Happy first full week of August!! The first few days of August have been really great and I have lots to say about it.
I was pretty busy this past week. The first outing I had was Monday evening because my sister asked me if I would take her to see the new Deadpool movie. My mom dropped her off with me just before I was about to leave work and we went to the gym together. We both walked for an hour and that was enough for us. Then we headed downtown to get something for dinner. Our original plan was to go to a salad bar restaurant, but we found out that it had been replaced by a sandwich shop that also had salads. I actually just looked it up and it is the same place, just under a new name, so maybe next time we can go because it looks like they still have the salad bar. Anyway, we ended up eating at Jimmy John’s, and the whole experience there was funny. It was really slow there so one of the employees was playing cornhole when we walked up, came inside to take our order, then went back outside to play more cornhole while the other guy made our sandwiches. Also, they had their music playing through YouTube and it had ads, so when a school bell rang for a back-to-school ad, it startled us and we all had a good laugh. We decided to eat in the car since it was so quiet and awkward inside the restaurant, and we watched the employee play cornhole while we ate. Our sandwiches were both very good; there’s something about their mayonnaise that’s just extra delicious. Our food was SO expensive, though. Our two regular-sized sandwiches came out to $27 and change. They upcharge for everything, including cheese and most other toppings. I think the sandwiches only come with mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato. As good as it was, I just can’t afford to go back. After we ate, we went to the movie theater, where we dropped another bag. Two tickets and two small sodas came out to about $50, which is insane. But it was really fun to be with my sister and enjoy the movie together (plus my mom ended up throwing me some cash to help cover what ended up being a nearly $80 outing, so God bless her). I thought the movie was okay. It was funny, but it had wayyyy too many f-bombs, even for me. It didn’t really matter though because I had a spectacular time hanging out with my sister.
Wednesday, my family went out to Texas Roadhouse for my parents’ anniversary. I think I had a better time than everyone else for two reasons. One is that somehow I keep seeming to hit the jackpot when we go out to dinner by getting delicious meals, and everyone else has been getting food that’s decent at best, if not completely disappointing. I got a grilled chicken sandwich with cheese and mushrooms, and it was one of the best hot sandwiches I have ever had. I would absolutely get it again. My only complaint was that my side of fries didn’t come out until I was almost done with my sandwich, but that’s really not too big of a deal. My dad likes to get ribs, but he said they were extremely salty. I can’t remember what my mom got, but she said it was okay. My sister had chicken tenders and fries, which she said were good enough, aside from the fact that she ordered buttered corn and received fries instead. That night they were doing a fundraiser for a local organization that helps with managing feral cats in the area, and we have used their services before so we gave a donation. I think the fundraiser had a lot to do with how busy they were and why some things were a little wonky. The other reason I think I had a better time than everyone else is because of what they do at Texas Roadhouse to celebrate birthdays. They have the birthday person sit on a saddle, and then everyone in the restaurant yells, “YEEHAW!!” I love it so much, which is funny because I typically hate restaurant birthday celebrations. I really want to do it for my birthday. We had fun as a family, though, because my parents told us some stories from when they were dating that I had never heard before. Their story is very unconventional so my sister and I had a good time poking fun at them. Overall it was a good night.
Thursday night I went out with AP and AJ after work. We ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant that AP recommended. We got a big meal and an appetizer of pot stickers to share amongst the three of us and it was the perfect amount of food. The food was yummy and we had a great time talking. Then we headed across town to the ballpark to watch some baseball. We picked kind of a bad day to go because it was 104 that day and Friday was only 98 or so, but it worked out mostly okay. AJ and I got half-price Twisted Tea tall boys to try to help us be less bothered by the heat. I was still so hot, though, and my whole body was just drenched in sweat. Luckily, by complete coincidence, AP’s parents were also at the game and didn’t stay the whole time, so I got to use their hand fan when they left. That little fan turned my whole experience around and I was so much happier for the rest of the game. I enjoy watching baseball, but we go for the vibes more than for the sport itself, so we had a great time talking and laughing about what some funny walkout songs would be. I also enjoyed this game in particular because I had never seen the Stockton Ports play before. I’m really glad we got to do that before AJ had to head back out to the Bay Area.
Here's me and the sky at the baseball game!
Friday night my family went out to dinner like we normally do. We went to my sister’s favorite Chinese buffet since it was her birthday eve. Her favorite thing there is the crab rangoons, and last time they didn’t have them, so we were manifesting them all day. Luckily they had them and she said they were delicious. It’s not my favorite place to go because I think a lot of their food tastes kind of weird, but I had a couple of decent things, plus their dessert is pretty good.
Saturday was my sister’s 16th birthday and the first thing she wanted to do was go to the gym because you don’t have to be supervised by an adult anymore when you’re 16. So we drove into town and I dropped her off at the gym before I ran some errands. She had a great time getting to work out by herself, and I had a nice time running around town and getting things done. Then I picked her up and we headed home, and I took a nap before the birthday festivities started. Later in the afternoon, her best friend came over and we hung out and ate snacks. For dinner, we had my sister’s traditional birthday meal of macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. There was cake and several different ice cream flavors to choose from, but I didn’t have any because I was having tummy problems from all the Chinese food and other greasy foods I had recently eaten. She opened her presents, which she seemed to like a lot, and then the girls went off to do their own thing. I think it was a sweet little party.
Sunday morning I went into town because it was also my coworker’s daughter’s 16th birthday, and we’re good friends. I was invited over to eat pozole, which is a meal that I like a lot. I got to eat good food and sit outside in their gorgeous yard. They also told me that I could use their old compost box that they’re not using anymore to start my own compost system since that’s something I’ve been really wanting to do. I think maybe I’ll get that this week and I’ll try to give updates on how that goes. I was there for a couple of hours and then I had to head out because I had lunch plans with an old friend. I have known him basically since we were born because our moms were part of the same new mom’s group and we went to preschool together. We played together a lot growing up, but as we got older we and our families didn’t get together as much. We recently reconnected and decided to get lunch together so we could catch up. We shared two sushi rolls and talked for two hours. We had a great time and agreed that we should do it again. After that, I went home and lay in my bed because I had done two social events in one day.
Here's a selfie from the bathroom at the sushi restaurant.
This morning (it’s Monday afternoon as I’m writing this) at 9am I had a phone interview for a part-time job that I really want, and I think it went really well! It was just a preliminary interview, but they called me in for the real interview on Wednesday at 9am and I’m excited! I think I did really well today and I have a good chance of getting this position. I just hope I do as well on Wednesday as I did today, but I think it’ll be good. I think I know what I’m going to wear, but I need to figure out some shoes. I’ll let you know how it goes!
I feel like this is going to be a great month filled with lots of positive changes!
Love always <3
Nicole
P.S. I forgot to give an update to my plan that I mentioned last week. I was really busy with events that didn't allow me to go to the gym or eat the way I had intended. This week, though, I'm back in the gym, I've meal prepped my lunches, I'm cooking good breakfasts, and I've been loosely tracking what I've been eating. Now we're rollin'!
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