Tag: family

Fence-building

And so, the fence has two gates that open up to allow a six-foot mower to drive through, now, as well as a full-enclosing side bit. So, no dog escapes anymore, pup!

I cooked us three soup on the side of the grill, making a big pot of beef stew that, apparently, smelled amazing as soon as I started cooking the garlic and onions. šŸ˜› It turned out surprisingly good for how last-minute and thrown-together it was as a recipe. My soups tend to be super bland, and I worked hard to have this one not be. Turns out to be good as it was, though better with a touch of extra black pepper – then it was great! Iā€™m delighted by the outcome. As I mentioned, my soups donā€™t tend to be very good period, let alone quite tasty. So, yay! And it fed the chilled, hard-working boys (read, ā€œmenā€) who were building the fence for their second day of work today. Very grateful to my brother for coming out again to help my man make it happen. Yes, my man could do it all alone, but setting a time and having help for that set time sure does make it happen a whole lot faster than the several months of its not happening so far. šŸ˜›

Also(!), while they were finishing up the fence, I brought inside and set up the very nice stationary bicycle gifted to us by the chiropractor in whose office my mom works (but for someone else). He was getting rid of it, and let us have it for free. Hopefully, it can help my man get in some cardio while he has to sit with his laptop all day for work! So, yay, again!

Thank you, God, for all the blessings of today. Help us to pursue and fulfill your will tomorrow. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2022

Talks

We had a talk tonight, my man and I. Well, it was more like this evening, just after five. Such talks are often a bit scary to approach and donā€™t usually feel that great while in them. However, they are so incredibly important that we just not skip them. Sure, avoid it for a day or two, if youā€™re really struggling with having it, but then we just need to dive on in, share that weā€™re scared but that we want to have this conversation because we love the person and value our relationship with one another, and hop to what all else needs to be addressed.

We talked about my work situation and about travel plans for the upcoming holiday time. It was tough. I had a lot of emotions related to not being enough, failing, disappointing, and never making it. I also had fear of upsetting him or leaving him feeling abandoned.

He had his own emotions with which he got to deal, of course.

It took some time, but it went very well as a whole, for the both of us.

I am putting together a clear plan around my training to go into computer programming as a software engineer. Teaching just isnā€™t happening right now, and thatā€™s okay. I still will do the few days a month at my part-time job, but will be free to focus fully on my coding training program, as well as finally managing unpacking fully and tidying the whole space.

And itā€™s okay that Iā€™m not earning much money at all right now. We will be cautious with spending for a while while I do this. Hopefully, I can get a job tied to the industry by the end of first quarter, at the latest. We will check in weekly to talk about everything I learned and did for the week – for my own sanity, since I love sharing about whatever I learn. And we will check in at those times also on the whole situation to make sure everything is still working – finances, emotions, learning, etc.

Also, I likely will not travel with him on his to trip Mexico to visit his mom and stepdad, but will let him take the trip as something for himself, a much-desired vacation. It relieves a lot of stress for me, both in terms of feeling like I have too much to do at home right now to go be at ease for a week or two somewhere else, and in terms of feeling like Iā€™m wasting money, both with the airfare and with wanting to purchase certain items while down there, as we had planned but feeling like it just doesnā€™t work financially right now. So, good dealing there, for the both of us.

Thank you, thank you, God, for being present in our discussion this evening. We love you and we are grateful. In your name, we pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2022

Rainy Days

Today, my brother was scheduled to help my man build part of a fence. Itā€™s roughly a two-day job, according to my man, but this was meant to be a start.

However, when it poured rain last night, and the yard turned into sludge and a pond, my man was wanting to cancel. But I held firmly to the fact that he still could get a lot done today, with my brotherā€™s help, despite the rain. So, they got to work this afternoon.

By the end of it, they had placed the posts and poured the concrete that now needs to sit for a day or so before the rest of the building can take place. They also dug out and ripped up loads and loads of viney roots from the ground where the fence needs to stand. And, frankly, if it hadnā€™t rained so much, those roots would have been an absolute misery to dig and pull out. Yes, it was messy this way, but it was less physical effort for the labor. So, the rain was a bit of a small blessing, after all!

Separately, one great anecdote came from their work today. They ended up pulling up one root that was about ten feet long. It looked like a whip from nature. And yes, it did crack, breaking the sound barrier, like an actual whip. (!!!) Whatā€™s more, when they first pulled it up, my man was so excited at how it was like a real whip, he went ahead and snapped it right there to see if it would crack like a whipā€¦ forgetting that they were presently surrounded by loads of water and mud, and subsequently shooting that water and mud everywhere. My brother especially got covered in spots of mud and muddy water. It was silly and stupid and wonderful. šŸ˜›

Post-a-day 2022

Thanksgiving Day, right?

1. The Turkey Trot was awesome. It was cool and misting the whole time to varying degrees, I ran my second-fastest 5k despite the crazy elevation changes throughout the trail run, I got fifth in my age group (25-50!) and tenth in women and 38th overall, my man got fourth in his age group and 20th in men and 24th overall, and my mom got eighth in her age group (50+) and 72nd in women and 157th overall (she did a walk-run for the whole thing, whereas we ran for times).

Oddly, at the finish, they had bananas and granola bars and watersā€¦ and homemade spring rolls. šŸ˜›

2. My mom made us a tasty ad warm brunch afterward.

3. We had a good time saying bye to my Grandma. She was very good at charming the dog this week, as you can seeā€¦

4. We finally get home tonight, and Iā€™ve been waiting for a nice and hot shower before bed in my comfy and cozy bed with my awesome new pillowā€¦ and the gas line has a leak in the backyardā€¦ meaning we have no heat in the house, no hot water, and no stove to make hot water. Fortunately, I had an electric kettle, so I pulled it out and heated two pitchers, poured them into a big pot, and took the pot and a coffee mug to the shower with me. I cried most of the shower, but scooping out some hot water with the mug, then adding cold water from the shower to it and pouring it over parts of my body helped me wash myself better. And I filled the whole pot with extra cold water at the end, and I dumped the whole thing over my head (and, therefore, body) after turning off the freezing shower head. So, it was rough, in a ridiculous way, but it ended decently. My feet have almost stopped hurting from all the cold.

Anyway, bedtime has long since passed. Goodnight!

Post-a-day 2022

Giving Thanks

My body has finally relaxed enough for me not to be somewhat miserable anymore this evening. Thank you, God. And thank you for the family with whom I have been blessed to spend time this week, both during my physical pains and afterward. Please, keep us safe at our Turkey Trot 5k run tomorrow morning, as well as on our drives home. Help us always to pursue your will and to be your love. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2022

Improvement

Well, my nose still has some gunk hidden up in the back, but it has improved a good deal from this morningā€™s state. Thank you, God. I rested immensely today, while still moving about the house and eating food throughout the day. It was a nice, if physically uncomfortable both for the cold and the day-two menstruation, just spending the day hanging out with my brother and my man (and the dog, though she mostly just slept in the chair we let her use).

God, please, heal me fully by tomorrow morning. Let this sleep now release the rest of this ickiness, and heal my body fully. Help me to be fully read to make a positive difference for all tomorrow. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2022

Challenges

Perhaps the Universe is just always ready with the next challenge, demanding and standing for our own improvement, our own development into the people we not only can be but were made to be.

ā€¦ā€¦.

Well, we made it. And it was rough when we first arrivedā€¦ Thatā€™s for sure. It took a lot for my man and me to stay present to what was needed versus what was freaking us out and stressing us and all the negative and not-helpful stuff of the situation. Weā€™re staying in an AirBnB, and, put simply, it was not clean when we arrived. And it kept getting worse, the more we ventured into more of the house. As a reminder, I have OCD, making dirty particularly difficult for me. Separately, I care about justice and integrity – charging $405 a night (which also happens to be $100 more than most dates for this place) for a man older place with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a loft seems to me to be a price that would include cleanliness of the space. Period. So, we had a lot with which we had to deal for all of that. My man had to miss the lunch for my grandmaā€™s birthday, but he still came and said hi to her at the start, before going back to the place to meet the cleaner. (Suffice it to say that the place has now been cleaned, and there was just a massive failure on the owner/managerā€™s part of not verifying that it was ever cleaned, despite having hired someone to do so.)

All that to say that life really does demand we become better versions of ourselves, whether we like it or not. Today has been one of those days for me. And, unfortunately, Iā€™m also feeling sick in the throatā€¦ :/

Dear God, please, heal me with this rest I am allowing for myself tonight (in bed before nine!). Grant me beautiful health and well-being this week, that I might spend the week lovingly with my beloved family, your blessings to me. In your name and with gratitude, I pray. Amen.

P.S. Oh, and, to top it all off, I started menstruating almost a week earlier than expected today. Talk about having to gtf over it and make it work. This has been a day, for sure!

Post-a-day 2022

I want to ride my bicycle

I want to ride my biiiike.

The ride was a success this morning, despite my bikeā€™s falling (I stayed on my feet, through the fall, though), my mom not even noticing and thereby leaving us behind for 2/3 of the first half, my man fooling around with tricks and other stress-inducing and higher-risk activities rather constantly, and the path being terribly marked (only mile markers 1-5, 12, and 13 were upā€¦ marking the kilometersā€¦, and there was almost no signage at all on the way back, leaving loads of people to have to double back and find the way on sorts that varied from the way outā€¦, and the police crossing-guards all disappeared, too). Also, it was cold almost the entire time(!!!). That was a surprise. I purposely didnā€™t bring the extra layers beyond a long-sleeve and a short rain jacket this time because of the forecasted temperature elevation shortly after we were starting the ride. But it worked out okay by the end, with a little bit of sun shining beautifully for the after-party.

Of course, I had to rush to an outdoor training thing up north afterward, and we ended up standing in the shade for hours, despite the whole rest of the place being in blazing sunlight (which is why Iā€™d left all seaters and jackets in the car, yet again). So, I never fully warmed up all day. And thatā€™s probably why I just took an absurdly hot and long showerā€¦ it was over 82Ā° in the bathroom when I finished showering, and it felt great. (Remember that I typically prefer cooler temperatures. I just also want to be dressed appropriately for those temperatures, and I wasnā€™t today.)

Anyway, good day, all in all. I love my man. I love God. I love my mom. I love my life. I love today. Thank you, God. Amen.

P.S. He swears heā€™s watching the baseball game right nowā€¦, but that absurdly loud snoring coming from the curled up man on the sofa begs to differ. šŸ˜‚

P.P.S. I woke him up for the ninth inning, because I knew heā€™d want to witness that live. Certainly glad I did! Congratulations, gentlemen. Well played.

Post-a-day 2022

I can ride my bike

ā€¦ with handlebars, thank you very much.

And, tomorrow, I shall. It will be the Houston Park-to-Port bicycle ride from a main park in the city, Hermann Park, to the Port of Houston. It will be a great event, and I am stoked to be doing it both with my mom, again, and my man, for the first time. Yay!

Thank you, God. Please, keep us safe and able all throughout tomorrow. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2022