Shelly went to Walmart today for groceries.
It's the same thing every couple of weeks.
She goes by herself (because she swears it goes faster), comes home, we all help carry bags in, and she sets to putting groceries away by herself (again, faster...).
She used to take us with her.
I think somewhere along the way, between the kids asking for things they didn't need, bickering amongst themselves, and me walking so slow that I was always 20 paces behind - she decided it was just easier on the family if she didn't spare our feelings, and made it clear that grocery trips were a solo affair.
That being said, we put the things we want on the list, and she makes sure they make it home with her.
She truly does spoil us.
On that topic, while putting groceries away today - Shelly realized that her husband may in fact be a pickle-aholic.
Oh, she's known for some time that I love pickles. She buys them for me regularly, and has on more than one occasion caught me drinking the juice once the pickles are gone.
While I'm not as bad as Hannibal Buress, I'm pretty close.
Today, she counted - and our fridge has three different jars of pickled peppers, and six jars of different types of pickles.
A pickled something for every occasion.
We have hot banana peppers for sandwiches, mild banana peppers for salads, and jalapenos for pizza. We have Claussen spears and minis for my snacking, Vlasic minis for Jade's snacking (though I like those, too - so there are two jars), McClure's habanero spears for variety, and Vlasic slices for burgers.
Seriously, I can quit any time I want.
I just don't want to.
I've said multiple times before that food is my drug. Though, it's never been sweets that tempt me. It's sodium.
I crave it.
If they made one of those after school specials on addiction about me - there would at one point be a guy standing in a dark alley, wearing a trench coat lined with bouillon and soy sauce.
"Hey kid..."
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Last night, Shelly and I were laying in bed discussing life and the challenges we weren't ready for that our thirties have presented us - and I commented on the fact that I don't like being 33 and on blood pressure medication.
I have a sometimes stressful job, and I'm *cough* pounds overweight... but the idea of being medicated this young bothers me.
Then 24 hours later, we counted out 9 bottles of pickled snacks in the refrigerator.
Correlation does not equal causation.
...but it's probably a factor.
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This week has been pretty good.
Shelly and Jade both had eye doctor appointments where they each found out that they need glasses. Jade was much more excited at the prospect than Shelly was (another 30 something year old lamentation) - but both girls looked absolutely adorable in their new eyewear.
The day of Jade's eye appointment, I asked her to join me on my evening walk. I make a lap around the outside of our neighborhood that takes just at thirty minutes to complete.
As we left the house, she started telling me about what had happened at her optometrist appointment, and we were nearly home when she ended her story.
It was great.
I try and try to find things that Jade and I can do together. Personalty-wise, we are quite similar. We both like weird things and making other people feel uncomfortable. Hobby-wise though, we end up in different parts of the house more often than not. Having 30 minutes of her telling me about her day - completely uninterrupted - was perfect.
Being a step dad makes finding my position in the kids' lives a bit of a challenge sometimes. So, when they are eager for me to be there or eager for me to learn about them, it's exciting.
Towards the end of the walk, we passed a small drainage dip in one of the sidewalks that has bested Jade in the past.
Back when we all used to go on walks together, Jaxon and I jumped it in front of her, and no matter how much we coaxed or cheered - she was too scared to try.
This time, high on the excitement of new glasses and having a story to tell, she wasn't going home defeated.
This weekend, Shelly and I went to see the new Power Rangers movie.
The kids were with their dad, and I was the only one in the house who had at one point been into the tv show, so I dragged my wife along and we sat there with tons of other parents (who had their kids with them) - and as it turns out, actually enjoyed the movie quite a lot.
It was cheesy, but we knew that it would be going in.
What we didn't expect though, was that it had some really endearing characters. Who knew that a movie about teenagers turning into karate fighting super heroes would spend time actually letting the audience get to know and care about the kids on screen?
I think one thing I liked the most about it was that it had two non-traditional types of kids on the team (one somewhere on the autism spectrum, and one who was lgbt) - and it didn't make a big deal out of the fact.
They were just there. On the team.
I liked that.
Last week, we went to see Beauty and the Beast, and after reading of all the boycots because one character was gay, I have to admit I was feeling a little disheartened. Having seen the movie, seeing what a small part of the movie this issue actually was, it made me frustrated to see how truly upset some people got over it.
Malaysia wanted to ban the movie as a country.
As a country.
Because one character was gay.
Because one character was gay - and save for the (literally) 2 seconds you see him dancing with a man after he dances with a woman, it would be pretty hard to tell.
I don't know. It just seems like there are far worse things to worry about.
As a straight, white male, I've not known many hardships. I honestly can't wrap my head around someone telling me that the way I looked at my wife disgusted them. Reading Leviticus tells me that throughout my daily routine, I sin PLENTY - honestly, I've eaten a lot of pig in my life - but I've never been told I'm going to burn in hell because Shelly wanted to hold my hand walking into a store.
This blog isn't my soapbox, so I'll keep it brief - but suffice to say, it bummed me out.
I have lgbt friends and family, and it's sad to think that for the two seconds in a new movie that they got to feel represented - people took that much offense.
It reminded me of my cat, Turk. Hear me out.
The other day (see the Sushi blog), he was meowing at me yet again because I was cutting fish and he wanted a bite.
I looked down at his eager face and told him how spoiled he was as I handed him a small bit.
But, then it hit me. He was "spoiled" because he wanted a fraction of the entire part that I had divvied up for myself. 99% of his diet is brown rocks, and he was "spoiled" because he wanted a quarter inch piece of fish off of my heaping plate.
I found myself wondering if that's how gay people feel.
They see straight people talking about their spouses, kissing them in public, going to clubs, eating out at restaurants, as characters on popular shows... but then when they ask for a fraction of the same thing or try to show up and take part, people shout "Jesus, we get it. You're gay. Quit shoving it down our throats!"
It reminds me of the election. My facebook feed was filled with liberals and conservatives absolutely blasting each other. I've got good friends on both sides of the coin and I found myself wishing that they could both see past these lines in the sand - because they're all awesome people.
I think they'd get along on far more topics than they choose to fight about.
All that said, Turk is really spoiled. He's super fat.
... I never said I wasn't spoiled, too.
We're still working our way through Iron Fist on Netlix, I'm trying to finish a book a coworker loaned me, and I spent part of Sunday prepping chicken taco soup for my lunches this week.
I found a one-pot recipe for it online, and when it was done, it REALLY reminded me of the chili-chicken soup my grandma made when I was a kid.
It's amazing how smells and tastes can take you back, isn't it? I tasted the first spoonful, and I was there again, eating a bowl of her soup in her old house.
I sure miss her.
Other than that, not much else to report.
Not this week, but next week I have something exciting coming up. I've been asked to take part in a podcast put on by We Are the Revelers. I'll have a lot to say after I've done that.
Apparently it's a couple that does podcasts where they have people on who talk about how they try to do their part to add enjoyment to the lives of others. They're connoisseurs of entertainment, and it's super cool/flattering that I get to be a part of that.
...It probably doesn't hurt that the wife's sister is a friend from work - but whatever, it's still awesome.
I'm going to talk about my books, possibly comics, and definitely about my crazy family .
It's going to be a good time.
That's all for this week, I think. Until next time.
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