July 2023
July 31, 2023 - Monday - Today was Biscuit’s turn to go to the vet and get all her shots and meds. She was better behaved in the store except for the pooping. While I was there I decided to get her and Pancake new tags too. She waited so patiently while they were getting engraved. Like Zak and Pancake, we stopped at Dairy Queen for a mini Blizzard for her on the way home.
July 30, 2023 - Sunday - Today I went to meet an old friend from high school for lunch. Later in the evening I went to the kitchen to put something away. When I passed the sink I saw this at the bottom. I know this isn’t the best photo but I don’t know how fast these things are. It was actually only about two inches long. I heard the smaller ones are more poisonous.
July 29, 2023 - Saturday - One of my really good life-long friends invited me to join him, his daughter and some other friends of his to see The Book of Mormon this afternoon. It was a great performance but one of the main characters reminded me of the goofy kid, Carl Wheezer from Jimmy Neutron. Every time he spoke or sang all I could see or hear was that kid. We all went out for an early dinner after. Today was a good day.
July 28, 2023 - Friday - I bought a bunch of cookies while I was visiting my friend yesterday, but she also hooked me up with some bonus cookies. One of her customers has a standing special order of Chocolate Chunk cookies. I think that customer is on to something. This is so good. If you want something not on her website, send her a message. She’s pretty amazing.
July 27, 2023 - Thursday - Today I had the opportunity to go visit my friend and cookie-maker-extraordinaire in her kitchen. She has a client who made a special request for smaller bite-sized lemon cookies. I don’t know if she’d ever consider adding this size to her regular menu, but I think my nutritionist would think this is a healthier option compared to her larger, regular sized cookies.
July 26, 2023 - Wednesday - Out of the tree of life I picked me a plum. Actually I got this out of the fridge.
July 25, 2023 - Tuesday - Today was a very busy day at work. Lots to do and lots to get done. I also had one of my freelance clients send me some work to do this evening. Dad and I got invited over to my brother’s for dinner. We weren’t going to miss a home cooked meal that we didn’t have to make ourselves. On the way out my brother showed us the watermelons he has growing in his garden.
July 24, 2023 - Monday - What are these? Over the last month or so I’ve started seeing these holes all over the property. And not just a few of them. There are so many all over the place especially on the driveway. They’re about the size of a nickel but a part of me thinks the whole driveway will going to collapse the first time it rains.
July 23, 2023 - Sunday - Today I met Riley and her BF for lunch at an Italian place I’d not been to before. We were celebrating one of our country’s newest citizens. I’m so happy for this young man. The place he picked was really good. I had a bowl of penne arrabbiata after our appetizers. The carrot cake was really good too.
July 22, 2023 - Saturday - The other day I took Pancake to the vet. I found this while I was paying. I took a photo of it to send to my brothers and sisters and then put it in the side money holder in my wallet so I wouldn’t lose it. I pulled it out today to add it my pile of dimes I keep on my desk.
July 21, 2023 - Friday - Today Tony Bennett passed. This is a scene in Analyze This. When I first saw this movie I thought how cool it was for Billy Crystal and Lisa Kudrow to get to dance while he was singing live. Years later I saw him in concert with a friend. We had seats on the aisle. I remember at one point wanting to get up and ask my friend to dance. It wasn’t that I wanted to dance with my friend necessarily, I just wanted to be able to say I got to dance while Tony Bennett was singing live.
July 20, 2023 - Thursday - The avocados I bought Sunday were finally ripe enough to make some guacamole. I could have waited another day or two but this turned out really good. I just wished I had one more. This was our lunch today.
July 19, 2023 - Wednesday - Today was another really good day. I met a friend for lunch. It was good to spend time with her and her daughter. After I worked at a Starbucks until I met another friend and her family for dinner. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her and all her family too. It was a great dinner with all of them.
July 18, 2023 - Tuesday - This evening I was out walking the dogs in the middle pasture. The road was too hot for walking the dogs. I saw this new little guy behind my brother’s house. I called my brother to see if he knew about him. He did. I had to walk back to the house and get my camera. This new guy is already four days old.
July 17, 2023 - Monday - One of the best thing about living out here is getting to spend more time with family. This morning I was out walking the dogs and saw my brother out at his house. We decide to go get lunch with dad today. Nothing special just Whataburger. It was bright, hot and sunny today. I thought all this orange looked good in the bright sunlight.
July 16, 2023 - Sunday - The other day I was home and this popped into my head. I wasn’t going to get in the car and drive to the store just for a Butterfinger. Today we went out to lunch to celebrate my nephew’s little girl’s birthday. After lunch I went and did a bit of grocery shopping. I really only wanted a small one but this is all they had in the checkout line.
July 15, 2023 - Saturday - Today we had to go out of town for a funeral. I saw the sweetest thing during the service. I was standing behind my nephew and I saw his wife and little girl comforting him while they laid his grandfather to rest. It was such a sweet moment in the morning light. On the way back home we stopped for lunch.
July 14, 2023 - Friday - This is on the carport where I park my car. I got my camera out of my bag with one of my longer lenses. I really didn’t want to get anywhere near this nest of yellow jackets. At least these are far from the house and nowhere near enough for Zak to try to eat. I thought about buying some spray but there’s so many all over the place.
July 13, 2023 - Thursday - I was out walking the dogs today and I came across this in the yard. I’m guessing it fell out of the tree overhead. There are so many wasps out here all over the place. Zak almost caught one on the porch the other day when we were coming back from a walk. I tried to tell him don’t even try it. He’s a goober.
July 12, 2023 - Wednesday - Today was a pretty long day. I had some freelance work to do this evening. Dad and I got invited over to my brother’s again for dinner. I wasn’t going to pass that up. After dinner I took the dogs for a walk. It was 103° so it was a short walk. I came back to my desk with a drink a little later.
July 11, 2023 - Tuesday - Today Dad and I went over to my brother’s for dinner. Dad always wants to drive over because of the heat. As we were pulling out he noticed this stowaway on his window. I have a friend who would have to climb over and get out the passenger door if this ever happened to her.
July 10, 2023 - Monday - Today was another busy day at work. When I finally wound down on the couch Pancake came to keep me company. She’s taken to lying on my right side again. This evening I got Dad started on 1883. He really likes it. I only watched it once. It was a great show but it was a hard watch.
July 9, 2023 - Sunday - Today I met Riley and Rane for Riley’s birthday dinner. She picked a place up in Addison that had a DJ on the patio. It was pretty comfortable out there but the music was really loud. I’m too old for that kind of club vibe. The tacos were okay but the guac was really good. It’s always good to spend time with the two of them.
July 8, 2023 - Saturday - A while back I accidentally clipped Zak’s leash to the ring on his tags not on his collar. One good pull and all his tags flew everywhere. Today I was out running some errands. While I was out I stopped to get Zak a new tag. I got this photo while it was being engraved. I got him a new collar too that matches his coat a bit better.
July 7, 2023 - Friday - Today was a busy day at work. I spent quite a bit of time working on a video for Riley’s birthday today too. She turns 27 today. We’re meeting for a b-day dinner Sunday. This evening when I was finally done working I spent some time on the couch relaxing with Pancake.
July 6, 2023 - Thursday - I’ve started taking the dogs on longer walks down the road. Occasionally we go down the road and around the corner. There are horses down that road that drive Pancake a bit nuts. And once Pancake loses it, Zak is right there to back her up. I saw this crawling across the road on the way home. It was moving pretty quick for a little caterpillar.
July 5, 2023 - Wednesday - I’ve made this countless times and it’s been my photo of the day a bunch over the years. But tonight was different. I made this with a bunch of tomatoes from my brother’s garden. It was so much better than any other time. Great tomatoes make all the difference. Dad liked it so much he didn’t even say anything about there not being any meat in the dish.
July 4, 2023 - Tuesday - Happy 4th of July. My friend invited me over for his 4th cookout. I made a big bowl of guac. It was good but I went a little too heavy with the cilantro. We both have to work tomorrow but we stayed up a bit later than we should have. It was worth it to end the evening with one of my Christmas presents from Riley.
July 3, 2023 - Monday - Today I met another friend I’ve not seen in what feels like a long while too. We met for lunch at our favorite Greek place. Another place I’ve not seen in a really long time. It was just as good as always. And like always we walked down the to the ice cream shop to get a little bit of dessert. It wasn’t so bad sitting in the shade.
July 2, 2023 - Sunday - This afternoon I went to see a friend I’ve not seen in a while. We had an early dinner, then went to wash her car. After that we drove out to a nearby park to go for a walk. She showed me the tree she saw get stuck by lightning. You could see where the electricity went through the tree and places where it blew the bark off.
July 1, 2023 - Saturday - My brother and sister-in-law are out of town on vacation. One of my other sisters is in charge of chickens while they’re gone. Tonight she’s at a wedding and I got the text asking to be this evening’s chicken tender. I went and collected the eggs and did a bit of feeding. They don’t stand still for photos very well.