The Day After the First Full Day of Spring

I was up before the clock even got a chance to strike 5:30am. Nothing like a good night’s sleep! I felt very good and very rested. By witness of my window, I saw that we finally got a little of the snow the forecasters had predicted, although the accumulation was nothing more than about ½” – not the 4-6” anticipated. But no worries here. Give me sunshine and 80 - PLEASE! After completing my morning calisthenics I leashed up Ykraps and dressed for a walk in the frigid outdoors. I thought only for a moment about throwing on my snow boots (that I have yet to stow), but quite frankly the amount of snow was nothing more than a slippery inconvenience and hardly warranting boots. But it was cold. It was only 19 degrees out the door! I rushed Ykraps along a little because I wanted to escape the cold and hurry back for some coffee. Successfully back, I poured a cup of coffee that went down fast. After coffee I sat down to meditate. I really needed a good one today - lots of things still eating at me. Ten minutes later I was up preparing my food for work. I decided to forego my usual salad and by doing so cut about 8 minutes off my food prep time. Despite not having a salad, I would still have plenty to eat - nuts, turkey, cheese, lettuce, as well as my fruit combo. I made my breakfast too -scrambled eggs, strawberries, pineapple, and cantaloupe. I ate this while surfing the net learning the latest with the Minnesota Vikings free-agency singings. I hit the shower shortly after 7am and was ready by 7:25am leaving plenty of time to toil with my guitar. I left the house at 7:37am. I arrived to work at 7:55am. We had a staff meeting at 9am that came around in the blink of an eye given the amount of activity when I hit the door. I couldn’t loose sight of the fact that I had a 11:20am dental appointment that required me to leave no later than 11:10am. I had to make last minute arrangements with my peer to cover a regularly scheduled customer meeting in my stead. I left the office at 11:04am. I made it to Dr March’s practice with a minute to spare - enough time to pee before hand. They whisked me off as soon as I hit the door. Faith was my hygienist, and she was very warm, gentle, and friendly. Just a cleaning today with no x-rays. They wanted to shoot some but I refused. I felt as though they could see right through me! For good measure I had them polish the back edge of a couple of my veneers that feel a tad sharp by witness of my curious tongue. It always goes there. They did it and it seemed to do the trick. Next appointment set up for September 22nd. That left a slightly empty feeling. I felt as though I missed my summer! On my way back to work I made two quick stops. First, I stopped right next door at my bank to cash a $20 rebate check I had left sitting around for over a month. It's from a purchase I made in Portland last November. My next stop was Strader’s in an attempt to replace that illusive spark plug for my Toro trimmer. Even though they were certain they could, they couldn’t. Once again, they were stumped. He looked through every manual he had. He did finally call NAPA for me and they do have it! I would have to stop there another time. I needed to get back to work. Back at work, I barely walked in my office and the things got busy in a hurry! I had really wanted to run but had a couple of issues to resolve. Consequently, I didn’t escape for my run until after 2pm. But today’s run was a good one, and it was about 5 degrees warmer than the day before. It was 33 degrees and sunny. I retuned to my office once again around 3pm to a very busy center. I worked steadily right up until 5:20pm. This was a Mindy Wednesday, so I called her as I was leaving for home. As it turned out, she would be at my home several minutes before me, so she offered to start our dinner - chicken wings. That sounded good! I arrived home no later than about 6pm. As planned, Mindy was preparing the chicken wings and cleaning up some of my morning mess – bless her heart. Almost in one motion, I threw my sweat soaked running clothes in the dryer as I entered through the garage (this is part of my ritual). After a quick hug and kiss I leashed up Ykraps and headed out or our evening walk. Our walk went quick as he tended to his business with little fooling around. Back at home I went about finishing some of my chores while at the same time chatting wiht Mindy. We discussed some matters relative to Ashley; the possibility of baby sitting Friday night and her spring quarter. I let all of this impact my mood for the better part of the evening. Kids!! While I played with some recent photos, Mindy jumped in her car and headed off to look at that duplex I had spotted the evening prior in The Glen. She was gone no longer than about 30 minutes. It’s only eight minutes away she reported. Upon her return I got the distinct impression that she’d have signed a lease today if her house would sell. All things in their due time. The wings were ready when she returned so we sat down and enjoyed some of my best ever. They were a tad crispier for Mindy erring on the hot side of 425 degrees. I noted that for the next time. After dinner we built a fire and laid in its midst for the next hour. At 9pm we turned on the tele and watched the American Idol elimination round. My little dude got the axe. I felt bad for him. He’s only 16 and will certainly move forward beyond this, I mean he was in the top eleven! We turned the television off after the show. I can’t remember the last time I watched anything on that television. Mindy left right around 10pm. Immediately following her exit I retired to my guitar for a short practice session, secured my house, grabbed my book and water, and then went to bed. I fell asleep at about 10:30pm.