2016/June/29 - Back to Work

The kids were restless last night, so neither Grump nor Sweetie got a whole lot of sleep, but they were able to get enough to be functional.  Which is fortunate for Grump, since he had to drive across the state to Columbus, to be at his work desk by 8:00 am.

It was another ominously quiet day at work for Grump, who is beginning to wonder whether this job is going to last or not.  If he does get laid off life will become interesting for us very, very quickly, as we can't even pay the bills now when he's employed.  Stay tuned!

Back home, Sweetie made an unfortunate discovery: one of Grump's "breakfast jars" had broken:

A broken "breakfast jar"

This stinks, because now we are down to one jar for Sweetie to use to make Grump his oatmeal-yogurt-chia seed breakfast in.  I suppose we'll have to buy a replacement this weekend.

Kuya's friend Mr. B came over to play after lunch.  They got along better today than they usually do, perhaps because Mr. B's Mama brought over a video for them to watch.

Meanwhile, back in Columbus Grump had a delicious lunch of pompano and rice:

Pompano and Rice.  Yummy!!

Later this afternoon he had a snack: some baked, seasoned tofu that Sweetie had made for him.

Seasoned baked tofu, with a banana and tea

After eating all this food, (and some other little snacks), he is so stuffed that he will probably skip dinner tonight.


Peace!

2016/June/28 - Brief Visit Home

It was Tuesday, and Old Grump was stranded in Columbus again.  Work was quiet, too quiet, (ominously quiet!), so he spent most of his day finding ways to pass the time.

Per demands from his co-workers, he had to eat his lunch downstairs, as Kanos apparently can't handle the odor of reheated red snapper!

Grump's Lunch of Rice, Veggies, and chopped up Red Snapper, (skin included!)

Back at his desk after lunch, Grump treated himself to some polvoron:

Polvoron!

Then, before leaving Columbus, he made sure to invest some money in his "retirement account":

Grump and Sweetie had made the joint decision that Grump would come back home tonight.  Since it was Tuesday, traffic was light, but once Grump got on I-75 near Byron it began to rain like the Dickens, and the drive turned treacherous.  But Grump made it home in one piece - hooray!

Meanwhile, Dodong and Kuya got haircuts!  (Kuya doesn't seem too happy with his!)

Haircuts for the boys

When Grump got home to our house, it was dark.  The storm he had driven through had knocked out the power in parts of Bibb county, where we lived.  So we all packed in his car and headed off to Walmart for a bit, to do a little shopping and enjoy the air-conditioning.  Fortunately by the time we got back home the power had come back on.


Peace!

2016/June/27 - Monday Again

It was Monday again, so Grump had to wake up before dawn and make the long, long drive halfway across the state to start another dreary work day.  How do you feel about that, Grump?

Actually, it seems the longer Grump works, the further his retirement seems to drift away, like a ship that has left port heading out for the open ocean.  How do you feel about that, Grump?

Okay, so there's nothing really funny about not being able to retire.  But this is a common problem; Grump knows that he certainly isn't the only person in this predicament.  But when he thinks about WHY he has to continue working, the burden is lighter.

C'mon Dad!  Keep plugging away at that job of yours!

We work to support those we love who need our support.  When we think about it this way, then we are only too happy to work, and thank God that we still have a job!

(Grump gives me a nudge, and says to not go overboard here.  Work is still a pain!)


On a more pleasant topic ...... a key utensil got a bath today.  I am speaking, of course, of Grump's tea mug, which had been accumulating guck and grime since he started this job several months ago.  He finally took it to a sink and washed it out, even using soap!

A Clean Mug

A clean mug is a happy mug!


Peace!

2016/June/26 - Still Hot

Although it cooled off a bit from yesterday, (which was BRUTAL!), it was still hot today, and very muggy.  We tried to spend as much time inside as possible.

The boys found some sunglasses, and had to show us how cool they are!

Whilst shopping for food at a local grocery store, (Krogers), we noticed they had some really cool banana plants on sale.  We bought one, then, since it needed a pot, headed over to Lowes to buy some nice pots, and dirt.  (Yes, we BUY dirt!)  So all-in-all we spent about $45.00 on supplies for a $6.00 plant!  (And I wonder why we are always in debt?)

Of course there were some plants on sales at Lowes that we determined we couldn't live without, so we bought them too!

Our new banana plant

Our New Plants from Lowes

A view of some of our plants, new and old

It was still pretty darn hot when we were at Lowes, as you can tell from this pic:

Despite the heat, our garden in the backyard continues to produce.  Here are just one day's harvest of green beans.

The beans are from the garden; the mangoes are from the grocery store

The tomato plants produced another crop, even though we had harvested them just yesterday:

Peace y'all!

2016/June/25 - HOT!

Wow, was it ever HOT today!  98 - 100 degrees fahrenheit, (that's about 37 for you celsius folks), depending on which way you faced.  Ugh!

Lola and Sweetie were up early, (to beat the heat), and hit the garage sale circuit.  They brought home lots and lots and lots of treasures, most of it being clothing which they got for less than $1.00 per item.  And many of this clothing still had the store tags on!

Lola and Sweetie showing off some of their loot

"New" clothes strewn across our living room floor

Of course, now that they own all this "new" clothing, they need something to store it in.  So off to Walmart went Sweetie and Grump, to purchase a pair of paradors.  Well, technically they were orocans, (we can't afford paradors!), but you get the idea.

A Pair of Paradors

Having learned from his past misadventures with orocan transportation, Grump listened to Sweetie this time and put them in the car properly, so the orocans arrived home without incident.


As you can see from the following photos, Lola is fairly well adapted now to life in the USA.

Lola and Kuya playing on the internet

Lola has even begun to adopt an American pose when sitting:

Sitting like a Kano!

Finally, our tomato plants continue to pump out the tomatoes.  Here is a small harvest from this morning:

Peace!

2016/June/24 - Homeward Bound

No pics for today ....... sorry!

It was Friday, and Grump and the other two guys he works with had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO at work, all day long.  It's been like this for about a week now, and the three of them are starting to go stir crazy.  To add injury to insult, their boss told everyone in a group meeting this morning that everyone MUST work their appointed hours, which means in their case until 5:00 pm.  Ugh!

But the good news is that Grump came back home this evening.  Hooray!  To celebrate we went to the local Mellow Mushroom for dinner, and split a delicious Brutus Salad, (caesar salad with roasted portobello mushrooms on top), and a yummy pizza that was one half Mega-Veggie, and one half ...... uh, I forget the name, but it was basil and dried tomatoes and cheese and yummy!  We all overate!

Back home we stayed up too late catching up on gossip, and then playing on our PCs/iPads/iPhones.  What would we do without the internet?


Peace y'all!

2016/June/23 - Another Work Day

It was pretty much just another week day, with Old Grump away working to continue to pay for the circus back home.

Nothing phenomenal, good or bad, happened.  Grump's "tea of the day" was some bottled iced tea:

I suppose it is time for some WonderPolls!

1.  Would you rather think out loud for the rest of your life, or show the world your browsing history?

I'd much rather have the world see my browsing history, as the, uh ..... "perversity" of my imagination  has no limits!  68% of you agree with me, while 32% would risk thinking out loud.  Good luck with that!

2.  If happiness was the national currency, what would make you rich?  a) true love, b) helping people, c) a boat, or d) I don't want to be happy.

"A boat"?  Good grief!  10% of y'all are nuts!  Haven't you ever known someone who owned a boat, and how much work and expense is involved?

Anyway, "true love" would make me, (and does make me!), rich beyond measure!  This was the most popular choice, at 56%.  Next was "helping people", picked by 27% of respondents.

7% of y'all are apparently miserable, and want to stay that way.  You may as well buy a boat!

3. If you punch yourself and it hurts, are you weak or strong?

Uh ..... doesn't that depend on WHERE you punch yourself?  But let's assume you're punching yourself on the arm.  If it hurts, I'd say you're strong.  But guess what ...... most folks disagree with me!  65% of respondents claim that if you punch yourself and it hurts, you're weak.

Weird.

 4.  Which is most important when sleeping?  a) cold pillow, b) soft blanket, c) having a fan on, or d) complete darkness?

Years ago I would have readily chosen "d", complete darkness, but over the years I've gotten more and more used to sleeping in more and more light, such that now I can sleep with the lights on.  I'd agree with "c" if the question had included, "when it's hot outside", but during the winter when it's cold out the last thing I want is a fan running!

I guess if forced to pick now, I'd opt for "b", a soft blanket.

Showing that there were no "good" answers, the responses were pretty much split evenly between the choices.  The winner was "a", (really?), with 31%.  Next was "b" with 25%, followed by "d" with 23%, and then "c" with 21%.

Does a cold pillow really help you sleep?



Peace y'all!

2016/June/22 - Another Hump Day

I'm not sure what Old Grump is excited or upset about, but it was just another hump day for all of us.

Maybe he was upset about the dwindling supply of jackfruit?

The last of the Jackfruit

Enough speculation as to cause of Grump's hysteria - bring on the WonderPolls!

1. Which would you rather have happen: a) your ankle is broken by a tipped-over semi, or b) your wrist is broken by hundreds of stampeding cows?

Uh ..... how about neither?  If I had to choose, I guess the semi?

60% of respondents agreed with me, and chose the semi.

2.  If no one buys a ticket to see a movie at the theater, do they still play the movie?  "Yes", "No", or "Never thought of that".

With everything being automated these days, I would assume that "Yes" is the correct answer.  However, only 25% of respondents agree with me.  13% chose "No", and 62% chose to not chose at all, admitting that thought is an activity they don't frequently engage in.

3.  Do you listen to music with one headphone on or both?

Both of course!  Oddly enough, 21% of folks claim to use only one headphone.  Maybe they're deaf in one ear?



Peace y'all!

2016/June/21 - Grandpa's Birthday

Today was Grandpa's birthday!  He is now ..... well, very old, but in great shape, thank God!

To celebrate his birthday Grump sent him a pic.  Don't you think Grandpa is proud of his son?

Ugh!

The tea strainer Grump bought on Saturday is working out pretty well.  Fussing with loose tea at work is more of a hassle than just plopping in a tea bag, but loose tea is so, so much better tasting!

Grump's new tea strainer

I suppose the exciting part of the day was the food Sweetie packed for Grump.  First off he had some roasted beets, tomatoes, and chicken.

The remnants of the roasted beets, tomatoes, and chicken

Next was some edamame, which at first he ate plain, then added roasted black edamame and roasted pumpkin seed to.  Yummy!

Plain edamame

Edamame with "additives"

Peace!

2016/June/20 - Back to Work

The moon shining bright, next to a streetlight, as Grump leaves for work

Monday, Monday, Monday!  It's that day when Old Grump has to get up in the wee hours before dawn, and drive half-way across the state to go to his job.  But we aren't complaining.  His job keeps the ATM primed, and besides, we don't need to complain anyway.  Grump does enough of that for the whole family!

But the real trauma of the day belonged to Kuya, who had to go to the "ouch dentist" to get a tooth drilled.  Dentists won't give children the full blast of pain killers that they give adults, (I guess they consider that us adults are already pretty much brain dead, so loosing a few more neurons won't harm us?), so it is very much more painful for a child to have a cavity drilled out than for an adult.

Poor Kuya!

Kuya looking anxious as he waits his turn at the "ouch dentist"

Despite this, he went to karate class in the evening, and he did okay.  Way to be tough, Kuya!


Peace y'all!

2016/June/19 - VBS Celebration

Today we went to a neighborhood church for the "Vacation Bible School Finale".  Kuya had been attending VBS every day for the week prior, and now we got to watch him and the other children perform a little celebration for us.

The theme of VBS this year was "Cave Quest", or something like that.  The church had decorated several of their rooms, and one of their stairways, to look like caves.

Kuya standing at the entrance to a "cave"

Kuya performing on stage with the other kids

Dodong watching his brother perform

Later in the afternoon, after we came home and rested a bit, we had folks, (Mama Sue, Paster Jude, their kids and their grandkids), come over to visit.

Sweetie about to chase Old Grump out of the kitchen

Little Charlie and Pastor Jude

It was another fun day, even if a tired Old Grump went to bed before any of our guests left!  (What are we going to do with that Old Grump?)  But no one seemed to mind; they know Old Grump needs his beauty rest!

Peace y'all!

2016/June/18 - Shopping!

Shopping, shopping, shopping!

Our big adventure of the day was a trip to Lenox Square, the upscale mall in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta.  (Care to spend $2,000.00 for a handbag at Louis Vuitton?)  It's a great place to hangout, shop, (if you're careful!), and people watch.

Upon arriving we first had to get a snack:

Munching on goodies at Lenox Square

Sweetie wanted to buy Kuya some shorts at Brooks Brothers, so off to Brooks Brothers we went.  Fortunately for Grump the shorts Sweetie fancied were on sale!

Kuya and Dodong enjoyed playing with the display:

Baa!  Baa!

Speaking of Dodong, he enjoyed "driving his car":

Beep!  Beep!

Old Grump was fixated on taking picture in the mirrors:

After more shopping, it was time to eat lunch, so we headed over to the Cheesecake Factory.

Two Filipinas Drinking

Grump and Kuya

It's Dodong!

After lunch Sweetie and Lola shopped some more, while the boys just chilled out.

Kuya Chillin' Out

All too soon it was time to leave.  But we didn't go home just yet!  Since we were already in Atlanta, we just got back on I-85 and drove up to Doraville to the superb Buford Highway Farmers Market, where we bought all sorts of goodies!

Jackfruit from the Buford Highway Farmers Market

The jackfruit after we sliced it up

This was a very yummy jackfruit; there were absolutely no jackfruit worms in it!


Sweetie couldn't resist buying cherries:

Cherries, and a Cherry Monster!

They also had some very, very good rambutan.

What are those spiny things?

All in all, a very fun day.  And amazingly, the traffic to and from Atlanta wasn't all that horrible!  (I guess we just got lucky?)


Peace!