Tag: brother1

Brother J Visits

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Joe was in Denver for work from Tuesday until Saturday night. I took Thursday (11/08) off from work and drove to B’s house to pick up J to come stay with me for a few days. We hung out for a bit at the house before partying ways – B to a doctor’s appointment and us to get lunch at Denny’s. I normally hate that restaurant but the one in question is actually pretty good and the only location at which I’ll eat. In any case, I had the Cali Club which was really good. J got chicken fingers and a bowl of cream of potato soup. I let him have the fries that came with my sandwich since his meal didn’t come with any.

On the way home I misinterpreted the GPS and got off I-88 at what I thought was the exit to 355 but wasn’t. I didn’t want to pay an extra toll so we took the scenic way home. Even though I knew we were heading the correct direction I still felt lost because we ended up on roads I have never driven on. We finally came across familiar territory, however, and made our way back home. Since it was relatively warm (42) we decided to take Wookie to the dog park before it got dark (sunset is now around 4:30 and I hate it so much). She was in rare form – jumping through the agility hoop with minimal prompting, and just running around having a good time. She had the park to herself the entire time and was loving it. She loves playing with her Uncle J so much, it’s cute.

We had tacos for dinner Thursday and watched Incredibles 2. I wasn’t really getting into it until the Jack Jack scenes. I think without him the movie would have been weak.

Friday (11/09) we hooked up J’s Super Nintendo and played some old games including F-Zero which was one of my favorites back in the mid 90’s. We couldn’t play any of the games that required pressing the start button first… that is until I cleaned the dirty controllers and managed to get one start button working again. Interestingly enough, the battle scene wouldn’t render correctly on Bomberman 2 so we couldn’t play that.

That afternoon we went to Target and then to Red Robin in the mall for linner. Our waitress was the woman Joe and I always ask for but never seems to be there – Angela. Love her! Joe teases me that I have a crush on her. He’s not wrong lol. I tried the MadLove Burger – ½-lb. Black Angus patty, a Cheddar-and-Parmesan crisp, Provolone, Swiss, jalapeño relish, candied bacon, avocado, citrus-marinated tomatoes and red onions with shredded romaine on a toasted brioche bun. ($14.49). It was pretty good but not something I’d want too frequently. I also finally got around to buying a bottle of their seasoning salt ($3) like I’ve been wanting for awhile. I used egift certificates from my Discover card to pay which was awesome. Our cash back balance was over $200 so I spent $40 of that for $50. They recently changed it where instead of using $45 to get $50 you use $20 to get $25 which is a better deal so I just got two to cover our bill and have money left over.

After stuffing ourselves silly we went to Bath and Body Works to smell alllll the candles. Lol! I saw a few things I wouldn’t mind getting so I’m going to put together a Christmas list for Joe. J bought four movies from the bargain bin at FYE and we watched two of them that evening – Shoot Em Up and Salt. Both were actually good but for very different reasons. SEP was so ridiculous it was hilarious whereas Salt was more intriguing.

My brother slept in on Saturday (11/10) so we got a late start and didn’t do much except play video games, go to Dollar Tree, and watch YouTube videos. Joe came home from Denver that evening and we all had spaghetti for dinner. For whatever reason Aldi changed the formula of their pasta sauce which we used to love but no longer do, so we tried a Ragu sauce instead. Didn’t really like it so the hunt continues…

Sunday (11/11) we went to Half Price Books and Costco before dropping J back off at B’s house. Joe and I then went to a wake for our good friend’s mother who passed away earlier in the week. Afterwards we went to Target and Menards before heading home.

Today (11/12) we did some early morning shopping at Walmart where we bought a red tree collar to replace the tree skirt that Wookie chewed up when she was a puppy. Since she likes chewing on anything that looks like a blanket getting another tree skirt isn’t a good idea. I think this might end up looking even more polished anyway, plus it was cheaper ($17) than most tree skirts we saw. I’m actually looking forward to putting up the tree this year because we have the 7 ft thin one we bought for only $15 after Christmas last year that shouldn’t take up as much floor space.

We also went to an afternoon showing of Bohemian Rhapsody which was so good. Rami Malek nailed the Freddie Mercury portrayal! I never really considered myself a Queen fan but the more I hear of them the more respect and admiration I have for their creative vision.

Brother J Visits

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I took last week off from work because they are renovating the office which includes redoing the floors and installing new cubicles with much shorter walls (which I’m seriously dreading). I didn’t want to spend all week displaced so I decided to use some of my accumulated time off to hang out at home. Since I only work Tue-Thu and Wednesday was a holiday, I only needed to use two vacation days.

Monday (7/2) I went out to lunch with my friend C and cleaned the house Tuesday (7/3) to prepare for my Brother J to visit for a few days.

Wednesday (7/4) morning Joe and I drove to my parents house to pick up J. We stopped at Savers on the way back and then came home to start grilling some ribs we purchased at Costco over the weekend, as well as burgers. Wookie was thrilled to see J and was comfortable enough to let him rub her belly. It was really cute. She also would run over and lick his face at random times throughout the week. He’s become a lot more comfortable around her (he’s always been a bit fearful of dogs in general) which is nice because we might be able to have him dog-sit for us occasionally as long as we’re willing to do a bunch of driving since he’s not comfortable driving on expressways and taking side streets from his house to ours would take over two hours.

Anyway, here’s what we basically did the rest of the week:

Wednesday night – Watched Maximum Overdrive. I stayed up until midnight with Wookie until the fireworks stopped and she calmed down. Joe had to get to sleep since he had work the next day.

Thursday (7/5) – Joe at work. Called around to check on driveway progress, of which there was none even though this project was due to be completed on June 28th. Played Wii games (Mad World & Simpsons). Took J to Half Price Books and Chick-fil-A for lunch. Played Jeopardy & Song Quiz games on Alexa. Had baked spaghetti for dinner. Watched Dead Snow (so, so bad) and then Blockers (which was much better, but we had seen it before).

Friday (7/6) – Went to Taco bell for breakfast. Saw Antman and The Wasp at theater. Awesome movie! The trailer didn’t do it a lick of justice. Took Wookie for a walk at Armstrong park. Watched Pacific Rim: Uprising.

Saturday (7/7) – Joe made Waffles for breakfast. J and I played Wii (Donkey Kong and Raving Rabids, then Let’s Tap). We all went to McDonald’s for a late lunch, and then visited Brother B for an hour and a half before we dropped Brother J back at home.

Sunday (7/8) – Joe and I went on a morning bike ride at Armstrong park. After coming home and showering we ran to Kohl’s where I paid $3 for a pair of shorts since they gave me $15 in Kohl’s Cash. Then we did a little grocery shopping before coming home to relax.

Today (7/9) I’ve just been cleaning and calling around trying to find out when the hell our driveway apron is going to be filled with concrete. The village informed me that the concrete company had inspections scheduled but they were cancelled since they haven’t paid the village a re-inspection fee. I called the association and demanded to speak to the property manager (who never gets back to us when we call) and of course she wasn’t available. I was at least given her voicemail and left one for her that I am hoping she returns. I think at this point they need to fire these idiots and get someone else to finish the work. What a nightmare.

My boss texted me this morning to let me know the renovation at work is behind schedule so I’ll be sitting in a conference room tomorrow, and possibly Thursday, until our new cubicles are set up.

I like things neat and orderly and I have neither of those things at home or work so I’m feeling very stressed. On top of that my new glasses are too heavy and despite multiple trips back to the clinic to have the nose pads and temples adjusted, they are still hurting my face. I am going there today to have them put on the new silicone nose pads I ordered from Amazon as a last ditch effort. If that doesn’t work I’m going to have to pick out a different pair of frames which sucks because I really grew to like the ones my optician had chosen for me. They look much nicer on me than my old glasses. Too bad they aren’t comfortable, ugh!

Deadpool 2 FTW

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Saturday (5/19) morning Joe drove to my parents’ house to pick up J to spend the weekend with us. On their way back to our place I purchased tickets to the noon showing of Deadpool 2 at Classic Cinemas. I guess that is one perk to being able to buy ahead of time – you don’t have to worry about arriving early to get your preferred seats (although the theater didn’t end up being crowded at all). The downside is the extra $1 per ticket service charge, plus they raised the ticket prices to $6 sometime last year (most likely to fund the improvements) so it cost $21 for the three of us. J got to see Ken, our favorite ticket-taker, who is known to say “enjoy the movieee” which we always get a kick out of, and he did as well.

We stopped at McDonald’s beforehand for a quick late breakfast before the show so we wouldn’t be starving during it as it was almost two hours long but J got an order of nachos anyway, LOL. He shared them with us but we were pretty full so I only tried a couple.

Deadpool 2 was, dare I say it, even better than the original! So so funny. I just love that character to pieces and I cannot wait to see it again. It was better than any of the Avengers movies by far.

After the movie we headed to the mall so we could enjoy lunch at Red Robin. Surprisingly, J opted for a side of fruit instead of fries with his burger. I got my usual (Banzai) and Joe got the mushroom swiss. They had a buy one get one 50% off special, plus I had a gift card, so it didn’t cost anything out of pocket. I earned a free burger on my account too so we’ll be heading back there again sometime before mid July.

After lunch we stopped in FYE so J could look around. He always finds something there and this visit was no exception. He got a movie and a wrestling DVD for $10 total.

I had also planned to pick up my new glasses but my stomach was bothering me so we skipped that and headed home.

We spent the evening watching YouTube videos and playing a few games (Dumbass and Split Decision). I ended up cooking us dinner (grilled chicken breasts) around 9 pm because we weren’t hungry until then thanks to our late lunch. Everyone went to sleep sometime around 11:30 pm.

We didn’t do much Sunday (5/20) morning. We were up around 9 am and just got ready but skipped breakfast because we decided to have lunch at Warsaw Inn before dropping J back off at home. We stuffed ourselves silly and even though I still felt hungry when we left an hour and a half after arriving (holy crap!), I didn’t end up eating again until the evening.

Joe and I stopped at the mall to pick up my new glasses before heading home. When I tried on my new glasses I noticed the prescription on the one pair, which I was planning on using as my main one, seemed much stronger than the other. Also, I could see more reflections even though I got the anti-reflective coating on both. I was assured by the staff they were made the same but since the frame on that pair is thinner that could make the lens different. That’s the downside to having a strong prescription and small head – I have to buy kids’ frames but the lenses can only be made so thin. I guess I will just try them out this week and see if I can adjust. I keep reminding myself that I’m always unhappy at first with change and then eventually adapt.

Sibling Weekend

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Saturday both my brothers and B’s girlfriend came over to spend the day hanging out. R texted me at 11 am to let me know they were on the way and I timed it so Wookie and I were finishing up a walk when they pulled up. She instantly recognized J and ran around him excitedly while peeing. She did the same for my other brother and R. It was so cute and nice to see her not being standoffish at all.

A little while later we went out to lunch to Bulldog Alehouse. Joe and I paid but it wasn’t bad since we had a restaurant.com gift certificate our friends gave us quite awhile ago.

After lunch we stopped at Half Price Books and then hung out at home for a bit before going to a local park. We all piled into Joe’s Escape so I sat in back between my brothers with Wookie on my lap. On the way back B treated us to some ice coffee from Dunkin Donuts. I usually get the Vanilla Swirl but tried the Hazelnut and it was good, other than the fact that I suspect they didn’t give me decaf as ordered. It wasn’t marked on the cup as such anyway.

I grilled burgers for dinner and later that evening we played Jenga and Aggravation before everyone left around 10 pm. The time went by so fast even though we were mostly just talking a lot of the time.

R and B are probably going to come over and watch Wookie next month when we have two day-long events to attend. Since they now have a dog of their own R would rather watch Wookie at our place which is fine by me. I know she’s trustworthy and I feel better about her being in my house than hiring a dog sitter who, while I’m sure is safe, is still a stranger. That’s a load off my mind, actually, because I didn’t want to keep Wookie locked up for 12+ hours two days in a row. I think she would be ok, but it’s certainly not nice.

Whirlwind Weekend

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Friday (3/3) was my follow-up visit with my doctor. I brought along some previous test results I found stored on my computer and he decided to prescribe a low dose of Lyrica to help with what he suspects may be Fibromyalgia. I’m nervous about taking a new medicine but I’ll give it a try if I’ll feel less achy all the time.

After the doctor I stopped at Target for a couple of items and noticed they do have a few cheap dog toys so I got Wookie a pink rubber bone and another rope since she loves playing tug of war so much.

Saturday (3/4) we were up early to swing by our old physician’s office to get our medical records and then to my friend’s house for a morning puppy play date. Her older dog just passed away two weeks ago which is sad. Wookie was more relaxed on this visit than before although she still won’t play with the other dog, Teddy. She also vomited in the car when we were only about five minutes away and vomited again when we were about five minutes from home. She’s fine on short car rides but apparently 40+ minutes is too much for her stomach. I guess we can try not feeding her beforehand, although in this case it would have seemed cruel since she hadn’t eaten since the night before.

We stopped at home so Wookie could pee (she holds it the entire time we’re out, even though we brought her pee pad and also visited my friend’s backyard) and were planning to take her with us to Petco to buy a dog tag. Since we had a few other stops, and she was exhausted from her adventure, we decided to leave her home instead so she could rest.

We stopped at McDonald’s for lunch since the app had a deal where you buy anything and get a free medium item from their McCafe menu, so we both tried the chocolate Shamrock shakes. I liked it, but plan to get a regular all-mint one before they stop making them.

That evening I traumatized Wookie putting a different collar with the new tag on and she decided she didn’t like me for few a hours. She actually went into her crate in the living room and just glared at me. She also kept chewing the tag and has already scratched the part with her name and my phone number. She then got it stuck between her teeth so we took everything off and plan to get a collar where you can have the info stitched directly into it instead. Plus she will be microchipped soon.

Sunday (3/5) afternoon we met up with my brothers and Brother B’s girlfriend, R, at the Hollywood Palms Cinema in Naperville to see John Wick Chapter 2. My brother had a Groupon so we only had to pay for our food. I got the $5 sangria special which wasn’t bad (I don’t normally like wine) and Joe got the mushroom burger. Every theater has a theme and ours was Egyptian which was interesting. I was teasing my brother that had we seen the earlier showing we would have been in the ocean one which looked really cool (from the outside at least). Despite our reservations we had a very nice time. On the way there we were kinda dreading it because we can be a little weird if we feel like we’re being ripped off and based on the menu and prices that’s kind of what it felt like beforehand. However, we tried to reframe the experience in our minds – going out to lunch and seeing a movie, at the same time no less, with family. My only complaint – the chairs are so thick that sitting normally my feet couldn’t touch the floor so I had to recline to be comfortable. It was definitely an experience, though, and I wouldn’t mind going back there again. Also, even though I wasn’t thrilled about seeing the movie because I didn’t care much for the first one, it was really good.

After the movie everyone came back to our place for dinner (tacos) and to see Wookie. She was growling at Brother J which is crazy since she’s met him before and liked him! I think her socializing is paying off because after getting over her initial attitude she was running around the living room in the middle of everyone instead of hanging off to the side scared. By the end of the evening she was actually playing with R and jumping on her arm with her toys. I think overall she prefers females to males.

This afternoon I met up with my friend at Steak and Shake for lunch and then she came back to the house to see Wookie. She’s been here once before but it was months ago so I guess Wookie didn’t remember her. She was growling and barking up a storm, even after we brought her into the living room with us. She stopped after a few minutes and by the end of the hour was playing and licking my friend’s fingers. She’s so funny how she can go from being so angry to friendly.