and seems to be really, really nice.  (It's the green thing in the pic below.)

Sweetie's Birthday Gift

Kuya played some piano for us in the evening, the it was time for bed.

Kuya Playing Piano

Okay, I suppose I should show you the pic of Old Sweaty Grump now.  Just don't blame me if it gives you nightmares!

Ugh!!

Goodnight all!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 226

14/August/2015, Day 226.  Friday.

Friday!!  Yippee!!  Let the weekend begin!!

Actually, work was fairly mellow at Grump's job today, which was a nice change of pace.  Grump was even able to spend some time studying the C# language, which his company is converting to.  (They're attempting to move from an IBM based mainframe COBOL environment to a bunch of Microsoft Windows C# servers.  Good luck, huh!!)

The best part of the day was that, now that Kuya is back in school, Sweetie and Grump were able to meet up for lunch.  They met at Maggio's, and had a great time, even though Maggio's had an off day, and their food was only so-so.  (Maggio's is like that: some days they are GREAT, other days they are not so great.)

Sweetie looking beautiful while waiting for her food

Grump looking dazed and confused, as usual

Sweetie couldn't resist playing with her cellphone

Grump couldn't resist taking a selfie

After work we piddled around on our computers for a bit, with Grump attempting to make some money on Clickworker/UHRS, but not really being too successful*, then we went, (gag!), to Bible Study again.

Grump really doesn't like to go to Bible Study; it runs so late that he and Sweetie always wind up going to bed much, much later than they should, and it starts off his weekend poorly with a night of little sleep.  But this was a special Bible Study, to celebrate a newborn child of one of Sweetie's friends, so Grump just had to, "suck it up, Buttercup", and be as pleasant as an old, tired Grump could all evening.

Hopefully he'll sleep well tonight, so he isn't too much of a miserable old man tomorrow!

Goodnight all.



* - If any of you use Clickworker, have you noticed that it has been, uh ........ SUCKY for past several weeks?  I guess the days of $50.00 - $60.00 weeks are a thing of the past?

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 225

13/August/2015, Day 225.  Thursday.

Kuya had his first day of school today!  He is now officially a "1st Grader".  Congrats to you, Kuya!

A Proud 1st Grader!

Of course, Sweetie missed him being home.  The hardest part of being a momma is the letting go.

Grump went to work as normal, and survived with no major catastrophes.  All he will say right now is that his job will become "interesting" next year.


Poor Dodong!  In addition to being overlooked these past few days due to Kuya's back-to-school excitement, he got sick right after dinner, and barfed all over himself.  It was yucky, stinky barf too!

Speaking of dinner, Kuya had a cheeseburger Happy Meal from Mcdonald's, Lola had "Asian Zest" chicken wings from Buffalo Wild Wings, and Sweetie and Grump had burritos from Chipolte Grill.

Now, since we are all very sleepy today, (even Lola, who uncharacteristically has already gone to bed), we are going to bed, and we suggest that you do the same!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 224

12/August/2015, Day 224.  Wednesday.

Ugh!  Bills!

Grump got paid today, (hooray!), so tonight he logged on to pay bills.  We had a Dillard's bill for almost $300.00  - Grr!! - and a Sam's Club bill for almost $800.00!!   GRRR!!!  This doesn't even touch on the ridiculous American Express bill, which thanks to Grump's stupid tooth is now over $2,000.00 again!

Grump had to cash in $2,500.00 to help pay off the AMEX bill, so he is not too happy with our level of spending right now.  If he and Sweetie can't come up with a way to control it, it looks like Sweetie will have to get a job sooner rather than later.  Poor Dodong!  I feel bad for him if his mama is away working every day.

I don't understand why we spend so much money.  It is probably because we like to eat out at good restaurants, but trust me, there isn't much else to do here in central Georgia.  God help us if Grump every loses his job!

Speaking of which, (Grump losing his job, that is), it appears more and more likely that something ominous is going to happen at his workplace, if not by next year, then certainly by 2017.  The Grand Poobah of IT is demanding that the mainframe be replaced by PCs and unplugged no later than year end of 2017.  That this is impossible is apparently of no concern.  I hear rumors and rumblings that the alleged skimpy bonuses next year will be due to the insanely huge amount of money already spent on this computer systerms conversion.  That it is a fool's errand seems to upset nobody, or at least nobody will admit it in public at work.  Poor Grump!  What will he do if his job vanishes?

On a more pleasant note ..... Kuya starts his first full day of 1st grade tomorrow.  Today was a quick orientation for the students, where they met their new teacher.  Kuya had a great time, and is looking forward to being a true 1st grader!

Dodong continues to try to keep up with his older brother.  We bought him a book called, "If Big Can .... I Can", and although I'm not sure how much of it he understands, he loves it!  Trying to be just like Kuya seems to be Dodong's goal at the moment, so I hope Kuya continues to set a good role model.

Goodnight all!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 223

11/August/2015, Day 223.  Tuesday.

Another work day ..... ho hum.  Grump thinks he has a miserable job working for a miserable company in a miserable environment with miserable co-workers.  But at least his paycheck pays the rent!

Does anybody REALLY like their job?  Grump thinks his Team Lead actually enjoys what she does, which is wonderful!  Wouldn't it be nice if everybody could like their job?  Grump is just gritting his teeth and putting up with work for the sake of a paycheck, and in hopes that he can last three more years, at which point he is vested.  I wonder if he'll make it?

Have you ever listened to Dan Miller over at the "48 Days" podcast?  Dan is a career coach, and he is an interesting, uplifting fellow to listen to.  If he were to meet Grump, I wonder what he would say to him?  Probabaly, "Suck it up, Buttercup!  You've got a good job!"

Back home, Sweetie and Lola noticed that those accursed deer had been nibbling on our garden plants last night.  We were all away over the weekend, then once home Grump had forgotten to spray Liquid Fence to repel the odious monsters.  A few of our bean plants took a hit, and some okra leaves were nibbled, but all-in-all the damage wasn't too bad.  Two years ago, when we first tried gardening here and the deer found our plants, they could eat them to the ground in one night.

You better believe that Grump sprayed LOTS of Liquid Fence on the garden once he got home from work!

Dinner was rice, veggies from the garden, and tuna, again.  It was basically the same meal as last night, (and what Grump had for lunch today!), but Sweetie seasoned it slightly differently.  We're getting eggplant, bitter melon, string beans, sweet peppers, and okra now.  Yummy yummy!

Clickworker is still performing way below the levels of a few weeks ago.  Grump will be lucky to make $20.00 this week.  I guess the $50 - $60 weeks are a thing of the past?

Goodnight all.

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 222

10/August/2015, Day 222.  Monday.

Blah ..... Monday.  Back to work.  Blah.

Grump hates Mondays because he doesn't really like his job.  Add to this the fact that ever since we've bought this house Grump has had to raid his retirement savings to pay bills, and he is not a happy camper about his work and financial situation.  But if he ever brings it up, try to get him to change the subject, because once started he can complain about his "predicament" for hours!

Back home, today was laundry day.  Lola and Sweetie cleaned and folded clothes, while Kuya and Dodong played.  Later in the day Kuya had a piano lesson, where he did very well.

Dinner was rice, (of course!), veggies from the garden, and bits of tuna.  Believe it or not, it's very good, at least the way Sweetie cooks it.

How about some more "photographic art" Kuya took in Florida:

Kuya's Artistic Photography

Goodnight all!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 221

09/August/2015, Day 221.  Sunday.

Today we had to say our goodbyes to Grandma and Grandpa, and drive back home to central Georgia.

Goodbye Grandpa and Grandma

Whilst shopping yesterday Grandma had bought Sweetie some really, really nice clothes, so we made sure to thank her profusely before we left.  Grandpa and Grandma are always so nice to us!

The drive back was mercifully uneventful.  It being Sunday, we listened to bits and pieces of sermons on the radio for a bit, then Grump got impatient and put on some music.  We stopped for an early lunch at an Olive Garden in Tifton, and it is a very good thing we stopped early, because by the time we left the restaurant was packed, and people were waiting outside for a table.

By the time we got home we were all tired, and happy to see Lola again.  Dinner was rice, egg, and sardines.  We went to bed VERY early, although somebody, (not naming any names, Kuya!), was all excited and kept us up late anyway.

Here is another example of Kuya's photographic "artistry" from Florida:

Kuya's photo of something or other

Goodnight all!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 220

08/August/2015, Day 220.  Saturday.

 We got up early, ate a quick breakfast at the hotel, then went shopping at some nearby filipino food stores.  One of them had a fantastic supply of frozen fish, which we wished we had a way to get back home in central Georgia.  But alas, we did not, so we had to leave the fish for another trip.

We met Grandma and Grandpa for lunch, then after lunch came back to their condo to chat a bit. 
As luck would have it, neither Grump nor Dodong had slept very well the night before, so they decided to take a nap, right on Grandma and Grandpa's living room floor!

Grump and Dodong, sleeping on the floor!

Kuya was our photographer whilst Grump slept.  He took some interesting shots!

Dodong's selfie

Somebody's foot

Grump's hand

Grandma and Grandpa's bedroom

Once Grump and Dodong woke up, it was time to go swimming!  Kuya had a great time playing with some other kids in the pool, while Dodong did NOT like his floating device, not one bit!  So Grump had to carry him around the pool, where I'm sure the two of them appeared to be a nice little boy clinging to the head of a puffy pink blob.

After several hours of swimming Grandpa, Grandma, and Sweetie finally arrived back home.  We got a light dinner at a local Panera, then all went to bed early.

Goodnight all! 

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 219

07/August/2015, Day 219.  Friday.

We woke up early, and - miracle of miracles! - actually got an early start on our drive down to Atlantic Beach, Fl, to visit Grandma and Grandpa.  Thankfully the ride down was uneventful, (except for some thunderstorms on I-10 west of Jacksonville), and we arrived at Atlantic Beach fairly free of stress.

Dodong, Sweetie, and Kuya in the back seat 

Grandpa greeting Kuya

Sweetie, Dodong, Kuya, and Grandpa

Grandma and Dodong in Grandma's kitchen

 As is our usual custom, we got dressed for dinner, then all went to eat a nice meal at the dining room in Coleman Hall.

After dinner we chatted for a bit, then went back to the hotel, to go to bed early.


 

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 218

06/August/2015, Day 218.  Thursday.

Poor Grump!  Whilst walking outside during a break from work, a bird pooped on him, leaving a nice blob of bird poop on his shoulder.  Yuck!!

Then, when it was time to come home, it rained and rained and rained.  It rained so darn hard there was standing water on the interstate, and you couldn't go much above 35 miles per hour, else you'd hydroplane and slide off the road.  Yikes!!

Poor Grump!

But the day was a good one for the rest of us.  Early in the day, while Grump was at work, Sweetie took the boys to get haircuts.  Now they both look so cute!

Dodong shows off his new look

 Kuya had a new look too!

Here the boys are, "posing":

Kuya and Dodong "Posing"

We're driving to Jax, FL tomorrow, to see Grandma and Grandpa.  So we're gonna go to bed early tonight, so we get a lot of sleep.

Goodnight all!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 217

05/August/2015, Day 217.  Wednesday.

It was a rough day for Grump and Sweetie, as they both had very bad headaches for some reason.  Sweetie has had a stiff neck for about a week now; today Grump woke up with one too.  Odd!  I wonder just what those two are doing in their sleep!

Alas  -  poor Dodong had yet ANOTHER head banging incident, this time when he and Kuya were playing on the bed, and Kuya jumped, landing on him.  Poor Dodong!  

Clickworker recovered a bit tonight, after being TERRIBLE for nearly a week.  Given our latest yucky expenses, any extra money Grump can earn there will be most helpful.

I suppose that's all for today, as it was more of a day to be endured rather than enjoyed.  Let's hope that tommorow will be better for all of us!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 216

04/August/2015, Day 216.  Tuesday.

Well this was an interesting day!

After cashing in some savings to pay off our lingering credit card debt, we had been debating whether both Grump and Sweetie should get iPhones.  Grump was leaning towards, "No," until today in a staff meeting it was reiterated that folks where Grump works should NEVER, EVER use the internet on a work PC for personal use. 

Ugh!  Grump needs to browse the 'net from time to time, just to unwind a bit, so he relented and phoned Sweetie, telling her that they would go get iPhones after work.  Which they did.

But here's the wrinkle ..... a nasty surprise arrived in the mail today, a $1,200 bill from our dentist!  Now it appears we will never get out of debt!

Before you jump on us, asking WHY IN HEAVEN'S SAKE did we get iPhones when a new, large, unexpected bill arrived, bear in mind that the cost of these iPhones, bundled with the iPad, will actually be LESS than our existing setup of an iPad thru Verizon and cellphones thru AT&T.  Makes you wonder why we didn't do this a while ago, huh?  (It was because, until recently, AT&T's cellphone plan was much cheaper for us.)

So there you have it: we acquired new iPhones, and a new ugly lump of debt.  Here is how Grump feels about our finances at the moment:

Debt!  Bah, humbug!!

Goodnight all!

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 215

03/August/2015, Day 215.  Monday.

Grump had to go back to work today.  UGH!!  But he shouldn't complain too much, because at least he has a job.

Back at home, Sweetie went for a morning walk, then Lola, Sweetie, Kuya, and Dodong all went out back and picked veggies from our Liquid Fence protected gardens.  (Take that, you STUPID deer!)  Now that the STUPID deer aren't ravaging our gardens we're getting lots of yummy produce to eat, such as okra, string beans, and eggplant.  I highly recommend Liquid Fence if you're having problems with deer, (or rabbits), muching on your plants.

Kuya had a very good piano lesson today.  He has only been taking lessons for a few months now, but he is already going to be in a recital.  Oh boy!  I wonder when he'll learn to play Deep Purple's "My Woman From Tokyo"?

Once Grump got home from work he cut up the durian we bought at the Buford Highway Farmers Market yesterday, and fortunately it is a good one!  Grump likes durian a lot, but Sweetie absolutely CRAVES it!

Sweetie Devoring Durian

A nice glob of durian, waiting to be gobbled up

Dodong isn't too fond of durian yet, and Kuya, (silly boy!), absolutely hates it.  The last time we gave him some, he vomited.

But what do those two silly kids know anyway?  I LOVE durian.  In fact, I'm gonna stop writing on this blog and go get me some!

Goodnight all.

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 214

02/August/2015, Day 214.  Sunday.

We got up early, and it being a beautiful day decided to skip church and drive to Atlanta, to go visit the wonderful Atlanta Botanical Garden.  Traffic on I-75 was rough, much rougher than normal, and once in town we had to take an early exit to avoid the traffic jam on the interstate, and wiggle our way via backroads to the gardens.

The gardens were as beautiful as ever, and suprisingly uncrowded.  It's shame they aren't closer; we would love to spend more time there.  It would be great if I could show you some pics from our most recent visit, (the waterlilies were in bloom, and the kiwis are ripening), but Grump forgot to bring a camera!

After our garden visit we went for a fantastic, (and expensive!), lunch to the wonderful Nori Nori sushi buffet north of Atlanta.  Yum, yum, yum!  But we could only eat so much before our bellies were full, and so, with a tear in our eye, we had to leave beckoning plates of sushi and other delicacies behind and move on to our next task, shopping at the Buford Highway Farmers Market.   

At the Farmers Market we were gonna buy fish, but the guys behind the counter at the fish cleaning area were extraordinarily confused and chaotic today, so we skipped it and instead bought lots and lots of fruit, including a durian!  Sweetie and Grump love a good durian; we hope the one we bought is a good one.

Our drive home from the Farmer Market was atrocious!  I don't know what the problem was, but we had stop-and-go traffic from McDonough practically all the way to Macon!  I've never seen traffic so bad on I-75 going south.  By the time we neared home, Grump, (our driver), was a grumpy nervous wreck.

Before stopping home we swung by Belk at the Riverside Mall real quick, to see if we could pick up a birthday gift for Sweetie before they closed.  Belk is open until 7:00 pm on Sunday, so we made it, barely.  (That traffic on I-75 was really, really bad!!)  What we wanted to buy was a KitchenAid Mixer, which these days are on sale.  (Yes, you can pick them up for even less money online, but Sweetie wanted to buy hers "in person".)  We found one Sweetie liked, (a green one!), and bought it.  So now Sweetie has her first birthday present, and her birthday isn't even until the end of the month.

As the day was winding down, unfortunately a sad event occured: Dodong banged his head again.  What happened is that Grump was talking on the phone to his parents, and didn't realize Dodong was in the living room.  So he left the gate to the hallway open.  Dodong ran out after him, fell, and landed head first on the hard tile.

Sweetie yelled and yelled and yelled at Grump for being so careless, but it is poor Dodong who gets the real injury.  We'll have to pray to Angel again tonight to help protect the little guy, and to especially keep his head from any more bumps or bruises.

Goodnight all.

A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 213

01/August/2015, Day 213.  Saturday.

The day started off poorly, with Grump being in a foul mood.  He didn't sleep well the night before, and blamed it on Bible studay, of all things!  The Bible study always tends to run late, past 10:30 pm, so by the time Grump gets home, does his "daily tasks", and crawls into bed, it is very late indeed.  But we all put up with his grumbling as best we could, and went about our daily business.

It being a weekend day, of course we went shopping, first to Sam's Club, then to Pier 1 Imports at the Riverside Mall.  Sweetie had wanted to buy a replacement for the painting we had above our fireplace for a long time now.  The old painting, while very well done, and in a beautiul frame, was too dark and somber for the setting.  She had been eyeing a wonderful new painting of a path through a birch glade for many months now, and she finally decided the time had arrived to buy it.  (With her own money, by the way!)  We took the old painting down, put the new one up, and immediately were pleased with the result.  Here is a pic, but you really have to see it in person to fully appreciate how wonderful it looks in the living room:

Our New Living Room Painting

In the late afternoon Lola, Sweetie, and Dodong went to a baby shower for Mama Sue's younger daughter, (and ate lots of the yummy food there!), while Grump and Kuya went to see a fantastic movie called, "Inside Out".  This is a GREAT movie!  We highly recommend it for kids of all ages, "from 1 to 92", as they say.  (In other words, it's good for us older "obsolete kids" too!)  So if you haven't seen it yet, stop wasting your time reading nonsense on the interent and GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

Goodnight all.