A full lap on the blog

Not the most exciting day to unfold, but then again, not the most boring either. I woke at 5:40am after giving myself permission to sneak in a few extra minutes of sleep. I was still recovering from the extensive physical workout I got from moving Mindy. I could tell a big difference, however, over Monday morning. Today my legs and biceps felt almost normal. After exercising and walking Ykraps, I found that I had plenty of time to do my normal routine. I spent quite a few minutes on the deck in meditation and then a few minutes on the computer drafting a comforting email to Mindy. By 7:00am I was eating my breakfast on the steps of my deck since the chair cushions were still wet from the rain the day before. Before heading up to the shower, I poured Mindy a cup of coffee. She’s so spoiled! After my shower I dressed in gray slacks and a black t-shirt – the typical look for me these days. I gave some thought to driving the BM’er but opted not. Instead, I drove the Trooper. I arrived at work and almost immediately got busy. Things were heating up fast. But despite the busy-ness, I was able to escape for my afternoon run at exactly 12:30pm. It was warm and sunny but not too hot or humid, and certainly nothing like the steamy hot days from last week. All in all, it was an uneventful run. I worked equally hard all afternoon long bringing closure to several open issues. Mindy called sometime during the afternoon to report that on of he best friends, and she has many, was in the hospital. Joy, a teacher friend from school, had a ruptured ulcer and has been in Riverside hospital since Friday. Her new husband finally made the call to inform Mindy. I told Mindy, without question, that I would watch the kids so that she could visit her tonight. When five o’clock struck, I began winding down my day. I left at 5:10pm. On the way home I stopped at Home Depot (what’s new!) to get some picture hooks to hang Mindy’s art and her heavy mirror in the foyer. While there, I also grabbed some door stop molding for the Peachtree door I had repaired in July. I made it home by 6PM. It turns out that Mindy pulled up at home just as I was heading out the door with Ykraps. Bella insisted on joining me on the walk. I agreed but would’ve preferred to walk alone – needing that time to unwind after work. To feel safe, I require that Bella hold my hand while we walk. She however had other ideas, she tried on multiple occasions to pull away. I insisted otherwise. She relented until Mindy walked Jacob across the street to join us. She pulled away and ran towards her momma all the while hollering for her. That caused my heart to race. I was almost certain that she’d dart into the road to get to her momma, who had crossed back over to continue unloading her car. I wasn’t happy that I had this dilemma on my hands. The good news is that she didn’t dart into the road, and it’s a good thing. Given that it was rush hour, several cars came speeding down Newell Dr destined for home, and many of these drivers drive too fast on my street (yeah – I own a street). Here I was with both kids across the street along with Ykraps on a leash. He was just beginning to sniff out a spot to poop. Bella insisted on crossing. I had no choice but to grab her hand while at the same time yank on Ykraps leash to disengage his tempo. I helped her across the street then went back for Jacob who was now ready to cross. He had other intentions. He wanted no part of holding my hand to cross. By now I was in no mood to deal with intolerance. While he spouted off reasons why he didn’t have to mind or listen to me, I grabbed his hand firmly enough to assure we got across the street together safely. He cried and then made some unfavorable statements. Mindy immediately sent him to his room for being disrespectful. I proceeded to help her carry in still more boxes of stuff. Where are all of these boxes coming from???????????? Out of ear shot from the children I told Mindy that I wished she hadn’t put me in that situation with the kids. I think she understood. I knew the moment I saw it unfolding how it would end – badly and unsafely. While Mindy continued putting things away, I grabbed my book and settled into my reading chair to try and capture the missing R&R from my evening. I read for a good twenty minutes or so. Once I felt a little rested I jumped to my feet and began addressing a few chores. First, I installed the door molding In the deck door. That took all of fifteen minutes including adding the caulk to hold it in place. Next, I moved on to mounting the pictures in our bedroom. I relocated Glenn’s award winning Crayola piece to a shorter wall that was more fitting to its relatively small size. In its place, I hung Mindy’s similar bright and cheery water color that is roughly 2.5 the size of Glenn’s. This piece would look more at home on this otherwise blank wall. After that, I went back downstairs to hang the heavy mirror in our foyer all the while Mindy readied the kids for bed. We had already agreed to change the horizontal orientation of the mirror to vertical to once again, better accommodate the new space. This simply required moving the braided metal picture wire. Problem! The wire was frayed at the eyelets indicating to me that it might not hold for long, and who wants a mirror to fall? There was plenty of slack available so I used a few pieces to reinforce the wire at the critical eyelets. But during a trial raise by hand, it immediately snapped and broke. Good thing it wasn’t on the wall! Mindy and I passively agreed to wait until I could get some new, thicker picture wire possibly tomorrow. We were doing a little snacking in the kitchen when I decided to sue some old lashing wire I still had form my Time Warner days. This wire is much more rigid and a solid piece, but it is meant to hold a great deal of weight. It seemed to tie up real nice and I reinforced it too. We collectively decided to give it a try. It worked. The mirror looks great hanging in the foyer above the sofa table. After some more food, water, and conversation, we headed off to bed. Reds win 10 – 3