Tanktimus the Encourager

That food looks amazing, and the helpers are so cute!

I told Sra. Tanque if we ever get a dream kitchen it's going to have a regular oven and a convection oven, both of which are preferably above counter height. Today is a good day. I did some stretches, both because I felt like I didn't have a strength workout in me and because I was sleepy all morning. The plan is to do KBs tomorrow. Lunch was good. I mixed honey, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and mustard in a bowl, then brushed it over some pork chops, which I cooked in the air fryer at 375 for 7 and a half minutes. I took them out, flipped them, and brushed what was now the top with more of the honey mustard mixture, and cooked another 7 and a half minutes. They didn't seem to be cooking fast enough so I cranked the temp up to 400. When I took them out I cut them all lengthwise and they were raw in the middle, so I put them back in the airfryer, this time with the cut side up, and brushed the cut sides with the mixture. After five minutes more they were perfect. I chopped them and had them with a salad. Yeah Air Fryer!

Unless I'm very much mistaken you're still a grownup-adult person who gets to make decisions and needeth not the permission of others.

Congrats on the job stuff, hope you can work from home again soon

An entire alternative rock Playlist played in my head upon seeing that word as a complete sentence.

If I may make a recommendation, when considering all the variables you just listed, don't let your brother and what you might be able to do for him factor into the decision making process. He's already shown a lack of gratitude to your grandfather for offering him a truck. You might very well find him just as ungrateful to you for any help you try to offer. He's got to make his own decisions, and sometimes being a loving family member means letting the other person fail so they can learn from their mistakes.

Today is a good day. Church was good, then I made tacos. I fried some bacon, drained the pan, then cooked some scrambled eggs in butter. I had some leftover baby red potatoes so I cut them into eighths (one cut along each axis) and seasoned them with olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika. I cooked them in the air fryer at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, stirred, then another ten minutes. It all went together on tortillas. As she was complimenting the potatoes, Sra. Tanque said, "The air fryer is just a convection oven, right?" To which I applied in the affirmative. After a beat she said, "When I was growing up we had a microwave/convection oven. I could have been eating like this the whole time."

Sky, my heart is so full for you and all the growth you've had. I remember when you first came to the boards and the place you were in at the time, and here, where you are now. I am as proud of you as I could ever be of Little Bit.

Oh yeah, gnocchi is great, gnocchi sautéed in butter is incredible. Today is a good day. We got up and had breakfast. Little Bit has had a streak of not napping on Saturdays, so today I took her to the park for an hour and a half of playground time once we got Laundry started (Sra. Tanque stayed home and did Laundry stuff on her own till we got back). Lunch was leftover pizza, and lo and behold Little Bit zonked right out at nap time. She only slept for an hour and a half instead of her regular two she gets at school, but we'll take it. We finished Laundry after nap time then I cooked. I made some rice, and sautéed some broccoli florets in sesame oil. When it was done I set it aside. While this was going on I cooked some chicken nuggets in the air fryer. I used these, and they are the best chicken nuggets I've ever had at home. I had to make them in batches (I had two bags worth) because of the small air fryer, they stay warm just fine in a 200 degree oven. In the skillet I cooked a mixture of orange juice, thai sweet chili sauce, coconut aminos (in lieu of soy sauce) honey, rice vinegar, and corn starch. It thickened up beautifully, then I added in ginger paste, the broccoli, and the chicken nuggets. It went beautifully over the rice.

You made the right decision to finish Job Corps now. You learned what you needed to and don't need them anymore. Well then it's no surprise you expect this from everyone you meet and have dreams about it. That's an ugly feeling to live with, and I only lived with it as an adult after growing up with predictable rules at home. You dealt with it in your very early years, and it's going to take. awhile to recover from. The things that helped you survive in that situation don't help in every situation, and your self-defense system needs time, healing, and counseling to reset itself. The reason I quoted this is because it's relevant to what I said about healing and new skills. Two different times in the last few years you have identified a situation that didn't work for you and figured out a way to get out of it (The crazy Dr. and now JobCorps). You have already shown more coping skills than others in your family. You recognize when things aren't right and leave. This is a sign the re-training of your survival skills has already begun. Well done Maggie. I'm proud of and happy for you.

I had to make ymail an unusable address because so many spambots were using ymail as an email domain. When I blocked it spam posts went way down.

You could always stay up late and watch that show about owls, Dr. Hoo.

Heal up and take care of yourself.

If you worl for a while and save money it won't be long till you can get your own place.