Ahhh ... Back in the swing of things

I found my way out of the night's slumber at 5:35am. I felt good, but not as rested as the two morning s prior. This, I am sure, was becasue I didn't get to sleep last night until almost 11pm. This denied me the 7.33 hours of sleep that my body prefers. This is a Friday morning so the slight inconvenience brought about by my slow start would not detour my enthusiasm for the weekend to come. I wouldn't allow it. No sir! I found my way down stairs where at a glance I confrimed the coffee was already brewed an ready. I took my vitamin then refilled my water glass along with Ykraps water bowl. We both drink plenty of fluids. I think he actually learned it from me. Soon my feet were tucked under the front edge of my beaten down sofa and I was grunting out my usual 55 sit-ups. In my throat I detected a hint of what Mindy's been batling since mid-way through our Oregon trip. I refused ot allow it to take me, however. instead, I was in charge. Whatever this virus, cold, or whatever is, it would NOT be permitted to consume me. After the sit-ups I dropped into position t orip off 50 push-ups. Those always go well, and today was no exception. Next, I did my 40 curls with 25lb dumbbells. I was set! Without much hesitation, I leashed up Ykraps in order that we might walk the neighborhood in shroud of darkness. Our walk took us down our usual trail. And just like we expected, the same car passed by just as it does most mornings. I dawned on me then, that my life is much like a merry-go-round. While the music may change, at the core remains a a finely scripted carousel-like life. Oh well, it beats willy-nilly by the seat-of-the-pants living. Back at 3683 I poured myself a hot cup of coffee before my morning meditation. Speaking of which, I really needed a good meditation this morning too. I've been allowing this and that to enter my mind of late, which prevents me from attaining maximum enjoyment. Meditate I did, and for about 12 minutes. Before long i was head long into packing my lunch and making my morning eggs. Today I made tuna fish salad for lunch and made fluffy scrambled eggs for breakfast. While eating my breakfast I sifted through more Oregon/Washington pictures in an effort to find just the right ones to best represent our last day there. That endeavor was a success. I found just the right photos to capture the highpoints. Work was fast and furious yet controlled. My Friday run went off as planned albeit just a little later than usual. The afternoon went fast too due in large part to the frantic pace of things in the center. It would best be described as organized chaos. Just before leaving or the day I created a quick grocery list. Originally, I thought that I’d stop at the Hilliard Kroger to pick up a few strategic items before heading to the Wal-Mart for the bulk of my bi-weekly grocery shopping. Despite Wal-Mart having the pants beat off of Kroger on most items, Kroger still has better prices and a better selection of such things as cheese and dairy. However, once I got to Kroger I opted to do all my bi-weekly shopping there since many of the items on my list were red tagged. I was home by 6:15pm and after walking Ykraps and putting the groceries away, I almost immediately began knocking out weekend chores. Mindy and I were planning on going to Barley’s as daughter Ashley committed to babysitting Jacob and Bella. She knew she wouldn’t be over any earlier than 7:30 or so though. I took full advantage and knocked out all of my chores, including all of my pending laundry. Come 7:30pm I was done and ready to relax. I made myself a drink (raspberry vodka & club soda) and took to journaling. While blogging I visited the barley’s webpage to confirm what was on the firkin. Sadly I came across the horrible news that one of the Barley’s Smokehouse server’s was killed Wednesday night in a car crash. That dampened an otherwise cheery evening. I never really recovered from the funk even once Mindy arrived around 8:20pm. Because Mindy was a little later than expected, we pretty much left for Barley’s no sooner than she got there. We arrived around 8:40pm. To our disappointment, no Bob & Mary Ann either. Too, we noticed the somber mood around the bar and especially with the employees, but understandably so. Courtney and Jeremy were there though and we spent a few minutes talking with them. Mindy shared much of our trip including her skiing mishap. After two beers (an ESB & an IPA) and some food, Mindy (she had only water for not feeling so swell) and I packed it in. We were back at my house by 10:30pm. At first I thought that I’d essentially run in, grab my running gear and my travel bag, and be on our way to Mindy’s. But that’s not what happened. After Mindy and I sat and talked for about 5 minutes I suddenly found myself out of sorts and certainly not in the frame of mind for any more fun. Instead, I wanted to sleep, and sleep I did. I woke up just before 1:00am. Mindy had gone home. I went on to bed.