19/June/2017 - Back to Work

That mean old Monday rolled around again, and so Grump had to make the long, long, long drive to his job in Columbus, Georgia.

Meanwhile, back home, Sweetie finally got some stakes and propped up the dahlia.

Dahlias are such silly plants!  While their flowers are unarguably huge and pretty, they grow in such a top-heavy way that if not staked up, they flop all over the ground.  Gorgeous plants, but about as sturdy and self-sufficient as a fashion model.


Kuya doesn't like to eat just any dish, (actually he doesn't like to eat much of anything!), so when feeding "His Majesty" you've got to make sure you've given him approved food.

I'm too cool to eat that stuff!

I think the boy needs to spend 6 more months with his relatives in the Philippines!



Peace!

18/June/2017 - Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there, though they may, like Old Grump, be working farther away from home than a father should.

The day began with an inspection of the area behind Grump's ears.  Being ickier than they should have been, (yuck!), Sweetie promptly and vigorously scrubbed both of them.

Is that mold?

Sweetie, Kuya and Dodong relaxing

Since it was a special day, we made sure to attend church.

Kuya and Dodong dressed for church, and making faces

Not much room on this vehicle!

Pastor Jude, with his wife Mama Sue at his side, gave his last sermon before scheduled surgery next week.  Please pray for his quick recovery!

Pastor Jude and Mama Sue

Peace!

17/June/2017 - Bouncing!

Today we celebrated Miss M's birthday by ..... bouncing!

But first, Dodong had to prepare himself by doing ...... well, I'm not sure what he was doing, but it sure took some concentration.

In then afternoon, we went to the "bouncing arena" for Miss M's birthday party.  (Miss M. is the little girl in the middle with the blue shirt on.)

Miss M., Kuya, and friends

Soon all the preliminaries were over, and the bouncing began!

Grump demonstrating his lack of balance

Dodong, Kuya, and Grump

Jump Kuya!

Jump!

Sweetie and Lola were very happy to just sit and watch

Fat Man Flying

Jump Kuya!

Dodong jumping

Ain't gonna catch Sweetie doing any bouncing!

After bouncing for an hour or so, we all stopped and the kids had pizza and cake.  (Personally I think it would have been more exciting to feed the kids BEFORE bouncing, but then I'm weird like that!)

Dodong and his pizza

Eating Pizza

The cake was made by a local Filipina, and it was yummy!

Dodong and a big piece of cake

At home later in the evening we celebrated Lola's birthday with ..... yet another cake!  This was a vanilla ice-cream cake with purple frosting, and it was yummy.  (That's TWO yummy cakes in one day.  No wonder we're fat!)

Lola's birthday cake

Slicing the cake

Yummy!

Peace!

16/June/2017 - Finally Friday!

So finally the work week is over, and Grump can make the long drive back home!

He had been forgetting to drink his "stinky sauce", (actually apple cider vinegar), all week, so once he was home it was time to "hit the bottle"!  Here he is downing the "sauce" with a fruit juice mixture:

Ready, Steady .....

Yum, Yum, Yum!!

Kuya was finishing up a week of Vacation Bible School, (which, oddly enough, seems to be offered by locals churches only in the EVENING around here), so we went to watch the closing ceremonies.

Kuya, (pink shirt), at VBS

Peace!

15/June/2017 - Another Workday

So it was another workday for us, which meant that Grump was exiled in Columbus, Ga, half-way across the state from the rest of the family.  But we made the best of it.  (What other choice did we have?)

Grump being silly at work

Sweetie being sweet at home

It was just another normal, non-eventful day for us when ...... OMG!  WHAT'S THAT IN THE BACK SEAT OF SWEETIE'S CAR??

Yikes!

No .... don't panic!  It wasn't a Zombie.  It was simply Kuya coming back from camp.  (By the way, he's supposed to be Jack Skellington, NOT a zombie.)

For dinner Sweetie made Dodong and Kuya some chicken nuggets, in the style of chick-fil-a.  They were super-duper yummy!

Check out Sweetie's Chicken Nugget

The bad news of the day was that the birds finally discovered our fig trees.  The little pests just take a bite out of a ripe fig, as the picture below shows.

A bird-damaged fig

Peace!

14/June/2017 - Cucumbers and Figs

Today the excitement was due to our first, (teeny-tiny), harvest of cucumbers and figs.  Hooray!

A Cucumber growing on the vine

Cucumbers and Figs from Our Yard

So that was the good part of the day.

The bad part of the day was that Grump was still working out of town.  This physical separation is hard on the family.

Sweetie at home, wishing Grump were here

Grump at work in Columbus, wishing he was back home

Grump and Sweetie aren't the only ones feeling frustration.  Kuya is attending Vacation Bible School this week; poor Dodong is too young to attend.

Dodong standing beside a VBS poster

Oh well.  Frustration is a part of life, and without sadness, can we fully appreciate joy?


Peace!

13/June/2017 - Oh No! No Pics!!

Yep, you read that correctly.  There are NO PICS todays.

It appears that Old Grump finally had a day where he didn't take at least one picture.

If your life ain't complete without checking out his daily picture post, you could head over to the blog where he has been posting the pictures Sweetie took while visiting family back home in the Philippines:

http://planetarypics.blogspot.com/2017/06/philippines-may-2017-swimming.html

http://planetarypics.blogspot.com/2017/06/philippines-may-2017-dogs.html

http://planetarypics.blogspot.com/2017/06/philippines-may2017-lolos-house.html


I suppose this is as good a place as any to mention that Grump's two online stores, ( Tea Universe and Awkward Uncle's Curiosity Shop), are going to need LOTS of work in the next couple months.  What has happened is that Amazon is discontinuing the concept of an "Amazon store", at least in the way Grump had implemented it.  This means that the more active parts of these stores, (http://astore.amazon.com/thjoofte-20 and http://astore.amazon.com/httpwwwwaypat-20, respectively), are going away, so he'll need to replace them.  Phooey!

So if you enjoyed either of his Amazon stores, visit them now, because by the end of August they will be sent to the great bit bucket in the sky.


Peace!

12/June/2017 - A Day Off

Today Grump took a day off work and stayed home.  Hooray!!

He got to experience some of the joy of staying home with the kids, such as watching Dodong inexplicably spit out his chocolate Pediasure drink:

Dodong, why did you spit that out?

And he got to experience what it feels like to be a horse, when Dodong chose to ride him.

Giddy up, Old Grump!

But what the heck; memories like this are much better than fussing over some bureaucratic details on the latest form that need to be filled out at work.

Funny how the things that matter are often the simple things, huh?



Peace!

11/June/2017 - Grump Wears His Barong

Today was an exciting day, because, for the first time, Grump wore the barong that Sweetie bought him in Cebu City, Philippines.

This particular barong is made from the fibers of pineapple leaves, and is very much a status symbol in the Philippines.

Since Grump was all dressed up, the rest of us put on our finery too.  We were quite the photogenic family today.

Kuya, Sweetie, and Dodong, before getting dressed up

Dodong posing in his new clothes

Kuya, Grump, and Dodong

Attempting to put rabbit ears on Kuya

Dodong in a karate pose

Putting rabbit ears on Dodong

Kuya and Dodong

A couple of goofballs in church

Sweetie and Grump

There seemed to be lots of yummy fruit on sale today, so we bought a bunch.  Here are some scrumptious mangoes and "velvet apricots".

Yummy Fruit

Sweetie enjoying an afternoon snack

Peace!