02/22/2025 - Hot Potted

Today's Rating: 8/10

Song of the Day: Fox Hunt - Sierra Ferrell

Current Book: Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

Yesterday was a rather cold, rainy day in Alexandria. I don't believe the sun came out once the entire day, and the rain just didn't seem to stop. Surprisingly, it was a rather good day though!

I woke up around the normal time, got my coffee, and wrote yesterday's post. I then tackled the disgusting amount of dishes that we had in our kitchen. It was extra bad since we had used a small tub of sour cream, the remainder of a barely expired Mexican crema, and a very expired packet of ranch seasoning to make our own ranch sauce (yes, this ranch was for the "pizza" items we had yesterday for dinner). This meant that the containers need to be washed out and dried to be put in our recycling bins.

Maddie got up (read as out of bed) earlier than usual, so we were able to get a quick start on the errands we had planned for the day. Maddie had a couple of returns to do to UPS and Old Navy that we were able to knock out before 10. Unfortunately, Old Navy is located in the same strip center as every guy's least favorite store: Marshall's. Fortunately, it was a short trip, and Maddie got everything she "needed".

Next up was my weekly trip to my parent's house for tech support. My brother recently started a tech coding bootcamp but has been having issues with the WiFi disconnecting from upstairs. My dad purchased a WiFi extender but needed some help setting it up. I will admit that the setup instructions were some of the worst I had seen. I eventually got it set up and configured for them to use.

My mom was working, so we brought her some lunch: the pide margheritas from yesterdays and two peeled tangerines. We tried to convince her to get some hot pot with us in Lafayette, but unfortunately, she was too busy that day.

We finally got back home around 2ish and there seemed to be a break in the rain. I decided to try to go for my walk for the day. On the weekends, I typically like to walk for longer since I have no time constraints. I put on my favorite podcast and walked 4.5 miles in about 80 minutes. While I was walking, Maddie prepped what we thought would be dinner for that night. We ultimately decided to go ahead and do hot pot since Maddie's mom was already in Lafayette and her step-father (Gary) had shown interest. We are kind of addicted at this point (3rd time in 5 or so weeks and it's 1.5 hours away).

Gary met us at our house and we left for hot pot at around 6 PM. It was an uneventful 1.25 hour drive (albeit rainy). We got there right on time, and the restaurant was quite busy. One of our absolute favorite activities is showing Gary new foods. He's a very meat and potatoes guy but will try new things, and hot pot would be very new to him. I think both he and Sara were overwhelmed at first but both ended up really enjoying it (until the bill came).

Some of the highlighted quotes from Gary:

• "That looks like busted duck nuts" - in reference to some marinated beef we go
• "A squirrel left a skid mark" - in reference to a mustache
• "Well you look like a large mouth bass looking for the next bite" - in reference to me saying I felt bad while still eating

We drove back in even more rain and got home around 10:30 PM which is way past our bed time. I quickly read a couple of pages to maintain the habit and fell asleep around 11.

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow!