Friday 9-5 (Dolly Parton, RIP) but really 5.5

I usually title my Friday posts (when I write one), Friday 5.5 and write about five and a half things. But with Dolly Parton passing away this week, I decided to title this 9-5 because of her hit song and movie and because I will be complaining about my job which thankfully is not nearly nine to five in terms of work hours! Still, it can be a bit of a drag- it's a job that requires doing many tasks and moving constantly.  

1. This week was my first normal Monday- Friday work week. Last week I worked Monday through Friday but Alyssa was home through Wednesday so I was spending time with her, stressing about making sure we had all the things (we didn't but that's ok- we ordered more things), trying to get the last bit of quality time spent together  (we did - however, there was a patina of sadness about it knowing that her summer break was truly coming to a close), and then Thursday right after I got home from school, we drove to Columbus to drop her off. And so this week was the first week that's normal insofar as what life actually looks like now- Donnie and I being quasi empty nesters (no kids living at home but home is still Alyssa's home base since she's in college and Abby is also in somewhat of a transitory life phase). I could say a lot of negative things about work. The work is A LOT and menial but there are perks including coming home Monday with free Dominos pizza! Monday was Domino pizza day at school for students (they deliver it once a month) and there were leftover pizzas so we each got to take some home. Not having to cook dinner on Monday was nice! 

2. Alyssa's classes started this week at Ohio State. So far so good- the first week is rarely intensive since the semester is just getting started. Last year she sent me a cute picture of her and one of her sorority sisters in front of their house on the first day of classes. I didn't get that this year- no big deal- but she did send me a picture of her leg. Ok, the point was not to show me her leg, rather her shoes. And her drink. Shortly before she left for Columbus, I randomly picked up a pair of summer shoes (flip flops but a littler dressier) for her at Kohl's that were on sale. And then before we left her place on Saturday, I handed her a little goodie bag and told her to open it on the first day of classes. Inside were just two things. One was a Starbucks gift card (I buy the mulitpacks of $10 ones to have on hand for extra little gifts for people- I'm all out so I need to remember to buy more!) and one was this type of Dubai candy that we always saw in the check out line at Wal-mart that we talked about buying but never did. Anyway, she texted me a picture of her in her new shoes and with a Starbs drink that she bought with the gift card that I got her.

You can't see the detail of the shoes too well but the are basically flip flops with a little bow detail at the toe line. I asked Alyssa what she thought of them when I gave them to her and she said they were cute but she wish they didn't have the bow on them. Wuuuut? Without the bow, they'd be the most basic pair of flip flops over. No, the bow makes the shoes! I'm glad to see that Alyssa wore them! I think they're cute...

3. Wednesday was Donnie's birthday- he had a good day though work was hectic for him as usual. But he received lots of birthday wishes from his coworkers and clients who knew it was his birthday. People from his office brought in treats and he took some home so that worked out nicely for me :). I picked up Jersey Mike's for dinner for us and we ate outside on the patio. We will celebrate his birthday properly with friends and family over the course of the next two weekends. I do have one picture of him on his birthday and it's because he's holding a kitten that is not ours but that was in our house. 

Ok, I will explain this.

4. On Saturday evening when we arrived home from the Dayton Dragons game, we saw a kitten out on the street near our house. The kitten was pretty small and we could hear him meowing when we got out of the car. He came up on our driveway and walked right up to us. He looked thin so I went inside to get the guy a little a burger. We had some leftover burgers (that we likely weren't going to eat anyway). I cut little pieces for him and he devoured the beef. The next three nights in a row kitty and also his sibling (we're assuming) came to our driveway for a meal. We don't have a feral cat problem in the neighborhood so I truly feel like we are doing our decent deed to two hungry kitties rather than exacerbate a problem). We let them into the house for a short while on Wednesday. Honestly they don't seem super friendly and at least one of our kids is allergic to cats so it's not feasible for us to keep them; however, we will keep feeding them every evening if/when they show up at our house.  I know they appreciate the hot dogs, salami, chicken, etc. that they're getting from us (bonus, we are getting rid of some food that we likely wouldn't eat anyway!).

5.  I mentioned candy earlier that I got for Alyssa as a first day of school treat. There was another candy we'd see often at the checkout lane of Wal-mart (we seemed to go to Wal-mart a lot especially the last three weeks or so of her summer break when we needed to buy all.the.things). They are called Twix Bits and the concept sounded intriguing. Twix but make it adorably round? Not so much. I picked up a pack at Aldi- the reasonable price should have been a tell (though they weren't reasonable at Wal-mart so perhaps price is not dispositive). They taste like an inferior malted milk ball. The problem with the Twix Bits is that there is no caramel in them whatsoever. Meaning they weren't Twix or Twix adjacent AT ALL! Tasting them was a BIG disappointment. I needed Redditors to back me up and boy did they ever! 

5.5 Happy Birthday (Thursday) to this young man celebrating a big birthday. Alyssa took him out to dinner (though he must have driven since she doesn't have a car in Columbus!) I'm sure he enjoyed his first ever alcoholic drink 😉