Sure, it's the beginning of a new year, but also the end of my vacation...
We slept till 720am. The first hint of daylight was just beginning to rear its face. I suspect what might of woke us was the subtle rumble of distant thunder that blessed our morning sky. To my feet after a few minutes of snuggling, I brushed my teeth and pee’d.
By 730am I had my toes neatly tucked under the lip of Mindy’s big comfy couch grunting out my 55 sit-ups. Immediately following the sit-ups, I whipped out 50 push-ups like nothing. And to keep my muscles toned, I used Mindy’s new dumb bells for curls and extensions. There not very heavy but at least they provide some level of resistance. From there my eyes were fixed on the coffee pot perking happily in the kitchen. I couldn’t wait to sip my first cup.
Just as I was preparing that cup, Mindy found her way to the kitchen to share in the joy. We soon found our way to the couch where we were able to share about 5 minutes of quiet time prior to the children beckoning their mother. That was fine with me, though. After all, we had several hours of uninterrupted coffee time the day prior.
I didn’t stick around long. I was gone by 900am. Mindy’s ex was coming to pick-up the kids so that she could spend the day planning the winter’s educational experience for her second graders, and I needed to get home to walk Ykraps. My plan for the day, aside from my morning run, included starting my bed painting project and a return to Mindy’s for the Fiesta Bowl and dinner.
After walking Ykraps and running ( I ran in shorts again today), I made myself some eggs and summer sausage. I then reported upstairs to begin the bed project. I have what’s called a Paul Bunyan bed. It’s essentially a huge four poster bed, which I like a lot. There are two things I don’t like, however. They are the finish and the wood itself. It’s pine and it prominently displays all the dark knots. My plan is to paint it black or a dark coffee bean color. Having a new black bookcase encourages me to choose black though for not wanting the room to look to busy with multiple colors.
My original idea was to simply remove the mattresses and then disassemble the bed and carry it to the basement for painting. After some careful consideration, however, that wouldn’t be necessary given that my room is spacious enough to host the mattress on the floor all while leaving the bed frame intact with room still to paint. So that it what I did. While cleaning and prepping the wood for paint, it dawned on me that I should consider doing a faux paint coating such as distressed or crackle. The more I thought about it, the better the crackle began to sound. Just as I was getting my ideas straightened out, Mindy stopped by on her way home from school planning. I shared my idea with her and she agreed that it would be a nice touch.
I stopped my project around 3pm for needing to investigate the crackle finish a little more tomorrow. I will stop at Sherwin Williams either at lunch or after work.
Mindy left around 315pm and headed home. I went about blogging and playing around the house. I had committed to being at her home by 430 to beat the opening kick-off of the Fiesta Bowl. Just before 4pm ( I was a little behind with my blogging and all) the phone rang. It was daughter Ashley asking for help with accessing her winter quarter class schedule on line. Nothing like waiting till the last minute to let someone know that she has no idea what building or what room her classes are in. Needless to say, I was more than frustrated. I suddenly was overcome with stress and anger. I felt the burden of finding this information when I had deadlines of my own to meet, although minor. Still, I allowed it to completely consume me. And as luck would have it, the Columbus State server was locking up every time I tried to login with her credentials. I was getting even more pissed. I want so bad for my daughters to take control of the lives and this was not a good start. Finally, after several failed attempts, my access was granted and I was able to locate her course schedule and print out two copies. I felt only marginally better. Past experience was dictating how I was responding to the latest in a long line of issues. Despite the anger I went about showering and prepping for Mindy’s house.
Soon I was on my way, but a half an hour behind schedule. Unfortunately my anger hadn’t really subsided by the time I got to Mindy’s I was still pouting and angry at the same time. I was in no mood for a pep talk or any other contact. In retrospect, I probably should’ve stayed home longer. I really didn’t want Mindy to see me so angry and frustrated. To make matters worse, I couldn’t find the number Ashley gave me to call her at despite picking up the piece of paper, folding and placing it in my pocket just before leaving the house. Great!
Somehow or other I miraculously remember the number and snuck off to a quiet corner to make the call. After sharing the schedule information with Miss Ashley, I felt only marginally better. Although, she did reassure me that she was not going to screw this quarter up. What more can a daddy do? Within minutes our dinner was ready and the game started too. Slowly I began to cool down as I interacted with Mindy and her wonderful kids. After some quality food and fun and a Buckeye touchdown, I was ready to believe that Ashley would deliver on her end of the bargain and that this was instead just a youthful oversight.
As the evening progressed the Buckeyes looked stronger and stronger but the score may not necessarily have followed given the tow missed/blocked field goals and an inopportune fumble by OSU’s quarterback inside the ten yard line. Still, we looked dominate! For the next two hours I would hare m time between watching the game and playing with Jacob and Bella. Football games will come and go, but children are only young once. After they went to bed, Mindy took down most of her Xmas decorations and I watched the end of the game. In the end, the Buckeyes won convincingly, 34-20. Jim Tressel is one hell of a coach. Honestly, we haven’t always been so fortunate. After the game Mindy and I chatted for a short while before I left. Both of us were determined to get a good night’s sleep for returning to work early in the morning. I left around 945pm.
At home I walked Ykraps, prepped my gym bag and the coffee maker. Before going to bed I spent about half an hour reading. That was very relaxing. As I meandered upstairs to bed, the realization that my Xmas vacation was over hit me. For no more than 30 seconds I felt a bit remorseful, but quickly snapped out of it. After all, I am one of the luckiest guys in the world. I have among other things the world’s greatest girlfriend, a beautiful home, and a good career. :)
Sure, it's the beginning of a new year, but also the end of my vacation...
We slept till 720am. The first hint of daylight was just beginning to rear its face. I suspect what might of woke us was the subtle rumble of distant thunder that blessed our morning sky. To my feet after a few minutes of snuggling, I brushed my teeth and pee’d.
By 730am I had my toes neatly tucked under the lip of Mindy’s big comfy couch grunting out my 55 sit-ups. Immediately following the sit-ups, I whipped out 50 push-ups like nothing. And to keep my muscles toned, I used Mindy’s new dumb bells for curls and extensions. There not very heavy but at least they provide some level of resistance. From there my eyes were fixed on the coffee pot perking happily in the kitchen. I couldn’t wait to sip my first cup.
Just as I was preparing that cup, Mindy found her way to the kitchen to share in the joy. We soon found our way to the couch where we were able to share about 5 minutes of quiet time prior to the children beckoning their mother. That was fine with me, though. After all, we had several hours of uninterrupted coffee time the day prior.
I didn’t stick around long. I was gone by 900am. Mindy’s ex was coming to pick-up the kids so that she could spend the day planning the winter’s educational experience for her second graders, and I needed to get home to walk Ykraps. My plan for the day, aside from my morning run, included starting my bed painting project and a return to Mindy’s for the Fiesta Bowl and dinner.
After walking Ykraps and running ( I ran in shorts again today), I made myself some eggs and summer sausage. I then reported upstairs to begin the bed project. I have what’s called a Paul Bunyan bed. It’s essentially a huge four poster bed, which I like a lot. There are two things I don’t like, however. They are the finish and the wood itself. It’s pine and it prominently displays all the dark knots. My plan is to paint it black or a dark coffee bean color. Having a new black bookcase encourages me to choose black though for not wanting the room to look to busy with multiple colors.
My original idea was to simply remove the mattresses and then disassemble the bed and carry it to the basement for painting. After some careful consideration, however, that wouldn’t be necessary given that my room is spacious enough to host the mattress on the floor all while leaving the bed frame intact with room still to paint. So that it what I did. While cleaning and prepping the wood for paint, it dawned on me that I should consider doing a faux paint coating such as distressed or crackle. The more I thought about it, the better the crackle began to sound. Just as I was getting my ideas straightened out, Mindy stopped by on her way home from school planning. I shared my idea with her and she agreed that it would be a nice touch.
I stopped my project around 3pm for needing to investigate the crackle finish a little more tomorrow. I will stop at Sherwin Williams either at lunch or after work.
Mindy left around 315pm and headed home. I went about blogging and playing around the house. I had committed to being at her home by 430 to beat the opening kick-off of the Fiesta Bowl. Just before 4pm ( I was a little behind with my blogging and all) the phone rang. It was daughter Ashley asking for help with accessing her winter quarter class schedule on line. Nothing like waiting till the last minute to let someone know that she has no idea what building or what room her classes are in. Needless to say, I was more than frustrated. I suddenly was overcome with stress and anger. I felt the burden of finding this information when I had deadlines of my own to meet, although minor. Still, I allowed it to completely consume me. And as luck would have it, the Columbus State server was locking up every time I tried to login with her credentials. I was getting even more pissed. I want so bad for my daughters to take control of the lives and this was not a good start. Finally, after several failed attempts, my access was granted and I was able to locate her course schedule and print out two copies. I felt only marginally better. Past experience was dictating how I was responding to the latest in a long line of issues. Despite the anger I went about showering and prepping for Mindy’s house.
Soon I was on my way, but a half an hour behind schedule. Unfortunately my anger hadn’t really subsided by the time I got to Mindy’s I was still pouting and angry at the same time. I was in no mood for a pep talk or any other contact. In retrospect, I probably should’ve stayed home longer. I really didn’t want Mindy to see me so angry and frustrated. To make matters worse, I couldn’t find the number Ashley gave me to call her at despite picking up the piece of paper, folding and placing it in my pocket just before leaving the house. Great!
Somehow or other I miraculously remember the number and snuck off to a quiet corner to make the call. After sharing the schedule information with Miss Ashley, I felt only marginally better. Although, she did reassure me that she was not going to screw this quarter up. What more can a daddy do? Within minutes our dinner was ready and the game started too. Slowly I began to cool down as I interacted with Mindy and her wonderful kids. After some quality food and fun and a Buckeye touchdown, I was ready to believe that Ashley would deliver on her end of the bargain and that this was instead just a youthful oversight.
As the evening progressed the Buckeyes looked stronger and stronger but the score may not necessarily have followed given the tow missed/blocked field goals and an inopportune fumble by OSU’s quarterback inside the ten yard line. Still, we looked dominate! For the next two hours I would hare m time between watching the game and playing with Jacob and Bella. Football games will come and go, but children are only young once. After they went to bed, Mindy took down most of her Xmas decorations and I watched the end of the game. In the end, the Buckeyes won convincingly, 34-20. Jim Tressel is one hell of a coach. Honestly, we haven’t always been so fortunate. After the game Mindy and I chatted for a short while before I left. Both of us were determined to get a good night’s sleep for returning to work early in the morning. I left around 945pm.
At home I walked Ykraps, prepped my gym bag and the coffee maker. Before going to bed I spent about half an hour reading. That was very relaxing. As I meandered upstairs to bed, the realization that my Xmas vacation was over hit me. For no more than 30 seconds I felt a bit remorseful, but quickly snapped out of it. After all, I am one of the luckiest guys in the world. I have among other things the world’s greatest girlfriend, a beautiful home, and a good career. :)
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